February 2023 hatch-a-long

[gimmie birdies]

I did hear my first peep, I don't know if it was the wiggling one.

 

[junior67]

In the afternoon, around 1:30. I tried zipping for her but she bled so I dabbed the bleeding with a damp paper towel. Back in the 'bator!

It can take up to 24 hrs from pip to zip. They need that time to absorb the yolk and veins. A good tip is use coconut oil to moisten the membrane and also it will show if there are still veins. Was it just a bit of blood or a decent amount?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

What she said!
@LhickenChicken, Sit. on. your. hands. Patience!
Don't try to assist until it's been 24 hours past the pip. They will pip to breathe, then rest and sleep off and on. During this time, they are absorbing the rest of the yolk and the blood vessels will dry up, the beak will open & close, and they will chirp and wiggle. And they will sleep for long periods of time. If you assist too soon, the chick could die. Just be patient until tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have never actually done it, though it is frequently advised on these forums. I'm tagging someone who knows much more about it: @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

Here you go. Read it, then read it like 20 times more before deciding to make a hole and assist hatching.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[SycamoreHorsesFarm]

Only day 3 here but I’m so excited! This is my first time. I’m absolutely amazed that only 3 days in I can already see a little heart fluttering away! It looks like 15/22 are developing but I’ll leave them all in until at least day 7 to remove the clears.

 

[coffeeaddict]

I've learned SO much from this hatch-a-long.

Finally getting prepared for lockdown. The front row are my Day 7 eggs. One of those eggs is 72g!

I paid my son $1 to make these barriers. He thought it was a great deal. Only took him a few minutes. Separated my shipped eggs... was worried they would be weaker from shipping and didn't want them getting knocked around by the Texas chickens.

 

[Kwoka]

I just put 10 “fridge eggs” into lockdown, set to hatch Feb 9. This is just a personal experiment - I had been under the impression that refrigerated eggs of unknown age will have a bad hatch rate, deformities etc. but I wanted to see for myself. They will be backyard mixes from a local friend’s flock (red and black sex-links with a black sex-link or Light Sussex rooster)

Joke’s on me, 10/10 fertilized and growing lmao I’m probably going to eat the roosters and sell the pullets, because I really want to hatch colored layers this year.

I have a SECOND batch set to hatch on Valentine’s Day - I have 5 shipped eggs—a couple Blue Copper Marans, Legbars, and an Araucana egg in there, plus 5 more fridge mix eggs.

 

[Kikilu]

Only day 3 here but I’m so excited! This is my first time. I’m absolutely amazed that only 3 days in I can already see a little heart fluttering away! It looks like 15/22 are developing but I’ll leave them all in until at least day 7 to remove the clears.

View attachment 3398043

My first time as well and I’ll go on lockdown this weekend FINALLY - it really is amazing to see the process - Best of luck!

 

[FeatherProfessor]

The first chick has hatched! And waited until just before 7:30 this morning to do so. On my way in to check it out

 

[AUChickenGal]

Day 12 here. I pulled the last of my Easter Egger eggs this morning. It was either a clear with several blood spots or a very, very early quitter. There are 4 Marans and 7 Ameraucana eggs, all shipped, still in the incubator. I’m not 100% confident in some of them, but I’m going to let them stay for now and just monitor closely.



I’ll start collecting my eggs again today to plan to re-try the Easter Eggers after this batch hatches next week. If I still don’t get any successful hatchlings, I’m going to have to assume my current rooster is a dud. Last year, out of three batches, I successfully hatched one of his chicks, which was of course a cockerel. I had mostly fertile eggs then, though, but lots of late quitters, which is why I purchased a new incubator next year. He’s a super, super sweet rooster whose genetics I’d really like to keep in the flock, if I could just get a few successful pullet hatches!