When do you start lockdown with bantam eggs?

[AmyLynn2374]

I have a few of each hens eggs and so I think there are 4 variety. Each kind seems to all have similar air cells but they are different from the others. I wish I knew who is laying the darker brown eggs. Those air cells are not growing down but more round if that makes sense. The best air cells are the cream smallest eggs which I think are Silkie. I marked one from the beginning that developed faster so I thought it would be first to hatch. Just put them on lockdown and marked air cells. First line is day 14 and then day 18. The Silkie egg hadn't internslly pipped but I could see its beak pushing it up. I'm nervous I've never done this many! The hens of these are cochin, Mille fluer, porcelain and Silkie. Rooster could be Silkie, frizzle, Easter egger or sebright. I collected these before we got rid of all our roosters except the frizzle. Anyway I'm excited! Oh and I'm also by myself this weekend with my twin 1 yr olds and 6 yr old son. This should be interesting

Good luck!!

 

[annmarie33]

Thank you! Just rocking eggs here and there so far.
But I started thinking- these eggs are free range and fed lots of treats and veggies, blueberries everyday etc. their shells are like twice as thick as store bought and hard to crack. Do you think that could be a problem? I just hope they can break through them ok. I don't think my last 2 hatches had this thick of shells

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you! Just rocking eggs here and there so far.
But I started thinking- these eggs are free range and fed lots of treats and veggies, blueberries everyday etc. their shells are like twice as thick as store bought and hard to crack. Do you think that could be a problem? I just hope they can break through them ok. I don't think my last 2 hatches had this thick of shells

My green eggs are thick and hard to break and they hatch just fine.

 

[annmarie33]

 

[annmarie33]

Isn't this air cell odd? I wonder if it's the one I thought might be twins. Anyway- it grew like crazy in the last 12 hours and in a weird shape. Would you say the beak in in the air cell? So internslly pipped? I do t hear chirping just see movement

 

[annmarie33]

Humidity has been btw 65-72 since I started lockdown. Some air cells have grown some havent so I think it must be individual to the egg

 

[annmarie33]

Day 19 starts in a few hours fyi. And the last pencil mark was done less than 24 hours ago on day 18

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Isn't this air cell odd? I wonder if it's the one I thought might be twins. Anyway- it grew like crazy in the last 12 hours and in a weird shape. Would you say the beak in in the air cell? So internslly pipped? I do t hear chirping just see movement

Looks good to me. That is a "drawn down" air cell. It's what happens before they pip. It is either internally pipped or attempting to internally pip. By that pic I would say it hasn't made it all the way yet, but is pushing up into the the air cell and should be soon.

Humidity has been btw 65-72 since I started lockdown. Some air cells have grown some havent so I think it must be individual to the egg

Yes, individual eggs loose moisture at their own rates. A lot of that has to do with shell quality and how porous it is.

Day 19 starts in a few hours fyi. And the last pencil mark was done less than 24 hours ago on day 18

You should see babies by the end of day 20 I would say.

 

[annmarie33]

Thank you Amy! Ok makes me feel better! The dark eggs have the smallest air cells and change. Do dark eggs loose moister slower? I've never had darker eggs
Also I haven't had this color egg since I've been collecting after I incubated these. I just have different shades of light brown. The dark I'm talking about you can see in that first incubation pic with the eggs laying down. Can a hens shell color change?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you Amy! Ok makes me feel better! The dark eggs have the smallest air cells and change. Do dark eggs loose moister slower? I've never had darker eggs
Also I haven't had this color egg since I've been collecting after I incubated these. I just have different shades of light brown. The dark I'm talking about you can see in that first incubation pic with the eggs laying down. Can a hens shell color change?

As I understand it the darker the egg the slower the moisture loss because the pigmentation is thicker to make it darker. I have heard of people "sanding" their BCM eggs before incubation to increase moisture loss. I've heard people that don't recommend sanding too. I don't have any real dark brown eggs. I do have some good greens that are hard to see into, but the moisture loss is pretty equal with the rest. They may get lighter/darker with age and the stopping and restarting production for winter/spring, but they won't change color like white to brown or brown to green. Nothing like that.