6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[Cynthia12]

The first two look like there was a lot of fluid, the second..more thick stuff that I call..gobbledy goop. Yep, that' a word to me. It is thick, and the chick ends up drowning in it.
The last..everything looks so good, you have to wonder about the temp..or the humidity. Or...it could have been too big to turn in the shell..there are so many different scenarios. We just can't always say for sure. So sorry..

 

[Cynthia12]

I had to pull two more today. Seeping..this makes the third one from the same..late shipment. Still have 8 going strong from that late shipment though. The air sacs are a little high on some, but will see, they aren't too high.

 

[StarMeKritten]

Well, I'm out. None of my broody's eggs were fertile. Oh well. I did slip her a few of today's eggs from the main coop after I got rid of the others. I'm sure they will be fertile... But they sure won't be hatching on NYD...

 

[ronott1]

Could anyone please tell me why these three baby chicks died? I opened them today ( day 23). I waited for what seemed like an eternity and this is my first hatch ever. I'm heart broken.

use this analyzer:



I am sorry you lost them!

They look like they died at the same time so something like a temperature spike could have been the cause.

 

[ronott1]

Well, I'm out. None of my broody's eggs were fertile. Oh well. I did slip her a few of today's eggs from the main coop after I got rid of the others. I'm sure they will be fertile... But they sure won't be hatching on NYD...

I hope the eggs are fertile next time!

 

[valleychicks]

Went to check on my broody girls. I was able to get a couple eggs from under the Silkie and candled them. I could see very well into the first egg veins and something jumping around inside. The second one I saw the air sack and some veins with something more solid but didn't look long because Iwas upsetting the roosters. One (Blue our Partridge Silkie) got off the roost to see what I was doing. I was hoping I would be able to candle the dented egg. Oh well, I will try again another day.

 

[LAChick]

wow lovely color & so intense looking!

The funny thing about all this is as you horse ppl likely can tell, I'm just about a newbie. I mean sure I had a couple weeks of 1 hr/day horseback riding lessons as a kid at summer camp (u, er like mumble mumble over 35 yrs ago) & I've ridden maybe a dozen times in my life since then. Including on my honeymoon -- we went on a 2hr group trail ride in the smokey mountains and I kid you not, MY horse got stung by a bee & bolted off back down the trail passed all the others at top speed. IT was like out of a movie. I was very proud of myself that I stayed on the horse & after we had passed everyone I got him to slow & stop, by which point my (new) husband was right behind us. The flustered trail guide was way back at the front of the line shouting. (I did call out as my horse took off that it had been stung so ppl might try to get out of the way & understand why I went flying by). Maybe that wasn't the perfect thing to do, but the trail was narrow, the horse was in a panic, & I figured trying to pull him up to a stop right in the faces of the other horses was going to get me, him & them no where pretty, whereas letting him pick his own steps and run it off until we got to a wider area let me focus on hanging on for dear life!

Anyway, we did rescue a couple donkeys a few yrs ago. It was heartbreaking as the male did not recover (we contacted & communicated frequently w/ a national Donkey group but sadly he was too damaged , we ended up re-homing the female where she could be w/ a new companion). So that is my big equine experience.

We spent several hours meeting these 4 horses, I felt really good about how they reacted to me. But I'm still mindboggled, about their size (even though as I said part of the can't pass this up is 3 of them are exactly what my DH needs in order to ride w/o hurting the horse , & the 2 make such a perfect pair for a draft team, & the smaller one should be perfect for me). But its going to be a several tons of work, as well as a serious feed bill addition so no rose colored glasses about that!

& speaking of no rose colored glasses--
Bator A (due dec24) down to 36 eggs (from 64)
Bator B (NYD HAL) down to 32 / 68

most of the loss was that I could finally tell for sure what was up in the 2 doz super choc dark maran eggs, & most of them were clear or early quit blood rings for certain ,sigh.
well, if a good percent of what is left hatches I will still be very happy, & have plenty to share w/ those promised chicks.

esp. since I'll start saving eggs soon for the next hatch, which if I collect after dec31 will include pure SFH eggs, woohoo!!!

You two are wonderful for taking in these big guys. Good Luck to you with all 4!

 

[blackgoat]

Could anyone please tell me why these three baby chicks died? I opened them today ( day 23). I waited for what seemed like an eternity and this is my first hatch ever. I'm heart broken.

So sorry!

It is really heartbreaking to have a chick make it that far and then die. I had a similar thing happen with my first hatch. They made it to hatch day, then, for some reason didn't hatch. I opened one, and it was so traumatizing I couldn't open the rest, but I had at least four. In the case of my egg, the chick attempted to pip the wrong side, and there was no air cell there.
Were yours shipped eggs? I think I read that shipped eggs have a greater chance of malposition. There are many reasons, though. It could have been any number or even a combination of things. Here is a copy and paste from an article on BYC https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching :

Common reasons of Malpositions are:
Eggs are set with small end up.
Advancing breeder hen age and shell quality problems.
Egg turning frequency and angle are not adequate.
Inadequate % humidity loss of eggs in the setter.
Inadequate air cell development, improper temperature and humidity regulation, and insufficient ventilation in the incubator or hatcher.
Imbalanced feeds, elevated levels of mycotoxins, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Lower than recommended temperatures in the last stage of incubation.


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[ccnbuck]

Well, I'm out. None of my broody's eggs were fertile. Oh well. I did slip her a few of today's eggs from the main coop after I got rid of the others. I'm sure they will be fertile... But they sure won't be hatching on NYD...

@StarMeKritten We are in neighboring counties. I can give you a few Lavender Ameraucana eggs and some silkie eggs that I'm not sure who the roo is. It could be the silkie roo or a big beautiful LA roo. They are eggs that I set on the morning of the 11th for the HAL. I really don't need all the chicks that I set and it will give you a chance to stay in the HAL.

 

[blackgoat]

use this analyzer:



I am sorry you lost them!

They look like they died at the same time so something like a temperature spike could have been the cause.

That is a super useful analyzer! Thanks for posting it,(but I hope very few NYD HAL participants will need it). I was looking all over the internet for something like that.