Beginner's Hatch-A-Long

[write2caroline]

I love the idea of a chicken pyramid scheme!!!!! LOL

I have two broodies doing my hatch which is due to hatch on Friday. The girls are sitting together on one nest. My cousin wants the chicks so she selected the eggs, we marked them and under the broodies they were placed. We had some hard heavy rain and I have had to change the nest material a few times. I am too timid to take them out and candle the eggs but I have had hatches via broody before and it is always fun to look for eggs and find chicks hidden in the feathers of the momma.


hopefullly the rest of the ladies will not worry about being moved to a new coop to allow for the biddies. When I raised chicks myself I am so careful but when the mommas raise chicks, I am always surprised how they take them out immediately the first week to forage.

I am hatching crosses between my Marans Roos, and my Cream legbar roo and the cream legbar hen you see, white rocks, leghorns, barnevelders, new hampshire reds and I might have a welsummer egg too. I am hoping some of the CL auto sexing trait comes through and I see chicks with white dots on their heads - for roos and it should all be very interesting.

Caroline

 

[Penny Hen]

I think you'll do fine! I actually made a mistake early in my incubating and had the temperature too low so I adjusted it and everything went crazy with the temperature all over the place. A few days after I stabilized the temp. I candled and most were alive and well! I think hatching eggs are hardier than we think! I hope your hatches go well!

That gives me hope with mine. I also had some wild swings Tomorrow is Lockdown. I have had to throw out one stinky egg (it arrived cracked and I waxed it up). I have 8 Cream Legbars, 2 Easter Eggers, 4 Wyandottes, 12 Speckled Sussex, 2 Coronation Sussex, 8 mixed bantam (Cochin, Serama, D'Uccle), 2 bantam Silver Phoenix.

 

[Missyktsm]

I culled another 8 eggs from the bator. Seven were clear and one had a blood ring. That leaves me 27 out of 45 and I'm on day 13. If I keep going at this rate, I'm to going to hatch anything! I do have good veining and movement in most of the ones left. A few, I'm still just unsure about...it's so difficult to see through these shells.

I'm hoping I can hatch at least 5... PLEASE just let me have 5!

 

[DavidKerk]

Hi all!
I set 7 Ameraucana eggs (black Ameraucana roo X blue Ameraucana hens) on 5/5/13, & tucked in two more on 5/6/13. It's my first ever hatch, and I'm using a Brinsea mini eco.

I am doing this on a whim as I bought two fertile blue Amaraucana hens, and thought "why not?!?" I think that I am not as stressed as I thought I would be because I didn't spend a ton on eggs. But still... It'll be crazy if I get any healthy chicks our of this hatch!

I also chose to set this hatch knowing I would be gone for the hatch.

The good part is I have a friend acting as egg/chick sitter and his whole family is SUPER excited! I have a feeling they will be asking to adopt the chicks

He even asked me if this was a chicken pyramid scheem,

Sounds good! Does your Brinsea hold temperature good?

 

[DavidKerk]

Wish I had seen this thread sooner. My eggs were due to hatch last night but all of the Spitzhauben eggs hatched early. The first one to hatch had a hard time but is up and around now eating and drinking. I think it will have a deformed wing. One of them pipped on the underside of the egg and drowned. I set six and the other four are very healthy and running around in the brooder. I also set 4 Japanese bantam eggs and one has hatched so far. These are from my breeding pair so I hope the rest make it. 5 out of the 11 Cochin eggs I set have hatched and one has pipped and is currently chirping away in the hatcher. This is my first hatch also and the wait is agonizing. I have more Japanese bantam eggs in the incubator and Golden Salmon Marans as well so I get to do it all over again soon.

That gives me hope with mine. I also had some wild swings Tomorrow is Lockdown. I have had to throw out one stinky egg (it arrived cracked and I waxed it up). I have 8 Cream Legbars, 2 Easter Eggers, 4 Wyandottes, 12 Speckled Sussex, 2 Coronation Sussex, 8 mixed bantam (Cochin, Serama, D'Uccle), 2 bantam Silver Phoenix.

Both of you guys have a lot going on! You're going to have a lot of chicks! I guess it is more fun being able to watch all those eggs hatch!

 

[DavidKerk]

I culled another 8 eggs from the bator. Seven were clear and one had a blood ring. That leaves me 27 out of 45 and I'm on day 13. If I keep going at this rate, I'm to going to hatch anything! I do have good veining and movement in most of the ones left. A few, I'm still just unsure about...it's so difficult to see through these shells.

I'm hoping I can hatch at least 5... PLEASE just let me have 5!

