First Incubation has begun

M

maidenhead red

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Hi All,

I have kept chickens before but never hatched my own, but have finally decided to get involved.

My incubator arrived midweek and after a could of days on it appeared to be stable enough to move to the next step. I today managed to get hold of 14 Cream Legbar eggs and 11 Brahma Eggs (mixture of Gold Partridge, Lemon Pyle and Red Pyle) the breeders were all friendly and helpful, and I got to meet the parents of my future chicks.

The temp dropped off as i was putting them in but soon got back up to temperature. Hopefully things have started off ok, but will be reading the forums for tips.

A couple of quick questions

How long would you leave it until candling the eggs, my plan is to do this to pick any infertile eggs,

how many times and at what points would you advise candling?
 
Hi,
I've just had a look at my Katie Thea "Incubation A guide to Hatching and Rearing" to check I was giving you the right info and she states 5-7 days.
I incubated ducks last year and candled regularly to check they were still ok after discarding the one infertile egg. Mine (I only had 5) were numbered and I had a chart where I made any notes-movement seen etc.As you have so many you could candle different ones on different days.
 
Thanks, I will leave it until next weekend then, 6/7 days. Despite a nice regular temperature prior to the eggs going in, I have had a few issues with temperature fluctuations - Maybe from changes of temperature in the house, so am nervous about the impact these may have had.
 
I think variations in temp and humidity are normal-but as long as these are not dramatic and don't last for too many hours it should be ok. Temperature drops are obviously much less of a concern than one too high. I was also obsessed about the humidity and subsequently found out that a lot of people incubate dry for the first 18 days as we live in a relatively damp environment anyway. It's best to site the incubator somewhere in the house where the temperature is fairly static to try and prevent the variations-although I did keep mine in the kitchen cos I turned manually 7 times a day and it was easier to have it to hand.
 
thanks, yes it was a drop down by a few degrees, not sure how long for, hopefully they are fine, a few of my eggs are quite light shelled so I might attempt candling today, but I have a few darker eggs too so think I will have to stick to original plan of 7 days until I might see anything.
 
A drop would be expected because you put coldish eggs into a warm incubator which would bring it's overall temperature down as it brought them up to 37'5.
Good luck with the candling-there are some good examples on utube.
 
The drop I was worried about came day two, although you are right there was an initial drop after first putting them in also. The good news is after a bit of candling something is definitely happening in some of the eggs, so can't have been too much of an issue. I feel relieved that they have continued to develop, hopefully come day 7 I will get a clear view of how many are fertile etc
 
Candled all my eggs on Day 5, as a newbie I wont get too excited or worried about what I may or may not have seen.

So far I have seen signs of life in the following:-

6 out of 7 Legbars
3 out of 7 Legbars
4 out of 8 Gold Partridge Brahmas
1 out of 2 Lemon Pyle Brahmas
0 out of 1 Red Pyle Brahmas

I am still holding hope that a few of the others may have something hiding away
 
You may see signs of life in others in a couple of days time. It is exciting though when you see those first signs that life is beginning to develop.
 
You're doing well, at this time of year fertility will be dropping anyway.Is your one red pyle fertile?
I've only incubated once and found the 28 days for the ducklings to arrive, endless and I'm sure you are feeling the same.
I've been put off doing chicks because of the cockeral situation whereas I was ok about having drakes cos I would just keep them.
I'd give it another couple of days and then discard those that are clear.
Jo
 
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