August 20, 200817 yr A crack or a hole will show under torchlight. If you see a bright section the torch is showing as a crack, throw it away. If it was all the way through now you would know as it would be oozing liquid. Any cracked eggs in nests are prone to further damage, sticking to the hen and other eggs and induce the hen and cock to try eating them. Better you toss the egg.
August 25, 200816 yr Author Were up to 5 eggs so far, here's mama and her clutch..... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4213.jpg Edited August 26, 200816 yr by **Liv** another oversized image - please use the image URL when images can't be resized
August 26, 200816 yr Woo Hooo ... Yeah 18 days from INCUBATION so if she started sitting after the 3rd egg was laid count from there .. YEAH it's all happening now
August 26, 200816 yr Congrats on your eggies It's always exciting waiting for the new babies. Good luck!
August 29, 200816 yr Author okay I have a really really silly question... has anyone ever heard of a nesting hen having "night terrors"??????? LOL I know, go ahead and laugh, but my hen that is sitting on her eggs (she has 5 and is finished laying now) has been breaking out in horrible screams the last couple nights in the middle of the night. I don't know what the issue is? I know if the cage is disturbed she freaks, but no one or nothing has been bothering the cage???? I thought maybe it was one of my cats "stalking the cage" but when I woke to her screams my one cat was in bed with me and the other was in bed with my daughter. Is it possible she is feeling movement from the chicks in the eggs and it's freaking her out at night??? Her first egg was laid on the 15th. I can't think of what in the world would set her off the way she screams?
August 29, 200816 yr doesn't sound silly, could her mate be disturbing her? I have a pair down at the moment and the boy is always getting in the box with her, she doesn't seem to mind but not all hen want their man in the box
August 29, 200816 yr okay, So, Um yeah, I HAVE NO IDEA ... A budgie with nightmares :hap: Is she awake? Are your sure that there is nothing that could be giving her night frights .... Car head lights, a Moth I am no good at this department :hap: So if you kindly proceed to level 2 I am sure that there will be a member along shortly that could be able to answer your questions As for her feeling the chicks in the shell , I am not sure on this .... egg shells are porous and well I felt my kids move and kick me
August 29, 200816 yr Author doesn't sound silly, could her mate be disturbing her? I have a pair down at the moment and the boy is always getting in the box with her, she doesn't seem to mind but not all hen want their man in the boxHe is always in and out of the box with her... she never seems to mind??? He's been taking very good care of her. She comes out once in a while for some water and a bite at the mineral block or cuddle bone, but other than that she is in there 24/7 and he pops in and out all the time and she never gives him a hard time??? But you never know, at night she just might not want him near her. I never thought that it might be her own mate "bothering her". HUMMMMMMM???okay, So, Um yeah, I HAVE NO IDEA ... A budgie with nightmares Is she awake?Are your sure that there is nothing that could be giving her night frights .... Car head lights, a Moth I am no good at this department :hap: So if you kindly proceed to level 2 I am sure that there will be a member along shortly that could be able to answer your questions As for her feeling the chicks in the shell , I am not sure on this .... egg shells are porous and well I felt my kids move and kick me They are in a breeding cage that is covered at night so I don't think there is anything (light, moth, fly, etc...) that would be disturbing her?? My cats were my first suspects :hap: , but knowing they were no where near here led me to wonder what was wrong. When I said could she possibly feel the chicks moving I meant maybe the movement of the chicks in the eggs are causing the eggs to shift a bit under her and she thinks someone is moving the box or something????
August 29, 200816 yr It is covered ??? Uncover it a little ( so )and place a light/ lamp near the cage so if she does get more frights then she can find find her way back to sit on the eggs, other wise they will chill and become DIS ....
August 29, 200816 yr Some things that give hens in nests the frights is cockroaches travelling through the cage or nestbox. As much as we would like to believe we dont have any cockroaches, they just love to hide in the trays under the cages and any crevices and they do come out at night and freak out some birds. Its a possibility
August 29, 200816 yr Author Some things that give hens in nests the frights is cockroaches travelling through the cage or nestbox. As much as we would like to believe we dont have any cockroaches, they just love to hide in the trays under the cages and any crevices and they do come out at night and freak out some birds. Its a possibility No roaches... I live in USA, Pennsylvania and really you only get roaches here if you live in filthy conditions. It's not life Flordia or other southern states in PA were roaches are a common every day thing. So I know it's not roaches.It is covered ???Uncover it a little ( so )and place a light/ lamp near the cage so if she does get more frights then she can findfind her way back to sit on the eggs, other wise they will chill and become DIS ....it is covered at night. the weird thing is that she doesn't leave the nesting box, she is screaming the whole time in the box???? but if a "night light" will help her I'll set one up tonight. THanks
August 29, 200816 yr Is there any lights flashing on or off, any reflective surfaces throwing light around the room ? Some new hens squark a lot in the box whren they think a noise or movement outside the box means danger. With birds quiet also means danger to them...have you tried leaving the radio on ? Seems to help my breeding birds.
August 29, 200816 yr Author Is there any lights flashing on or off, any reflective surfaces throwing light around the room ? Some new hens squark a lot in the box whren they think a noise or movement outside the box means danger. With birds quiet also means danger to them...have you tried leaving the radio on ? Seems to help my breeding birds. No lights flashing that I know of... cars going up and down the road may cast off the slightest light, but nothing sudden or dramaic?? Besides the turtle tank water running at night the house is quiet. I didn't think of a radio because my birds (the 10 I have) are in my house in my living room so when my husband and I go up to bed everything but the overhead light in the kitchen are turned off. I'll have to try the night light that Neat suggested or the radio that you are suggesting and i'll let you guys know how I make out. THanks so much for the help.
