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Candling results, day 8 of the Feb 8 2014 hatch

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mirycreek
Farmer Bob
CynthiaM
7 posters

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CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

Blick, annoyance and elation. Ya, so set a full sportsman full of eggs, that would be about 190 eggs. I had tested fertility on the eggs and seemed that the eggs tested were all fertile. Guess some hens had began to lay eggs that were not fertilized, blah. Oh well. Next hatch the embryo development will hopefully be better. Did more test fertility and seems that the eggs tested since setting in the incubator are fertile. So gathering again now for the next set in the incubator. After I fill friends and family need for food eggs. Need 100% fertility here please.

Candled on day 8 the entire lot, didn’t actually take as long as I thought it would. Fifty-five out of 190 eggs had the embryo developing, black eyeballs were seen developing, now if they make it to full term, who knows. Those black eyeballs look like like slimey black things floating around in the candle’s light. That is the ugliest candling, when the eyes are beginning to develop and visible blood veins. Oh well. There was 1 cochin egg put in the group and one cochin egg was developing, the rest buff Orpington. So, when those chicks come out, the incubator cleaned up, I’ll set another full incubator. Got lots of eggs, so no problem to fill pretty quickly. I do not expect high fertility in dead winter. It is not natural to hatch in the dead winter, we do, and we have early chicks, but not nature’s way.

If all chicks hatch, that is good, I don’t expect all, but close would be nice. Last year we had excellent hatching results, after failure of an early hatch, probably about the same time as last year. Only 2 of 72 hatched out that time, so much higher numbers this year, same time. Developing embryo activity rapidly rose in with each subsequent set, to at the end of incubation season, excellent hatching. I want so badly so many more males for our freezer, so I gotta hatch lots and lots and lots, smiling. Report number 2 will come after the hatch has occurred. Never count your chickens before they hatch. I have a propensity to have many brooding mother hens, cochins and buff orpingtons. These are the gals that I like to keep chicks for myself from, because I think they are the strongest and most healthy. Those born and raised with the hand of Mother Nature, smart chicks, well fed chicks, not human intervention. My hat off to those brooding mother hens. Ya, so now, what to do with over 100 eggs? The eggs had been in the incubator for 8 days. I checked four of them for the fun of it, still looked like normal eggs, yolks intact, zero scent detected of any off scent. Guess, cracking eggs, cooking eggs and then fed to our critters. Lots of protein in eggs and would be nice snacks for them (including chickens). Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Farmer Bob

Farmer Bob
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

Thanks for the update! This is very interesting to me and I've been wondering how your incubating was going! You must have a lot of hens to be able to collect that many eggs for incubating.

CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

Oops, boy this is enough to turn your stomach.  I had the opportunity yesterday to crack open all the 8 day incubated eggs, about 135 of them, which had no embryo development present after candling, with the eggs in the incubator .  All eggs intact, zero off scent.  Good, don’t think my stomach could stomach off scent of an egg.  Clearly 8 day old eggs at 100 degrees are not rotten.  
Still driving me nuts.  Only 55 out of 190 eggs had began to develop an embryo.  Not good percentage here, I have to accept that, because it is done.  Got me to thinking about thinking about why.  As I was cracking each egg, I looked for the white bullseye mark of a fertile egg on each yolk.  I was astounded to see what I saw.  Most of the eggs had the bullseye mark, clearly, the ovum had melded with the sperm and the cells had began to divide to begin the formation of growth, but had stopped.  OK.  So what the blazes is going on.  Got to thinking about how the eggs were stored prior to the incubation set.  In our home, on the floor in a cooler back room, near a vent that is near the floor, which is closed.  All eggs were stored in that area in egg cartons, because it was cool.  Husband mentioned to me that it was well below zero for a long time, like about 10 below, give or take a few degrees.  He worried that there might be very, very cold air coming through that vent, even though it is closed.  Bang on.  You’re right, maybe I should move the eggs.  The eggs had been gathered for about 3 weeks (totally acceptable when keeping eggs for one’s own incubation, any eggs sent to clients for incubation are not older than 10 days).  And yes....I believe 100% that the storage place beside the vent was just too cold for the eggs, and I bet my bottom dollar that many of the eggs may have well froze, not enough to break the egg, but near to frozen right through. Thawed when I moved them to a warmer place and screwed with the embryo development.  Not a doubt in my mind.  Too many eggs that clearly the sperm had melded with the blastodisc and HAD began to develop.  Sigh....these lessons I learn in life.  But these are good lessons, as through my mistakes I can lead others to success.  Wonder when I will ever graduate from that school of hard knocks.  Probably never, but surely am having a wonderful time trying to.  Do not, and I repeat do not, allow any stored eggs for incubation purposes get too cold.  I know and believe that this is why the embryo development was so low, the eggs that went on to carry on past the 8 day candling must have been the ones that were perhaps on the top of the stack (warm air rises) and were the ones that had stayed less cold after I had moved all those eggs.  Sigh...learn from me.  Have a wonderful day.  CynthiaM.

CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

It would be nice to hear some input to others experiences, or something, anything, surely others might have some information to put in this thread, yep, would be nice to see that others are reading. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

mirycreek

mirycreek
Golden Member
Golden Member

well you probably hit on the problem Cynthia but I do understsnd your frustration and disappointment....seeems like such a waste and sets you back some time as well.   I usually store on concrete floor in my basement laundry room and often wonder if my storage temp is too warm (60 f) especially for waterfowl eggs but too cold could cause problems too I bet
sigh....alll you can do is carry on wiser....thanks for helping us out by sharing your success and failures.. you are a brave and generous lady:)
oh and by the way...8 day incubated eggs if infertile make wonderful noodles...seriously they are probably "fresher" than store eggs...arent eggs amazing wonders?
and on the upside you probably dont need to investigate for rooster infertility just yet

http://www.feathers-farm.webs.com

uno

uno
Golden Member
Golden Member

Cynthia, I admire your drive to make the most out of every situation. Me, I would have walked to the edge of the property and hurled those eggs out into the snow for the crows and critters to eat. Crack and cook them? Not a chance! Maybe set up a target and sling shot and let your Grandsons have at it.

