4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[delisha]

Speaking of dark eggs, I am sure someone else may have recommended one, but what smaller flashlights have the most power and can candle a dark or colored egg? I have a giant led mag but it is like trying to hold a lead pipe while trying to candle.

ALSO, I have had many chickens in my life thus far but this is my first ever hatch. So a couple of questions. 1) Do I go into lockdown mode on day 18 or the day after? Today was day 18 for my TJ eggs but I figured I would wait until tonight to actually lockdown and not open it again for 3 days. Is this OK? 2) Is it OK to open up the incubator to get mostly dried chicks out and into the brooder? Or will this kill all the babies who have not come out yet in some unspeakable horror film kind of way? 3) How do you go about culling the ones who don't come out looking very promising in the non deformity department? I don't want a chick to suffer if they some out with one leg or no wings or something like that. When I worked at a pet store we would put critter (fish, hamsters, etc) out of their misery by putting them in the freezer so they would go to sleep and die.....but I was like 15! I still feel terrible and wrong about that.

THIS IS WHY I AVOIDED THIS HATCHING THING FOR SO LONG!!

relax and take a deep breath..you will do great
Lockdown is just a word.... Mother hens do not do a lockdown so relax you will not harm the eggs if you think you need to remove a chick for an emergency or to move them out for some reason. It is used to help many people have a better hatch rate. Most have a very hard time keeping hands off. Do not stress about what may happen. Do not stress about culling..this is the time for excitement of new life.

 

[mattfulleroc]

For the life of me I cant find the link to the celebraty look alike contest

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729975/4th-annual-nyd-celebrity-chicken-look-alike-contest

 

[CluckyCharms]

Buff Silkie 'Tink" looks like Phyllis Diller

ROFL

This one isn't just the 'feathers/hair' ...the eyes are similar as well. lol I adored Phyllis Diller...she is greatly missed, for sure.

 

[Brechin]

Yes Clucky Charms! Her eyes and even her attitude match! I tried to get a pick of Tink squawking so she would look just like Phyllis in the pic but she wasn't cooperating!

 

[TMNfarm]

Oh wow! I can just imagine it now. Did you think to try and get pictures? How did you pick your tree out..flashlights? How fun!

I tried to get pictures, but it was so dark and I kept getting some sort of wierd light in the corner of my picture with my phone. I thought maybe it was the flashlight, so I turned it off, and still, there was the streak of light. You can barely see my kids on their horse pulling the tree. I had a friend tell me once that orbs of light in pictures are the spirits of people that have passed on, so I told my kids that maybe it was Daddy with us... He was always our bright light...

We had a blast. My youngest son was a bit nervous about going out bareback in the dark, but he had a blast and said he can't wait to go out again! My daughter and I carried flashlights, and we went pretty far into the woods before we found a decent tree. We had a small hand-saw with us, so I cut it down and had a small ratchet strap to pull it with. My horse was a bit unnerved by something "chasing" him down the trail, so my daughter pulled it. Her horse handled it wonderfully!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

that is the most friggin adorable thing. and the momma is gorgeous...she doesn't notice that her chicks are a little weird in the beak when they nurse?

Aren't they?

Thanks. ROTFL

I would love to hatch an emu! I'm just not sure where I would put it... Guess it would have to be a house pet like Mrs. Fluffy Puffy's will be!

Okay, who do I contact about an Emu diaper??? It'll probably cost a fortune!

House pet?!? Have yall seen the claws on them suckers?

We could always paint their claws...dawww!! I admit it, I have painted chicken's toe nail's before. Pink, yes pink. The poor thing ended up being a rooster, how embarrassing!

I probably couldn't even handle a chicken in the house. I love them to death, but I can't imagine cleaning up after them indoors. I can keep dreaming though, right? hahaha.

We do have 80 acres of fields, but I imagine the fencing for emus would be pretty expensive.

That's why you buy them a diaper!

Oh my gosh, I can't have ducks, I can't have ducks, I can't have ducks, I can't have ducks

Congratulations!!!