August 30, 200816 yr No worries I hope it gets better .. Does she do this everynight? or just the odd night during the weeks?
August 30, 200816 yr Author No worries I hope it gets better .. Does she do this everynight? or just the odd night during the weeks? In the last week (since Sunday night) she has done this about 4 times. Last night she did it again, but it lasted for three seconds and she was over it. I didn't even have time to get down the steps to see what was happening and she had stopped already. I'm thinking the original guesses of her mate popping in to check on her is what is causing it, but still not sure. Maybe at night when it's that dark she feels any entry, mate or not, is an intursion to her??? I'll keep an eye out and see if it continues even with a light on. THanks again.
September 2, 200816 yr Author Just wanted to update you and let you know that my hen has not "screamed" at night for the past few nights now. Either the light is helping or her mate has learned to back off. Also, I wanted to ask a questions about her eggs. If all went perfect today should have been the hatching of her first chick, but nothing yet. Because I am a first time breeder, with her clutch being the first for me personally, I did not want to handle them more than I had to and was afraid of damaging them so..... I did NOT mark her eggs. I know what one was her first cause of the shape of it (really pointy at the one end). I tried candling once, but don't know enough about candling them to see what is fertile and what is not. Some of them seemed to have a "dark spot" in them, one looks clear and another looks like it has a line down it (half hollow half cloudy) Out of her 5 eggs I'm really not sure if I'll get any chicks.... without me having to handle them, is there any way to tell from these pics, if any of these eggs are firtile??????? Either way I will wait until Sept 23rd before removing them (30 days from the date of her last egg) but if I know for a fact at this point that one or all of them are not fertile should I get ride of them now or wait???? http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4457.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4468.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4708.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4715.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4716.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4717.jpg
September 3, 200816 yr It is a good idea to take the poop off of the eggs if you can, as bacteria can enter the eggshell and cause dead in shell chicks. However tf it is too hard to do, don't worry. Just wash it in warm clean water to soften the poop (don't use cold water, use body temperature). Otherwise, they look okay
September 3, 200816 yr Author It is a good idea to take the poop off of the eggs if you can, as bacteria can enter the eggshell and cause dead in shell chicks. However tf it is too hard to do, don't worry. Just wash it in warm clean water to soften the poop (don't use cold water, use body temperature). Otherwise, they look okay :hap: Anyone else care to comment? One opinion says they look fine. none of them look drastically different in color like KAZ's pics .... but, when candling them I can't see any movement or "body images" like on the video links given on this site... one seems clear and two of them have a line around them... almost dividing the eggs in half, one length wise and the other width. I've tried to take pics of the candling and it's not working I just get this blury dark glow picture... here are two of the eggs i did and tried to take pics of.... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4132.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4459.jpg None of my eggs are as discolored as KAZ's picture above, they all seem to be the same color like the one on the left. My first egg was due to hatch yesterday and nothing yet. Can anyone else look at the pics I posted previously and tell me what they think. See if you can see the line I'm talking about in the 4th picture on the top left egg and the bottom left on the 5th and 6th pictures.... let me know what you think. Thanks. Edited September 3, 200816 yr by chrissy0705
September 3, 200816 yr If your torch is not strong enough you won't be able to see movement but those that have a dark area are probably fertile. Usually fertile eggs will go a lighter colour than the infertile ones and then during the last few day they get a more greyish look. I wouldn't try to clean the eggs as they are very easily damaged. They are not dirty enough to cause any problems
September 3, 200816 yr Author If your torch is not strong enough you won't be able to see movement but those that have a dark area are probably fertile. Usually fertile eggs will go a lighter colour than the infertile ones and then during the last few day they get a more greyish look. I wouldn't try to clean the eggs as they are very easily damaged. They are not dirty enough to cause any problems I won't clean them, I'm too scared to anyway... i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one and the death be of my own doing instead of something I couldn't control. I just did an edit and attached two pics above of the candling I did... maybe you can give an opinion based on those pics too.... ??? Edited September 3, 200816 yr by chrissy0705
September 3, 200816 yr I won't clean them, I'm too scared to anyway... i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one and the death be of my own doing instead of something I couldn't control. I just did an edit and attached two pics above of the candling I did... maybe you can give an opinion based on those pics too.... ??? The first one looks like it could be in the early stages of development, the second looks infertile. You should leave them untill the last egg is over 21 days old to be sure before giving up on them, unless you're absolutely sure about your candling
September 3, 200816 yr Author I won't clean them, I'm too scared to anyway... i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one and the death be of my own doing instead of something I couldn't control. I just did an edit and attached two pics above of the candling I did... maybe you can give an opinion based on those pics too.... ??? The first one looks like it could be in the early stages of development, the second looks infertile. You should leave them untill the last egg is over 21 days old to be sure before giving up on them, unless you're absolutely sure about your candling I'm not absolutely sure about anything when it comes to this, so I will not remove anything until all hope is lost. According to other post on this site is says to wait 30 days from the date of the last egg being laid... so sometime between the 13th and the 23rd will be 21 to 30 days for me so I will wait until them. Thank Neville. Anyone else care to comment or give me any kind of hope, please feel free. :hap:
September 4, 200816 yr i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one With a good torch you do not need to pick up or handle eggs for candling. You just put the torch against them in the nestbox and you can see what you need to look for :hap:
September 4, 200816 yr Author i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one With a good torch you do not need to pick up or handle eggs for candling. You just put the torch against them in the nestbox and you can see what you need to look for :hap: And that would be????????
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