February 2017 Hatch-a-long

[yeye5]

@yeye5

My chicks are a barn yard mix of various breeds. The 4 pictures are of some of the Olive Eggers I think! I had so many hatch out unexpectedly that I now get confused as to which is which! LOL Guess time will determine when the pullets start laying.

I got the eggs from GardenWren here on BYC. Out of 20 eggs, 19 hatched. The last egg was fully developed but DIS. Here is a picture of the eggs I got. If you are ever looking for Olive Eggers with the possibility of Frizzles, look her up. Can't say enough good things about her packing and am beyond happy with the chicks!

Thank you SO much for that referral. I've never tried shipped eggs. Timing would be super important since they'll be with a hen, not an incubator.
Those eggs are Gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen such variety and depth/intensity of color!

 

[lilwildrabbit]

I hope your husband is fully recovered!

The quail hatching in pairs IS amazing! BTW I loved the article! Thanks  
Nature is so vast and complex. I'm sure we, as humans, know only itsy bitsy aspects of it. Who knows, maybe in 10 years we'll be saying, "Of Course they hatch together, doesn't everyone?"
Maybe I spend too much time thinking, contemplating...all along I've been so attached to that olive egg. By some miracle (or lunacy) I did put the egg in despite the lack of any logic to it. Maybe this is all about keeping Mima on the nest so she hatches that special egg.
Myrtle is gone. The 2 other eggs I have from her were laid 2-12 and 2-14. Not to say I won't Attempt to get them hatched, but the likelihood goes down every day...so I'm hoping and praying for that egg, ALL of the eggs of course. I just can't get another one from Myrtle.

I know I tried with the last egg from my only EE hen Ms Blue but it didn't go now I won't get any more cute little tourquise eggs

 

[yeye5]

Honestly, if you think it will bother her, then don't mess with her. Just wait for the surprise!

But... if you decide to check....
I use a small mag-lite flashlight, with foam paper attached to the top, taped on. Simple yet effective. The higher number of lumens, the better you will see.


Shine the light into the air cell end. You are looking to see the size of the air cell, looking for blood vessels, and movement by the chick inside. No movement does not indicate death. Look for the blood vessels! Also look for "clear" areas, where the light passes through. Late in the game, it should be mostly dark, with mostly only air cell visible.

Great pics and excellent instructions. Thanks!
I had thought (first time I tried) that I had to shine the light into the smaller end. Then I turned it over and saw the air cell on the round end. In the pic you're also using the light in a side to side manner. For some silly reason I thought it was supposed to be up and down. (I could complicate boiling water).
One question:
do you see better with the covering on the flashlight? Or is that so as not to upset the hen? Or are you using incubator on all your hatches?

 

[Jessimom]

At one time, I was planning to raise some quail. I hatched one small set, then while the 2nd set (3 dozen) was incubating, my husband's appendix ruptured and required immediate, massive surgery. Quite an ordeal, and recovery afterward, so I ended up selling off the quail.

But, getting slowly to my point.. lol.... I was told, and found it true, that quail zip/hatch in pairs or more. Hours may pass between hatchings, but when one started zipping, I could almost always count on at least one more starting. Sometimes 2 would hatch and kick out at exactly the same time. It was cool!

I stress totally about silkie and seabright eggs being so tiny, quail would scare me to death. Maybe someday....But that is AMAZING that they synchronize.

My appendix also ruptured, but I waited 3 days before going to the doctor. I have been told I'm very lucky to still be here. I hope your husband was smarter than I was and took care of it immediately. I hope that he has made a full recovery. That can be very scary!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Great pics and excellent instructions. Thanks!
I had thought (first time I tried) that I had to shine the light into the smaller end. Then I turned it over and saw the air cell on the round end. In the pic you're also using the light in a side to side manner. For some silly reason I thought it was supposed to be up and down. (I could complicate boiling water).
One question:
do you see better with the covering on the flashlight? Or is that so as not to upset the hen? Or are you using incubator on all your hatches?

I always hold the egg with the air cell up, and shine the light down into it, or move the flashlight around it. The covering on the flashlight is so I don't clumsily bang the egg with the hard surface of the light, and to get a better "seal" than the flat surface of the light's lens. I do look all around the egg, later in incubation. The pointy end should show some veining too, and should be all dark by day 16 or so, but the air cell end is where you see the most.

I incubate mostly, but did let about 10 hens brood clutches last summer. This summer I am hoping to have one designated broody (maybe allow 2). I want the others producing eggs! lol

When candling under a broody, I usually just left the eggs where they laid, if I could catch her off the nest. Or quickly pulled one at a time from under her, in the dark. Candle quickly, replace, and grab another.

I stress totally about silkie and seabright eggs being so tiny, quail would scare me to death. Maybe someday....But that is AMAZING that they synchronize.

My appendix also ruptured, but I waited 3 days before going to the doctor. I have been told I'm very lucky to still be here. I hope your husband was smarter than I was and took care of it immediately. I hope that he has made a full recovery. That can be very scary!!

