Shhh- Top Secret!

[topdycke]

Aww, thanks Ariel!

Being the incredibly ridiculous college student that I am, I decided to watch old episodes of the Magic School Bus- a wonderful show from my childhood. There is an episode where the kids learn about how chicken eggs are made, which is useful for all chicken owners to know, and made very clear for young children in this show! The characters also decide to hatch a chicken egg, (A Rhode Island Red, specifically,) and it teaches them all about development and incubation, taking a few liberties- like hatching a chick under nothing more then a desk lamp.
Anyway, I decided that I want a Magic Chicken-Bus, which acts like a super-broody hen, and magically hatches eggs in a few minutes. Where can I get one of these?




Now, before relaxing with the Magic School Bus, I worked, and finished an 18-page proposal for my Invert. Zoology Lab, and an essay for Woman's Studies, so my evening has been productive and well-spent, in my opinion!

I love this idea! That is just awesome!

Ok I will also candle on Saturday and see if I can get pictures to post. The Brinsea is supposed to show up on Tuesday. I think I am experiencing incubator math...

 

[topdycke]

Oh yeah and my part of the Top Secret... I became interested in having chickens when I saw a Facebook post from a friend of mine who is into sustainable living and all that (she is now living in Costa Rica) and she had a picture of her flock of barred rocks in their nest boxes. It was the coolest thing. Perfect fairytale chickens. Well chickens aren't an approved item in my subdivision which considering I live on 2+ acres with a horse barn is just silly...so from there to here and now.

 

[Chic_girl]

That's awesome that you've 'gotten away' with having chickens on your property. You're right, it dosn't make much sense for you to be able to have a horse, but not have poultry. Well, if anyone complains, just give them eggs and they will be less upset with you (Hopefully).
When I had ducks, a big bargaining chip for us was duck eggs- they were larger, in my opinion tastier than chicken eggs, and better for baking, so our neighbors always asked if we had extras...


Candling tonight! If I can wrangle an assistant from my friends, I may be able to add pictures later!

 

[topdycke]

I am hoping that the chickens once they grow enough to go out to the barn will remain invisible. I hope that over time growing things and having chickens is looked upon as 'cool'. living in a suburban area you have folks who have conceptions of livestock as rural and 'hick' and also those who are modern and into organic sustainable living. I told my Costa Rican friend that I would tell the neighbors they were bunnies and showed her the cadbury egg ad where the bunny is brooding the eggs. Actually the next door neighbors are from CA and are into the self sustaining thing too and currently have a raised veggie garden going at the end of the driveway and they had to do a coop-like enclosure so the huge herd of native white tailed deer wouldn't strip it in an evening.

I am going to put together my candling 'equipment' tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing your pictures. Temps are a degree one side or the other from perfect ... looking forward to the Brinsea.

 

[Chic_girl]

Candled yesterday-
8 out of the 9 were viable, and I could see cute little embryos moving around! The one that wasn't viable was just a clear egg, and when I cracked it I just found a few meat spots in the egg- so it's looking good!

My efforts at taking pictures ended in failure- either the room was too dark, the flashlight not bright enough, or my camera was upset with me- but here's one picture where you can kind of see some of those veins-



All of them had some very funky shaped air cells- one looked like a heart.... so I'm kind of worried for the hatch...This one was one of the worst-

 

[topdycke]

Candled yesterday-
8 out of the 9 were viable, and I could see cute little embryos moving around! The one that wasn't viable was just a clear egg, and when I cracked it I just found a few meat spots in the egg- so it's looking good!

My efforts at taking pictures ended in failure- either the room was too dark, the flashlight not bright enough, or my camera was upset with me- but here's one picture where you can kind of see some of those veins-



All of them had some very funky shaped air cells- one looked like a heart.... so I'm kind of worried for the hatch...This one was one of the worst-

Excellent picture and good news for the dorm closet chicks to be!

 

[Ariel188]

Excellent picture and good news for the dorm closet chicks to be!

Only time will tell, where they shipped eggs? I am going to be starting a thread on my first hatch ever I just put in today!!

 

[topdycke]

Good luck with your hatch Ariel. I think the Brinsea is a very good incubator and will work well for you. Swedish Flower hens are pretty and so are Brahmas. I am glad my Brinsea is showing up soon!

I have put together my 'candle' being an led flashlight in a shoe box with a quarter-sized hole cut in one end. I will woo how it goes and try and get some reasonable photos too.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

I just wanted to jump in and say good luck. I currently have 27 mixed eggs incubating, 13 in a box with a heating pad and 14 in an LG. And surprisingly to me the LG holds my temps pretty close to where I want them. Now I just need my Hydrometer to come in so I can measure the humidity and I'll be golden. Also 14 of the eggs were shipped(on day 3 now) and 1 now has a fully healed air cell(duck), 5 still have loose rolling saddles, 7 have very loose air cells even some have extra bubbles, and 1 the air cell seems to be healing. So I feel your pain.

 

[Ariel188]

Good luck with your hatch Ariel. I think the Brinsea is a very good incubator and will work well for you. Swedish Flower hens are pretty and so are Brahmas. I am glad my Brinsea is showing up soon!

I have put together my 'candle' being an led flashlight in a shoe box with a quarter-sized hole cut in one end. I will woo how it goes and try and get some reasonable photos too.

Thank you! I made a thread if you wanna follow my experience!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...20-advanced-i-set-31-eggs-in-it#post_12979286