LOL, MarineCorpsFarmer, I think an Emu would scare me way too much to even think about hatching one (in fact that weird nightmare I had last week was of hatching Emu instead of Seramas, no? LOL)

I candled again tonight. Some of my Serama eggs are pretty opaque but tonight I think I see some veins in this one... that would make 4 eggs that are developing! If I got 4 chicks out of this, I'd be so happy!

You can have ducks, you can have ducks, you CAN HAVE DUCKS!!!

ASPEN LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEE your pics!!!

Glad you enjoyed them. They went to their new home today with a fellow BYC'er. She texted me a picture after she picked them up of her adorable little girl holding one. So worth it!

Mrs Fluffy Puffy, What is she?

She is a Sizzle. I'm guessing she is a Grey Silkie x Frizzle, she just didn't come out frizzled. : )

Farmer Roadside Sign........................




"Free Chickens. Our Coop Runneth Over."

who's isnt??? Bahahahaaaa

I'm not having much luck around here. After a few days with no duck eggs, I walk into the room late morning (boyfriend let them out this morning) and find a dead duck hen. There was a duck egg in their nest though. I just don't know what happened. Nobody acted weird yesterday, no marks on her, vent looks fine. I just replaced my drake last month (someone intentionally ran my drake over), and now I lose a hennie? These guys are this springs hatch, hatched myself, which makes it sadder.

Oh NO! That is so awful, I'm sorry!! Was she a new layer?

Well. I finally gave the duck hen a better look, and her vent WASN'T alright. That egg sitting in my flat is almost definitely the culprit. It doesn't have blood on it, but her vent was inside out, though only minimally. Considering that she was in good health (besides being dead), I have to assume that this little egg did her in. I'll be setting it myself, to give it the best chance at life. Now I feel bad. I was upset that the girls were giving me a strike. She gave her egg but died in the process of fullfilling my request.

I pray your special little egg hatches!

I'm planning on heading out for a bareback ride, with my kids, on the horses, in the dark tonight, in search of a Christmas tree, so hopefully that will keep my mind off of candling the eggs. I want to candle them all tomorrow night with the kids and record what we are finding in each egg... We'll be sure to draw the air cells on them as well...

Fun stuff!

Evening all........ hope everyone had a fantastic day.

We spent the day building fence, taking down a pen and otherwise being outside.

I was in town allllllll day! What a drag...I couldn't WAIT to get back to our ranch. We got back home at 11:00 something (at night). Ick

My wacky invention. I only had a cpl days to throw something together and had $0 to spend. I also love to repurpose! Hey, it works!

Hope this is the correct place to post, if not please someone pm me!!!!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-tractor-coop-for-chicks-upcycled-boxspring

This is what it is:

Come help me build one, or two, or three......

Baby pics! Hope this is the correct place to post!

How cute! I'm guessing they are LF Cochins?

NYD Hatch-a long Digest for 12/17/2012

Stats: Top two most active threads.
Most of the top ten posters! Sally Sunshine slowed down to 269 posts

What do you do with Emus? Do Ducklings have to look so cute(Darn you Aspen ) Congrats on the nice Embryo Picture Sheree

Day Six Embryo pics in post 3737.

More pictures of bad eggs!

Then I was relieved to see some eggs decorated for the Decorated egg contest!

15 days to hatch!

Bettacreek had Duck a hen die over night. Not sure why. A later post pointed to vent prolapse...Toss that egg into the bator

MarineCorpFarmr posted that we should all get out to the coop! Good reminder to stop neglecting things to hang out on this thread(did we listen?)

chiqita pointed out that Emus are not for the faint of heart, or those that value their teeth. I have so much dental work that it would not matter to me! Bring on the Emus!

Post 3785 has a contest update. Many start tomorrow, so watch out! There will be a lot of posts...

. Another early egg art post....colupnorth has a Turkey without a rooster that is laying eggs...how do they taste....eat one and let me know please!

cmfarm removed all but 62 out of 99 from the Bator as non starters. Still, 62 is a lot of chicks!

In the Afternoon there were posts about needing self control--The urge to candle is strong! Let me help

Advice for candling Marans was asked for and answered

Miley Cirus look a like, Phyllis Diller look alike!

