2015 HALLOWEEN Hatch-a-Long, Join us IF YOU DARE!

[Ravynscroft]

Another true BYC..er.

Thanks, Cynthia... I am just me...

Thank you, all... Thank you! Sally, how'd the dr appt go? I'll update more tomorrow. I can't thank you enough. I'm going to make it through this hatch because of y'all.

Just don't cry, please... unless they are happy tears... please, pm me anytime...

 

[Cynthia12]

I just may break down and candle a couple of me EE's tonight to see if anything is starting in there. Could be.

 

[Cynthia12]

Well good luck with those eggs in the bator. Do you think my humidity is going to be to high during lockdown?

I really think that 70 is too high. Keeping it close to 60% is going to be best. Don't want any condensation on the windows, if you have them in the top of your bator.

 

[chicapee]

Tao chick, I've been following your issues and am heartily sick for you... if you don't want to try again til Spring, all good, but I will send you a good asst of eggs... don't have all the same ones that you were hoping from this hatch, but I do have many of them and others too... send me a PM and will work out best time for you...
And I'm seriously not joking... ask @chicapee if you have any doubts...

@tao chick I had a horrendous experience with some shipped eggs from ebay. @RavynFallen sent me some very lovely eggs, the packaging was excellent. Out of 20 I had 13 hatch. They are gorgeous, healthy chicks and I am thrilled with them. I think I also bought eggs from the same person in texas. I only set them Tuesday night, so won't be candling until Tuesday. I don't hold out much hope after seeing your experience. I will update next week. If you want an assortment of lovely birds you won't go wrong with Ravyn.

 

[tao chick]

@tao chick I had a horrendous experience with some shipped eggs from ebay. @RavynFallen sent me some very lovely eggs, the packaging was excellent. Out of 20 I had 13 hatch. They are gorgeous, healthy chicks and I am thrilled with them. I think I also bought eggs from the same person in texas. I only set them Tuesday night, so won't be candling until Tuesday. I don't hold out much hope after seeing your experience. I will update next week. If you want an assortment of lovely birds you won't go wrong with Ravyn.

I don't blame the seller of the shipped eggs. I wish I received extras but her hens didn't cooperate and she was clear in her ad. I believe it was a bacterial issue. I don't know where it started, but eggs that started to develop died and began oozing. Maybe the bacteria was shipped here with the eggs. Maybe it was already in my incubator. Either way I should have taken the eggs out and scrubbed the incubator after the very first drop of ooze. I may have been able to prevent a few of the losses. Please don't blame cowgirl. I guess if it happened to storminthenight and I, I would suspect something but I don't. I just wasn't careful enough. It has been a lesson.
Ravyn, thank you. I may set again before spring. The local Brabanter seller didn't hesitate to offer more eggs. I knew that she would. I still don't know if I'll accept or ask if she'll offer them in spring instead. I truly appreciate your offer and will let you know.
I won't cry, but last night reading the supportive responses had me tear up. I was having a rough chicken day, which is difficult to express to close family and friends because they just think I'm crazy. Which, I am. I mean, I made a Halloween costume for my favorite chicken. I am thankful to have a group of people who understand that egg losses are sad. Chicken losses are sad. I went out to dinner with a friend which had me laughing. Excellent medicine.

 

[tao chick]

I know I'm late to the discussion & it sounds like uv got things under control, but I've got a hovabator w turner u are welcome to borrow. I think I'm close by u in NY as well. I have a few eggs u could put in there too. They're mixes, but should be fertile.

Thank you! My homemade bator is clean, holding temp and humidity, and has my last 7 eggs in it that are due between 10/27 and 10/31. The cost of electricity is the reason I need to hold off on hatching. We have municipal electricity which has a limit on the lower rate. When that limit is reached our rate doubles or triples. Our heat pump uses electricity on the coldest parts of winter. This combination usually leads to outrageous bills from January through March. This is my first winter to get through and the chicks and chickens will live in the barn. The heat lamp in their brooder will be turned off around the end of the year. I might consider hatching in early spring, but have to monitor the bills.
Thank you again.

 

[tao chick]

Oh, and @frmboyinthecity, here's a picture of some ayam cemani eggs that you asked for yesterday, next to a jumbo white egg laid by a leghorn. Lighting's not the best, but you can get an idea of size.

Thanks! Although I don't know if I need 17 more chickens. She seems to think so. So does Ginger, my other hen who might be going broody - for the first time in her life - in the nest next to her.