Oh goodness, I feel for you! And yes, you definitely are lucky! He was like you, though. Had an attack on a Thursday, thought it was food poisoning. Felt better on Sunday/Monday (which is when they "think" it actually ruptured), then it got progressively worse, finally went to the ER the following Friday! So he's hard-headed like you. Its been right at a year now. He ended up with a hernia from the first surgery which required repeat surgery right before Christmas, but now he is back to about 95%. How long ago was yours? And I hope you made a full recovery also!

 

[lilwildrabbit]

Well it being my first time incubating I see that I have had a few screw ups now I'm hoping I get some birds tho. And as the appendix bursting I had mine removed years ago and it burst in the Drs hands just after it was removed. But know full well what it feels like to get an abdominal infection. Its scary when you wake up from a surgery ( supposed to be just a 1 inch cut into your belly and repair damage to your intestine ( diverticulitis) and see the Dr asleep in a chair and a 17 inch incision and on a osteomy bag too. Because the Dr was afraid that he got to me too late and he removed 4.5 ft of my intestine and said I was full of infection. I spent 3 weeks in the hospital with constant antibiotics pumped into me

 

[DASRanch]

My first hatch attempt and I finally have a single pip, and only one chirp but sounds like a distressed chirp. Here is hoping some random barnyard chics hatch! This is the last one I thought would hatch as the egg had hard poop we couldnt get off stuck to the egg.

 

[Jim121898]

Ok another question. I had a chick hatch and it's head keeps going back causing it to flip over. Any ideas as to what would cause this birth defect?

 

[yeye5]

Since I've been so vocal about my situation with Mima and that potential hatch, I figure I might as well propose a possible explanation I've just come up with for why it's going so strangely.

I wasn't sure if Mima's daughter Peaches was laying yet (and since both ladies' eggs look the same I couldn't tell).
The day after I blocked off the ramp to the 2nd floor nest area, I found an egg that had rolled down the ramp, got stuck on the frame without breaking. I assumed Mima had mysteriously got it there when pushing it out of the nest.
This morning, pre-coffee, I saw another egg newly laid and "hidden" close to the rear side wall of the coop. That one I figured was Peaches egg.
Then I backtracked mentally and realized why each time I've looked under Mima it seemed there were the same # of eggs even after the had pushed 3 out. I chalked it up to my silliness and wishful thinking. And there started to look like More eggs in the few days before I blocked the ramp in order to give Mima is quiet place to brood.
Well, the egg on the ramp must've been Peaches not knowing what to do when she couldn't get to the nest she was using! Today's egg was the kicker. Mima is on the nest so she wouldn't be laying.
Now I have a batch of eggs, some of which are 21-22 days "old", then Myrtle's egg which is several days younger, then there are whatever # of eggs that Peaches laid in there!
Nothing I can do about that now...
If I let Peaches back up there she'll keep laying eggs into the clutch. However if Mima gets tired of the waiting game, maybe, just maybe, hopefully Peaches might take over the job?

I can't think of anything I can do now about it. Does anyone think differently? If so, what exactly could I do?

I am becoming the crazy chicken lady!

 

[orrpeople]

Since I've been so vocal about my situation with Mima and that potential hatch, I figure I might as well propose a possible explanation I've just come up with for why it's going so strangely.

I wasn't sure if Mima's daughter Peaches was laying yet (and since both ladies' eggs look the same I couldn't tell).
The day after I blocked off the ramp to the 2nd floor nest area, I found an egg that had rolled down the ramp, got stuck on the frame without breaking. I assumed Mima had mysteriously got it there when pushing it out of the nest.
This morning, pre-coffee, I saw another egg newly laid and "hidden" close to the rear side wall of the coop. That one I figured was Peaches egg.
Then I backtracked mentally and realized why each time I've looked under Mima it seemed there were the same # of eggs even after the had pushed 3 out. I chalked it up to my silliness and wishful thinking. And there started to look like More eggs in the few days before I blocked the ramp in order to give Mima is quiet place to brood.
Well, the egg on the ramp must've been Peaches not knowing what to do when she couldn't get to the nest she was using! Today's egg was the kicker. Mima is on the nest so she wouldn't be laying.
Now I have a batch of eggs, some of which are 21-22 days "old", then Myrtle's egg which is several days younger, then there are whatever # of eggs that Peaches laid in there!
Nothing I can do about that now...
If I let Peaches back up there she'll keep laying eggs into the clutch. However if Mima gets tired of the waiting game, maybe, just maybe, hopefully Peaches might take over the job?

I can't think of anything I can do now about it. Does anyone think differently? If so, what exactly could I do?

I am becoming the crazy chicken lady!

I would probably keep the blockade up. Peaches will figure it out eventually, then let Mima do her best with what she has and see what happens. I doubt the second hen will take over or she would be settling in on a different nest by now. It may just be a "relax and see what happens" kind of thing. Wishing you the very best!