March 2017! Hatch with us!

[orrpeople]

Well, somewhere between now and setting for the Easter hatchalong, quite a few of us have eggs that will be hatching!!
So, why not join our 'mellow, kick-back band of hatching pals for a little encouragement, anecdote telling, and camaraderie for the blustery month of March!

Here are my eggs and their due dates:

Due March 11

Due March 16

Due March 16

I also have some Cream Legbars I forgot to photograph from Jeff at Papa's Poultry and some ebay Silverudd's Blues and SFH

I hope you will join us!!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Also I greened the rooftop of my chicken run, I really like it:

Great idea! I love this! I created a border of raised beds around my coop. I try to grow rotating crops they can eat through the wire, like crimson clover or alfalfa, although no surprise, it takes them no time to demolish the whole bed.

This is such great hatching thread. I'm having a hard time keeping up! I woke up this morning to the sound of faint chirping. 2 hours later, I have a pip! Pretty exciting. Tomorrow is hatch day, although I set my eggs in the morning, so I may get some chicks today!
I'm trying to get my brooder set up before the snow sets in tomorrow. (Yes, I know I'm running behind

) I converted an old dresser into a brooder a couple of years ago, and I keep it in the laundry room. We have a big window, so I can sit with the new chicks and watch the snow fall.

 

[orrpeople]

Every time I go through the incubation and hatching process, I am humbled by some dumb mistake I have made. At first, I always think, "I'm not going to share this on BYC, they'll know what an idiot I really am!" And then I remember that it's all one gigantic learning process and if we don't share our failures, as well as our successes, not a lot of learning can take place.

Yesterday morning, I left 2 zipping eggs and 2 pipped eggs to go on a much needed run. I left instructions about how long the zipped ones should take (I give them about an hour, and watch closely for ones that might be stuck - a lesson learned from a different incubation). When I returned, one of the zipped eggs had hatched, the other didn't look too good even though humidity was good. So, I got a warm, wet paper towel, plugged in the heat lamp, and began chipping - successfully releasing it from its sticky shell. I put it back in, and somehow, in my mind, I was convinced there was one more who was stuck (I'm going to blame O2 deprivation from a long, hard run). I whisked it out and chipped some of its shell - blood vessels!! Oh no! This chick wasn't stuck! It was still absorbing the blood from inside its membrane. I put some neosporin on it and quickly returned it to the incubator, praying I hadn't made it bleed too much. Well, even little chicks are chickens. As soon as those exposed blood vessels went into the incubator, the wobbly, drying off chicks were drawn to them and began pecking at them. Seriously!?!? I whisked it out again, and wrapped it in a warm wet paper towel, returning it to the incubator so its little beak would still be able to breathe, but facing a corner, instead of the crowd. And there it sat... all day. I kept checking for signs of life (hard to see in the corner of the incubator, surrounded by paper towel ). Its beak was still moving, but it was still just sitting there, when I finally decided to go to bed.
This morning I dreaded what I would find, so I cautiously looked in the incubator. The paper towel was crumpled in the middle of the incubator! And there, with obvious traces of neosporin on her head, was the little chick!! Despite my stupidity, she had made it. Every hatch humbles me, and I am so thankful this one had a happy ending!

 

[orrpeople]

2nd batch of CLs is pipping!! Hurrah!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

2 more to go, but I can't wait to show my Call ducks!! e

I am soooo in love!

 

[dannyelle123]

Also I greened the rooftop of my chicken run, I really like it:

 

[Ella2017]

My husband is almost finished with our new coop! 17ft by 23ft.. Even our goats are jealous lol. I think he's trying to tell me to put more eggs in the incubator... At least that's what I'm hearing

 

[lilwildrabbit]

Update now we have 5 in the box I took a nap ( pacing all night long) we still have 2 more piped im so glad that there is that much life that came from so cold eggs I actually didn't believe I could save just one we are at50% and rising!!!

 

[orrpeople]

All the rest of the poults were dead without pipping internally, malpositioned. One was completely upside down. I definitely had a humidity problem. So, just the one poult. Hopefully my silkie will do better with her hatch. I feel awful. :-(

There's so much hope and expectation that goes into these hatches that the end results can be very devastating. Last weekend I was a mess... I may or may not have even asked for prayer for my chickens at church...
Give yourself a little healing time before blaming yourself for anything, and then, when you're ready, start the check list of fixes for future incubations. You've got this.

 

[orrpeople]

I have one unhatvhed egg left in the incubator. It is a little over a over due. The last hatchling was 20 hours ago. We have candled. It looks right, but no movement. I tapped, no sounds.

I just floated. It floated right, but no movement. How long do you leave it in the incubator? How long before it explodes? I'd hate to throw it away if it was viable, but my instinct tells me it is not.
Help! This is my first hatch. We have been very lucky with 14/18 chicks (2 never developed). I don't know what to do with our last egg.

I do lots of tapping (listening too), if there's still nothing, you can make a small hole in the air cell and do more tapping and listening. You will probably get a pretty good feel whether it is viable or not at that point. Sadly, floating it just tells you it has a decent air cell, not whether the chick is still alive. I always have one or two in the bator at the end that I'm not quite willing to give up on. If you're not ready, just leave it in. At this point, it's not going to explode.