Yet another nervous first-timer

[Drewnkat]

I'm not talking about incubating eggs from full brother-sister. As for them mating, you can't really stop them, you just take the eggs and eat them instead of incubating. It doesn't hurt them to mate, and it doesn't affect the quality of the eggs for eating, just the potential offspring's genetics.

My understanding is half-siblings would not be a problem to breed together IF you are careful to select for quality. Good health, strong constitution, egg production, whatever characteristic you're looking for. In my case, I have two EE hens, whose eggs were fertilized by my RIR roo, and we're waiting to see if we get some good chicks this week.

I am considering future incubation of:
Eggs from the unrelated RIR hens, fertilized by a possible EE roo from this hatch. Mother would be either blue egg layer (Hedwig) or green egg layer (Chippy).
Eggs from the unrelated EE "aunt" depending on which color egg produces the strongest/best tempered roo, so RIR-cross roo to either Hedwig or Chippy. Technically, I do not know exactly how closely related Hedwig and Chippy are to each other, I'm not sure calling Meyer hatchery would help either!
Eggs from either Hedwig's son and Chippy's daughters or vice versa depending on what happens with the hatch. I've offered my friend first pick of the girls this time, since her wish for more hens is what got me to consider incubating in the first place.


That's interesting about breeding son to mother/father to daughter. I was reading some articles about it, and apparently it does work IF you are really super strict about only keeping the absolutely best specimens.

 

[Drewnkat]

Today is LOCKDOWN!

So I put in my plastic baskets to separate the blue eggs and green eggs. They were almost too big, guess my measurements weren't quite as good as I thought. I still managed to get the incubator closed back up.

The humidity spiked right up to 79% and then dropped down to about 60%. I'll be keeping a close eye on that.

The best news? I saw MOVEMENT.

Yep, as I was watching the eggs just lying there, I definitely saw several of them wobble. At least 3 of the wobblers were green eggs which could not be candled, so that was a plus. One was also an egg I had marked with a ? because the air cell hadn't grown much. I couldn't really reduce the humidity any more, because all the other eggs had basically textbook perfect air cells, and when it comes right down to it, I'd rather keep the conditions right for the eggs I know have signs of life versus risking them all for one unknown.

I am feeling so blessed and thankful. I've never done this before and quite frankly just the fact the eggs are still developing and showing signs of life at this point feels like a miracle to me. Of course, I'm still fighting off worry that they will mysteriously pass away in their shells (and I will feel like it's all my fault, of course), but I believe God made these little chicks, and I believe I have done the best I can to care for them, so now I have to trust that He will keep taking care of them, and keep doing as much as I know how to do to watch over them.

I have the brooder box all set up with fresh pine shavings. I have chick starter feed, nutri-drench, and little glass pebbles in the water dish so they don't fall in. I'm as ready as I know how to be!

My friend is almost as excited as I am, she wants pictures as soon as they hatch. I've already told her she needs to come over to meet the little fuzzballs and bond with them. She wants 2 girls, and she will be getting first pick as soon as we know which are which!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Today is LOCKDOWN!

So I put in my plastic baskets to separate the blue eggs and green eggs. They were almost too big, guess my measurements weren't quite as good as I thought. I still managed to get the incubator closed back up.

The humidity spiked right up to 79% and then dropped down to about 60%. I'll be keeping a close eye on that.

The best news? I saw MOVEMENT.

Yep, as I was watching the eggs just lying there, I definitely saw several of them wobble. At least 3 of the wobblers were green eggs which could not be candled, so that was a plus. One was also an egg I had marked with a ? because the air cell hadn't grown much. I couldn't really reduce the humidity any more, because all the other eggs had basically textbook perfect air cells, and when it comes right down to it, I'd rather keep the conditions right for the eggs I know have signs of life versus risking them all for one unknown.

I am feeling so blessed and thankful. I've never done this before and quite frankly just the fact the eggs are still developing and showing signs of life at this point feels like a miracle to me. Of course, I'm still fighting off worry that they will mysteriously pass away in their shells (and I will feel like it's all my fault, of course), but I believe God made these little chicks, and I believe I have done the best I can to care for them, so now I have to trust that He will keep taking care of them, and keep doing as much as I know how to do to watch over them.

