Incubation Update (Part 2)

Egg gone bad.

Candling complete.  I was very pleased with the results.  I only lost three since the first candling nine days ago - one Rhode Island Red, one Jersey Giant and one of the mystery eggs.  Two of them were complete misses - I should have identified them before.  One was a great example of how the hen just stopped growing.  There was a blood ring and everything.  The other two just looked liked a scrambled egg on the inside when I opened them.  I have 36 eggs still going strong.   Hatch rates are expected at around 65-70% for home growers.  At that rate, I'll have 25 successful chicks.  Of that, about half will be roosters.  So 12-13 hens when all is said and done.  Hopefully I'm dead on with the statistical averages.

It was really neat candling the eggs at this point.  I could see the hearts beating on quite a few of them.  So I hope I don't kill (m)any between now and the weekend. 

Candling

Here's a link to what a good egg looks like on day 18.  I tried to take pictures, but my camera wasn't good enough. I should have had my brother's girlfriend come over - she does great shots with low light.

Lock down officially started after candling.  Lock down means no more opening the incubator until the hatch has completed. I took the eggs off the automatic turner, added fresh water, and threw in a couple of wet paper towels under the grate.  The humidity level is on the rise.  I should be at 75-80% for the next few days.  At this point, the chicks will start to position themselves into their hatching position, finish sucking in the yolk through their umbilical cords and get ready to meet the world by the week's end. 

Incubation Update (Part 1)

Quick update:  In case you missed it, here's some background on what goes into hatching chicken eggs.  The big thing to note is that eggs hatch in 21 days (give or take) a day.  That means, I'll have eggs hatching as soon as Thursday. 

I'll be doing a final candling tomorrow after work.  I'll then remove the eggs from the turner and get the humidity up for the last few days.  I'm excited, but nervous.

This past weekend, I went out and got the rest of the supplies I need - food, waterer, food dish, heat lamp, brooder box.  I still need to figure out where to get immunizations done.  I'll be calling local vets tomorrow to see who can do them for me or who can sell me the vaccine and I'll do it myself.

Still researching if I really need vitamins/supplements for the chicks.  Some books/people say absolutely, other say why waste the money.  Not sure which camp I'm in yet.

Anyone looking to buy me a last minute Christmas gift can get me this.  I've got a copy from the library - and I'll renew it at least once - but I'll need something long term for reference.

Man Down

As I was checking the temp/humidity rate yesterday (12/5), I noticed that the humidity level had dropped to 35%.  I figured I'd better add some water. 

The water trays are under the eggs.  Makes sense.  So I filled a pitcher with warm water, open the incubator, and took an egg out so I could pour the water in.  All's well.  Until I drop the egg on one of his siblings. D'oh!   The egg I dropped was okay...his sibling, not so much.  Big crunchy dent in the shell. 

I cracked the eggshell into the sink and saw that the yolk had some growth around it.  Damn...lost a fertile egg.  Hope it was a boy.  Oh well...the worms got to feast on some egg shell this morning.