Hello, hatching enthusiasts and learners!
Spring time is right around the corner, and for my fellow hatching addicts, our time to shine is almost here!
So I thought it would be good to do a little refresher, and hopefully help out some of the beginners to hatching eggs, as well as encouraging others to try it out!
Sorting hatching eggs.
When picking out (sorting) your eggs, you're going to want the healthiest looking eggs.
You may ask yourself, "How do I tell if I have healthy, or non-healthy eggs?". You want to get the eggs with no deformities, no hairline cracks, (Those two can go hand in hand) and good overall shape.
Deformed shell & good over all shape.
A deformed shell is a lot weaker in certain places, compared to an egg that is correctly shaped.
Teardrop shaped eggs are going to be the eggs you want to get, (depending on the species if foul you're trying to hatch this does not apply. For instance - waterfowl, emus, etc...) because they are the strongest, to "carry" your chick throughout the incubation period.
If you use an egg that is not the right shape, you could have too small of an air cell inside the egg.
Here's a picture of a deformed shell preference:
Hairline cracks.
Hairline cracks as you'd imagine, is a teeny-tiny crack that may have occurred when the egg was laid, or when another bird tried to enter the nesting box.
One reason you don't want to use those eggs is because they can, and will allow for bacteria to enter the egg that can kill the chick: The second reason for not wanting to use an egg with a hairline crack is if the eggs goes bad, it's more prone to explode in your incubator and provide you with a horrid stench of rotted eggs.
A photo of a hairline crack:
How fresh do my eggs really need to be for incubation?
Something you must know right away, is your eggs CAN NOT be refrigerated, they have to be fresh for the best possible results in you hatch. And when I say fresh, it's suggested the you gather how ever many eggs you can in 7 days. I've gathered eggs over 10 days before, and had pretty good results, I didn't see a difference.
But, for all you newbies out there, I would recommend you gather your eggs for 7, or less days. Just so you have the best possible chances in you first hatch.
And if you're getting your hatching eggs from a local, or distant breeder, they should follow the "7 day rule".
Congratulations, you have successfully picked out your BEST hatching eggs!
Okay, now that we've pretty much established the basics on sorting, and prepping your eggs for incubation, let's take it a step further: Let's move on to storing your eggs for hatching.
Storing and preparing your eggs for hatching.
#1. When you're storing your eggs, you want to keep them at room temperature, and let them rest for 24 hours; from both gathering eggs from your flock, and getting eggs through mail
#2. You NEED to put the eggs pointy end down. The reason you do this is so the air cell settles in the right place, which is in the top (larger end of the egg) of the egg: Also, when the chick is ready to hatch, the way it grows in the egg, the chicks little beak will be right next to the air cell, that will be the first breath of fresh air that chick will take.
Image for preference on how I like to store mine:
If I can draw your attention to the egg I'm holding; notice it's pointy end DOWN. That's how you'll want all your egg placed in that carton:
#3. Don't let your eggs get too cold during storage.
Like I mentioned above, you want to keep then at room temperature, but I didn't specify what the right temp is. And that is 50 - 60 Fahrenheit.
Getting the incubator ready.
#1. When you're getting the incubator ready, you want to have it run for at least 24 hours to make sure it holds the proper temperature; being, 99.8 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37.66 - 38 degrees Celsius.
#2. Once the incubator gets up to temperature, add water to the water reservoirs inside the incubator to increase the humidity. The reason you add water to the incubator is because, it's the most successful method of incubation for your eggs, and for the eggs to develop properly.
#3. Check your egg turners and make sure they're working properly. If they aren't working properly, the chick will start to develop into the side of the shell and that will eventually kill the chick.
If you don't have an egg turner, you'll have to turn them by hand, 2-3 times a day.
To keep track of what side the eggs are on, put an "X" on one side of the egg, and on the opposite side of the "X", put an "O". That little trick will help so much in the 'hand turning process'.
Placing your eggs in the incubator.
It's as simple as it sounds. Just go right ahead and put them in your incubator, and the best of luck to you!
If you become curious as to how your egg are developing, you can get a bright flashlight and 'candle' the eggs.
Just shine the light through the shell and be prepared to see what awaits you on the inside!
It's also recommended to not do this more then 3 - 4 time throughout the incubation process to not shake up the embryos inside the eggs, and making the temperature fluctuate inside the incubator.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Gage-T.
