Mahonri's 3rd Annual, BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[sbarab]

Of the 20 eggs that were in my bator, 3 hatched. All 3 are EE's. One chick looks like a little chipmunk and the other 2 are all yellow.

The Welsummer hen that laid all of the brown eggs I had in there must not have been hanging out in the chicken house long enough in the mornings for one of the roosters to do his job before she flys over the fence to free range.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Don't forget besides the hatch rate contests and Kathy's calendar contest, we have these new contests open:
Cutest

Chick Picture
For this contest, the chick hatched must be from Mahonri's 3rd Annual BYC Easter Hatch. The picture will need to be taken and posted by or before 11:59PM EST on April 15th, 2012. We'll be asking folks in the hatch as well as some moderators to help judge if they are willing. There will be 1st and 2nd place awards given.
Prizes: a 6 month GFM!

Best Overall Hatch Participant

At the end of the hatch, PM your choice for best hatch participant to Mahonri. This should be someone who you thought was supportive, helpful, funny, encouraging... The person with the most votes wins! Votes will start on April 10th and end on April 12th, 2012.
Prize: a 6 month GFM!

 

[featherz]

I'm planning on putting all these chicks in my barn as soon as they are all out and fluffed.. Maybe tomorrow night, so I can check that everyone's walking and eating well. So I just have them in a box large enough to hold the ecoglow and they have a waterer made out of a peanut butter plastic jar.

 

[ChooksChick]

Here is a link to some good information: Hatchability Problem Analysis.

1. Sign: Sticky chicks; chicks smeared with albumen. Causes:
   1. Low incubation temperature.
   2. High incubation humidity.
   3. Improper turning. This results in reduced embryonic membrane growth and reduced nutrient absorption.
   4. Old eggs.
   5. Very large eggs.
      
2. Sign: Chicks stuck in shell, dry; chicks with shell fragments stuck to down feathers. Causes:
   1. Humidity too low during egg storage, incubation, and/or hatching.
   2. Improper egg turning.
   3. Cracked eggs or poor shell quality.

Well, I'm lucky enough to have invoked nearly every one of those items in the first list.



I'm having a terrible hatch, and being very humbled by this experience. I've tried, this time, to hatch a bunch of older eggs, and it didn't go well at all because we had temps from 88*-30* during this timeframe. I have resisted turning the heater and air on and off because it just feels wrong...and I've really done poorly because of it. I'm also using an incubator I made myself, which worked great last hatch a few weeks ago, but it was still cold enough that we consistently had the heat running, so our house temps were stable.

I won't be hatching in-between seasons in this incubator again until I can make it 2" thicker all around. It's too difficult to regulate and my temps were clearly too low for the majority of the time...but looked right while I was checking during the day. 7/8" plywood with insulation-board inside isn't enough, and I need better heat ballast.

I woke up to find the humidity at 58% so I put some Wat in through the bent holes and not is at 75%!!!!!!! I don't know how to lower it without taking the top off which I don't want to do because I have one that's zipping! Please help

I think it'll probably be fine-

X2. I have a pip, they were supposed to hatch yesterday, no peeping, yolk draining out of egg. I'm debating on helping this guy out or not................

I don't think I'd help. If the yolk isn't absorbed, it's certainly not yet ready to get out.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

Now it's at 78%.

I really hope this one that's zipping will be okay. Could I open it for a second to grab a sponge out?

78% will be okay. Just leave leave it as it is.

For your next hatch, you could run some aquarium tubing through a vent hole into your water trough. It only costs about $3 and you can find it at Walmart or a pet store. Then, you can use an oral syringe to squirt water in without opening the lid.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

I'm having a terrible hatch, and being very humbled by this experience.

As am I.

 

[chevynova]

From these



I got....




these



Buff-laced polish, white yokohama, red-shouldered yokohama, and one lone heritage bronze turkey.


That makes.... 4 out of 29 total, and 1 turkey out of 12. There were 13 eggs at lockdown, 8 of those were assorted turkeys, four were yokohamas, and two were assorted laced polish. All four babies hatched a day early. The rest of the turkeys were fully formed but died in shell, never even pipped internally. I believe the humidity may have been too low during the first day or two of lockdown - I had it between 45% and 55% after reading that someone had trouble hatching turkeys if it was any higher, and the turkeys were my priority for the hatch. It was upped to 60%-75% as chicks began hatching and I saw they were a bit sticky. I was trying to save a few dollars by hatching my own turkeys, but instead I ended up with one $50 poult! Guess we'll be having ham for Thanksgiving this year.

 

[champer]

Good morning all! My hatch appears to be done with 1 Wellie hatched over night and 2 Wellies I had to unshrinkwrap this morning. Out of 76 set, I have 26 little fluffy butts. In a stunning lack of foresight, 23 of the 26 are black or gray and I can't tell who are the Ameraucana, who are the EE, who are the BAs or OEs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a lovely day!!!!

 

[Johndeere96]

So when do you give up on a hatch? I have 150 eggs in my bator and they went into lockdown Wednesday. I've only had 4 hatch and I lost one. No more pips that I can see.

 

[Mahonri]

What a beautiful way to start this miraculous day. Happy Easter EVERYONE. Thank you Mahonri. Gloria Jean

Gloria Jean! So glad you liked it all! Thank YOU!