Who is with me?

[walkswithdog]

Riqui part of my suggestion to wait is because if your kids see you candling every 2-3 days - you'd be surprised how many people there are here with TRAGEDY stories about kids candling eggs themselves when Mom isn't looking and disaster strikes - because they drop them, bump a thermostat, leave the incubator part way open - and omg etc....

Stealth check the bad ones if the boys aren't there. But the more you (even yourself) candle eggs the greater the chances of a dropped/cracked/broken egg.

It's safer to give the boys the idea is something you do rarely and very very carefully and ONLY when YOU are handling the eggs.

And never ever ever let em see you open an egg unless you are VERY specific about RULES about who DOES that. Nevermind the poor mothers who have had children OPEN eggs to WATCH the chicks....ugh.

Kids love hatching but even teens have been known to take things into their own hands and destroy hatches.

And though careful candling is generally safe - if something rough happens accidentally in the first ten days it IS possible to break veins and kill starting embryos.

So it's always there and sometimes you won't know that it was you that did them in... Most people with consistently high 90% to 100% hatch rates candle only once or twice. To determine clears part way and then to check as they're transfered to the hatcher. Period.

It is something worth reflecting on.

 

[chickie_mama]

Well said WWD!

I got my Blue Slate eggs yesterday!!!!

And guess what?!? I ordered 4 eggs. He said he would include extras.... When I opened the box, there were 8 (yes I said 8) Blue Slate eggs.

I just couldn't believe it. I am all ready to set these babies tonight. And in just 28 short (yea right) days, I'll have blue slate turklettes!

 

[riqui1]

Oh, I DEFINITELY understand those ideas!! I was thinking along those exact same lines, while we were doing it. My 9 year-old asked me, probably three times, if he could hold the eggs. Every single time, I reminded him that this was MY project that I would share with him, but that he was never, ever to touch the incubator, as it could hurt the eggs. He acted like he understood, but I know how curiosity is with children AND adults. I also know that I was very worried about handling them myself, as it just seemed too rough, regardless of how gentle I tried to be. Heck, I think I roll them too roughly sometimes!! One of the things that I have working for me is that I am a work-at-home mom who does daycare from 7am until 10pm. There is very limited time that I am not here... lol

Thank you, though, for reminding me, as many of those little things will stick with me - like the one about opening the egg to watch the chick! Ugh...

Most likely, I won't touch the ones that I saw veins in again until day 10 or after. I really don't think that there will be much need to, as my "beginner's eye" won't be able to see much anyhow. The others, I will check in a few days and then go from there.

Thank you for the reminders...I hadn't thought of my teen trying to go it alone, but now I can see it...

 

[walkswithdog]

Sometimes I thank God I started this with daughter grown up and on her own. I've seen SOOOO many posts where well intentioned, curious children and teens have caused disaster they tend to stick with me.

Several poor people have had the cat kill hatches - which is bad enough or the dog knock over the now peeping incubator and having lunch on the squeeky toys... more ugh.

So I just feel like a word of caution before is a bit kinder than sorry after.

 

[countrybum]

All great advice WWD, I do not have kids so I never really think about children.

I have both duck eggs pipped, just hope they are out in the next 12 to 24 hours. Rolling, chirping and pipped eggs does not mean HATCH as I have learned. I had no clue, so humidity was about 47, holes not open, but so far so good. One of my broody ducks lost all, but 2 of her eggs to something. The 2 have now been added to the incubator.

Probably bad since she has not been on them in about 2 days, but I will find out.

These 2 guys really need to hurry I need to thin out the eggs in the other incubator.

I will probably have to recheck them since I have 2 layers and make sure they did not decease while being on the top layer.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, I have to decide who goes to auction and who don't. What a tough decission to make. Have to go get some chores done, yap at you all later.

 

[chickie_mama]

AAAAAggggghhhhhh!!!! I need to order a new wafer for my bator! I moved some eggs to the hatcher last night. Temp was fine, humidity was fine. This morning, I went downstairs to check.... Temp was 72.

Eggs were cold to the touch. I bumped the temp up just until it clicked and the light came on. I went to the grocery store and came home. Checked temp. It was 104.

So, with all that being said, I think this hatch is doomed. Luckily there were no turkey or peafowl eggs in the hatcher!

 

[walkswithdog]

Aw I'm sorry Chickie - I tell you while there are those that scream the praises of "wafer" thermostats, especially on the homemade incubator threads and the LG threads. I'm completely under-whelmed by them.

One guy always says - use the one the "industry" has been using for years instead of my tacky little water-heater thermostat. Well, I know more people with hatches killed by a wafer suddenly gone wonky than by water heater thermostats going that way.

Sure, you have to take greater pains setting up a water heater one but once you figure it out the little things are fairly reliable.

I'm sorry yours went sideways. I hate that. I swear from one hatch to the next, it's always something. That whole Murphy's Law thing.

The carton I had the resent Marans eggs in had a tear I didn't see and one of my precious GCMs jumped up, rolled out and hit the floor - smoosh.

 

[cassey40]

I just did a rookie mistake i candle my eggs last night i saw a little chickie in one and all the others were really dark in side and i just figure that these were bad. So today i thought i would check on of the eggs to see if it was a bad egg because i didnt want it to start smelling, so i opened one egg and their was a chick inside and he was a live. What i was seeing was a lot of yolk around him and not seeing the embroy inside. so i will leave the rest alone untill july 1 hatch day.

 

[riqui1]

Oh no...I feel so bad. All 3 of you are posting with bad news.

I am sorry about the wayward incubator. I don't know anything about them, so I don't understand what the wafer is about, but I hope that an egg-miracle occurs and your hatch turns out okay.

As for the tear, that really stinks! I am also sorry you lost an egg, WWD.

And the idea of opening an egg and making a mistake is one of my biggest concerns.

On the flip-side of everyone else's posts, my husband wanted to see how the eggs were candled last night, so I pulled one of the good ones out and showed him the veins and such that were visible. He asked me about the four that were set aside, that I didn't see veins in before, so I showed him how those didn't appear to be fertile, as there was nothing visible inside. The only thing was, it didn't work out that way. Two of those four eggs are now showing a very large network of veins! I was really psyched. So now, I have 12 of 14 eggs that are looking as if they are on the path to development.

I think that I learned something from everyone else's posts though!!

Again, I am sorry for all of your losses!

 

[countrybum]

Quote:

Well do not call them doomed yet. My peafowl could not handle the 104 spike, but my chicks did fine and a couple with a little help. So as you stated, LUCKILY there were no peafowl eggs in there. (Those would be doomed).

My peafowl egg due to hatch on the 28th, is still kicking. I have been keeping close tabs on heat, but I have a problem:

I have my eggs marked for the day they are due to hatch and everyone that got caught in the heat spikes, is hatching early.

My 2 duck eggs marked for the 23rd, hatched a couple days ago. I thought it was due to Mom sitting on them for awhile. Well now my duck egg that is marked for the 25th is hatching and that one no one had sat on. So I have come to the assumption that it is from the temp spikes they were caught in over night. Not just 1 temp spike, but 3.

So chickie mama, I did the same thing, bought a new heating element and I have not had that problem since. I cannot say my incubator does not get used, so after 2 years of use, I guess it was due for something.

By the way, how are your peafowl eggs doing? Have you checked them lately? I guess those will be the next ones under your desk at work.