Who is with me?

[chickie_mama]

CB,
Where's the RGP pics???? I am dying to see them!

I'm going downstairs to check on the all the future babies. I'll report in later.

 

[countrybum]

To answer your first question.

Candling, I do not think I am addicted to candling, but

. I candle on day 5, I mark ones that I am uncertain. I then candle again on day 7, but only the ones I was unsure of. Then I candle all again on day 10, doing the same thing for uncertain and checking them on day 13. Last candle is on day 17.

Now if I smell a bad egg, they all get candled to find it. I am not addicted.

riqui1, it is best to cnadle your first time a few times and hope you have a white egg to help you learn. I taught myself.

Candle on day 3 and then on 5, 7 and 10. You will learn a lot just doing that. Then to learn check them on day 15 and 18. You do that a few times you will know exactly what you are doing.

I will get the pic tomorrow. I had my neice and nephew since Thursday night and they left this morning. I had not seen them in almost a year. So my days were full of doing things with them.

By the way, I am going to check all of mine now. There is one stinky in there.

 

[riqui1]

Ooohhh...so I get to candle them tomorrow? How very exciting! The eggs aren't exactly white, but they aren't brown either. I am just worried about holding them well enough, as they are so darn small! I can't wait to see what kind of tiny little critter pops out of them! lol

I was actually thinking of labeling each egg and making some sort of chart for myself, so that I can see (in the end) how far off I was.

I think that, as long as there are no negative results of my candling caused by my own stupidity that leave me traumatized, I could probably get addicted to candling. It would be like a pregnant mother being able to do her own ultrasounds!

My husband said something about getting our own turkey and raising it for Thanksgiving... I am not sure if I could do that. I get attached to things easily! lol

 

[chickie_mama]

I had to move the bator to the basement. I was too tempted to candle EVERY DAY!

Riqui1, I could not raise a turkey for Thanksgiving. It's almost like I'm giving birth to all these baby chickies. They are all my children.

CB, I hope you had fun with your neice and nephew!

I took some hatching serama eggs to a friend of mine just before we left on vacation... one literally hatched on the way to her house. Out of 8 eggs, 7 hatched.

I told her I would split them with her. I let her keep 4 for her boys and she brought 3 of them to me at work today. Yes, I am keeping chickens under my desk AGAIN.

 

[riqui1]

Okay, call my cynical, but it just seemed too easy... My thermometer in my egg was still reading at 100.5 and it just never changed. I took it out, shook it down and redid my egg (which is still soft). I put the thermometer that came WITH the incubator on top of the eggs and I let everything sit for an hour. After that hour was up, I checked the egg thermo and it hadn't raised at all...not even to 95!! The thermo on the eggs was only reading 92! Why would the egg thermo have gotten "stuck" like that? I tapped the temp up a little and will check it all again in a few hours (around lunch), but I am worried now. I haven't messed up already, have I? Why would the thermo in the egg be responding/not responding like that? While I realize that after an hour, it may not have gotten all the way back up to 100, I would think that it would have gotten back up above 95! If the egg was actually at 100.5, it would seem like the thermometer would have started to raise a little more quickly, as it took just seconds to redo the egg and the playdough was still warm.

Am I freaking out too soon or have I made a boo boo?

 

[cassey40]

I have 9 bantam and 9 frizzles in right now and whwn i left for work this morning the temp on top of eggs was 100 and the water wiggler i made was 100.4 i hope this is also ok. This is my first time at this too, i tried to candle last night but i really dont know what i'm doing if someone has pics of candling can you please share thanks. I'm on day 6 and it seams like its taking forever.

 

[countrybum]

Riqui and Cassey,

Here is a good site I used. Start with the "Getting Ready" space and then move up in pictures. It is a very good teaching class.

http://www.minkhollow.ca/HatchingProgram/Candling/index.html


Chickiemama, it does not surprise me one bit that those babies are under your desk. I am going to get a job at McD's and see if I can take my babies to work with me.

Yes me nd the kids had a good time and I was very happy to finally get to spend some time with them.

As for you moving the babies to the basement. I hope it is a finished basement and you are not going to have them be born in a dungeon.

By the way, I candled last night (removed 5 bad eggs, I knew I was smelling something

). I have all different stages of eggs, which I assume is from the broodies sitting on them until I collect them. Since I dewormed and cannot eat the eggs for 10 days, I have been having quite a few eggs and have been spreading them to hathcing friends, along with being forced to put more in my own incubators. If I hatch all of these I will be up to almost 150 chickens

and then I would not blame DH for smacking me.

To bad the auction is only every 3rd Saturday. But at least by then the ones I take will be older.

 

[walkswithdog]

Battery operated thermometers stick or offer some weird readings if the battery goes bad for any reason.

I change my batteries each hatch and whenever things appear to go haywire without a good explanation.

I keep at least one liquid thermometer in there. So I know if they all go weird.

And somebody asked me about quail. I'm not the one doing quail. My smallest dog would eat a quail a day, my largest pair 6-7 each - that's not economical for me. The whole group about 30 quail a day... nope not here.

I gave the broody turkeys the three good incubator eggs because only one of theirs was working out well.

Other than the darn double yolker - I'm just fiddling with no-go marans eggs and waiting on the replacement marans eggs and hoping the shipping gestapo are kinder this go round.

 

[chickie_mama]

My basement is definitely finished. We didn't put a/c down there though because it stays relatively cool anyway. It is the perfect place for chickies. It is a little humid, so my humidity in my bator stable too.

Out of 13 guinea eggs, I am almost certain 7 are developing.

I have some other odds and ends eggs in there too that I don't think are developing. I have some bantam EEs that I really wanted to hatch, but doesn't look like it's gonna happen.

And 2 peafowl eggs! Both are developing. I saw them swimming last night.

 

[countrybum]

Sorry walkswithdog, I meant that to be for gunswayne. I was wondering what he is going to do with 50 quail. I guess you can eat them.

After reading what you added, I guess I should add a liquid thermometer in with my hygro. I hope it is not off. I have not changed the batteries since I got it, will do so now.

Chickie mama
BASEMENT,

, I would not want to walk those steps everytime I felt the need to check on my eggs, which is like every hour.

I lost my 1st peafowl egg, due to temp spikes. The cracked egg also failed. I have 2 others that are doing well right now.

for those 2 to make it.

Have to go change battereis.