The Poultry Keeper

tammy68

I am afraid I have got a bit carried away with buying eggs Embarassed

I agreed to put 12 eggs in my incubator for a friend and I have ordered some (1 Cool

for myself. However I have 6 replacement Maran eggs coming, 6 Plymouth Rock Bantam eggs ready to put in and 6 Frizzle eggs on their way. This makes a total of 42. However I have also bid on some on ebay which I forgot about and I am winning the bidding, so that would make 46!!! Shocked

I have an Octagon 20 incubator and an R-Com 20 incubator. If I don't put the dividers in the R-com would it be okay with the turning mechanism or would it damage the eggs? On this model the floor moves every hour and so the eggs turn as it slides across under them. Or, if I put them all in and switched off the turning, how often would I have to manually turn them? I could then get rid of any non fertile eggs at 7 days.

Also, I am going to check the air sac by candling before I put them in, but as I've never done this before I am not yet sure if I will be able to determine anything confidentally enough to feel able to discard any at that early stage. Confused

Any suggestions/advice welcome.

This is going to be my last hatch this year - honest!! Embarassed

mojo · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject:

you can put more eggs per incubby than it states...oct20 first...first put the eggs in at a 45% degree angle fat end up sort eggs by size to get as many in as possible...........r-com fill with as many rest of eggs and turn 3 or 5 times a day( MUST be an odd number) making sure you mark on their sides so you dont miss any turnings..................then finger crossed and a bucket of luck and you will have chicks coming out your brooder before you know it.....oh yes and then DONT GET ANY MORE EGGS TILL YOU LEARN TO COUNT.......good luck

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3469 Location: Monmouthshire

If you put the eggs into the Octagon standing upright, in staggered rows, and without dividers, you will be amazed how many fit. I always put the eggs in upright, as this way, with dividers, I get 24 LF or 28 bantam. Naturally, without the dividers I can do much better, and still get a good hatch rate.
When you take out the infertiles, don't worry if you have the tray of eggs out for up to 15 minutes - just make sure you've put the top back on the octagon to keep it warm! You'll need time to re-arrange the eggs & possibly put in a divider or so.
With initial candling, if you can see an air bubble travelling around as you tip the egg end to end, you've got a detatched air sac. All you should see is a small, lighter area at the fat end which remains in place.

tammy68 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:15 pm Post subject:

Thank you Mojo and Henwife. Brilliant, I will use both methods as I have just recalculated and will soon have 48 eggs in my incubators!!!!!! Shocked

Oh, crumbs, please someone stop me from buying any more!!!! Is there a name and support group for this addiction???? Embarassed

Do I need a special type of pen or pencil to mark the eggs? If so, where do I get one?

Wonderful description of how to check the eggs post transport. I think I know what I am doing now.

Just one more question (sorry). Once an air sac has detached is that it for the egg or will it mend from standing for 24 to 48 hours? I just wondered as most sellers advise to leave to settle once arrived.

Thanks Very Happy

mojo · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:30 pm Post subject:

standard soft lead pencil........i use a carpenters one as it has broad lead and marks easy to see thro the plastic lid.............i always stand all eggs before incubby for 24 hours but do tilt them 3 times in that 24 hours (thats when i mark them .........big X one side big O the other and breed across top end)

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1406 Location: Manchester

if you have maran eggs in that lot then pencil is often hard to see on them, I've heard of people using tailors chalk to mark them instead.

mojo · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:08 pm Post subject:

kitsune .now thats is a bright idea...............thanks.....i keep marans.p.s looked back at records.......most i ever got in oct 20 was 29 but some were pheasants/japs eggs

tammy68 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:01 pm Post subject:

I wonder what the record is ......and if I'll beat it Rolling Eyes

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3469 Location: Monmouthshire

I have a feeling that sunnyside got 32 into an Octagon 20 - and they weren't Seramas.
If any eggs have detatched air sacs, mark them, set them upright asap & don't move them for 24 hours (this is why I do this in the incubator basket). Once the basket is in the incubator, pray. by 7 days you should be able to candle them - still in situ - mark the clears, and once you've done the whole lot, remove the clears, taking great care to keep any marked detatched, but not clear, upright. If they're still OK at 18 days, they should hatch. I've just had a mega failure of posted eggs with detatched air sacs, but sometimes it works.

tammy68 · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:27 pm Post subject:

32!!!

That is really interesting Henwife re the detached air sacs - so all is not lost and it's still worth giving them a go. I will try it. I have 6 Plymouth Rock Bantam eggs and 6 Polish Frizzle Bantam eggs waiting to go in. I am awaiting delivery of 12 Light Sussex, 12 Buff Sussex, 6 Silver Sussex and 6 French Wheaten Marans. 6+6+12+12+6+6=48!!!!! Shocked

I'm not normally THIS bad at maths - I thought it was 42 and even then I was surprised at just how many I had coming *faints* Brick wall