Uh oh... found an egg today! ... - A journal of sorts, from finding eggs to hatching them... Update

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

this brings up a question I have been dying to ask of you professionals. .....so without a hatcher, what happens? The chicks/keets hatch out in the incubator, and you just check in when it's time?

I move the eggs into lockdown in a different incubator, I usually fill up the water bucket at the top, and then put a pan of water covered with wire at the bottom of the incubator. Then I lay all the eggs on their sides on a tray, and put another tray on top of it so it is a sort of lid, and also so they can't jump out. It works, but it's kind of unhandy. Really need an actual hatcher! LOL

~ Aspen

 

[GuineaLady93]

Nice, Congrats! Whatcha got in there??? And when are they due to hatch?

Thanks! They are guinea eggs, of course. It will hold 288...If only I could get my hands on that many eggs!

The first batch is due on the 2nd. the second batch is due on the 9th and the third is due on the 16th.
That first batch is from their very first eggs so I think I'm only going to get about 3 or 4 eggs. But they should get bigger after that.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:

Ahh, just Guinea eggs... I figured you'd have duck and chickens eggs in there too!

Too bad you don't live in CA, I'm getting 30-32 eggs a day all of a sudden... my 3 table top incubators are full, with no room to set any more in them until next Monday (unless I double layer them which I am trying to refrain from doing cuz I am too lazy to hand turn all the extras this year, lol)... so needless too say there's 20 dozen eggs in my fridge (already used 5 dozen last weekend for deviled eggs and egg salad, plus several breakfasts, lol). I've also sold several dozen for hatching too. They are still piling up daily tho, so my Mom will be going home with at least 20 dozen on Monday. I need to just bite the bullet and order a bigger incubator...

I am selling 5 Hens on Sunday (only 4 of them are laying so far)... so that will be 16 eggs a week LESS that are piling up at least, lol. I will still have 40 Hens after they are gone, and pretty soon all 40 will be laying... what was I thinking?

 

[perchie.girl]

Four days ago I fed and watered and said goodby to my kids. When I was observing the older chickens I watched the Roo "HotStuff". Hes an Araucana. He was guiding the Araucana hen over to a cardboard box and Awk awk awking at her. She would walk into the cardboard box and come around him. She looked like she wasn't sure.... I thought to myself.... that looks an awful lot like a roo showing his hen where a good nest would be.

I looked over at the guineas and they were doing their guinea thing..... Chi Chi Chi ing Buck wheating and chasing and biting at the chickens through the fence..... Oh well.

Today I went up to feed and water. I had no expectations..... Youngsters were just about out.... I fed them. And filled their water. Then I looked into the big chicken cage. There in the dog house were five blue green eggs. Woo Hoo Wittle itty bitty Pullet eggs Not just one or two but FIVE..... she must have layed her first egg that day.

So I grab up the eggs delighted and take them to the truck. Find the ceramic eggs to put back in the dog crate.... I bought two one for the guineas and one for the chickens. So I put one in the dog crate and looked into the guinea pen one more time...... OH MY GAWD..... there were three just laying there in the bright sun..... Woo Hoo. So I grabbed them up and put a phony egg in one of the spots on the floor. When I left One guinea hen was giving that phony egg the STINK Eye. LOL

So here they are..... three Guinea eggs and five Arucana eggs.... too funny I have three Guinea hens and one Auracana hen.



Wooo Hooo we have eggsies......

is it even worth while putting Pullet eggs in the incubator? Will sitting in the sun for three days ..... oh well I think I just answered my first question.... Dang.

deb

 

[PeepsCA]

Congrats! Finally, eggs for yooooooooou!
I'd store them in a cool place, collect a few more and put them all in, what do you have to lose? (Besides a free a breakfast or 2). I've gotten away with setting eggs that had warmed and cooled a couple times before.

Good luck with them, hope your Hens keep up the egg laying for you (all of them).

 

[stoopid]

I have found Guinea nests in the strangest places. Some of them have to be viable, or else the silly birds would have become extinct years ago.
I say try it!

 

[Zootopia]

We have been missing our single guinea hen for about a week, only seeing her for a little bit in the afternoons. Went looking yesterday and found her on a nest of 20 eggs in the fence line. None of these are fertile, guess the roo wasn't up to it. we will have to wait till next year when all the littles we hatch this year grow up. I will try penning her for awhile so she will go back to laying in the nest box again. She was pretty ticked off at DS for getting into the nest. WOW was she loud !!!

