5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Gardeningmama]

I'm sad to say the baby chick I was hoping for died in the night. But, I feel wonderful at giving it a chance that it otherwise wouldn't have had. I like to learn something from each hatch, and doing what I did last night was something that had scared me far too much to even try in the past. I know I came out of this hatch with more knowledge than I had in previous hatches, and that should be each one of our goals. Learning from our mistakes, trying new things, and perfecting this thing called hatching. In years to come with much diligence, some of us may be the ones giving expert advice in the ranks of Ron, Chicken Canoe, or Sally Sunshine....One can only hope!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I really hate this myth! Cats DO NOT steal a baby's breath! They will however lick milk from a baby's face. This myth has evolved from paranoid people who don't like cats looking for excuses to make others get rid of their beloved pets. We have always had cats. My brother & I both survived. I have 6 children & never once had a problem with a cat hurting a baby.

Ok...I'm getting off my soap box now. I just hate when myths are spread because people don't think to check facts first.

I tend to soapbox as well. The myths, old wives' tales and misinformation are annoying. I've had cats a couple times in my life and I think they're amazing animals so I'm not completely in the anti-cat camp. On the flip side, as an invasive species, I don't think they belong outdoors for their safety and the safety of all the small native animals.
I REALLY don't understand people that dump cats they no longer want or those that feed feral cats.

The last of my mixed Faverolles eggs just hatched !! none of them had 5 toes but I did notice this one has feathered feet for sure.

still have 12 other misc. eggs to hatch out, most have pipped. There are 19 little fuzzbuts in the hatcher right now.

I wonder how dominant the 5 toe gene is. I know someone who raises Black Penedesencas and gets a lot of 5 toed birds (a real no-no). He is known for mixing breeds but I can't imagine what he could have crossed to get 5 toes on a big black bird.

for a while I have thought about building a coop for just my roos. how does that work for you? or, do you let them free range in day and lock up at night?

I don't want my hens to be mating 24/7 so I want to separate the roos to give them a break.

Well, they'll only be mating 14/7 or thereabouts but I understand your point. Keeping them separate and offering occasional conjugal visits works well to keep them from overbreeding. Also, adding more hens helps.
As far as cooping the roosters/cockerels together, it is highly dependent on the breed. With some breeds, there is no way to house roosters together. I've had mixed success with mixed flocks. As long as there are no pullets/hens in the same building/pen it can work OK. Most of my birds know each other as I move them around occasionally and sometimes free range them together. I also have only one breed of roosters now so they are on a more even plane as far as aggressiveness.
I pull all the hens out of the building and move the roosters in at night and put them on various roosts. I let them out early in the morning. There's some chest bumping and pecking the first couple days but is more pecking order than anything. Pecking order among roosters is just a little more tense than with hens.

Ok thanks!
So lets say my breeder has 3 hens and 1 roo. say my jap, Cadbury, was made by hen #1 and the roo. lets say a chick I JUST hatched was made by hen #3 and the roo.
Could Cadbury and the chick that just hatched breed once older (and not have defects) if they had the same dad but different mom?

sooooo old. ROFL

That would be half sibling so can be OK. When doing line breeding and inbreeding it is very important to select birds with as few flaws as possible.

As for your crossbeak issue, it is often genetic so you may not want to use that one and be careful about using the hen it came from.

 

[itsbob]

Well, I don't go into lock down until Sunday Night, hatch date is 8 Jan.. out of 12 duck eggs I have 7 in the Brinsea still doing well, none of the eggs in the LG made it.

These eggs were shipped from Metzler (OOPS METZER, got my chick source and my Bike tire source confuzzled), I ordered 8 Khakis and 4 Pekins they sent 10 Khaki and 5 Pekin and gave 3 to a friend that wanted to hatch, no follow up from him on his 3.

I need to double check but I think I have 5 Khaki and 2 Pekin in the Incubator..

Watching everyone else hatch is really making the anticipation build.

