An incubator. Just a basic no frills incubator.
Last night made the 6th day they had been in there. I made a candler using a round oatmeal box and a lamp. I candled and 15 looked good, 2 were iffy, and 4 looked clear and infertile. So I returned the 15 to the incubator and went about cracking open the infertile and the two iffy ones. The two iffy ones were in fact viable embryos! Whoops. :( I have since read (and now know first hand) that if you are iffy about any eggs, to leave them be and check again in a week or so. 3 out of the 4 infertile were in fact infertile. The fourth had an embryo, but it did not look like the two iffy ones...so it was either at an earlier stage or it was what is known as a "quitter" - one that started development and then stopped. Sorry I didn't get pictures. It was a super busy weekend and I did this last night right before bed and I was beat!So, the only issue I am having at this point is trying to figure out when their hatch date is. This is important to know because you have to turn the eggs several times per day UNTIL the last three days when you do not turn them because, well, it can kill them. Since they are Guineas, they take 28 days to hatch. Chickens take 21 days. So even though I checked this site that contains embryo pictures and our babies (the iffy ones I opened) look like a 6 day chicken embryo, I have yet to figure out what that means in Guinea terms! Do I start the day that we put them in the incubator? Do we count the days that Mama sat on them? And even then, we don't know for sure how long that was so that won't be accurate either. Pardon the pun, but it looks like we'll be winging it. IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE, PLEASE GIVE IT!! I have been researching and know some signs to look and listen for when the time gets closer, but I can use all the help I can get. If we go by the date we put them in the incubator, they are due May 24th. I have been hanging out on the Backyard Chickens message boards trying to glean all the info I can!
We do have some happy delivery news...Kitty meow had her babies! Three little cuties...here they are 9 days old. Photos courtesy of my 6 year old...
They have just started opening their eyes! :) And the momma has become a whole new cat...she's nice and lovey now! And has no problem at all with us messing with her littles. And believe me...my youngest wallers and hugs and kisses and loves on them constantly! :)So that is that for now. I'll keep you updated on the Guinea eggs and please, if you have advice, let me know!! :)
lol--i would have gotten the incubator too! is the momma guinea back in the swing of things?
ReplyDeleteoh no to the poor guinea embryos that didn't make it :(
15 is still a good number!
i would guess how many days she was on them and count from there--28 days is a long time...but if you count your incubator time you would be rolling them too long...i would maybe just roll them real carefully the last week or so..then not the last few days...also i read on another post that when you see a beak poking into the air pocket the hatching is soon...i don't know if it said how many days?? also you are sposed to hear peeping from chicks 24-ish hours before the hatch..but i didn't notice any with my chicks and i was listening.
oh, this is all very exciting!
the webpage you posted was very helpful too..though i feel bad for all those dead chicks :(
Very interesting about the incubator! We had guineas once, and they were great in the garden. Unfortunately they also liked the highway!! We decided to stick with chickens for now. Cute kitty cats!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good mistaken in the end, you can use that incubator for other things.
ReplyDeletehoney, i don't know a damn thing about raising any kind of bird. but my husband raises pigeons, and when he gets home i will ask if he has any ideas. i am thinking if you have figured out how to candle, that candling in another week or less, you might be able to see how close the egg looks to being filled, with just a bit of light showing. naturally, the chicks will be close to hatch at this stage. i am seeing this on the 11th, and 6 days ago you thought they were at the 6 day stage, so that would make them 12 days now. just mark on your calendar when you think you are close and quite turning them. i will still ask my hubby, but these are just my thoughts:) just getting to blogger about once a week right now, so sorry i didn't see this soon:) hugs
ReplyDeleteoh, and you should probably see the same proportion of light to dark in the 6 day guinea egg i would imagine. and i forgot... i adore mama kitty and her babies!! i have a weakness for gray kitties
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