The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Happy Chooks]

Welcome to the 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!​

It's that time again! Every year, hundreds of members come together to set eggs to hatch on the exact same day - the day BEFORE Easter. As a group last year, we had 10,585 eggs set for hatching! If you are new to hatching, this is a great way to get a lot of help, tips and advise. Join in the fun for the largest BYC Hatch-a-long of the year!



Set Chicken eggs on Saturday, March 14th at Noon (whatever time zone you are in)

Other poultry breed setting dates listed below...

We want to hatch on April 4th, (the day BEFORE Easter Sunday)
button quail: 16 days to hatch; set March 19th
coturnix quail: 18 days to hatch; set March 17th
seramas: 19 days to hatch; set March 16th
other bantam and LF: 21 days to hatch; set March 14th
bobwhite quail: 23 days to hatch; set March 12th
call duck and other bantam ducks: 26 days to hatch; set March 9th
pheasant: 22 to 29 days; set March 6th - March 13th
mallard (derived) duck,goose, turkey, guinea, peafowl: 28 days to hatch; set March 7th
goose: 28 to 32 days to hatch; set March 3rd - March 7th
muscovy duck: 35 days to hatch; set February 28th
emu: approx. 53 days to hatch - set Feb 10th (for you "serious" hatchers)



TO JOIN the hatchalong simply post in this thread that you wish to enter and we will add you! Set dates for each type of domestic fowl are listed above.
This thread is our main chat thread for the hatchalong where you can find anything from new friends, awesome incubation help to the most detailed educational discussions possible and how could we forget the laughter and fun!
This post of the Hatchalong (1st post) will be updated as we move along with all the important information you will need.
But if you find yourself with a question just post it on the thread, everyone is helpful!


ALL CONTESTS ARE HELD IN SEPARATE THREADS,
TO ENTER each contest YOU MUST VISIT EACH CONTEST THREAD, READ THE RULES AND ENTER THE CONTEST, SIMPLE!


If you end up not setting any eggs, please let us know! It makes it easier for our record keeping and we don't have to try to track you down!

Places to find hatching eggs:
BYC Buy ~ Sell ~ Trade Section: Chicken Hatching Eggs

JUST IN TIME HATCHING EGG AUCTION: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/754077/just-in-time-hatching-egg-auction-and-bin-thread/2100_50




Contests!

Contest #1: Guess How Many Eggs Will Be Set!
Winner: Auroradream26

Contest #2: Random Posting Contest
3 random dates and times have been chosen. If your post is nearest to the secret time, you win!
Winner #1: SoManyHats
Winner #2: chicken pickin
Winner #3: KYTinpusher and Myfourladies - it was a tie!

Contest #3: Photo Caption Contest #1
1st Place: Peep-Chicken
2nd Place: Razadia
3rd Place: CountryHeart06 and SpringPeeper

Contest #4: Easter or Hatching Fictional Short Story Contest
1st Place: leslea
2nd Place: Scruffyfeathers

Contest #5: Broodies and their Babies
Winner: zazouse

Contest #6: Natural Egg Photo Contest
Winner: timvdo

Contest #7: Cutest Baby Fowl
Winner: MightyDucksVT

Contest #8: Funniest Chicken Picture Contest
Winner: Acornewell

Contest #9: Flapper Contest
1st Place: chickenlady099
2nd Place: mayang
3rd Place: toynutz

Contest #10: Poultry with People Contest
1st Place: Madelennon
2nd Place: bantambury

Contest #11: Dustbathing Contest
1st Place: leilanio
2nd Place: lilbrownrat
3rd Place: toynutz

Contest #13: Photo Caption Contest #2
1st Place: RedIII
2nd Place: AmyLynn2374
3rd Place: RedIII

Contest #14: Wet Poultry Contest
1st Place: Kelsie2290
2nd Place: sillycmoy
3rd Place: TommyDaDelaware

Contest #15: Guess How Many Will Hatch
1st Place: MooreChickens
2nd Place: Tessaturtle

Best Hatch Participant
Winners: Cynthia12 and chicken pickin




Thank You to @mlmddh , @sumi , and @ronott1 for helping me with this year's Hatch-a-long!

 

[angelobutter]

My Easter "hatch" was a week early lol.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Incubator Wars!

Update

It is day 3, already, of the Easter Hatch A-Long Incubator wars. Let's recap, there are 3 contestants each using a different incubator. Each one working to have a more successful hatch rate than the other. It has been an exciting roller coaster incubation so far.

Contestant #1, Mom, using the store bought incubator has been having a rather relaxed time of it. The automatic turner has been doing all the work for her. Talk about easy living. But wait, there was a minor hiccup with the secondary thermometer. It appears that it is battery powered and the battery has died. She needs that second temperature reading, folks. That Little Giant she is using is prone to hot and cold spots which could spell disaster for those developing chicks. A quick battery change and she is back in the game.

Contestant #2, DSx3, have constructed their own incubator out of a styrofoam cooler, a lightbulb, and a few various items they found around the house. These young men have had an uphill battle so far. The morning of day 2 found the eggs had not yet been turned. It appears that they had all forgotten. A quick schedule rearangement got them back on track. Not for long though. It would seem cooler, over night, temperatures in the house have caused the temperature inside the incubator to drop dangerously low. Let's hope a few quick changes can get them back in this game.

Contestant #3 has quit!

I repeat, contestant #3, young Speckles the hen, has quit! Oh no, those poor eggs! Wait, wait a minute, folks. Something seems to be happening in the nest box. Oh my goodness! You have got to be kidding me! You won't believe it folks! Amber, a little red hen, has taken Speckles place sitting on the eggs. This is unprecidented. These two hens have pulled a tag-team move in the incubation of these eggs. Well, I guess having some help when you have to do all the work can come in handy.

Wow! Talk about EGGciting! With 18 more days until hatching who knows what could happen next. Stay tuned, folks, as we have seen so far; anything can happen. Good day and Happy Hatching!

 

[Junibutt]

I am wondering the same thing lol!

There is a thumbs up button at the bottom of each post. So instead of saying, great post/great pic only, you can click on the thumbs up button and it will open up a dialog box (optional). It serves 2 purposes:

1. Marks the ovation you get on your profile and if someone is following you, they can read all your posts that have received ovations
2. If more people start using it, it will reduce the number of posts to go through. For example many posts only comprise of Thank You or Congratulations. So those can be given as an ovation instead of a post.

So how many people are going to give ovations to this post?

 

[AsterRetirement]

Hello Everyone
We are a Retirement Community in Wisconsin. with around 60 full time residents that love to hatch baby chicks every Easter.

This year we have set 29 eggs. to hatch on Easter Morning or so..........

 

[Jewls819]

I have one incubator set today with 21 Serama eggs(mine hatch around day 20) and another incubators set today with 26 eggs. 47 eggs in incubators and my little serama hen Athena went broody today to join us. She is setting on 5 eggs. So that is 52 eggs total! This will be the best Easter ever!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Here is the cropped picture of the bee with her pollen sacs full.


A close up:


And in flight:

 

[hockeydad6791]

My wife is so sneaky!!! She told me to get the incubator (LG still air) out and get it ready for the HAL. I went to my man cave where I keep my stuff and she had got me a brand new FI 4200 she had it setting on top of my Lg. Gotta love surprises.

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[suebgbr]

I think I just took a pic of the prettiest color of blue I have ever seen and it ain't my eyes! This is actually a failed St. Paddy's pic. This is also how I'm keeping myself from fiddling with the bator.

Blue and black? I can only see white and gold!