Yup...

Skunked. Not ONE of those eggs hatched.

Duds Again...?

I think we're being skunked by both incubators. :( This morning at 9:30 is the official hatch time, but so far no movement or peeping out of ANY of the eggs in either incubator.

We'll leave the eggs in for three days beyond the hatch, just in case, but I doubt if any are going to hatch at this rate.

This is SO disappointing. I've now been turning eggs for the last 6 weeks, three times a day and I don't mind saying I'm sick of it. But we'll try again...once I've talked to Miller Manufacturing, the makers of the incubators, and installed both the forced air fan and electronic thermostat.

I'm also considering giving some of those broody girls out back some eggs to hatch, as a test.

Was That...?

Our local Mockingbird has added 'Bottle Rockets' to his vast repertoire of 'Silly Noises To Scream After Midnight'.

Sigh...

I just candled about 1/3 of the eggs in each of the incubators--they are at about 15 days. Some were clear, others showed developed but possibly dead embryos, others had mysterious dark masses that may/may not be chicks, while still others were too darned dark-shelled to see through!

And just because Mother Nature does LOVE her little jokes on me, I now have SIX broody banty hens out in the coop, all dying to hatch eggs and obviously MUCH better at it than me.

Bleah, I've been hand-turning eggs for nearly 6 weeks now non-stop. SOMETHING BETTER HATCH.

A Milestone Has Been Reached...

...for the kid is now wearing her first training bra.

I've already warned her about how miserable little boys can be about snapping your goddamned bra strap, over and over again.

The first thing she did was run out and tell the chickens about her new bra. She also can't wait to tell daddy when he comes home.

I think his head just might explode. Either that or he'll start oiling up the guns.

Once More, With Feeling!

Or, just the correct temperature and humidity.

The incubators are once again full of eggs. I started them yesterday morning at 9AM, so they are due to hatch on Friday, April 24th.

I think I've solved the temperature and humidity issue, by dint of a two hour scouring of the Internet. I finally found someone who was having the same problem I was back in 2004, they had posted on some obscure forum and gotten a response--someone suggested leaving in BOTH of the red ventilation plugs throughout the incubation period, only removing one of them the last three days of the hatch if needed. I had foolishly been following the manufacturer's advice and removing one of the plugs at the beginning!

This time, I experimented by running the incubators for three days before I inserted the eggs. I left both plugs in and tested those suckers for 36 hours--absolutely, dead on, STABLE! Not even a hint of a flutter in that time, night or day! Yay, success!

So now the eggs are on their way, 31 in each of the two incubators. They are sitting, side by side, on my kitchen island. The new incubator:

And the old one:

Included inside are 13 Serama eggs, tiny little things about the size of a quarter. The chicks are the size of a 9 volt battery, the adults the size of a can of Coke. :) A very kind friend on a farming forum, who breeds Seramas sent them to me via mail. Chickam will be up and running as soon as we see eggs rocking or hear chicks peeping inside the eggs. They'd better hatch, as my daughter is using them for her Science Fair project--!

I can't wait to see what happens in 21 days!