The Saga Begins

[knowvagale]

Yes I realize that. If they make it that far, I was planning on putting them all in lockdown on day fifteen instead of eighteen. I read somewhere on this site that the last week of turning is not as critical, and that going into lockdown a few days early doesn't usually affect the eggs. Do you think that would work?

 

[LaFleche]

I don't know because I never tried to stop the egg turning on day 15. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it turns out.

 

[knowvagale]

Update! I candled all the eggs today to check for cracks and blood rings. I was originally given 20 eggs, 2 of which were badly cracked, and 18 of which I incubated. After candling, 4 looked suspicious, 2 possible blood rings and two that just looked dead. I'm sure there are more casualties, but I'm not an experienced candler and I can't see through the green eggs to save my life. Any thoughts on the eggs? No veining visible in these 4. This is what a blood ring looks like, right?

 

[knowvagale]

Day 7 casualty report: I was able to identify a lot more of the unviable eggs/quitters when I candled today and throw them out. Nine eggs remain. Three are green eggs, which I can't see through, one is so porous I can't tell what's vein structure and what's not, and four have vein structure that I can clearly see. I could see movement in only one egg, and very healthy well developed veins in another. These are the only two I'm certain are alive. One of the eggs is mostly dark and looks like it's already on day 15. I guess I'll boost the humidity in a few days and stop turning that one in case it hatches. Of the original 18 eggs, half of them have been thrown out. It's worth noting that most of those eggs were already dead when they got to me, so I don't think it's my incubator's fault this time.

 

[LaFleche]

So, how was the outcome this time, did any healthy chicks hatch at all?

 

[knowvagale]

Still two days left to wait!

 

[LaFleche]

Two days have passed...

 

[knowvagale]

Still nothing yet. Only four eggs showed signs of life, and only one of those made it to lockdown. Temp and humidity were closely monitored and stayed fairly consistent, so I think it's safe to assume all the deaths were due to mishandling before they got to me. It's pretty sad, but my hopes were not high considering the condition the eggs were in. I will be trying again with higher quality hatching eggs sometime in the future.

 

[LaFleche]

This egg of yours does keep us in suspense...