Posted by Suzanne McMinn @ 5:05 am | Permalink
Chickens, In the Barnyard
It’s the first thing I do every morning. The last thing I do at night. And, oh yeah, in between. Turn the eggs. A hen on her nest turns her eggs as much as 18 times a day. You can get away with turning them three times a day by hand. If the egg isn’t turned, the embryo will float up through the white of the egg, touch the shell membrane, get stuck there and die. The final three days of incubation, the eggs shouldn’t be turned, though-the chick is preparing to bust out of its shell. Do not disturb. But do I have any chicks?
See that spot? I think we have a chicken!
This is one of the eggs from the second batch, at nine days incubation.
I’ve re-candled the eggs from the first batch, now at 13 days incubation, and they look the same to me. But, I’m still not sure. I don’t want to make a mistake. If they are alive, I’ll know in another week, as they should hatch in 21 days. I can wait a week.
Wait with me?
