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Velvet Sparrow posted:For anyone interested, I will be candling the eggs in the incubator tomorrow night, Friday, around 11PM PST and will webcast it on the UStream Chickam channel, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chickam2008 for those of you who want to play along at home. Hopefully I'll be able to see embryos starting and will cull any eggs that have not begun to develop. Good luck for a full incubator.
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Mar 5, 2015 20:27
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How very eggciting! Come on fluffybutt chicks!  When are the hatch dates again? 
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Mar 5, 2015 20:37
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Velvet Sparrow posted:For anyone interested, I will be candling the eggs in the incubator tomorrow night, Friday, around 11PM PST and will webcast it on the UStream Chickam channel, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chickam2008 for those of you who want to play along at home. Hopefully I'll be able to see embryos starting and will cull any eggs that have not begun to develop. So exciting!  I caught the candling the year before last, and it was really interesting! I hope I can stay up for it this year.
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Mar 5, 2015 23:48
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Inveigle posted:How very eggciting! Come on fluffybutt chicks! Hatch A March 20-21, Hatch B March 27-28. I'm not sure how much will be visible during candling since it'll only have been 7 days since incubation started...
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Mar 6, 2015 02:29
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I'm getting ready to candle the eggs, broadcasting on the UStream channel. Not sure how much I'll be able to see, but gonna give it a shot. The cam is being obnoxious, so it's taking me a minute. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chickam2008 Edit: OK, it's working! Candling 43 eggs, I can only take a few out at a time so it'll take a bit. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 08:13
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Woooo! Eggies! I like your running commentary about the eggs and potential babies. Can you actually see the chicks moving around inside the eggs? Inveigle fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 09:07
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Inveigle posted:Woooo! Eggies! Aw, didn't the moving chicks come through on the cam? Dang it...well, they are only 7 days old, so next time I candle in 10 days you'll really be able to see them.  19 Embryos for sure so far out of 43 eggs! There well might be more, it was hard to tell on some of the eggs, and some had REALLY dark shells. The shipped eggs seem to have a low viability count, but that's to be expected with shipped eggs. One of them has a detached air cell (thanks USPS for the rough handling). But I did see for sure 7 embryos in the shipped eggs, 1 is an Americanaus mix, 3 are Easter Egger mixes 1 is possibly a Salmon Faverolle mix and and the other 3 possibly Cuckoo Marans mixes. For our eggs, there are12 embryos: 3 Americaunas, 2 Barred Rock, one mystery egg and SIX banty eggs. Pie (Rambo the buff Brahma's, daughter), Alice (the Barred Rock hen that we got as a nearly-dead, wounded freebie chick from Tractor Supply last year) and Olive (bantam Cochin) are all gonna be mommas! I'm worried about Pie's egg though, it has a pretty significant dent in it that I sealed with clear nail polish...it didn't go through the membrane, just the shell...but we'll just have to see how it goes.
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Mar 7, 2015 09:59
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Aw, didn't the moving chicks come through on the cam? Dang it...well, they are only 7 days old, so next time I candle in 10 days you'll really be able to see them. It was sort of hard to see what was inside the eggs. Between the glare of the light; the movement of the eggs since you were handling/rolling them; and the low-res image (caused by the low light conditions over most of the frame), it was a bit hard to see the chick embryos. I recorded a bit of the candling and will have to go back and check the video again to see. Thanks for web camming the candling. It was interesting to watch. Once again, I had forgotten my Ustream chat password, so I couldn't log into the chat.
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Mar 7, 2015 11:48
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Aw, didn't the moving chicks come through on the cam? Dang it...well, they are only 7 days old, so next time I candle in 10 days you'll really be able to see them. As Inveigle said, it was a bit tough to see some of the action. There were a few times when I could see a wisp of veining, and I could see a bit of movement with the very first live embryo that you saw. I only listened to the second half because I was starting to doze off (stupid EST). I tried to catch a screen grab of the veining, but I was too slow.  Thank you so much! It's always such an educational experience! luloo123 fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 15:07
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dagnabbit I forgot to set my alarm to wake me at midnight! Hope there will be a next time?
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Mar 7, 2015 16:08
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No, I don't think I have a problem... GUYS, I SWEAR I CAN STOP ANYTIME.  ...OK, maybe not. Hatch A and B are in the ReptiPro. I'll candle again on Monday night and cull any eggs from Hatch A that haven't begun to develop, it'll be the 10 day mark for them. I'll candle all of the eggs on the 17th and cull again. I'll try and webcam both candlings, I'll also do it a bit earlier in the evening, probably around 9PM PST. Edit: Hatch B ended up being 19 eggs, Jellybean laid an egg at the last minute yesterday so I added it! Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 19:49
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That Morehens disease is so contagious I hear!