Congrats on the broody! When I first started reading about chickens I thought I didn't want a broody. I've since learned my lesson. I would welcome a broody in my bunch.

 

[tao chick]

Oh dear me...it's for animals.. Thanks for posting!

Thanks chickapea. I will order some oxine.

Adorable! I love splash.

They are browns and green. The only one I have this with is a medium brown. And I can see this one fairly clearly.

This is so interesting. I'm learning so much. I'm excited to hear how this bubble wrap egg hatches.

 

[tao chick]

Day 6 ( couldn't wait another day) and I have 6/8 developing. Pretty impressive considering the travelled for five days across the country.

So exciting!!!!

I'm a fellow candling addict, and I've never actually hurt an egg with too much candling. I have trouble keeping my hands off, but they seemto do fine.

I always set a date to candle. Write it in my notebook. And ignore it. I'd candle every day if I had time and a better candler.

Day 6 and getting bigger. I know I candle to much. They are eggs from my own flock so I don't really care if they all hatch. If they we're shipped, or expensive I wouldn't be messing with them. I do terribly with shipped eggs, but these little eggs are tanks. They hatch no matter what. It seems like the more we care about the eggs, the harder they are to hatch.

I love this pic and all of the spidery egg pics that have been posted. Of the chickens I've hatched thus far my best results have been from eggs that were laid closest to my home.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Thanks. I cleaned the incubator well. I put the 7 viable eggs in the clean homemade incubator. They were all in the LG (likely infected) incubator together so I'm hoping they aren't infected. I took pictures and will share them later. The 4 Brabanters look great ontheir Day 8. I have 1 Lav Am, 1 Barnevelder, and 1 BCM left that look ok on their Day 11.

I was going to message you. So far so good I have a new humidifier on it's way. I put them in a little giant incubator this Morning. Candles last night, 5 viable, 4 maybe, 2 blood eggs. And I dropped one and it exploded. Felt so bad, I killed a chicken.

I have dropped more than I would like to admit

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm just curious what you would call this type of air cell (or lack there of)

I searched online for someone a few years ago and never figured it out,

not quite as simple as a blood spot evidently.

My eggs shipped this afternoon!

YAY!!! hope you see them Monday morning!!!

ohhhhh this is soooo cute!!!!!!!

I haven't heard back. I haven't specifically asked for replacement yet. I don't want to run the incubator again until Spring 2016. If 8/9 would be reasonable expectation for fertile eggs then she would be replacing 4 eggs. I just don't know what to ask for. I'm down to 3/15 eggs from the shipment from TX and they were the oozers. I don't know if it's reasonable to ask for anything from her either. The clears are all local pick-up. I traveled 45 minutes to get them. Ugh. Just ugh.

that sucks for the local pick ups, I would def contact them. and like I said before I am close to you should you want any breeds I may still have come spring, And even if you want to run over for chickies.

Well, I just found a hen on a nest of 17 eggs, and by the looks of the embryos they are due right around Halloween, so I guess she would like to join the hatch a long with us

so much for no more chicks!!! muwahhahhahhaaaaaa

Day 6 and getting bigger. I know I candle to much. They are eggs from my own flock so I don't really care if they all hatch. If they we're shipped, or expensive I wouldn't be messing with them. I do terribly with shipped eggs, but these little eggs are tanks. They hatch no matter what. It seems like the more we care about the eggs, the harder they are to hatch.

sweeeeeeetttt!!!!

Day 6 ( couldn't wait another day) and I have 6/8 developing. Pretty impressive considering the travelled for five days across the country.

thats so cool!!!!!

Tao chick, I've been following your issues and am heartily sick for you... if you don't want to try again til Spring, all good, but I will send you a good asst of eggs... don't have all the same ones that you were hoping from this hatch, but I do have many of them and others too... send me a PM and will work out best time for you...
And I'm seriously not joking... ask @chicapee if you have any doubts...

Ravyn your awesome!! All you guys are!!!
Group hug!!!

Thank you, all... Thank you!

Sally, how'd the dr appt go?
I'll update more tomorrow.
I can't thank you enough. I'm going to make it through this hatch because of y'all.

Thank you sweetie! It went ok, wasnt as well as I wanted it, but I still am feeling better than I had been a few months ago despite what THEY say lol.

We processed all our meaties afterwards, what a job.