December Hatch:Who is going to have Christmas babies? - Page 31

Woke up this morning to 5 out and another pip! Looks like 3 boys and 2 girls so far, just my luck! lol

I really really liked using Mason jars of water in the bator, my temps were VERY stable this time around, however, the hatched chicks are DETERMINED to get on top of them and either burn themselves on the heating element or try and HANG themselves from it.....I usually would have left them in the 'bator longer but 2 already had red places from getting burned, so when DH took a shower I pulled them using the humidity of the bathroom to keep the pip moist. I put them under a 250 watt bulb for now, instead of my usual 85 watt because they were still pretty damp and the 85watt just barely keeps it warm enough.

The Silkies an BOs went into lockdown this morning.  They are about a day late, but have been a little slower developing, so I think they should be ok.

Went into lockdown yesterday and just noticed a growing pip in one of the bantam eggs before going to bed tonight , fingers crossed for somthing fluffy to watch for breakfast tommorrow

LOL "Chicken Popcorn" 

Good luck! I went into lockdown yesterday too.

One egg looked like it stopped moving a day before though :\\

Well a 6th egg hatched last night. No more pips though, I'm losing hope on the remaining 4 since they haven't done anything. I was seriously hoping at least 7 would hatch, but I guess I might have to settle for 6.

One of the first chicks that I moved to the brooder yesterday died in the night. Found him laying there like asleep, except he didn't wake up when the others did so I went to pet him and he was gone. 6 hatched, but only have 5 babies. At least it was a boy that died. If they are properly sexlinked I hatched 4 boys and 2 girls and I have two boys from my Thanksgiving hatch too!
Do the males do better for some reason?? Is there anything I'm doing wrong that is causing more boys to hatch out?  I already have 5 "extra" roosters. I was hoping to hatch some pullets now so that they would be close to POL in spring.  I'd far rather hatch my own chicks, and control my own genetics rather than buying from hatcheries, but if my hatches don't turn out any more girls I may end up buying pullets this spring!!!!!!! Gah!

If eggs that were moving around Day 18 stop, it's not necessarily cause for concern. They seem to become quiet just prior to pipping, sort of the calm before the storm.

My broody is now finishing up Day 14 today. I had little hope that the Delaware eggs would be viable, but other than the one that quit early on, the other three seem to be catching up to the Del/EE cross one now, so maybe there's hope after all.

I just did my second round of candling with the Silkie eggs I won from CJExotics. 18 eggs were put into the incubator, along with one egg from my Silkie pair and a blend egg from my standard Polish hen and Silkie/Cochin/OEGB roo.


So far there have been three quitters - one blood ring, and two where the embryos passed.


The splash eggs turned out to be a bummer. All five of them never developed, but all showed signs of being fertile when I checked them before discarding. These eggs were mixed together with the other color types, so it wasn't from shipping. Any ideas why fertile eggs wouldn't develop?


The remaining 12 eggs are doing good. The embryos seem well-developed and they are very active. I am concerned about one of the eggs, because the air cell is in the middle of the egg instead of the large end, but it's not loose, so... we'll see.


My final check of the eggs will be on the eve of Christmas eve (23rd), when I put the little buggers into lockdown. Just a few more days left!

I have 2 dozen red star eggs in my brinsea set to hatch on Christmas day!!! I didnt even do it on purpose lol They are for a friend that said they could never get those eggs to hatch. He tried an incubator twice and a broody but never had any chicks. He said they would always die on the last day. Hmm.... I sure hope they hatch for him! If they don't, its got to be a roo problem because brinseas hatch anything fertile! lol I just candled and they ALL look great

GotChicken? :

I just did my second round of candling with the Silkie eggs I won from CJExotics. 18 eggs were put into the incubator, along with one egg from my Silkie pair and a blend egg from my standard Polish hen and Silkie/Cochin/OEGB roo.


So far there have been three quitters - one blood ring, and two where the embryos passed.


The splash eggs turned out to be a bummer. All five of them never developed, but all showed signs of being fertile when I checked them before discarding. These eggs were mixed together with the other color types, so it wasn't from shipping. Any ideas why fertile eggs wouldn't develop?


The remaining 12 eggs are doing good. The embryos seem well-developed and they are very active. I am concerned about one of the eggs, because the air cell is in the middle of the egg instead of the large end, but it's not loose, so... we'll see.


My final check of the eggs will be on the eve of Christmas eve (23rd), when I put the little buggers into lockdown. Just a few more days left!

CJ has very nice birds.  Thats where most of mine came from.  She's very nice to deal with to.  I got eggs from her this spring and we still keep in touch.  Very nice person.  And she has a very nice flock.  Mine are laying now that I hatched out and their babies are beautiful.