Egg Candling Update For Chickam, Round 2!

This current batch has been cooking for 10 days, which means it was time to candle for embryos!

On April 26th, I set a total of 18 eggs:  6 were bantam calico Cochin bantams bought from a poultry friend at our local chicken swap, 12 were a mix from across our flock, standard size and bantams.

Tonight when I candled, we have 8 eggs that show embryos--I'm going to say right now that some look a bit small, so might be late quitters. But I'm leaving them in the incubator to give them their shot. Out of these eggs with embryos, 1 was a calico Cochin, the other 7 from our flock.

Another 6 eggs I wasn't sure about and might be early quitters (all from our flock)--but again, I left them in.

4 eggs were duds that never developed: 3 of the calico Cochins and one of ours. I'm not too happy that the calico bantam Cochin eggs did so poorly...but when you buy eggs, you take your chances.

Hatch day SHOULD be Sunday, May 14th (Mother's Day in the US!) and/or Monday, May 15th...but as always, check the cam a day ahead. If you check and see EGGS, the hatch is on!

We have a BUNCH of broody hens right now, so the good news is that we have a very strong chance that one will accept any hatched chicks and be mom for this round!