I was surprised that you keep eggs in storage for up to three weeks prior to setting. I also hatch all winter. I have 100% fertility. (not 100% hatch rates, but my birds lay fertile eggs year round) But I never store any egg more than 10 days, max. A hen usually lays a batch of eggs before she begins sitting. Does she lay 21 eggs? THe oldest then being 3 weeks old? No, she lays maybe 10 or 12 eggs at the most. This is, to me, a clue that mother nature has designed an egg to hang on for up to 10 maybe 12 days, but not longer. It probably can be done, but in my experience, the older the egg, the higher the failure rate.

THe one sure way to get more roos for your freezer is to set eggs with the mental thought, I really hope I get lots of hens. This way, you are guaranteed to get roosters! Works for me 100% of the time! I hatch 4 roosters for every hen I get.

Magdelan

Magdelan
Addicted Member
Addicted Member

Thank you CynthiaM.  I have no experience in the world of the incubator.  Zip.  So I can't offer any feedback on what you have experienced and learned.  But I totally loved hearing your experience and logged the info for any future I may experience with incubating.  Your sleuthing sounds reasonable to me, the logic follows through.  More joy with the next bunch!  Like FarmerBob, I have been wondering how you were getting on with your project and anticipating the thread that, if you were to have time, on how you deal with so many chicks!  I expect there are more than a few on here who have and do manage this on a regular basis with their large flocks and programs.  Is this the first time you've incubated this many?

Just went to post this and Uno has made a post ahead of me. More good info based on experience. I just want to ask how many chickens you have now Uno, I am picturing quite a few :-). I now wonder whether it is the hen or the rooster who determines the sex of the chick. Going to do a little search and post on a new thread, avoid hijack.

uno

uno
Golden Member
Golden Member

I have very few birds, maybe a dozen at this point.

But I was wondering how many CynthiaM has to get over 100 eggs in the bator! Holy crackers! And if I set 100 eggs and they all hatched, I'd be in serious trouble as I have very small facilities and nowhere to house 100 birds! Even to save that many eggs, she has to have some serious production going on.

bckev

bckev
Addicted Member
Addicted Member

Cynthia will you be selling some of your buff Orpington hatching eggs this year. I would like to bring a new line into my birds and I have heard that yours are excellent.

Magdelan

Magdelan
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uno wrote:I have very few birds, maybe a dozen at this point.

But I was wondering how many CynthiaM has to get over 100 eggs in the bator! Holy crackers! And if I set 100 eggs and they all hatched, I'd be in serious trouble as I have very small facilities and nowhere to house 100 birds! Even to save that many eggs, she has to have some serious production going on.

now you point this out, that is a lot of eggs to collect for sure. I have about 25 pullets/hens and get between 10 and 16 eggs a day, usually a dozen at least. If we stopped eating eggs and sharing the extras I guess it would take me ten days to collect enough to fill an incubator like CynthiaM is using and maybe have some over to feed family and few friends too. She sure sounds like she's on a mission, I am getting a very strong "focussed" vibe from all her posts on this subject   Smile . Really enjoying your trip CynthiaM. Thanks for the post.

CynthiaM

CynthiaM
Golden Member
Golden Member

Good morning, on our mini trip to the coast. Queries about how many hens. I have a dozen buff orpington hens and a dozen cochin hens. The math will speak for itself, smiling. That is a possibility of two dozen eggs a day, give or take. Doesn't take long. Of course, not all girls are laying, but have ramped it up to 10 buff orpington eggs and 8 cochins, doesn't take long. I will begin gathering again when I return. All family egg requirements have been filled prior to leaving and the eggs gathered whilst we are gone are fulfilling human requirement too. Uno, I have done test after test after test with OLD eggs for incubation. I have not incubated any eggs older than 18 days, but in all honesty, it does not seem to matter. Those 18 day old eggs incubate and hatch out just fine. I have also heard of others that have set older eggs and there has been no issue too. I should test a few eggs one time that are like 4 weeks old and see and test. I love to delve into things and do tests. I am stoked to get home and get things rollin', rollin' rollin', get those happy days rollin'. Old Maggie is chugging along, humidity is perfect, temperature holding perfectly and with the new fan and motor, barely even know it is chugging along. I am thrilled, cause this incubator is more than I could ever have wished for, powerfully wonderful, old as time itself, unit! Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

BCKev, I had no intention of selling any hatching eggs this year, and still sit on the fence about this. I would require to do a few test hatches before I even thought about that. But I will have some day old chicks and young pullets for sale later in the spring. I wish that I could just keep them all, but unfortunately, if I want to keep on with this passion in life, there must be a point where the chickens make a monetary return. And my Husband requires some dental work, and we don't have dental, so ya, plans have changed about making those birds work for their keep  Shocked  Laughing .

bckev

bckev
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ok, keep me in mind, my preference is eggs but chicks might work out.

SucellusFarms

SucellusFarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

Hi Cynthia. I store my eggs in a turner in the wine cellar, which has cement walls and stays around 50 degrees F year round. This seems to work well for me. Freezing would definitely affect hatchability. ; )

http://www.sucellusfarms.ca

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