THE MOTHER'S DAY HATCH-A-LONG!!!! The last day to join in and set eggs with us is April 28th.

[Arielle]

I get to candle tonight!

It's a beautiful day, time to head outside for a post-winter clean up.

 

[karimw]

I bought a big jug of Tek Trol, which is a super disinfectant and supposedly safe to use on hatching eggs. When I got it though I read all the fine print about how it's hazardous to fish etc... So now I'm afraid to use it too extensively. I do spray down my incubators with it though. Should be able to pass on that gallon to my heirs.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

I didn't spray my eggs with anything : /
It's my first time.

Looked up that oxine stuff. Will buy it. Wish it
came in smaller than gallon size. It will last me
A very very long time. I guess I can use it to clean
Other stuff too though.

 

[DutchChic]

Waterfowl eggs tend to be on the dirty side, especially geese it seems. I have hatched goslings out of some of the dirtiest eggs without issue, and some were shipped eggs. I didn't wash them, nor use anything on them. The birds don't wash their eggs before setting them, and I assure you, their nests are far from bacteria free. The eggs have a protective coating on them for just that reason. I always used a cheap styrofoam bator for strictly hatching geese, and at the end of the season, threw it away. That being said, setting the cleanest eggs is always best....and what works for me, may not work for someone else.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

Yeah that's true, chickens don't wash their eggs,
and they get better hatch rates than incubators,
so I'll just stop worrying about it and hope for
the best.

 

[DutchChic]

Yeah that's true, chickens don't wash their eggs,
and they get better hatch rates than incubators,
so I'll just stop worrying about it and hope for
the best.

You should always remove any debris off the eggs that you can. My sebastopol eggs are pretty ugly by the time the goose hatches them, but they do hatch.

 

[yinepu]

I didn't spray my eggs with anything : /
It's my first time.
Looked up that oxine stuff. Will buy it. Wish it
came in smaller than gallon size. It will last me
A very very long time. I guess I can use it to clean
Other stuff too though.

it does come in a smaller size.. I'll look up the place where I bought mine and post a link


http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/...d=294&osCsid=dbb8e217aa42922151ad43ebc6ba5837

 

[Bigfamily4me]

ok finally getting the pic of my set eggs!

The Australian Spotted eggs are the greenish ones. They were set a week before the first set date, but they will actually hatch mothers day weekend...
The far row is the Silkied Amer., a Lav Orp, and a Choc something...
The ones in the cartons are the silkies eggs i just received and set Sat. Im letting them sit for a few days like I have read on here. We'll see if that helps hatch rate.....

 

[yinepu]

Waterfowl eggs tend to be on the dirty side, especially geese it seems. I have hatched goslings out of some of the dirtiest eggs without issue, and some were shipped eggs. I didn't wash them, nor use anything on them. The birds don't wash their eggs before setting them, and I assure you, their nests are far from bacteria free. The eggs have a protective coating on them for just that reason. I always used a cheap styrofoam bator for strictly hatching geese, and at the end of the season, threw it away. That being said, setting the cleanest eggs is always best....and what works for me, may not work for someone else.

I've hatched out a bunch of critters from filthy eggs... and after working in the hatchery where everything has to be sterile .. then having to deal with loads of rotten eggs in their hatchers and incubators... well.. that made me realize that a little bit of gunk won't hurt all that much... but I do try to take precautions against bacteria and the other goodies that can cause a hatch to fail

 

[jandrusrn]

Ohhh I just set some eggs yesterday can I join in?
I set 14 BBS Marans eggs and 24 silkies mostly BBS a few lavender, partridger and a white.
3 Marans & 2 silkies were put under my broody Popocorn.... But unfortunately, today 1 of the silkie eggs had been moved to another nest.... I think it was only there an hour or so, so i stuck it in the incubator with the other eggs..... I have a feeling my other bantam Cochin is going broody and now trying to steal eggs! Ugh!! Poor Popcorn had a bloody comb from the egg steal.....

Ooooh poo