Spring time is right around the corner, and for my fellow hatching addicts, our time to shine is almost here!
So I thought it would be good to do a little refresher, and hopefully help out some of the beginners to hatching eggs, as well as encouraging others to try it out!
Sorting hatching eggs.
When picking out (sorting) your eggs, you're going to want the healthiest looking eggs.
You may ask yourself, "How do I tell if I have healthy, or non-healthy eggs?". You want to get the eggs with no deformities, no hairline cracks, (Those two can go hand in hand) and good overall shape.
Deformed shell & good over all shape.
A deformed shell is a lot weaker in certain places, compared to an egg that is correctly shaped.
Teardrop shaped eggs are going to be the eggs you want to get, (depending on the species if foul you're trying to hatch this does not apply. For instance - waterfowl, emus, etc...) because they are the strongest, to "carry" your chick throughout the incubation period.
If you use an egg that is not the right shape, you could have too small of an air cell inside the egg.
Here's a picture of a deformed shell preference:
Hairline cracks.
Hairline cracks as you'd imagine, is a teeny-tiny crack that may have occurred when the egg was laid, or when another bird tried to enter the nesting box.
One reason you don't want to use those eggs is because they can, and will allow for bacteria to enter the egg that can kill the chick: The second reason for not wanting to use an egg with a hairline crack is if the eggs goes bad, it's more prone to explode in your incubator and provide you with a horrid stench of rotted eggs.
A photo of a hairline crack:
How fresh do my eggs really need to be for incubation?
Something you must know right away, is your eggs CAN NOT be refrigerated, they have to be fresh for the best possible results in you hatch. And when I say fresh, it's suggested the you gather how ever many eggs you can in 7 days. I've gathered eggs over 10 days before, and had pretty good results, I didn't see a difference.
But, for all you newbies out there, I would recommend you gather your eggs for 7, or less days. Just so you have the best possible chances in you first hatch.
And if you're getting your hatching eggs from a local, or distant breeder, they should follow the "7 day rule".
Congratulations, you have successfully picked out your BEST hatching eggs!
Okay, now that we've pretty much established the basics on sorting, and prepping your eggs for incubation, let's take it a step further: Let's move on to storing your eggs for hatching.
Storing and preparing your eggs for hatching.
#1. When you're storing your eggs, you want to keep them at room temperature, and let them rest for 24 hours; from both gathering eggs from your flock, and getting eggs through mail
#2. You NEED to put the eggs pointy end down. The reason you do this is so the air cell settles in the right place, which is in the top (larger end of the egg) of the egg: Also, when the chick is ready to hatch, the way it grows in the egg, the chicks little beak will be right next to the air cell, that will be the first breath of fresh air that chick will take.
Image for preference on how I like to store mine:
If I can draw your attention to the egg I'm holding; notice it's pointy end DOWN. That's how you'll want all your egg placed in that carton:
#3. Don't let your eggs get too cold during storage.
Like I mentioned above, you want to keep then at room temperature, but I didn't specify what the right temp is. And that is 50 - 60 Fahrenheit.
Getting the incubator ready.
#1. When you're getting the incubator ready, you want to have it run for at least 24 hours to make sure it holds the proper temperature; being, 99.8 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37.66 - 38 degrees Celsius.
#2. Once the incubator gets up to temperature, add water to the water reservoirs inside the incubator to increase the humidity. The reason you add water to the incubator is because, it's the most successful method of incubation for your eggs, and for the eggs to develop properly.
#3. Check your egg turners and make sure they're working properly. If they aren't working properly, the chick will start to develop into the side of the shell and that will eventually kill the chick.
If you don't have an egg turner, you'll have to turn them by hand, 2-3 times a day.
To keep track of what side the eggs are on, put an "X" on one side of the egg, and on the opposite side of the "X", put an "O". That little trick will help so much in the 'hand turning process'.
Placing your eggs in the incubator.
It's as simple as it sounds. Just go right ahead and put them in your incubator, and the best of luck to you!
If you become curious as to how your egg are developing, you can get a bright flashlight and 'candle' the eggs.
Just shine the light through the shell and be prepared to see what awaits you on the inside!
It's also recommended to not do this more then 3 - 4 time throughout the incubation process to not shake up the embryos inside the eggs, and making the temperature fluctuate inside the incubator.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Gage-T.
