FEBRUARY Hatch-A-Long 2015:Please Read First Post To Join H-A-L

[vonrow]

HI everyone! My family started a new adventure this year. We were given 2 incubators and one for parts. (total of 3) I cleaned up the 2 working units and we set 25 eggs in one unit back on the 6th of this month. Most of the set are pure Silver Laced Wyandotte, but a handful or more are SLW and Americauna cross. One of the 'meris is a Lavendar! So we are pretty stoked to see what the babies are gunna look like. So far all of the eggs have been candled and look good. No clears to be found. I'll have to post some pics later as the hatch gets closer. Chickens are nothing new to me, being raised on a hobby farm. We let nature and the hens do the chick raising however. So this incubator thing is something I've never had a chance to play with, but always wanted to do.

 

[Purpletie3]

I'm anxious to see how the sizzles turn out with the new roo. (porcelain) and the porcelains too. With the new girls in the porcelain pen and a new roo in the sizzle pen it's like christmas all over again. Except it takes longer for the gift since it takes months for them to fully feather. I plan to move my white sizzle hens back with the white roo and any other white girls I may get from this years hatch. I'm gonna start a white silkie/sizzle pen. I still have to pick up my black roo to replace my paint roo for my paint girls My white roo is with my only paint hen I have left. I do have 2 paint pullets that will be added to the paint pen when they are old enough or I put the paint pen back together. I've got big plans for my silkies for this year. As well as the orpingtons that I have in the bators. Depending on what hatches I plan to have a pen of the lav orps one bbs orp pen one bbs english orp pen and one mottled english orp pen. If I don't get what I need to do that they will just all go in one pen. I really don't need a roo unless I get enough girls to make a pen then I'll just keep 1 roo per english pen in case I ever decide to sell their eggs. Otherwise these eggs will be for eating use.

I am sure they will be beautiful! Here's my crazy cool chicks from yours...

 

[rainbowchick]

HI everyone!   My family started a new adventure this year.  We were given 2 incubators and one for parts.  (total of 3)   I cleaned up the 2 working units and we set 25 eggs in one unit back on the 6th of this month.  Most of the set are pure Silver Laced Wyandotte, but a handful or more are  SLW and Americauna cross.  One of the 'meris is a Lavendar!  So we are pretty stoked to see what the babies are gunna look like.  So far all of the eggs have been candled and look good.  No clears to be found.   I'll have to post some pics later as the hatch gets closer.   Chickens are nothing new to me, being raised on a hobby farm.  We let nature and the hens do the chick raising however.  So this incubator thing is something I've never had a chance to play with, but always wanted to do.

Good luck with your hatch!
I'm pretty sure Lavender is recessive. It only shows with two copies of the gene. But that doesn't mean you won't have some other kinds of fun chicks popping out! I was so surprised with the mix I got. Seemed like most of the chickens from the farm I got my eggs from were black, but I got a yellow chick, brown chick, and "penguin" colored chick.

 

[Y N dottes]

I had 4 more quitters, so i'm down to 18 of the 25 eggs I set. These are shipped eggs, so if I can get 15 to hatch i'll be happy. This is only my second time hatching from my homemade bator. last hatch I had a 50% hatch rate, so I hope I can keep that percentage going up. 1 week till hatch day

 

[rainbowchick]

50% with shipped eggs sound great! I'm hoping to at least get 30% when I set 18 next week...

 

[Patti Naquin]

So very cute! Congrats!  Take the braces off each day and assess the chick's progress. Make sure they are getting enough food and water as they can't get around the brooder like the other chicks!

I had a band aid on one of my recent hatches. It's feet were ok just the legs were spraddled.. After about a week it's legs were finally strong enough. You ought to see it get around now. When the bandaid came off he/she took off and was running all over the place!

 

[rainbowchick]

I had a band aid on one of my recent hatches. It's feet were ok just the legs were spraddled.. After about a week it's legs were finally strong enough. You ought to see it get around now. When the bandaid came off he/she took off and was running all over the place!

One of them is already getting pretty fast with its brace (and shoes!) on. I'm hoping the other one starts figuring it out too. I was planning on selling them soon and can't, in good conscience, sell chicks with splayed legs (even with the brace).

 

[Y N dottes]

Quote:
I've never had a chick with spraddled legs, but I had one with curled toes. Along with the boots I made for it I gave it poly-vi-sol to help with any nutrition deficiency. Had her up and running in 2 days

 

[rainbowchick]

I've never had a chick with spraddled legs, but I had one with curled toes. Along with the boots I made for it I gave it poly-vi-sol to help with any nutrition deficiency. Had her up and running in 2 days

Just took the shoes off it a few minutes ago! Looks great, only 36 hours after hatching! I'm glad I put the shoes on first thing...

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Got my first EVER pip this morning, I am so excited! So glad for this nice distraction amid the craziness! Question for you all, though. I am using a Brinsea Octagon and my pump is running almost constantly since lockdown started. I feel like its trying to humidify my house through the vent in the incubator, which is clearly never gonna happen. I want to keep that vent open for the fluffers so I just have to listen to the pump spin I guess. Next time I may lay a damp sponge down under the tray at lockdown to see if that helps it keep up a little better. Anyone tried using a sponge or something to assist with humidity in a Brinsea? I am so glad I went with Brinsea though because I think another incubator would have had me stressed trying to keep up humidity. Aw yeah, it's hatch time!

Congratulations on your first pip, best of luck with your hatch.