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Mar 7, 2015 20:01
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Velvet Sparrow posted:No, I don't think I have a problem... I feel like this must be where Powerball came from...
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Mar 7, 2015 21:05
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Velvet Sparrow posted:No, I don't think I have a problem... Do you have to increase the temperature in the Reptipro to make up for all the extra eggs you've added? I'm worried now that they aren't getting enough...heat? air? It just seems awfully crowded in there. I guess you have plenty of room in your backyard to build yet another coop and run. Come on Bloop babies! Oh...also...are any of the Frizzle, Sizzle, Silkie eggs developing?
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Mar 7, 2015 21:43
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The ReptiPro handles the egg stacking thing beautifully. It gets back up to proper temp/humidity settings so quickly after you open the door that according to other people using it, it does just fine like this. I didn't change the temp settings, I just left it alone and allowed it to bring the new eggs up to speed over the course of an hour. The racks the eggs are resting on are a big grid with large openings, so heat/air circulate freely. I think that all of the shipped eggs have the same daddy, a partridge Silkie named 'Bill'.  So all of the chicks from the shipped eggs should have some Silkie in them. I did cull egg #4, the one with the detached air cell. I did a breakout on it to see what was up inside, it was pretty scrambled and never would have developed, but it was fertile so Bill's doin' his thing!
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Mar 8, 2015 00:50
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Candled all of the eggs tonight, both Hatch A & B. Culled 22 eggs from Hatch A that had not developed at all (it's been 10 days for them and they would have started by now). I'll do a breakout on them later to see if there are any overt problems and if they are fertile. I saw 23 Embryos in the Hatch A eggs, 7 embryos in the 18 Hatch B eggs! I left ALL of the Hatch B eggs in since it's only been a few days for them, more may develop. Out of the 23 Hatch A embryos, 8 of the shipped eggs have embryos, all of the rest for Hatch A & B are eggs from our own chickens.  Eleven days till baby chicks! 
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Mar 10, 2015 06:36
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Hahaha! I can hardly wait for adorable baby chick cuteness! Any good broodies yet?
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Mar 10, 2015 06:50
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Inveigle posted:Hahaha! I can hardly wait for adorable baby chick cuteness! No broodies yet...they are getting all cranked up over egglaying though, so it's only a matter of time. I've got the fake eggs in the nests to encourage broody thoughts...Rambo is kinda-sorta thinking about it. Pretty sure we are going to rehome both Buzzard and Cowbell very soon, it's just too many rooboys and it's upsetting the girls. They are spending all of their time running from roos. 
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Mar 11, 2015 04:49
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Yay eggs! I can't wait to see what comes out this year, you have some neat mixes going on!
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Mar 11, 2015 05:06
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Final candling and embryo count! OK, so for both hatches, one for this coming week (the 20th & 21st) and next week (the 26th & 27th) we have a total of 35 embryos!  It breaks down like this: For Hatch A, this coming Friday & Saturday, there are 20 Embryos, 6 hatching Friday the 20th (Group A) and 14 hatching Saturday the 21st (Group 2). For Hatch B, next week, there are 15 Embryos, 8 hatching Friday the 26th (Group 1), and 7 hatching Saturday the 27th (Group 2). Just to liven things up a bit, one of the eggs (it's gigantic!) may be a double yolker and have TWO embryos, I'll have to watch it. Also, there are two additional eggs in Group 2 that I'm unsure of, and may hatch, adding to the ridiculous pile of chickens. Not all of the embryos may make it, so the final hatch may be smaller, but so far everything is going smoothly. We have ONE broody hen right now...it's Sophie, the little Sicilian Buttercup/bantam Cochin mix hen...and no, she can't possibly cover all the chicks so she cannot be mama.  Still hoping one of the big Cochin or Brahma girls will go broody before the hatch, though! The entire flock is full-on Springtime twitterpated so there's a chance.Holy crap. Pardon me, gotta go and build a *BIG* brooder box.
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Mar 15, 2015 09:27
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Just to liven things up a bit, one of the eggs (it's gigantic!) may be a double yolker and have TWO embryos, I'll have to watch it. If all goes well, would tha give two chicks (possibly with an evil twin) in an egg or one enormo chick? I'm not one to wish my life away, but I can't wait for hatching time.
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Mar 15, 2015 11:08
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I'm so excited! Baby chicks soon!
