Incubation Status from day 7

I'm now up to day 8 of the (approximately) 21 days incubating my chicken eggs.  So far it's been a little bit of a worrisome experience for me.  Because these are (potentially) living beings, I take it very seriously.  I don't want to make any dumb mistakes.

I started with 37 eggs and expectations of about a 50% hatch rate (if I'm lucky).  Last evening (after dark) I candled all of the eggs at the last turning of the day before going to bed.  I tried to take some photos to show what I saw and I think they came out fairly good considering they were taken with my smart phone.

I turn the eggs 3-5 times per day to keep the developing embryos from becoming attached to the outer membranes and the eggshell.  This process needs to be done quickly and delicately so as to not allow the temperature to drop too low for too long and to not accidentally crack or break any eggs.  The developing eggs need to be turned regularly for the first 18 days

Because I am trying to spend as little money as possible on this whole process, I did not invest the extra $45-50 on an automatic egg turner.  This means that there is a lot more hands on time involved for me (every few hours).  If I am successful with this little venture and decide to breed more chickens in the future, I will most likely make the investment.  And speaking of hands on, I am always sure to wash and dry my hands before handling the eggs to remove any oil and bacteria that could contaminate the eggs and cause hatching problems.  It's also nice to have warm hands when handling the warm eggs.

Here is one of the colored eggs being candled.  It's a good one!  I could see the the blood vessels and the dark spot which is the eye of the chick!  As I am a novice, I can not discern the tiny beginnings of a beak, limb buds and tiny digits on the wings and feet that will make toes and wing sections - but according to all my research, by the end of day 7, they are there!

This white egg (a Brabanter) is much easier to see inside of via candling.  Another good one - developing on schedule.  This is truly amazing to see so up close and personal.  My mother in law was here with me and as a retired RN, she was almost as excited as me.  A new life (of any species) is a miracle.

Since I candled the eggs to check on development, I expected to find some eggs that were not fertile (and thus were not developing) and/or some that died after beginning to develop - and I did.

Here is a Brabanter egg that is not fertile.  All I could see was the yolk and no developing blood vessels.

Here is a bantam Cochin egg that, sadly, died early on in development.  The blood ring makes it very clear.

All in all, I had 9 out of 37 eggs that were either infertile or died quite early during development.  Candling is recommended to pick out these eggs so they don't go bad and explode in the incubator.  So, now I am down to 28 eggs.  If by some miracle, all of these eggs survive to become chicks, my hatch rate will be 75%.  That's pretty good.  Since I am new to this, I don't know if, like in humans, once you make it through the first trimester, healthy birth (or in this case, hatching) is more likely.  Obviously I have more to learn.

According to the gentleman from whom I purchased the Welbar and Maran eggs, he averages a 50% hatch rate.  I am doing better than that so far.  (Although seeing through those dark egg shells was quite challenging - so when in doubt, I kept it in the incubator).  I did lose 5 of the 12 Brabanters - and that breeder warned me that those eggs are extremely difficult to hatch in an incubator - so I am not terribly surprised - but I am a little disappointed.

The big surprise to me is that all of the 14 cream crested Leg bar eggs appear to be developing right on schedule.  Those were the eggs from my hens - that were anywhere from a few days to up to 2 weeks old.  These eggs are also the descendants of the rooster that I lost to a fox more than 2 weeks ago.  It's good to know that I can (hopefully) continue to keep this beautiful breed.  I may even be able to get a Kareem Abdul Leg bar, Jr.  ;)

Well here are the final stats as of the end of day 7:

• 28 developing eggs (started with 37)
• 7 cream and/or gold Brabanters (started with 12)
• 4 silver and/or gold Welbars (started with 6)
• 2 copper Marans (started with 2)
• 1 bantam Cochin (started with 2)
• 14 cream crested leg bars (started with 14)

I plan to candle again on day 12 or 14.  I'll report back after I do. 

Until then, keep looking for the everyday miracles all around you.