Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[formerchickenlass]

Do you break all your broodies?

Frequently. A couple times I've allowed them to sit on the eggs and then have taken them around day 18 to finish them in my incubator. After the hens have been sitting that long, they seem to come right out of it after you take the eggs and put them out on the ground for a day.

Oh the color addiction is bad with Seramas. Every time you hatch a new color you have to keep it, and breed it... it's crazy.

So true. And it's hard to give up beautifully colored birds that don't have great type, but I'm forcing myself to do it this year.

I have a new guy who is a pretty blue with some barring and I have a frizzle who seems like a dark blue so of course I wonder what their babies might look like.

Would love to see pics! I hatched a frizzle this year that looks exchequer (not something I was breeding for) and is blue. He was feeling pretty shy in this pic, first time outdoors, but he's a total cutie.

I'm trying not to keep too many frizzles since they seem to be able to overrun a breeding program quickly, but this guy might have a place if he finishes out with good type.

Prissy with her 6, last 2 pics are the daddys
View attachment 1083406

Adorable babies! You've got a lot of different colors! Perfect!

Here are a few of my mottled babies... View attachment 1084155
View attachment 1084156

Hello sweeties! <3 <3

 

[darkbluespace]

I am dry hatching this summer and it is going pretty well so far! I made an incubator with a fan and a thermostat and it is doing great. Still air doesn't have great hatch rates I hear. I just used a computer fan and a phone charger to power it. Not sure if I will totally dry hatch the next Seramas, but humidity has been pretty high without added water.

I hope you get some chicks soon! I'm excited to see how they hatch for you! As they are close to hatch I really cannot see anything in them at all! The batch that my hen hatched I could not see much till they pipped internally... that was so exciting!

The Serama hens seem quite broody! My Frizzle hen is sitting on some eggs that quit and I should have marked them because my little white hen has been laying there when Frizzle gets up. I am wondering if her eggs are fertile... they weren't before but she's spending more time the rooster now. Frizzle is on 5 eggs right now and sometimes they roll out from under her. I try to keep hay in the box but it always comes out and the eggs just roll around ; ) I asked on the Serama thread and someone told me her hen hatched 9! Guess it depends on the size of your hen.

My Castle Delight eggs should be here in the next week or so. If none of these eggs are fertile then I will try putting some of the CDS under her. I hear she packs her eggs really well and many people have good hatch rates on them. Where did your last mailed eggs come form? I have so far resisted buying any from ebay as they all ship from so far away.

 

[darkbluespace]

Sounds good! You know, people put tiny quail eggs in a turner, I am thinking of getting one for my quail eggs, so I bet they will be fine.

I am so thrilled I think I have 2 more Serama girls starting to lay and these girls are sooo pretty!

And I have 7 eggs due by NYD and 6 more are on day 8, I think, and then the 5 I set yesterday.

I also found my very first duck eggs today from the Anconas we hatched in the Summer. They are a beautiful blue!

I can just tell this Spring is going to be so fun!

 

[Skink]

Updated my spreadsheet again! One quit, but another I wasn't sure about started to develop.. they are a little behind, but alive! #5 has a weird half-saddle aircell but is developing, I am anticipating an assisted hatch with them but will be happy to help 'em out. There's a 7th egg that is a little weird.. I'm giving it 'til lockdown candle to impress me since it passed the sniff test. We'll see what happens.

Thanks, I am glad you like the spreadsheet! I had to yank weight from the list, my scale's power source died and I'm waiting on a replacement in the mail. Googledocs is great for this kind of stuff, and stored off computer so you don't need to worry about losing it in case of hardware failure.

Congrats on your duck eggs darkbluespace, and a belated welcome collegegardner! I hope you both had good holidays and that your hatches eggs keep on truckin'

 

[Skink]

Candled and updated the spreadsheet. Two internal pips! I can't articulate my excitement!!! Might get some new year's babies!

 

[mightymax]

Hello Everyone !!!

I'm brand new to seramas, but not to chickens! I'm 'incubating' my 13 ebay eggs that I got on New Year's Eve under my best broody...a silkie named Riley Roo! Eighteen days
and counting !!!
I CAN'T WAIT !!!

