Getting some hatching eggs

[Maxi'sMinis]

This will be a 1st for me, going to try my hand at hatching chicks. I bought fertilized Silver and Buff Laced Brahmas. I have attached a couple google pics of adults. Does anyone hatch their own chicks? Love the brahmas, I have several of the Light Brahma variety, they are docile and get along well with each other.

 

[MindyLee]

I do! I hatched out 16 chicks just over a month ago, sold all but 2. Now I have 21 about to hatch. I dont have a incubator BUT my hens sure go broody all the time. Currently I have 8 out of 14 hens broody BUT only letting 3 hatch eggs.

I have cochin bantams, silkies, sizzles, and millei fluers. I cross them and get some really neat colors. I have splashs, calicos, mottleds, and designers. Heres a few...

I really really like them Buffs you have! I wonder if that color/pattren is available in cochin bantam...

 

[Danielle_E.]

My husband built me an incubator last year and we were successful in hatching approximately 15 chicks. I have Ameraucanas, cuckoo Marans and lots of silkies of many different colors. I love the silkies, their look and the fact they are so quiet and easy to handle. The silkies go broody unlike the Ameraucanas and cuckoo Marans. We are hatching this year for other people. I love the chicks. They are so much fun and my granddaughter just loves looking after them. She names each one lol

The Ameraucanas give us blue/green shelled eggs and the Cuckoo marans give us extremely dark brown eggs. The silkies give us pale peach colored eggs. It's like Easter here all the time!

 

[Sterling]

I used to hatch out my own chicks every year ...it's very fun and rewarding. I've gone without a rooster last year and miss them. I think I have 2 Brahma cockrells in my chick brooder along with other pullets. I plan to get back to hatching out my own next season.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

I love all you colors MindyLee, beautiful condition. Sounds like it is going to be so fun.

I have a dilema, I ordered my incubater, it shipped today. I bought hatching eggs and figured they wouldn't ship for a couple days. Well the eggs shipped today also. What should I do if the eggs beat the incubator here. None of my hens are broody right now. Man this is going to be a close one. Anyone have any good ideas if the eggs arrive 1st?

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Oops sorry trying to do this on a BB, double posted.

 

[MindyLee]

I have had eggs sit on the counter away from the sun light up to 12 days in room temp and they hatched. I would'nt go any longer then that tho. I have a friend who wants 3-4 doz of eggs and Its been almost a week n a half and only have 2 1/2 doz. I will give him 2 now and the other 2 next week that way they dont go bad. BUT 1o-12 and thats it. Other wise thats pushing it.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Thanks MindyLee that helps. They were laid Sat-Sun so hopefully I'll have enough time. If my incubater isn't here and the eggs are I'll go by a one at a local store and return the one being shipped.

 

[weebiscuit]

My son and his wife live on the farm next to ours, and they raise chickens for eggs. About three weeks ago she couldn't find one of the hens, and then finally found it in a big bucket, with six chicks hatched out! Two of the chicks were already dead when she found them but the other four are now on feed and doing great.

She has all kinds of chickens. Some like in the pictures posted here, some with those really weird long, skinny feathers for top=knots. Some of the eggs are very small because of the hens they come from, but others are a good size. It's just neat seeing such a weird variety of chickens running around!

 

[Danielle_E.]

You could try using heating pads, on bottom and one on top. You would have to add a small container of water between the layer of the heating pads as moisture is important as well. Also you would have to turn the eggs three times a day, so I/3 x3times a day.

 

[Sterling]

When I've collect eggs for incubation I've left them on the counter as long as a week. They were perfectly fine room temp.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Thanks for the pointers,ship tracking says the eggs will arrive tomorrow and the incubator on Friday. Manufacturer says I have to set up the incubator and run it 8 hours to regulate temp. You think it will take that long?

 

[MindyLee]

I would be careful on the heating pad thing. The last thing you want is to red ring your eggs as the start to grow cause they will grow to almost hatch but never leave the sell and die. I would play it safe and leave them on the counter. I also never used a incubator, so I have no pointers there but would at least 6 hrs to be safe.

good luck!

 

[Danielle_E.]

You would not put the eggs directly on the heating pad. You would need a space of maybe a half inch and higher at the top so you could put the container of water for moisture. This would only be for a few days max till you get your incubator

 

[Danielle_E.]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_can_you_incubate_chicken_eggs_without_an_incubator

 

[MindyLee]

never heard of this, but pretty neat!

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

The eggs are here, yipeeeeeee! 12 beautiful eggs of each Buff and Silver Laced Brahmas. I hope I can do them justice and get some to hatch. No incubator yet. I have them in new egg cartons with the large end up. Since the large end needs to be up do you just rotate them back and forth to turn them? Temp is about 60. Fingers crossed incubator arrives tomorrow.

 

[Riverrose28]

when I was incubating eggs I used to use a pencil and put a x on one side and an 0 on the other to help me keep track fo turning, do you guys do the same or use some other method?

 

[MindyLee]

No, no method here. BUT I dont own a incubator, my hens hatch my chicks out so they turn them Im guessing. I use a blk marker and put a date on them and thats it. Theres all kind of things/myths of what should be done but I have left them on the counter up to 12 days and never tuched them, or had them a certan way, and yes, use a sharpie marker on them and always have a 90-95% hatching rate. As we speak, I had 25 eggs saved for hatching and under 3 hens. 21 was fertial and 2 hatched just hrs ago with the rest with peck holes and eggs peeping at me. So I either am lucky in how I hatch eggs, or something!

As of now 1 chick is baby blue and pink in color, and the other chick is yellowy tan with strips. Cant wait to see the rest!

 

[attwoode]

Have hatched chickens and pheasants in my incubator since I was very young. The eggs will be better left in a cool place until your incubator is set up and you really need 12 hours or more to make sure it is holding the right temperature. Make sure you are not placing the incubator in direct sunlight as it can overheat the eggs and you'll also need to make sure the thermostat works properly (keeps temp steady around 100 deg). There is a narrow range of temparature for incubating. If they get too hot for any significant amount of time, you'll have problems. Similarly, development will be screwed up if they are even a little too cold. Once eggs have started to incubate you can't stop, but they are viable for weeks prior to incubation if kept at room temp or preferably 50-60 degrees. For reference, a hen will lay about an egg a day in the nest before she starts to sit on them enough to begin incubating. They often lay a dozen or more in each nest. The first egg she layed will be sitting for at least two weeks before hen starts incubating. So long as the eggs don't freeze or get too hot you'll be fine. Wouldn't store for more than 30 days.

Chicken eggs take 21 days and are incubated at a very specific temperature range (99-102 degF). If you have a fan to circulate the air, 99-100 degrees is ideal and slightly warmer if you use still air. You want to make sure that eggs are turned daily to "exercise" the yoke and always keep the broad end of the eggs slightly up while incubating. There is some debate on which end to keep up while storing I bought the egg turner and this makes it a lot easier and you don't have to touch the eggs or worry about dropping. . I've surgically removed some chickens from their eggs when they went past 22 days, but shouldn't need to do this. I've also discovered that double-yokers don't hatch. I remember thinking as a kid that they'd be twins but they are not viable.

I'm going to be hatching my own again this year and am looking for a friendly rooster to keep my two Delaware hens company...

best of luck to you.