Chalking

[Stehaggan]

Thanks guys ill leave it alone for a week or so before checking again then :-/

Keeping my fingers crossed :-/

[Catwoman63]

Very interesting thread, thanks Gordon for the pics and information x

[Gordon]

No probs

[Stehaggan]

So pleased -

After the pic a few days ago with no chalking - I just looked through the incubator door as it looks like it has and it has started to chalk - exactly like in your pictures turnip started at the top in the middle

I can't believe how much it has done since this last picture.

So we have a yolk gone to the bottom, chalking ... Am I right in thinking I need to wait a week or so to see if I can see veins then its definitely fertile?

[Gordon]

Cool all the fun starts now lol normally 7-10 days you will see a ring start to appear which is what we call the ring of life then a few days later you will see a small line in the middle of the ring which is your little baby tort growing a few more days you will see a heart beat and the veins will be visible aswell then you will have to sit on your hands and be very patient


Not the best pictures but it gives you an idea the fist one is 14 days old and the second one is about a month old

[Stehaggan]

Wow those pics are brilliant

Shall I candle it at weekend do you think? See how it is and then leave it?

[Gordon]

That would be ok you should be able to see something by then but if you don't don't panic they can take longer

[Stehaggan]

She's digging a nest again with her back legs :-O eek will she lay again

[kazzabb]

Thanks for the pics of each of the egg stages, wish I'd seen these last year as I had two clutches in the incubator from different torts, and some of the eggs did chalk and yolks settle, but I had no idea what the next stages were. Only two hatched, but some others were very dark indeed, and I had no idea what to do. I know some would have opened up the eggs at some point but to be honest, I couldn't have done this. Kept them in the incubator for months and months until a local teenager who breeds exotic hens (!) told me to get them out, as if they'd exploded I wouldn't have been able to use the incubator again, because its polystyrene and he says even with disinfecting, some bacteria would remain in the tiny polystyrene gaps. Anyway, I've five in the incubator at the moment, even though I promised myself I wouldn't incubate any more, and at least three have chalked and the yolks settled at day 6. Your photos have fascinated and informed me so much, I'll be more comfortable with what stages do or don't come to fruition. What's the etiquette if a tort you've only had a year, lays eggs which hatch, and they haven't been with a male whilst being with me?
Advice appreciated on that last point.
Karen

[egyptiandan64]

If she'd been with a male in her previous home, than always possible some are fertile Karen.

Danny