13 moved to the brooder! - Updated pictures!

[McNugget]

I moved 10 out of the incubator last night into the brooder before I went to bed, and 3 this morning for a total of 13. 1 chick hatched this morning and is still in the incubator, and 3 eggs are still left to hatch that haven't pipped (not sure if they will).

The ones that don't hatch, I'm send to McNuggetJr's science class tomorrow morning.

I'm so happy with my babies!

But I'm worried about one of them. She seems weak, but she might suprise us.

I have 1 chick with part of the egg membrane stuck to it's down, on its side. I also have another with an egg shell chip stuck to it's bumm. Not sure if it's blocking it's vent. I'm worried about this one more. How do I get membrane and shell off without hurting the chick?

I started out with 26 eggs in the incubator, 1 broke, 1 was cracked, 4 were not fertil after the first candling, and 3 had seem to have died between first candling and lock down, so 17 went into lockdown on Saturday. 14 of the 17 have hatched so far. I am very happy with my first attempt at hatching and have learnd a lot from the experience and from the advice I was given and read here at BYC. You guys have been great!

Thanks so much for the help and support!

Here are some pictures

 

[chickenlady81]

what do you have your chicks in?

 

[McNugget]

Quote:
I have them in a large (15 gal) wash tub for the first few days to a week. The "real" brooder is in the garage, it was too big to fit in my walk in closet where the incubator is.

 

[smchickfarm]

They Are Precious!!!!! Congrats!:d

 

[McNugget]

Sorry, have been away from the board a couple of weeks. Things have been crazy, but got a lot of work done while McNugget Jr was on spring break (barn painted, chicken house roof replaced, barn doors made and hung, general yard spring cleaning etc).

Anyway - Chick Update!

All chicks that had shell or membranes stuck to their down were clear of the debris by the next day. They took care of it themselves I guess. The weak chick pulled through and is growing like the rest. I'm not worried about her any more! All 14 are growing like crazy!

They were move to the garage in and to their brooding box about 2 weeks ago. Some of the chicks are showing signs of "Rooster-dom" Leggs are getting thicker, little bumps on their inner leggs where spirs develope are showing on some to, but still not sure really how many are roosters or hens. Guess we will have to wait a few more weeks before we can say for sure which are which.

Hope to post some pictures this week!

McNuggetJr wanted to incubate her own batch, and I didn't incubate any eggs from my hen Ameraucana because I wasn't sure if she had laid any fertile eggs. So, we put 4 of her pale green eggs in the incubator on 3/26. The go into lockdown the evening of 4/13. We will keep you posted if we have any chicks from these!

 

[wekiva bird]

they are so cute,

 

[McNugget]

McNuggetJr's eggs started to hatch Friday. 2 out of the 4 hatched. Out of the 2 that didn't hatch, one seemed to have died before lockdown, and the other was fully formed but didn't pip. The two that did hatch died soon after. I guess the cross between the Ameraucana hen and the Rhode Island Red Roo didn't produce good chicks. McNuggetJr was devistated! We cleaned the incubator and put 4 from the other hen in on 4/18. Due, 5/9. Pray McNuggetJr has better luck with this batch!

 

[McNugget]

Here are some updated pics. I'm going to try to guess which are male and which are female. Let me know if I'm right. I think I have an even split of 7 each. Not all are pictured, and some are pictured twice.

This one is McNuggetJr's favoriate. I'm sure he is a male

I think all the 3 buffs here are female and the 2 black and 2 black/white are male

I think the two faces pictured here are male

I think the two buffs (foreground and background) are female