I have the brooder box all set up with fresh pine shavings. I have chick starter feed, nutri-drench, and little glass pebbles in the water dish so they don't fall in. I'm as ready as I know how to be!

My friend is almost as excited as I am, she wants pictures as soon as they hatch. I've already told her she needs to come over to meet the little fuzzballs and bond with them. She wants 2 girls, and she will be getting first pick as soon as we know which are which!

That's great. I hope you see lots of fuzzballs soon!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Today is LOCKDOWN!

So I put in my plastic baskets to separate the blue eggs and green eggs. They were almost too big, guess my measurements weren't quite as good as I thought. I still managed to get the incubator closed back up.

The humidity spiked right up to 79% and then dropped down to about 60%. I'll be keeping a close eye on that.

The best news? I saw MOVEMENT.

Yep, as I was watching the eggs just lying there, I definitely saw several of them wobble. At least 3 of the wobblers were green eggs which could not be candled, so that was a plus. One was also an egg I had marked with a ? because the air cell hadn't grown much. I couldn't really reduce the humidity any more, because all the other eggs had basically textbook perfect air cells, and when it comes right down to it, I'd rather keep the conditions right for the eggs I know have signs of life versus risking them all for one unknown.

I am feeling so blessed and thankful. I've never done this before and quite frankly just the fact the eggs are still developing and showing signs of life at this point feels like a miracle to me. Of course, I'm still fighting off worry that they will mysteriously pass away in their shells (and I will feel like it's all my fault, of course), but I believe God made these little chicks, and I believe I have done the best I can to care for them, so now I have to trust that He will keep taking care of them, and keep doing as much as I know how to do to watch over them.

I have the brooder box all set up with fresh pine shavings. I have chick starter feed, nutri-drench, and little glass pebbles in the water dish so they don't fall in. I'm as ready as I know how to be!

My friend is almost as excited as I am, she wants pictures as soon as they hatch. I've already told her she needs to come over to meet the little fuzzballs and bond with them. She wants 2 girls, and she will be getting first pick as soon as we know which are which!

Happy for you! I can read your excitement, and know exactly how you feel. Best wishes for a successful hatch!

 

[WalnutHill]

Today is LOCKDOWN!

So I put in my plastic baskets to separate the blue eggs and green eggs. They were almost too big, guess my measurements weren't quite as good as I thought. I still managed to get the incubator closed back up.

The humidity spiked right up to 79% and then dropped down to about 60%. I'll be keeping a close eye on that.

The best news? I saw MOVEMENT.

Yep, as I was watching the eggs just lying there, I definitely saw several of them wobble. At least 3 of the wobblers were green eggs which could not be candled, so that was a plus. One was also an egg I had marked with a ? because the air cell hadn't grown much. I couldn't really reduce the humidity any more, because all the other eggs had basically textbook perfect air cells, and when it comes right down to it, I'd rather keep the conditions right for the eggs I know have signs of life versus risking them all for one unknown.

I am feeling so blessed and thankful. I've never done this before and quite frankly just the fact the eggs are still developing and showing signs of life at this point feels like a miracle to me. Of course, I'm still fighting off worry that they will mysteriously pass away in their shells (and I will feel like it's all my fault, of course), but I believe God made these little chicks, and I believe I have done the best I can to care for them, so now I have to trust that He will keep taking care of them, and keep doing as much as I know how to do to watch over them.

I have the brooder box all set up with fresh pine shavings. I have chick starter feed, nutri-drench, and little glass pebbles in the water dish so they don't fall in. I'm as ready as I know how to be!

My friend is almost as excited as I am, she wants pictures as soon as they hatch. I've already told her she needs to come over to meet the little fuzzballs and bond with them. She wants 2 girls, and she will be getting first pick as soon as we know which are which!

It sounds like you have done everything humanly possible to enable these youngsters to come into this world. Now it's up to them. Enjoy the rest of the experience!

 

[scflock]

I'm not talking about incubating eggs from full brother-sister. As for them mating, you can't really stop them, you just take the eggs and eat them instead of incubating. It doesn't hurt them to mate, and it doesn't affect the quality of the eggs for eating, just the potential offspring's genetics.

