Back to the egg turning.

There is a rumor that one of my wonderful readers has some eggs that she is brooding. {Don't fret, I wasn't informed of this until after I posted the last entry} I thought it might be a good time to cover some basics so that she might not make the same mistakes as I, because that is the purpose of this blog.

As I said previously, egg turning is essential to the development of eggs, it needs to be done 5 times a day. This is something that I should have checked before making the decision to allow the left behind eggs to lay. If you don't have a faithful broody bird, you must turn them yourself 1/4th the way over 5 times a day. The odd number insures that the embryo isn't lying on the same side over night.

Be gentle when turning the egg as not to shock the embryo. For chicken eggs, stop turning them after the 18th day. For other types of eggs, stop turning 3 days before it's hatch date. After the 10th day, make sure that the large end of the egg is some what higher than the smaller side.

Make sure there is adequate ventilation so that the eggs can "breath". Do not store them in an air-conditioned room {if you bring them inside} It will dry them out. And the brooding temperature needs to be 99.75F. You might also think about placing a humidifier into the room with them to help keep them from losing too much moisture.

Here's an update from me;

I attempted to candle the eggs. Once again, I failed. I need to invest in a brighter flashlight.

pictured above; the left behind eggs.