From an Edible Egg to a Fuzzy Chick

I started with 22 fertilized eggs in the incubator

Earlier this month, I decided to incubate 22 of my fertilized eggs. Today is day 16 of the 21 day incubation period, and according to my incubator instructions, this is a good day to determine if the egg is growing a chick or if it's a dud.

My incubator has a flashlight on the top where I set the egg. If the egg is completely dark, there is a wee little one growing inside. If the egg glows bright without a black blob in the middle, it's a rotten egg.

So, here we go...how many grandbabies will I have next week?

A chick is growing inside the egg.

This picture shows an egg with a baby chick growing inside. You can see veins growing inside and a black blob at the top, which is the baby chick. The light spot at the bottom is an air sack for the chick to breathe once it's ready to hatch. Isn't it cute?

I placed each and every one of my 22 eggs on my flashlight. Some looked like this egg.

This egg is a dud.

Others looked like this egg. Notice how the egg appears much more brightly on the flashlight and there isn't any huge black blob in the middle. Just to make sure I was correct in thinking this egg was a dud, I went outside to crack it in the snow. Sure enough, it was just a rotten egg. No baby had been formed inside of the shell. Whew! I was so happy to be correct!

So what is the grand total of chicks so far? On Tuesday, I will have 18 chicks trying to escape the shell. Of course, their first survival skill is pecking their way out of the egg, so we'll have to see if they can do it.

Blonde's Last Egg Has A Baby!!!!!

For those of you who read my post called, A Gift From the Amish, Blonde's last egg has a baby growing inside of it. My heart is so happy!

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly