This has been quite a learning experience. I feel an embryotic expert. I have been tenacious in doing this. I am so stubborn. The Serama are from Malaysia and are very tiny and very, very difficult to hatch. After several tries of different batches of eggs, I still have not had one live birth of Serama. I did, however, buy a new incubator with egg turner for $$$$$. FINALLY, I showed my son last night and I am sooooo excited. I candled my last batch of 15 eggs and they are 12 days incubated (7 days to go) and those suckers are alive!!! Their skeletons and beaks and feet are seen very clearly when candled in the dark. But the best part is that they were doing flip flops and very active!! I got my stethescope out and heard their little hearts beating!
But this made me so sad this morning. I have learned that incubation for Serama is 19 days but can be as long as 21. Normal chickens are 21 days and they are a piece of cake to hatch because they are not tiny. Well, a guy that sold me eggs threw in three quail eggs just for the heck of it. Well, it was 24 days so I cracked them open. To my terrible shock, one chick was fully developed and started breathing but soon died. I looked it up on the internet and quail incubation was 23-25 days. I didn't know. I read that if you keep dead eggs in your incubator that they can crack and infect your unborn eggs. I felt so awful. It was so tiny. I don't think I can eat chicken any more. This whole experience reminds me of ultrasounds and seeing pictures of developing fetus when I was pregnant. Then I had miscarriage so this little quail really made me sad.
But I will have these tiny, tiny chicks hatching next week. What a way to start the New Year!! To watch all these chicks being born and because they are so special and frail, I will give them electrolytes and special food for the first few days. I have had day old chicks many times so that will be the easy part.