-kim-

 

[Skink]

Hello Everyone !!!

I'm brand new to seramas, but not to chickens! I'm 'incubating' my 13 ebay eggs that I got on New Year's Eve under my best broody...a silkie named Riley Roo! Eighteen days
and counting !!!
I CAN'T WAIT !!!

-kim-

Welcome! You're going to love this breed! I hope your first hatch goes well. They're not the easiest to hatch and their shipped eggs especially are delicate, but they are worth it. They are delightful little butts right out of the egg, and I've found the older my rooster gets the more he becomes attached. Are you eventually adding them to an outdoor flock, or planning on keeping them in an enclosure?

 

[darkbluespace]

It seems that a lot of us are in the same boat here, newbies to the "hatching of serama's" world !!! I'm with heyheypaula as far as any tricks or tips to help my babies have a healthy and happy hatch. Although I have mine under a broody and not in an incubator, I know that I still have many questions and concerns! One of which is, just how many eggs can you put under a normal size silkie hen? As many as will fit and not poke out from underneath her? Or is there a magical number that they do better with (as in a better hatch rate)? And is it OK to let her get off the eggs for awhile to get some sun and exercise with her flock (I have her inside my house in a small dog crate), or should I keep her cooped up (pun intended) until the eggs hatch? I felt so sorry for her the other day that once the weather got nice, I took her in her crate and set her up on the patio table for awhile. She seemed to enjoy it! I know it made me feel better anyway...lol !!! But I'm not sure if that's good for the eggs or not. I know that when I let my silkies hatch their own eggs outside in the coop, they stay in the nest for days on end sometimes. I've even gotten in the habit of putting a separate food bowl and water container inside the nesting area right beside her for fear of her dwindling away to nothing before the eggs hatch. Then again, I've also seen it where they get off their nests and scratch around with their flock mates for hours at a time, so I'm kind of in a quandary as to what to do and expect from my broody with these eggs, since they're not hers and all! Oh, and by the way...darkbluespace, I, too, had a couple of clear eggs when I candled them when they first arrived and all but one of the clear(er) ones has since started to develop the features that appear to be an embryo! So it's a good thing I read on here NOT to throw them away immediately or I'd be down another 3 potential chicks already.

Good Luck Everyone !!!
And remember...I'll take all the helpful advice I can get, so don't be shy!

-kim-

The best thing about a broody hen is that they regulate the temp and humidity for you and it is usually just right!! Most broody hens get off the nest once a day or so and it is natural and safe and perhaps even helpful for eggs to cool down for a bit Most hens know how long they can stay off their eggs and it certainly is healthier for hens to get up, poop, eat, move around and dust bathe regularly.

As far as eggs go, I bet you could fit quite a lot of Serama eggs under a Silkie I don't usually try to push it as I figure that less eggs will definitely be covered. That is probably more important during the colder months. When my first hen went broody, a large fowl Salmon Faverolle, I was concerned that she might be too big to hatch Serama eggs but she was an amazing mama and was so gentle with her eggs and chicks. I generally think a broody knows best and we can mostly just let them do their thing!

I am so glad you kept your clear eggs! Some of them do just develop more slowly or less visibly than others. Eggs really are so amazing!!

 

[darkbluespace]

Today is lockdown! I just got everything situated, did my last candling. I removed one that I had left in at last candling. I wasn't too sure, but it was evident today that it wasn't developing. For hatch, do all vent plugs come out? Also, what is optimal humidity for hatch?

I have one egg on day 19.. praying this one makes it.

Little Sparky had to have a bath for pasty butt and is now inconsolable. He desperately needs a friend. The first batches had more clears and more quitters, but now more are developing so that is good news.

All the vents you have open are good, they need lots of oxygen at lockdown. I usually have mine around 60%

 

[darkbluespace]

I am trying to get my newest incubator together because I picked up 100+ quail eggs today! Sparky isn't helping though, I have to give him some love before I can put him back in the brooder. I can't wait till he can hang out on my shoulder