6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[Aliciahess]

PS - No one told me they DANCE before they POOP. *dies*

MrsB

Lol! First time my baby duck did the #2 it propelled her 2 inches forward and she fell over. Laughed so hard I cried.

 

[Cynthia12]

Here's the picture of my 10 chicks hatched by my broody hens.

 

[valleychicks]

Thank you!

 

[Cynthia12]

Well I never did catch up but I did get some quick pictures this afternoon.


My NYD hatch:

The Red Orpingtons


Mottled Orpingtons


The Bantam Crew: 6 - 1/4 Silkie 3/4 Cochin (3 blacks, 2 blues and a ?) and 1 White Cochin

Another shot featuring my 2 favs


My "Fluffy-Footed Crested Green-Eggers" (Bantam Cochin over Crested Cream Legbar)


and the whole group


I had so much fun with all of you. It made for a great New Years countdown! and a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to @ronott1 for hosting

. I'm already marking the calendar for next year.

...and I *MAY* have set some more bantam eggs this morning...

Darling mix of colors/chicks. And look at those eggs! Beautiful! Nice size and color.

I'm not officially part of this hatch-a-long, but have been following along rooting everyone on.

Now I need some advice. I have a chick/egg that is on day 24 right now. It pipped three days ago at the wrong end. I left it alone for a long time but finally today I pulled it out to check on it. It is still alive but just barely. I started chipping the shell away and it is a major sticky chick. Super-glue sticky with sticky tan liquid dripping everywhere. I zipped the top of the shell off, and noticed a little un-absorbed yolk. As soon as I saw that I put it in a cup still sitting in the bottom half of the shell.

The poor thing is stuck to itself, the cup, the shell, the paper towel, and now it's eyes are glued shut (they were open a little bit ago). I guess my question is.....should I just leave it alone in an attempt to get it to absorb the yolk? Will the sticky crud cement on her and become impossible to get off? Should I try to wipe her eyes off at least? Thanks guys.

I saw you have gotten some good advice, the only other thing I would suggest is to put some neosporin on the little bit of yolk that is left. I would wash the eyes gently to get the goop off. It will take probably a day or two to come around, Will be sleepy for a while. That's ok. Could be it will be screaming to get out of that glass before you know it. Good luck!

 

[Cynthia12]

My hatch is over and it was good!

I hatched 6 of 11 shipped australorps. There were 7 that developed



One is a Splash!

The Trader Joes eggs did very well! I set 24. 18 made it to lockdown and 16 hatched. One died after hatching so I have 15. Here they are all together.

This is great! Love a splash! And check out all of those Trader Joe chicks...no fair..I want one of those stores near by. :/

 

[MrsBrooke]

Soon! Easter Hatch A Long will be here before we know it..we set the eggs...nest month for the Hatch A Long!!

Sign. Me. Up.

My hatch is over and it was good! I hatched 6 of 11 shipped australorps. There were 7 that developed One is a Splash! The Trader Joes eggs did very well! I set 24. 18 made it to lockdown and 16 hatched. One died after hatching so I have 15. Here they are all together.

HUZZAH! \o/

I also had one like this last year. wipe the eyes with a Q-tip dipped in warm water. If you can get the yolk to absorb most of the way or if it already almost is, try to get it to dry off. Take all additional humidity out of the 'bator or put the chick in the brooder in the cup (just be sure it's not too hot so it doesn't dehydrate). Then you can trim the dried bits close to the navel. Once the bits are dried and trimmed, you can give the chick a bath by holding it in one hand and using Dawn dish soap and warm water with the other hand to try to get the crusty sticky stuff off. Dry with a paper towel and if you have a forced air bator, leave it running to put the chick back in to dry off, or you can put it back in the cup to try off. You may need to wash it more than once. Gro gel, if you have some, would be very good for this chick. You'll need to make sure it doesn't get dehydrated and that it eats something soon. You could try a dropper with lukewarm sugar water if you don't have any Gro gel or if it won't eat on it's own. I had a chick this crusty last year. Did mostly what I listed above after I had to assist in hatching ("Sticky" was one of the last to hatch and had a very hard time getting out of her shell so I had to help. She would not fluff up due to the crusty stuff from hatching so I did wash her twice and thus, she was named "Sticky"). This is Sticky shown below. She will be 1 year old in May of this year.

Great save! What a beautiful Sticky! ♡

Lol! First time my baby duck did the #2 it propelled her 2 inches forward and she fell over. Laughed so hard I cried.

MrB thinks I'm nuts. As a new chick dad, he hasn't seen it yet (he doesn't *hover* over the brooder like I do)... "What do you /mean/, 'They *dance* when they poop?" I'm just waiting for the day!!! MrsB

 

[Cynthia12]

I SAID IT WRONG!! NEXT MONTH IS NOT THE MONTH TO SET FOR THE EASTER HATCH A LONG..IT'S IN MARCH! MAN, I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF..AND I'M EVEN FEELING TONS BETTER THAN I DID YESTERDAY AND THIS MORNING.

SET EGGS FOR EASTER HATCH A LONG IS IN MARCH! YEP.

GLAD YOU RESPONDED TO MY POST MRS.BROOKE!

 

[Roan]

Of the ten we set, only two hatched,only one survived.
A third egg had development but quite. The rest were just clear and no development at all. The little babe is sweet and likes spending time with people and hiding in hair.

Aww, what a great thing to picture!!! I don't have enough hair for them to nest in though. lol

Do chicks normally do better when there is more than one in the clutch or is it more of a matter of importance for the farmer than the chick? Especially if the chick has some hair to nest in. hehe

 

[valleychicks]

Aww, what a great thing to picture!!! I don't have enough hair for them to nest in though. lol

Do chicks normally do better when there is more than one in the clutch or is it more of a matter of importance for the farmer than the chick? Especially if the chick has some hair to nest in. hehe

Chickens/chicks are social and do better in pairs. I've seen some use mirrors in brooders to make the chick think there is another chick and I've seen others put stuffed animals in brooders so the chick has a snuggle buddy.

 

[Roan]

Chickens/chicks are social and do better in pairs. I've seen some use mirrors in brooders to make the chick think there is another chick and I've seen others put stuffed animals in brooders so the chick has a snuggle buddy.

So this is scientific? I'm not meaning to be cynical, just curious.

Also, for the spreadsheet suite, I know that @ronott1 described this but I'm trying to set up the "Start collecting eggs..." portion of the incubation station sheet so, what is the optimal time to start gathering eggs for a new set? I'm thinking 7 days was the optimal but that could have been my own personal interpretation.