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Mar 15, 2015 11:23
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I can't wait! Chickam is the highlight of my easter time 
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Mar 15, 2015 14:09
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spookygonk posted:If all goes well, would tha give two chicks (possibly with an evil twin) in an egg or one enormo chick? Hopefully twins if both yolks are fertile and develop (I can't tell yet). The good/evil twin thing is what I'm hoping for. If only one develops it's gonna be a messy hatch, ugh. Gotta watch 'em close though, and very likely assist the hatch since they would be pushing against each other to escape the shell and that just doesn't work. There is a YouTube vid of a lady assisting a twin hatch that is really cool, just ignore the dumbfuck comments tho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZeEY-kt7A
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Mar 15, 2015 21:34
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Hopefully twins if both yolks are fertile and develop (I can't tell yet). The good/evil twin thing is what I'm hoping for. If only one develops it's gonna be a messy hatch, ugh. Gotta watch 'em close though, and very likely assist the hatch since they would be pushing against each other to escape the shell and that just doesn't work. There is a YouTube vid of a lady assisting a twin hatch that is really cool, just ignore the dumbfuck comments tho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZeEY-kt7A Am I remembering right that you had a set of twin chicks before?
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Mar 16, 2015 00:05
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Hopefully twins if both yolks are fertile and develop (I can't tell yet). The good/evil twin thing is what I'm hoping for. If only one develops it's gonna be a messy hatch, ugh. Gotta watch 'em close though, and very likely assist the hatch since they would be pushing against each other to escape the shell and that just doesn't work. There is a YouTube vid of a lady assisting a twin hatch that is really cool, just ignore the dumbfuck comments tho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZeEY-kt7A part 2 of that video is very interesting tooo. It was another double yolk and only one chick fully developed :O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuJPNAfuG3s
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Mar 16, 2015 01:18
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Wow, an actual twin hatch! I didn't think they had a very high rate of survival. So cool to see a successful assisted hatch. Can't wait for yours, VS! I'm off the 20th so I can sit home and watch the eggs! XD
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Mar 16, 2015 02:48
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Surely you'd just use the back of a teaspoon to crack open an egg. 
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Mar 16, 2015 02:59
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that was a very stressful video, but a wonderful end result.
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Mar 16, 2015 09:50
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luloo123 posted:Am I remembering right that you had a set of twin chicks before? I've never hatched twins, but I had a set of twin bantam cochins hens that we got as pullets. They were identical and did everything together and at the same time, it was a bit creepy...
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Mar 16, 2015 12:09
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Out of curiosity, what are the average odds of a double-yolker? I swear, hand-to-god-may-lightning-strike-me-dead, I once bought a six-pack of eggs that were all double-yolkers. Also, I can't wait to see baby chicks  .
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Mar 16, 2015 15:10
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Velvet Sparrow posted:I've never hatched twins, but I had a set of twin bantam cochins hens that we got as pullets. They were identical and did everything together and at the same time, it was a bit creepy... It will be interesting to see if this happens again! Hopefully everyone develops properly.
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Mar 16, 2015 23:36
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Every time I turn the eggs I talk to them, getting some wiggles out of the eggs due this weekend. Today is the last turn for the eggs due to hatch Friday (chicken people call this 'lockdown'). Now they sit for the last three days, it's the signal for the chicks to rotate into hatch position! Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Mar 17, 2015 |
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Mar 17, 2015 08:18
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Thats some icon. 
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Mar 17, 2015 08:19
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Every time I turn the eggs I talk to them, getting some wiggles out of the eggs due this weekend. Does the mama hen instinctually know to stop turning her nest of eggs at this point?
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Mar 17, 2015 08:59
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Every time I turn the eggs I talk to them, getting some wiggles out of the eggs due this weekend.
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Mar 17, 2015 10:25
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Every time I turn the eggs I talk to them, getting some wiggles out of the eggs due this weekend. YAY!
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Mar 17, 2015 10:49
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Inveigle posted:Does the mama hen instinctually know to stop turning her nest of eggs at this point? Yes. Because that's when she feels the eggs moving more strongly and she really clamps down with the brood thing. Then as they do the internal pip through the air cell they start peeping which reinforces her to powerbrood. To duplicate this in an incubator, you stop turning the eggs at 18 days in and raise the humidity to 65%. Talking to them like a cooing idiot is just a bonus.
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Mar 17, 2015 17:55
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Yes. Because that's when she feels the eggs moving more strongly and she really clamps down with the brood thing. Then as they do the internal pip through the air cell they start peeping which reinforces her to powerbrood. To duplicate this in an incubator, you stop turning the eggs at 18 days in and raise the humidity to 65%. Talking to them like a cooing idiot is just a bonus. The peeping coming from unhatched or pipped eggs is one of the sweetest, most wonderful sounds in the world. All hope and new life and excitement.  Looking foward to Chickam! Is the broder box ready yet?
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Mar 17, 2015 19:03
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You said only one of the ladies seemed ready to cover chicks---has that changed at all? *is worried about cold chickies*
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Mar 17, 2015 19:41
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