yeye5
Songster
My Betty, a Buff Orpington (X RIR) got broody and began sitting on 15 eggs on 6-25-16.
Sadly on 7-6/7-16 during the night, she was attacked and killed by a predator despite that her nest was in a fully fenced/enclosed area with a roof.
I found her that next morning (7-7) and her nest, obviously, was uncovered.
I was devastated, yet I knew that I had to act quickly if there was any possibility of saving the eggs/embryos.
I called a friend who had a very basic 7 egg incubator which was brought over right away. Also my silkie hen is very motherly.
So I decided to split the eggs between the incubator and Mima, my silkie hen.
I tried candling before placing the eggs in either the incubator or Mima's nest. Due to the bright sunlight I saw not a thing and I didn't want to bring the eggs inside for fear that the temperature drop would harm them.
As crazy things happen in cycles, after several days in the incubator, I woke up one morning to find the incubator had turned itself off in the night. The eggs were cold. Nothing I did turned the incubator back on.
I moved a few eggs to Mima's nest.
Presently Mima has 10 or 11 eggs with her.
I tried candling again today but still too bright light made it very hard to see anything especially in the darker brown eggs.
The eggs in question are from 3 different hens who lived together and shared a nest box: Betty(no longer with us) plus Henrietta and Snow White...those are white (snow White is a white Leghorn), medium brown (Betty's) and darker brown (Henriettas)
During candling today I saw in some of the eggs a very dark color where the air pocket should be but much larger than I'd expect. When I rotated or tipped the eggs that dark area moved consistently with the movement of the egg.
I fear that this is not a good sign.
Some of the eggs I could not see through or inside of, maybe due to color or maybe due to something else going on in the egg (not fertilized? )
Can anyone please help me in terms of what the dark color/s mean? Viability of the eggs? I did smell each egg right close to my nose and none had a foul odor. In fact they smelled like newly laid eggs. (I've been told that an egg that contains a deceased embryo will smell foul).
I thank everyone in advance for any insights, advice or ideas!
Sadly on 7-6/7-16 during the night, she was attacked and killed by a predator despite that her nest was in a fully fenced/enclosed area with a roof.
I found her that next morning (7-7) and her nest, obviously, was uncovered.
I was devastated, yet I knew that I had to act quickly if there was any possibility of saving the eggs/embryos.
I called a friend who had a very basic 7 egg incubator which was brought over right away. Also my silkie hen is very motherly.
So I decided to split the eggs between the incubator and Mima, my silkie hen.
I tried candling before placing the eggs in either the incubator or Mima's nest. Due to the bright sunlight I saw not a thing and I didn't want to bring the eggs inside for fear that the temperature drop would harm them.
As crazy things happen in cycles, after several days in the incubator, I woke up one morning to find the incubator had turned itself off in the night. The eggs were cold. Nothing I did turned the incubator back on.
I moved a few eggs to Mima's nest.
Presently Mima has 10 or 11 eggs with her.
I tried candling again today but still too bright light made it very hard to see anything especially in the darker brown eggs.
The eggs in question are from 3 different hens who lived together and shared a nest box: Betty(no longer with us) plus Henrietta and Snow White...those are white (snow White is a white Leghorn), medium brown (Betty's) and darker brown (Henriettas)
During candling today I saw in some of the eggs a very dark color where the air pocket should be but much larger than I'd expect. When I rotated or tipped the eggs that dark area moved consistently with the movement of the egg.
I fear that this is not a good sign.
Some of the eggs I could not see through or inside of, maybe due to color or maybe due to something else going on in the egg (not fertilized? )
Can anyone please help me in terms of what the dark color/s mean? Viability of the eggs? I did smell each egg right close to my nose and none had a foul odor. In fact they smelled like newly laid eggs. (I've been told that an egg that contains a deceased embryo will smell foul).
I thank everyone in advance for any insights, advice or ideas!