 

[ronott1]

So I'm out of the running for best hatch (I gave a friend 3 babies yesterday) but my hatch rate is almost twice what it usually is! So I guess from now on I will hatch up right in cartons and hand turn. Woop!

I'm sad to say the baby chick I was hoping for died in the night. But, I feel wonderful at giving it a chance that it otherwise wouldn't have had. I like to learn something from each hatch, and doing what I did last night was something that had scared me far too much to even try in the past. I know I came out of this hatch with more knowledge than I had in previous hatches, and that should be each one of our goals. Learning from our mistakes, trying new things, and perfecting this thing called hatching. In years to come with much diligence, some of us may be the ones giving expert advice in the ranks of Ron, Chicken Canoe, or Sally Sunshine....One can only hope!

It is nice to hear that the hatch went well!

I tend to soapbox as well. The myths, old wives' tales and misinformation are annoying. I've had cats a couple times in my life and I think they're amazing animals so I'm not completely in the anti-cat camp. On the flip side, as an invasive species, I don't think they belong outdoors for their safety and the safety of all the small native animals.
I REALLY don't understand people that dump cats they no longer want or those that feed feral cats.


I wonder how dominant the 5 toe gene is. I know someone who raises Black Penedesencas and gets a lot of 5 toed birds (a real no-no). He is known for mixing breeds but I can't imagine what he could have crossed to get 5 toes on a big black bird.
Well, they'll only be mating 14/7 or thereabouts but I understand your point. Keeping them separate and offering occasional conjugal visits works well to keep them from overbreeding. Also, adding more hens helps.
As far as cooping the roosters/cockerels together, it is highly dependent on the breed. With some breeds, there is no way to house roosters together. I've had mixed success with mixed flocks. As long as there are no pullets/hens in the same building/pen it can work OK. Most of my birds know each other as I move them around occasionally and sometimes free range them together. I also have only one breed of roosters now so they are on a more even plane as far as aggressiveness.
I pull all the hens out of the building and move the roosters in at night and put them on various roosts. I let them out early in the morning. There's some chest bumping and pecking the first couple days but is more pecking order than anything. Pecking order among roosters is just a little more tense than with hens.

The five toe gene is dominant.

The post about cats stealing breath was tongue in cheek so not serious. Thanks for the reminder that it is not true though.

 

[BoereMeisie]

Good job

I hope your babies are doing well.

They are doing well - just full of dried up egg goo. Can I soak/sponge them with warm water and dry them? I can't put them in the brooder with the other 3 as they think it's meal time and try to peck the goo off my two gooey chicks

Sounds like low humidity. Primarily during hatching but it could also be low humidity during storage and incubation.

I did a dry incubation and then upped the humidity to 65 - 70% for lockdown. I think my fault was opening the incubator to take the other chicks out, but I did mist but still could be that

 

[KimberlyK0509]

Edited: 2 tolbunt polish and 2 SFH

 

[chickee]

My hatch is over . . out of the 12 eggs set, 3 refrigerator eggs didn't grow, 2 refrigerator eggs hatched and the other 6 non refrigerator eggs hatched for a total of 8 chicks. 2 pure, W/BW Ameraucanas and 6 Olive Eggers.

These are the chicks from the last 3 eggs that hatched overnight. Two are a pretty grey blue color. Should be fun to see what color they feather in!


These are the 5 chicks that hatched New Years Eve and New Years day~

 

[AK FLOCK SWAP]

I got up this am.. 3 more EE and 2 Chabos,,, One maran has hatched since I have been up ... I had two that where DOA,, Both pipped good. temps and humidity great,, both pipped all the way around but just did not push out,,, both big strong looking,everything had been absorbed,, Should got up in the middle of the night to check,, the looked still moist when we opened them up.. only the strong survive folks,, ONLY the Strong< ALASKAN MOTTO<<<Only the WARM SURVIVE<<<<<Peace,,,

 

[Myfourladies]

Does that one chick have a white fro?? LOL It is cute!

 

[chickee]

I love Polish! Are a couple of those chicks Tolbunt? I need to ad that color eventually!