When to start incubating pullet eggs ?

[MissChicken81]

I have always wondered how people weigh them to find out if they are losing enough weight while incubating.

 

[MGG]

I have always wondered how people weigh them to find out if they are losing enough weight while incubating.

Use a small food scale.

 

[MissChicken81]

Use a small food scale.

O SCORE !!! I THINK I HAVE ONE OF THOSE !!!

 

[MGG]

O SCORE !!! I THINK I HAVE ONE OF THOSE !!!

Awesome!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I keep a couple gram scales. One where I bring them in the house and another where I set them.
I just keep the smallish eggs for eating.
I can't find anything definitive for the breed except that Plymouth Rocks are supposed to lay large eggs. That would be about 2 ounces or 57 grams. With that as a guide, I wouldn't set eggs till they reach at least 50 grams.
That said, PRs are a very common breed so it may not be as critical.
I raise one of the rarest breeds in the world and even rarer in the US so it is imperative that I pay close attention to what I breed, breed standards (which I translated from Catalan (Vilafranca del Penedes) and Spanish (Argentina)
and how I care for them.
If my birds are supposed to lay extra-large and jumbo eggs, I don't want to start getting birds that lay medium to large eggs.

 

[MissChicken81]

I keep a couple gram scales. One where I bring them in the house and another where I set them.
I just keep the smallish eggs for eating.
I can't find anything definitive for the breed except that Plymouth Rocks are supposed to lay large eggs. That would be about 2 ounces or 57 grams. With that as a guide, I wouldn't set eggs till they reach at least 50 grams.
That said, PRs are a very common breed so it may not be as critical.
I raise one of the rarest breeds in the world and even rarer in the US so it is imperative that I pay close attention to what I breed and how I care for them.
If my birds are supposed to lay extra-large and jumbo eggs, I don't want to start getting birds that lay medium to large eggs.

Wow thank you !
And now I’m curious what breed do you have ?

 

[MGG]

Wow thank you !
And now I’m curious what breed do you have ?

Penedesencas

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I put a lot of faith in pocket gram scales. I've found them to be more accurate and repeatable than food scales. I threw two fairly new food scales away because they were junk.
Repeatability is the key.
I still wasn't able to weigh live birds, especially more mature birds.
I still use the pocket gram scales but last year I invested in a great scale. a My Weigh KD-8000.
https://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-kd8000.html
I also bought a 10 gram calibration weight. Every time I fire it up, it is spot on.
It is rare to find an 8000 gram capacity scale that can have perfect repeatability at 10 grams.
A kitchen scale bought from the likes of Target, Walmart or even Bed Bath and Beyond won't hold a candle to it.
I found that my purchases of cheap kitchen scales were a complete waste of money.
The same goes for thermometers and hygrometers. Most are junk.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Wow thank you !
And now I’m curious what breed do you have ?

Penedesencas and only the Black variety which is the dual purpose variety.
After over 30 breeds, they are my favorite.

 

[MissChicken81]

O ok awesome Such great information! And what beautiful birds you have I just look them up “Gorgeous “