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webcams

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the photo page.

Adder in the New Forest, Mick (Hampshire)

Chaffinches nest with eggs in the New Forest, Mick (Hampshire)

Lapwing in the New Forest, Mick (Hampshire)

Lapwing nest with eggs in the New Forest, Mick (Hampshire)

Robin feeding chicks in my garden. Mick (Hampshire)

As you have seen on the photograph of the Emu eggs they are a very dark green, so I expected that I would not be able to candle them with a normal poultry candler. To make matters worse I was told today they are opaque so they will need a special infra-red device to see if the eggs are fertile or I will need to incubate for the full 55 days without knowing until the eggs hatch or not if we are going to get a chick. We have incubation space for at least 160 eggs but that wont take long to fill if we incubate all the eggs. So we need to know the fertility or we may get more Emu than we really want.

The other problem that we have is that we cannot trace the Company who did at one time make the infra-red candling device. The Veterinary who owns the Incubator Company that sponsors the Hatchery Cam is the most experienced Ratite Veterinary in the UK and he once sold the device. He believes that the Company is no longer trading, so the options I had were to find a second hand one or find another method of seeing into the Emu eggs for a live embryo.

After a day on the phone speaking to different people we have, we hope three possibilities of knowing if our eggs are fertile after two weeks in the incubator. The first is with my connections in the CCTV industry through the webcams. An infra-red device is going to be made for us. The second again through my CCTV connections by Thermal Imaging, the same principle ish that you see on the Police Helicopters when the can see white images in the dark. It will mean taking the Emu eggs out of the incubator for a few minutes and letting them cool down from the incubating temperature. The egg shell will then be cooler than the embryo allowing the embryo if there is one to be seen by the thermal camera. The Thermal Imaging manufacturer is coming to the Farm after Christmas to see if it works. The final method is by sound with a Stethoscope to hear the Embryo heartbeat or by a powerful microphone in-cased in a box that the egg is put into. I don’t mind what method we use as long as we don’t have to wait 55 day to know if the eggs are fertile.

There is one other way of telling if an egg is fertile, although it can be a bit hit and miss. The egg is placed on a table, as the egg cools down the chick will start to move making the egg roll slightly from side to side.

Categories
webcams

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

ALL TOOK AT RUFFORD COUNTRY PARK NEAR WORKSOP LAST WEEKEND. LYNNE

Twelve Geese eggs were put in the incubator this evening. Ten that we purchased from a local breeder and two that our new Geese have layed.

The first night that the incubator has been working with eggs in it, all is working as it should be. The temperature is exactly right and the humidity is fluctuating one per cent either way. The incubator has a warning alarm if the heat rises or falls above or below the correct temperature. If the temperature of the incubator rises it will quickly kill the embryo. If it falls it is not such a disaster. As long as it is corrected within four or five hours the eggs will be OK. The other important part is to keep turning the eggs otherwise the embryo will stick to.

When incubating an egg it will need to loose 13% of it weight, so weighing the eggs periodically whilst incubating is a good way of telling if the egg will hatch correctly. The weight loss helps the membrane that you can see when you open a boiled egg needs to shrink, leaving a gap between the shell and the membrane that makes an air pocket. The air pocket allows the hatching Chick to breath whilst it is breaking through the shell. Controlling the humidity correctly allows the air pocket to get larger through the incubating period.

Whilst the Embryo is forming into a Chick it needs oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. The forming Embryo also needs food and feeds on the eggs yolk through blood vessels. The hatched Chick will also feed on the yolk for a day or so after hatching. Incubating eggs is very interesting, but it can be a worry. When we were incubating Ostriches we were very successful. Ostrich eggs are meant to be the most difficult to hatch, so hopefully we will get it correct when incubating Turkey and Geese.