Who is with me?

[chickie_mama]

Holy Cow.... I haven't changed my batteries either! I also don't have a thermometer in a water wiggler, or play dough.

Gonna have to make one tonight.

I count walking up and down the stairs to check on the eggs as my daily work-out!

 

[cassey40]

Thanks countrybum that site is awsome.

 

[riqui1]

Yes, thank you! That site will be very useful. I appreciate that!

Neither of my thermometers have batteries. The one in the playdough egg is a medical "mercury" type thermo and the other is relatively the same (the one on top of the eggs). The one one top of the eggs now appears to be about 98, but I don't want to open it to check for sure. The one in the playdough egg still isn't even up to 95! That really doesn't make any sense! Can a thermometer be bad? lol

I do have a digital. Maybe I will pull that playdough egg and check the temp with that before I futz with anything.

 

[walkswithdog]

I got up the ermmmmm pause search for politically correct term... oh yeah, GUTS to believe what I thought about the marans eggs and broke open everyone I was sure wasn't a go. Deep sigh. And was right every time. They were all just scrambled eggs. I left only two I was uncertain about and really only one of those is a true maybe.

And I candled the double yolker and laughed. There they are two distinct, thriving wigglers in one egg. They've now each taken a half and you really can see a distinct line where each's side ends.

I'm not sure I can stand just three eggs in the bator....

 

[walkswithdog]

Yes, even mercury thermometers can go bad - I'd be more worried though that the playdough has insufficient "contact" or had and that's why it's different.

You know all that emphasis on UNDER THE TONGUE?

You want a good 1/4 of that thermometer IN playdough or whatever you're using.

Just the bulb would be utterly insufficient for a good reading. At least an inch must be covered and for safety I'd figure 1.5 inches.

I'd go nuts trying to read only bulb thermometers. And if you can find a non-mercury thermometer - do exchange it for the mercury one. If that mercury breaks while it's in your incubator every egg dies. Mercury contact and mercury vapor are deadly....

 

[riqui1]

I have it in there, at least, an inch. And it isn't mercury, I just don't know how else to describe it. It is made "mercury free."

I did pull the egg out and use a digital thermometer. It only went up to 93.9. Are these eggs still viable, sitting at that low of a temperature since Sunday afternoon? I have never seen a thermometer go bad before, especially not one that was brand new! I bought that Saturday afternoon, just for this purpose! It got up to 100.5 and just sat there, never dropping.

Well, hopefully I didn't hurt these poor babies. I will just make the necessary adjustments as they rear their head. I did bump the temp up and am going to leave it alone until this evening (unless I see it get too high).

I am sorry about your Marans, walkswithdog. I hope that the other 2 eggs surprise you!

You have twins?! Is that common? Will they both live, normally? How tiny must they be when they hatch!!

 

[walkswithdog]

Most double yolkers fail at some point, any that hit hatch date do need help out if they're to make it at all. Few do survive but it's something I keep working with, if nothing else it's some neat candling practice.

Any man made thingy can go bad, or be made bad.

A few hours or even days of cooling won't usually kill any but the weakest eggs. It may change your hatch date to later.

Wrong thermometers are why I generally have three. Chuckle. I recheck them with some frequency because hatching is all about what can go wrong - going wrong frequently.

For instance my power went out this morning for over two hours.

I don't use a medical thermometer for more than confirming the temps on my digitals any more - I"ve become very dependent on the readouts that I can flick up my eyes and look at in two rooms of the house, lol.

One has a probe in the water wiggler but sits outside the bator and constantly shows me the wiggler temp and the other two digitals are remotes. Sending their temps to two separate units, one at the computer (go figure) and one in the living room next to the couch.

I can check temps while doing chores by passing the couch or while at the computer by glancing up.

Or I can carry one into the kitchen if I'll be in there awhile...

 

[countrybum]

Quote:
Well, I can ship you out some fertile eggs tomorrow. I have plenty since I cannot eat my eggs right now. I just wormed and treated with antibiotics, something I do every 6 to 8 months as a precaution. I can ship you a dozen. No certain breed, just mixed, but I get a lot of comments on them.

The last 2 days worth of eggs goes to my neighbor.

 

[walkswithdog]

Quote:
Well, I can ship you out some fertile eggs tomorrow. I have plenty since I cannot eat my eggs right now. I just wormed and treated with antibiotics, something I do every 6 to 8 months as a precaution. I can ship you a dozen. No certain breed, just mixed, but I get a lot of comments on them.

The last 2 days worth of eggs goes to my neighbor.

YOU my friend are a terrible enabler... chuckle. Thank you, I really appreciate the offer.

I'm looking into some sizzle or silkie eggs to hatch along the resent marans

I decided to keep the Sizzles lol, omg, and so I need at least two more Sizzle or Silkie pullets... so I'm begging up some eggs from the folks I talk to about Sizzles.

I made 70.00 at the flea market selling off some of my stock and have another 30 birds to sell to try to make at least one of my root canal payments.

 

[countrybum]

Well, my eggs could be a trail period for shipped eggs. I could ship you a dozen and see if my shipped eggs hatch. Then you will be able to tell the fertility, or age of all the shipped eggs you have received that didn't hatch.

After doing so, you can sell the chicks at the flea market and add the money to your pot for your root canal.