 

[daylily]

You guys are so ambitious! I feel awful that I'm taking all the eggsI'm just not up for keeps right now. I have so many other things on my plate this year. Next year should see me as a grandmother finally! if all goes well. Two daughters trying very hard. Both live far away so we'll see but I am following all your posts carefully as I would love to add to the flock as I only have three left and this property is full of ticks.

So they are working their little tails off trying to get them.

So far the two dogs and I have been deticked twice just walking in the grassy area of the yard! Nasty little things!

I think what you girls are doing is great! Mine ARE laying twice a day! So we are getting plenty of eggs and the neighbors and we just love it! Happy hatching and keep posting those sweet little pictures!

Daylily

 

[Country Chickens]

Had to tell you about my latest guinea story. My daughter thought she was helping and collected eggs from their nest about five days ago while a girl was on it. Last day they used that nest, of course. The next two days we had big booming thunder storms and lots of rain, so I only glanced around for the new nest, but didn't search. Two days ago I started really looking, and based on their behavior they had me convinced they must be laying on the far reaches of the property. We only have five acres, but it makes a long point so at the further end, they would be quite a hike and what's worse, the likely spot was dead center in a huge overgrown bramble patch next to a boggy area. I wasn't thrilled, and despite some looking--and scratches--didn't find the missing eggs. Two days of this, right? Well, yesterday, I was working in the pasture where my garden is, next to the coop and quite close to the house. Low and behold, there's a pile of guinea eggs! It was right in the center of a triangle of traffic, next to where I'm always working in the garden and walking to the compost and coop! It was only sheltered by some overgrown weeds, in a hallow in the ground. I'm tempted to say it was their worst nesting spot by far, 'cept it had me fooled! Turned out all the girls but one were using it, and all their eggs from the last five days were in it. I'll be putting them under a hen, cause they were rained on (poured on, rather) and my incubators are full, but I'm still glad I found them.

Oh, and peeps, I have seen studies done by our veterinary school that show turning after day 7 in chicken eggs makes virtually no difference to the hatchability of the egg--actually becomes decreasingly significant after day 4. Translating that into guinea terms, I have been stacking my guinea eggs that are at least 14 days into incubation (playing it safe) on the other eggs and not turning them. So far have seen no reduction in viability or hatch rates. Something to think about!

 

[Zootopia]

Had to tell you about my latest guinea story. My daughter thought she was helping and collected eggs from their nest about five days ago while a girl was on it. Last day they used that nest, of course. The next two days we had big booming thunder storms and lots of rain, so I only glanced around for the new nest, but didn't search. Two days ago I started really looking, and based on their behavior they had me convinced they must be laying on the far reaches of the property. We only have five acres, but it makes a long point so at the further end, they would be quite a hike and what's worse, the likely spot was dead center in a huge overgrown bramble patch next to a boggy area. I wasn't thrilled, and despite some looking--and scratches--didn't find the missing eggs. Two days of this, right? Well, yesterday, I was working in the pasture where my garden is, next to the coop and quite close to the house. Low and behold, there's a pile of guinea eggs! It was right in the center of a triangle of traffic, next to where I'm always working in the garden and walking to the compost and coop! It was only sheltered by some overgrown weeds, in a hallow in the ground. I'm tempted to say it was their worst nesting spot by far, 'cept it had me fooled! Turned out all the girls but one were using it, and all their eggs from the last five days were in it. I'll be putting them under a hen, cause they were rained on (poured on, rather) and my incubators are full, but I'm still glad I found them.

Oh, and peeps, I have seen studies done by our veterinary school that show turning after day 7 in chicken eggs makes virtually no difference to the hatchability of the egg--actually becomes decreasingly significant after day 4. Translating that into guinea terms, I have been stacking my guinea eggs that are at least 14 days into incubation (playing it safe) on the other eggs and not turning them. So far have seen no reduction in viability or hatch rates. Something to think about!

AH HA!! that's cute.

So you put the guinea eggs at 14 days+ on the bottom (since you don't have to turn them) and put the eggs you still have to turn on top? Anyone have a pic of how you are stacking these eggs? what about temp differences in the top and bottom layers, won't the top layers be warmer than the bottom? this is without turners in the bators right?
When I am finished hatching there are several experiments I need to try. Stacking is one of them, then turning/not turning ones with bad air cells, washing eggs in different soaps.

I candled my 20 guinea eggs under the 2 broody Black Stars and 19 were developing

. Now I have 2 broody Cochins too!