Birds--General/chicken egg

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Expert: Abi - 7/21/2008


Question
i went to a farm yesterday and teh gave me an egg that was laid yesterday-
1) how do i manually hatch this egg (no incubator)?
2) how long do i need to wait for it to hatch?
3) if i got it yesterday and did nothing withit for 2 days, is there it too late to hatch?

Answer
It depends what you have done with it for two days. Has it been in the fridge? If so, it might still be good to hatch. If it has been warm it won't hatch.
Unless you want to sit on the egg yourself and turn it every two hours, you will need an incubator (not my area of expertise, however) or a broody hen.
If you have one of these the egg should take approximately 21 days to hatch.

Thanks for your question.

Birds--General

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Abi

Expertise

I CAN'T ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ANIMALS OTHER THAN CHICKENS/DUCKS/GEESE- I WILL TRY BUT THEY ARE NOT MY SPECIALIST SUBJECT- PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT BUDGIES, FINCHES, PARROTS, COCKATIELS OR OTHER 'EXOTIC' BIRDS. I can answer questions on pretty much all CHICKEN breeds, including fancy and bantam birds. I can give advice on how to get the best egg production, brightest yolk colours and darkest egg shell colours, breeding (using broody hens, not incubators), bird problems/illnesses. I can give advice on all aspects of basic chicken care but I breed chickens for my own pleasure only, I do not often show or sell my birds.

Experience

I own and breed a wide range of chickens, but I speciallise in cochins and crevecour bantams; crevecours have a large crest (an afro!) so I can answer questions on problems concerning them; cochins have feathered legs, which leads to no end of problems which I have experienced! I also own a large flock of domestic, rescued 'battery' hens, and a single maran hen, Hilda, who is the matriarch of her flock, so I can give advice on how to get the best colour of maran eggs!

Education/Credentials
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