My understanding is half-siblings would not be a problem to breed together IF you are careful to select for quality. Good health, strong constitution, egg production, whatever characteristic you're looking for. In my case, I have two EE hens, whose eggs were fertilized by my RIR roo, and we're waiting to see if we get some good chicks this week.

I am considering future incubation of:
Eggs from the unrelated RIR hens, fertilized by a possible EE roo from this hatch. Mother would be either blue egg layer (Hedwig) or green egg layer (Chippy).
Eggs from the unrelated EE "aunt" depending on which color egg produces the strongest/best tempered roo, so RIR-cross roo to either Hedwig or Chippy. Technically, I do not know exactly how closely related Hedwig and Chippy are to each other, I'm not sure calling Meyer hatchery would help either!
Eggs from either Hedwig's son and Chippy's daughters or vice versa depending on what happens with the hatch. I've offered my friend first pick of the girls this time, since her wish for more hens is what got me to consider incubating in the first place.


That's interesting about breeding son to mother/father to daughter. I was reading some articles about it, and apparently it does work IF you are really super strict about only keeping the absolutely best specimens.

I am no expert at all, but I can tell you what I have read in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. Must-have book, BTW. To summarize, it recommends breeding to the grandchildren. It doesn't say that parent/offspring are specifically wrong, but it did say not to breed siblings when breeding for show. Line breeding is how people minimize importing faults from outside birds. I think the more closely related, ie. parents/siblings, the more chance there is of carrying over the undesireable traits. Take this with a grain of salt. I know nothing about breeding for show, but that is what I have read.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you. The first hatch is nerve wracking.

 

[Drewnkat]

Oh most definitely not breeding for show! Just for my own backyard flock, or to help my friends who have backyard hens and want to replace birds lost due to predators or whatever.

My main priorities are: gentle temperament, good health (obviously), and decent egg production. The RIRs have been giving me 5-6 eggs a week per hen, and the EEs are also going at about 5-6 eggs per week, so I'm confident these babies will have good egg production potential! It's so cool to go peek and see one just wiggle a tiny bit. I can't wait to meet them.

 

[Drewnkat]

WE HAVE CHIRPING!

I couldn't stand it anymore, had to check air cells, look for movement. I picked up one of those impossible green eggs and it chirped at me! It's a wonder I didn't drop the poor thing I was so shocked.

I continued to check, and I heard definite chirping from six of the green eggies. I couldn't resist, while I was marking what little I could see of the air cell boundaries, I marked the chirpy ones with names. Peep, Tweety, Chirpo... Those are just their egg names, I am sure they will earn new ones as they grow.

I now have sponges in my water reservoirs, to help keep the humidity more even hopefully.

When I went to pick up my teenage son from work, I told him. He was understandably excited, when we got home he wanted to hear. Just when I thought it couldn't get any more awesome...
I picked up the egg, and I felt it flutter. As I held it to my ear, not only did I hear peeping, I heard very distinct pecking sounds! Someone is working on a pip in there. My son heard it too. The look on his face was priceless. It seems to take more to impress a 17 year old, but his face was like a 7 year old on Christmas morning.

 

[WalnutHill]

 

[WVduckchick]

WE HAVE CHIRPING!

I couldn't stand it anymore, had to check air cells, look for movement. I picked up one of those impossible green eggs and it chirped at me! It's a wonder I didn't drop the poor thing I was so shocked.

I continued to check, and I heard definite chirping from six of the green eggies. I couldn't resist, while I was marking what little I could see of the air cell boundaries, I marked the chirpy ones with names. Peep, Tweety, Chirpo... Those are just their egg names, I am sure they will earn new ones as they grow.

I now have sponges in my water reservoirs, to help keep the humidity more even hopefully.

When I went to pick up my teenage son from work, I told him. He was understandably excited, when we got home he wanted to hear. Just when I thought it couldn't get any more awesome...
I picked up the egg, and I felt it flutter. As I held it to my ear, not only did I hear peeping, I heard very distinct pecking sounds! Someone is working on a pip in there. My son heard it too. The look on his face was priceless. It seems to take more to impress a 17 year old, but his face was like a 7 year old on Christmas morning.

I can just imagine the look on his face! Priceless... Keep us posted.