Egg art thread link posted at post 3810. Invention post on thread 3813. A coop tractor made out of box springs!

Baby pics for the contest too!

There was a question about misting duck eggs. Some do and some don't and Ducks still hatch...

Until tomorrow, Happy Incubating!

What I miiss today?

I tried to get pictures, but it was so dark and I kept getting some sort of wierd light in the corner of my picture with my phone. I thought maybe it was the flashlight, so I turned it off, and still, there was the streak of light. You can barely see my kids on their horse pulling the tree. I had a friend tell me once that orbs of light in pictures are the spirits of people that have passed on, so I told my kids that maybe it was Daddy with us... He was always our bright light...

We had a blast. My youngest son was a bit nervous about going out bareback in the dark, but he had a blast and said he can't wait to go out again! My daughter and I carried flashlights, and we went pretty far into the woods before we found a decent tree. We had a small hand-saw with us, so I cut it down and had a small ratchet strap to pull it with. My horse was a bit unnerved by something "chasing" him down the trail, so my daughter pulled it. Her horse handled it wonderfully!

I'm so glad you had a good time. Life is never dual when you have animals, yes?

~ Aspen

 

[Mahonri]

33% of the way there.....

 

[cluck-cluck]

You all are so funny! So glad for ronott1's updates! LOL

 

[Mahonri]

You all are so funny! So glad for ronott1's updates! LOL

 

[Brookhavens]

Speaking of dark eggs, I am sure someone else may have recommended one, but what smaller flashlights have the most power and can candle a dark or colored egg? I have a giant led mag but it is like trying to hold a lead pipe while trying to candle.

ALSO, I have had many chickens in my life thus far but this is my first ever hatch. So a couple of questions. 1) Do I go into lockdown mode on day 18 or the day after? Today was day 18 for my TJ eggs but I figured I would wait until tonight to actually lockdown and not open it again for 3 days. Is this OK? 2) Is it OK to open up the incubator to get mostly dried chicks out and into the brooder? Or will this kill all the babies who have not come out yet in some unspeakable horror film kind of way? 3) How do you go about culling the ones who don't come out looking very promising in the non deformity department? I don't want a chick to suffer if they some out with one leg or no wings or something like that. When I worked at a pet store we would put critter (fish, hamsters, etc) out of their misery by putting them in the freezer so they would go to sleep and die.....but I was like 15! I still feel terrible and wrong about that.

THIS IS WHY I AVOIDED THIS HATCHING THING FOR SO LONG!!

Try fashioning something on the end of your mag that will lay flat against the egg. Foam pipe insulation works great. That way the light is focused into the egg.
1) Whatever day of the week you set your eggs on is the same day you can expect them to start hatching.(Sometimes earlier. Sometimes later.) We set eggs at 12:00pm on Tuesday, December 11th so our hatch day (Day 21) is Tuesday, January 1st. Another way to look at it is in hours. Tuesday, 12/11 at 12pm is 0 hours. 12/12 at 12am is 12 hours and 12pm on 12/12 is 24 hours. 24 hours = 1 day or Day 1 of incubation. When you read or hear "lock down or stop turning" on Day 18 it means after the full 24 hours of Day 18 has gone by you stop turning. So that would mean that Day 18 ends on Saturday morning 12/29 @ 11:59am. Day 19 starts @ 12:00pm Saturday and lockdown begins. Day 20 starts @ 12pm on Sunday and Day 21 starts @ 12pm on Monday and ends on Tuesday @ 11:59am. So on Tuesday at 11:59am you have had 21 days (each consisting of 24 hours) of full development.

2) Chicks can survive for up to 3 days in the incubator. I usually leave my chicks in for at least 24 hours to dry off and rest. If there are pips in other eggs I will leave them longer. The hatched chicks cheeping seems to draw out the other chicks from their eggs. As long as you find a way to keep the humidity up inside the bator while you open it (warm, wet washcloth) and grab the chick very quickly you should be okay to take them out.

3) I found an article that tells you how to euthanize chicks in a very humane way with ingredients you have in your kitchen. How to cull chicks.