The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Cynthia12]

 

[draye]

Saw this in FB this morning.

 

[KYTinpusher]

I would need MILES of wire for all my chickens.

 

[QuailGuy88]

Hello, My Chickening Friends,

I have a weird question. Ok...so, I took a look at my eggs 2 days ago and all were bouncing babies. Tonight I looked again because I had a problem with my bator earlier this morning. My incubator dropped temperature and I had it alll they way up to keep it at 90 degrees. Dunno how long it was that way. However I was able to resolve the situation by plugging in a space heater to warm things up more around it....although it wasn't really that cold. Anyway I was concerned about my bouncing babies quite a bit and wanted to check them. I have one that has clearly formed a blood ring but the baby is still bouncing. I have others that are still have veins but around the middle it looks like blood rings are forming...it looks like they have spikes and will be settling soon , but the babies are very much alive. Do they make it through this or are they headed out ( they just haven't died yet)? I am really hoping someone tells me what I am seeing can be normal and the chicks live.

First off, weird is normal here.
Second, unfortionately... I have never seen a "normal" blood ring. So if you are absolutely positive that what you saw was a blood ring, then the embryo has died or is going to (depending on when the ring formed and when you candled it)

 

[chickwhispers]

I got a stronger light to candle and my advanced egg has veins! e I'll get a picture tomorrow morning.
@JekkaLynn Congratulations! ! ! Hope all goes well!

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

Ok, here are 2 images of the blood ring I mentioned....well I think it is a blood ring. BUT the chick is VERY much alive! I took a pic of where one could see it the best. It took 3 tries of taking the pic to actually get its dark spot because it is moving around so much. I turned the egg so you could see it is all around the egg. Is this really the ring of death or am I not seeing something? Well, besides the chick bouncing everywhere.

 

[bantambury]

Saw this in FB this morning.

x2!! super cool!

 

[Razadia]

Quote: X2 That is insane!

I....have had a bit of a shock today...I had planned on doing some spot candling this afternoon to show my daughter but around noon I started feeling nauseous and dizzy...I have had a mild headache for a few days and a cold so I just thought my blood sugar was low or something. I ate lunch and was annoyed that the bacon I heated up tasted off...then I remembered my eggs tasted off last night...and I polished off a bag of sourcream and onion rings which I normally never eat...I keep DollarStore pregnancy tests in the bathroom because I get anxious if I am late and yesterday one said clearly that I wasn't pregnant...I keep one pair of expensive tests as a backup if I need it and so I took one of those....mother of fluffy baby chickens....

I AM PREGNANT!!!!

Congrats! I hope things go better for you this time. I HATED pregnancy. I was a few days over due and almost had gestational diabetes. Not to mention my morning sickness was night sickness instead.

Hello, My Chickening Friends,

I have a weird question. Ok...so, I took a look at my eggs 2 days ago and all were bouncing babies. Tonight I looked again because I had a problem with my bator earlier this morning. My incubator dropped temperature and I had it alll they way up to keep it at 90 degrees. Dunno how long it was that way. However I was able to resolve the situation by plugging in a space heater to warm things up more around it....although it wasn't really that cold. Anyway I was concerned about my bouncing babies quite a bit and wanted to check them. I have one that has clearly formed a blood ring but the baby is still bouncing. I have others that are still have veins but around the middle it looks like blood rings are forming...it looks like they have spikes and will be settling soon , but the babies are very much alive. Do they make it through this or are they headed out ( they just haven't died yet)? I am really hoping someone tells me what I am seeing can be normal and the chicks live.

I would give them a few days before you freak out too much.

Ok, here are 2 images of the blood ring I mentioned....well I think it is a blood ring. BUT the chick is VERY much alive! I took a pic of where one could see it the best. It took 3 tries of taking the pic to actually get its dark spot because it is moving around so much. I turned the egg so you could see it is all around the egg. Is this really the ring of death or am I not seeing something? Well, besides the chick bouncing everywhere.

Someone else can chime in here, but they look fine to me.

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

How to peel fresh eggs....

DONT try this method for fresh eggs. It will turn into an EPIC fail. One of my eggs fell completely apart and the other ones just got "cracked" up.

After the eggs are boiled, immediately put them in a nice bath and wait 5 minutes. For some reason this helps separate the membrane from the white. HOWEVER, we are dealing with FRESH eggs (these were ones I collected today....yes, I did say that right. They don't come more fresh than this! Store bought eggs peel easier because they are older. I personally did 2 ice baths. If you look closely, you will see big and small ice cubes.

Next is a VERY important step. You really need to crack the shell very good without splitting the egg. Then go to the wider end where the air sack is and open it. A spoon is a wonderful tool when dealing with fresh eggs. I like to use my grapefruit spoon. It works well for me. Insert the spoon under the shell and membrane. Then start to peel. Now, my first couple eggs looked hand peeled and were a choppy mess but then I got the hang of it. I learned this trick from my 70 year old friend that cooks up fresh boiled every week for her husband without fail! She likes to use week old eggs because they peel better, but as you can see, it is easy only at 2 (?) hours old. Well, let me rephrase that...PEELING fresh eggs is hard! But, when you learn these tricks and practice them, it can be easy and you don't feel like you want to pull out your hair when you are done.

SEE? This is the egg....yes, I know, it has a little imperfection but it is something to be proud of conquering.

 

[Razadia]

How to peel fresh eggs....

DONT try this method for fresh eggs. It will turn into an EPIC fail. One of my eggs fell completely apart and the other ones just got "cracked" up.



After the eggs are boiled, immediately put them in a nice bath and wait 5 minutes. For some reason this helps separate the membrane from the white. HOWEVER, we are dealing with FRESH eggs (these were ones I collected today....yes, I did say that right. They don't come more fresh than this! Store bought eggs peel easier because they are older. I personally did 2 ice baths. If you look closely, you will see big and small ice cubes.



Next is a VERY important step. You really need to crack the shell very good without splitting the egg. Then go to the wider end where the air sack is and open it. A spoon is a wonderful tool when dealing with fresh eggs. I like to use my grapefruit spoon. It works well for me. Insert the spoon under the shell and membrane. Then start to peel. Now, my first couple eggs looked hand peeled and were a choppy mess but then I got the hang of it. I learned this trick from my 70 year old friend that cooks up fresh boiled every week for her husband without fail! She likes to use week old eggs because they peel better, but as you can see, it is easy only at 2 (?) hours old. Well, let me rephrase that...PEELING fresh eggs is hard!

But, when you learn these tricks

and practice them, it can be easy and you don't feel like you want to pull out your hair when you are done.



SEE? This is the egg....yes, I know, it has a little imperfection but it is something to be proud of conquering.

I just steam mine. I tested it with an egg a hen laid as I was walking into the coop. Works ridiculously well.