That's what I was saying during my whole incubation! With that many eggs, I'm sure at least five will hatch!!!

 

[dutchbunny83]

OMG the worst thing ever just happened to me.
I've been having terrible luck with my incubator and yesterday the thermometer was saying 103!
Today I candle my eggs at 10 days in.
Some I can see some veins, some I can see the outline of what looks like a bird, some just look like a plain yolk, and a few looked hard boiled- solid all the way through air pocket didn't move when I turned it.
So I pulled a couple out I was convinced were duds and decided to open them up to see if they had started to incubate and stop or if they never started.
The first two I opened looked like normal eggs with the yolk no veins or anything formed so I assume they either weren't fertile or incubation never worked.
The third that felt and looked solid almost like it was cooked started to bleed as I cracked the shell, and my heart instantly sunk.
Sure enough out comes this baby chicken fetus with ahuge black eye looking up at me.
I can even see it's heart beating and literally watched it stop as if finally died.
I looked up candling photos before I did this, I really thought it wasn't incubating and wanted to make room for the others and keep it from rotting.
I feel like the worst person in the world right now, I just murdered a baby chicken.

 

[onfurtherreview]

This is my first hatch since I was a kid helping my grandfather (about 27 years ago), and if all goes well they'll hatch around the 22nd of May. I put in a dozen from my own flock, Dominique roos and RIR, BR, Buff Orp, Black Giant, Red Comet, and a couple of mutt hens - I have no idea which of the hens the eggs are from. I also put in a dozen "mystery eggs" someone gave my stepdad. I've had to cull three of the mystery eggs so far (one cracked, two red rings) and I think another of them is clear, but all twelve of my own eggs are developing nicely in my home-made incubator.

 

[ivyrash]

OMG the worst thing ever just happened to me.
I've been having terrible luck with my incubator and yesterday the thermometer was saying 103!
Today I candle my eggs at 10 days in.
Some I can see some veins, some I can see the outline of what looks like a bird, some just look like a plain yolk, and a few looked hard boiled- solid all the way through air pocket didn't move when I turned it.
So I pulled a couple out I was convinced were duds and decided to open them up to see if they had started to incubate and stop or if they never started.
The first two I opened looked like normal eggs with the yolk no veins or anything formed so I assume they either weren't fertile or incubation never worked.
The third that felt and looked solid almost like it was cooked started to bleed as I cracked the shell, and my heart instantly sunk.
Sure enough out comes this baby chicken fetus with ahuge black eye looking up at me.
I can even see it's heart beating and literally watched it stop as if finally died.
I looked up candling photos before I did this, I really thought it wasn't incubating and wanted to make room for the others and keep it from rotting.
I feel like the worst person in the world right now, I just murdered a baby chicken.

You are not the worst person in the world. It happens sometimes and you have to let it go and move on. I am scared to death one will explode in my incubator but don't want to take any out just in case! I just try to remember to learn from the mistakes so it doesn't happen again.

Sorry this happened to you.

 

[EggieRowe]

OMG the worst thing ever just happened to me.
I've been having terrible luck with my incubator and yesterday the thermometer was saying 103!
Today I candle my eggs at 10 days in.
Some I can see some veins, some I can see the outline of what looks like a bird, some just look like a plain yolk, and a few looked hard boiled- solid all the way through air pocket didn't move when I turned it.
So I pulled a couple out I was convinced were duds and decided to open them up to see if they had started to incubate and stop or if they never started.
The first two I opened looked like normal eggs with the yolk no veins or anything formed so I assume they either weren't fertile or incubation never worked.
The third that felt and looked solid almost like it was cooked started to bleed as I cracked the shell, and my heart instantly sunk.
Sure enough out comes this baby chicken fetus with ahuge black eye looking up at me.
I can even see it's heart beating and literally watched it stop as if finally died.
I looked up candling photos before I did this, I really thought it wasn't incubating and wanted to make room for the others and keep it from rotting.
I feel like the worst person in the world right now, I just murdered a baby chicken.

Mistakes happen. When I was candling my broody's eggs I tripped, fell, and broke one all over the porch and myself. I felt bad for a bit, then gave her more eggs which was dumb because she was 4 days in. By the time we got to the end the pencil marks had rubbed off the eggs and I 'lost' one only to find it in a carton two weeks later. Just glad I didn't give it away to someone else - it nearly ruined my breakfast. (Another mistake, I left my broody with the flock so other hens were routinely laying in the nest on top of her. I'm lucky I didn't end up with more unpleasant breakfast surprises.) Live and learn.