wanting starter batch of hatching eggs...

[ajcress]

My husband, son and I are building a bator tonight using tips from all of you here. I am wondering what kind would be the best to start out with. I would like to get something inexpensive for my first hatch just to figure out the whole process! I do have chickens but I am not sure if the roo is doing his job due to the cold weather. Would it matter if I only get and egg or 2 a day? How long could I keep them before I put them into the bator?

If anyone has some eggs that they would like to sell reasonably for my 1st. Please let me know.

Thank you in advance
Athena

 

[jkcove08]

If you are making a home made bator it would be best to use your own eggs first. You could collect for up to 2 weeks and they should be OK. Just make sure you keep them in about 60 to 65 degrees and turn them side to side twice a day, usually when you get up and when you go to bed. I just put them in an egg carton and then put something under one side and then the other. I had a goose last year that was laying 1 egg a day and I set 21 eggs and all but about 2 were fertile. 3 weeks is about max before they loose thier viability. Make sure you check a couple times a day and your eggs should be fine. Jenn

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Thats what I would try too ajcress...and then if yours from your rooster aren't fertile...contact me and I'll send you up some eggs...but they will still have a mutt hen or two hatch along with pures from my coops yet...

Do what jkcove tells you about collecting eggs..yours will be fine...

 

[muddler6]

Somewhere in this maze of postings there is one or two that show what a fertile egg looks like (that is very useful info) The pictures helped me set up my first hatch (Keep your fingers crossed, they came out of the auto turner today and in the next couple days I hope to have lots of little ones too. I wish I could remember who posted the pictures, but I'm sure someone could lead you that way as to what to look for on the yolk. Good Luck, I plan to build one too, even though I bought one, and the plans here are simple enough that even I can follow them! GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[mergmet]

agreed with all everyone has said so far. I would be happy to send you some eggs if you pay the shipping. I am getting about a dozen a day and the fertility here is good. They are mostly cross with buff orpington, RIR, and ameraucana, the buff roo is hanging out with hens of those three varieties. if you want to start with some free mutts, these are good brown egg layers and can also get big enough to go in the pot....

offer stands until I separate my breeds in the next couple of weeks. I would try yours first unless the cold has affected your fertility.

good luck!

Margaret

 

[ajcress]

question...
i hve about 6 eggs now. But they were in the frig. for 2 days. we are getting single digits here so i cannot catch my eggs still warm. are these eggs ruined? what should i do?

I did take the egs out to get to room temp.

thanks,
Athena

 

[rooster-red]

Its best to collect them and store them at around 50 degrees until you get the number you want to incubate.

 

[jkcove08]

You can certainly try them. There have been different people who have put refrigerated eggs in a bator and had some success. As for your eggs that you are collecting, depending on how cold it has been getting there it would be the same. The biggest thing about having shipped eggs now it with the cold it would be real hard on them. If you can find someone from the south you might have decent luck. It is just real hard to know how a home made bator is going to work and having to take into account everything that can happen with shipped eggs you cant really judge its true performance. You might want to go out and by a nice journal and keep records of temps and humidities. As you do this you will see what works best for you. Maybe each time you turn them you can chart the temp and humidity. Also if you change the temp a little you might want to write down the time and make sure you go back a hour later to make sure it didnt spike. Watch your water level too. I have found that here in Iowa if the water dries up there is a good chance my temps willspike on me too. I know that you want to make the most out of each hatch by having the most eggs you can but it also means if you have a problem it will be much larger if the bator is full compaired to if you only had a dozen or less in it. Jenn

 

[ajcress]

I would like to thank everyone for the very helpful information. I am going to try the few eggs that I have and hope that a few will hatch. I will keep you updated when I put the eggs in and there after. I am sure that I will need some advice along the way. again thank you all very much