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

[Nicky-the-witch]

There are 4 different eggs - which one do you think is clear? If it is clear, what is the shadow parts at the top of the eggs? It doesn't really move if I turn the eggs a different direction. If they are clear, what should I do? Do I take them away from Mama?

In my very limited experience (2 broody hatches under my belt) Momma hen will decide when enough is enough and abandon the unhatched eggs - in my case she gave them approx 24 hours after the last of the hatchers arrived. 1st time she was very reluctant and kept going back to the unhatched egg 2nd time she made the decision and moved the live chicks to a different nest without looking back.

I do not candle my eggs - so again not very experienced - but from photos seen on this forum, to me the top one looks like a partially formed chick and the others non starters.

 

[Aphrael]

I have another baby (chipmunk color). My broody showgirl hatched out another even with this cold weather. So she and the frizzle are keeping 5 warm and she still has a couple eggs under her.

Yay! Go broodies!

She obvioiusly has never seen the damage they are capable of. My mother told me when she was a kid on the farm they were roused one night to the chickens screaming bloody murder. They ran out to the coop to find that a possom had a hen half eaten and she was still alive because it had started eating from the back. They are a nightmare and you think they are slow until you see one move at speed and the needle sharp teeth bared at you hissing like a demented cat.

Yikes.

Opossums already creep me out, now they'll give me the heebee jeebees even worse knowing about that! I know when I was a kid on our farm the 'possums would kill and eat chicks and kittens if given half a chance. Our old farm dog had a serious hatred of them and killed them all the time. If not for him I'm sure we would have been completely over-run by the beasties.

The tread has really slowed.... I am sure we are all enjoying our chicks.

I have been battling with some health issues that has popped up, but I wanted to share a baby Hawke update! She is doing really good and has excepted that she is by herself and she doesn't seem to mind it. New chicks are coming Thursday I hope she will welcome company after being alone so long.
My thoughts weren't so good yesterday.... when I was at work my kids were home from school with there Grandmother, my 7 year old picked Hawke up and dropped her! She was hopping on one leg when I got home and I was devastated! I paced by her crate most of the evening and went to bed thinking that I would wake up with her worse or dead in the water dish or something. To my surprise she is well today and walking on both legs again! She still has a toe that is splinted straight but she is awesome strong!!

I LOVE her white eyebrows, and she is getting more big kid feathers.
Thanks to everyone that has helped, lends support and muddled through with me. This was so much fun!

Oh no! So sorry Hawke got hurt. Glad to hear she seems to have come through it alright though. She's a tough one!

UPDATE! will add pictures later....

so far, I have noticed 2 of my silkies are FRIZZLE SILKIES! OMG! they have curly flippidy wing feathers! what a surprise!

Nice!

I bet they'll be super cute!

 

[LearningChicken]

Not sure how many days? It's a hard color to look at. The top one..as I look again, seems to have some dark in it. If mama is still sitting on them, I would leave them a while longer. Photos really are hard to tell. Good luck!

They were set under Mama on Dec 10th - although I only set 8 when I started and there is 1 that snuck in while she was still in the main hen house.

In my very limited experience (2 broody hatches under my belt) Momma hen will decide when enough is enough and abandon the unhatched eggs - in my case she gave them approx 24 hours after the last of the hatchers arrived. 1st time she was very reluctant and kept going back to the unhatched egg 2nd time she made the decision and moved the live chicks to a different nest without looking back.

I do not candle my eggs - so again not very experienced - but from photos seen on this forum, to me the top one looks like a partially formed chick and the others non starters.

Baby Jasmine hatched on Jan 2nd at 8:27am Mama won't leave the eggs for very long - only to walk the baby to the food and water then straight back to sit.

I am just concerned for the health of my Mama Chicken. Do you think I should leave her another week?

 

[Cynthia12]

They were set under Mama on Dec 10th - although I only set 8 when I started and there is 1 that snuck in while she was still in the main hen house.

Baby Jasmine hatched on Jan 2nd at 8:27am Mama won't leave the eggs for very long - only to walk the baby to the food and water then straight back to sit.

I am just concerned for the health of my Mama Chicken. Do you think I should leave her another week?

Dec. 10th? Oh yes, time to take them out.

 

[Myfourladies]

She is soooo cute! Who cares if i am kinda biased !!!

LOL

So glad we have connected over our chickens! Does she look good?? She is still so small. The only bantams I have had is cochins and they grew so much faster!

 

[FeyRaine]

Late set batch update there aren't due til Wed , but 2 hatched monday.

I pulled the 2 hatched chicks over to the brooder w/ the NYDH 2, who were initially frightened by the newcomers but all is well now.

Meanwhile one of the other (2) green eggs (Good King Henry's) has been peeping w/o pip for nearly 24 hrs
during which time this deep freeze has has our heat pump doing crazy things to the temp/humidity & air pressure in the house,
w/ that all in mind (& the 2 chicks out of the hatcher) I seriously spiked the humidity in there waited 2 hrs and still no pip.

I then pulled the rather frantically peeping green egg & did a small external pip (shell only not membrane) so it can get oxygen and
possibly pip - I noticed having opened a lot of eggs the past yr that this shell was EXTREAMLY thick, difficult to scratch/pip.
(The girls have been getting a lot of high calcium fresh greens and I'd say that has made a notable difference in their shells)

Anyway, due to all the house heatpump weirdness I'm assuming it is causing issues & am doing some minimal assistance w/ this egg as I think the chick likely well formed but poss. unable to hatch due to the incubation situation.

Meanwhile, another of the Large Brown eggs has begun to peep so I'm hopeful that it & the other 6 (5brown,1green) remaining in the bator will w/ the major increase in humidity be able to hatch w/o assistance, and perhaps the slightly assisted 1 green egg will hatch too.

still not pictures, sorry kinda snowed under atm, literally & figuratively...

WOOHOO to all the Contest Winners !!! Hope everyone enjoys their prizes.
To the zero % hatch folks, sorry! Try again when conditions are favorable ; NYDH is a really hard time to have good hatch rates.

 

[itsbob]

The first three ducks in the temporary brooder.. One more in the incubator and two more still hatching..

So far looks like 6 out of 7 from lock down to hatch.

Much better than my first attempt where I got 6 out of 30..

 

[Aphrael]

The first three ducks in the temporary brooder.. One more in the incubator and two more still hatching..

So far looks like 6 out of 7 from lock down to hatch.

Much better than my first attempt where I got 6 out of 30..

Good job!! Ducklings are so adorable.

 

[ronott1]

The first three ducks in the temporary brooder.. One more in the incubator and two more still hatching..

So far looks like 6 out of 7 from lock down to hatch.

Much better than my first attempt where I got 6 out of 30..

Nice Job!

Ducks are so cute!

 

[Gardeningmama]

UPDATE! will add pictures later....

so far, I have noticed 2 of my silkies are FRIZZLE SILKIES! OMG! they have curly flippidy wing feathers! what a surprise!

I am sooo jealous. Frizzled anything has been a goal of mine for a while now, but, I am getting out of bantams. I need to get a hold of a largefowl frizzle, like cochin..hmmm