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

[TexaCaliChick]

...

I have no idea on genetics.  LOL  I've been chicken farming for a few years steady now and before that, off and on for 40 years.  It really wasn't until this HAL that I began to understand about different breeds and a little about cross-breeding.  So I don't know what splash even is.  LOL

Funny! I could have written the same thing.

 

[Roan]

What happens is that the sperm is stored in the the collector organs that chicken canoe posted a link to. As the old roosters sperm ages, it is less likely to make it but they are still there. The percentage chance that the old sperm will work goes down after the first week, but as we have all seen. percentage chances have a way of working into a real live chick!

You would have known if an EE was the father. The real problem happens with roosters that are the same breed. So many do not believe the biology of this that they are actually messing up their SOP breeding programs.

Ahh! Nice to know!

I know this was already answered but I'm just gonna say that I was momentarily excited that some Tractor Supply stores sold eggs. Now that I know that they don't, I guess oh well, just have to keep ordering chicks. Hmm, I think I will ask Chris the next time I'm in there and see if they can order eggs...

Thanks Roan, I know we have one up in Salt Lake City area somewhere, but this store is going up in a town next to us. We were there this morning, saw that the store sign said..Tractor Supply...I was bummbed. I love me a nice white leghorn. Every one that I have owned, has bee the sweetest bird in the yard, always first to come when I go out..I call them all ... Miss Piggy.

I thought Leghorns were flighty. I guess I read something wrong somewhere or someone posted some misinformation or something. lol

This broody is a Silkie and unfortunately when I hatched these last year for the NYDH, I only ended up with a trio of Silkies. So 1male 2female Silkies. I have been hoping to hatch a few more Silkies to increase the amount of females I have. Other wise the male needs to go as it is too much on the females.

Ah, so Silkie roosters are aggressive breeders then?

Look what I just found!

Awesome!!! You gotta love those little surprises! We had a black EE one time that disappeared so I thought something had gotten her. Finally, one day I was out in the yard and I heard cheeping coming from under a shrub, sure enough there she was with THIRTEEN babies!!! I don't know how many times we'd walked right past her and didn't even know!

 

[darkbluespace]

Look what I just found!

So sweet!!

 

[EastTXChickens]

I could see the flock on high alert from my kitchen window and went outside to check it out. I heard the peeps from the coop as soon as I opened the door! Such a thrill. We're all aflutter around here, hehe.

 

[gilchicken]

They are so worth the long nights without sleep. . The stressful 3 weeks. . Love this little girls. .

 

[gilchicken]

Good job..catching up..will see if it did ok overnight..still sleepy?

why is she inside a cup?

 

[jgoldy2]

Ahh!  Nice to know! 


I thought Leghorns were flighty.  I guess I read something wrong somewhere or someone posted some misinformation or something.  lol


Ah, so Silkie roosters are aggressive breeders then?


Awesome!!!  You gotta love those little surprises!  We had a black EE one time that disappeared so I thought something had gotten her.  Finally, one day I was out in the yard and I heard cheeping coming from under a shrub, sure enough there she was with THIRTEEN babies!!!  I don't know how many times we'd walked right past her and didn't even know! 

My dad tells a similar story, except one day be saw her with a dozen chicks following her, that must just be in the blood of EE

 

[draye]

Well total of 64 hatched. The last one just hatched a few minutes ago. Have all shells and unhitched eggs pulled and discarded. So here's my stats:
Total set: 108
Total hatched: 64
Total % hatched: 59.25%.

A little disappointed but it was fun and I still have plenty of chicks. Also, the Easter Hatch-A-Long is just around the corner.

Birchen colored hen that was supposed to be NN (not) looks like a Iowa Blue hen ( it is in the background her grandpa was Iow Blue) set ten of her eggs (bred to Blue Wheaten Ameraucana) so these are Iowacaunas right?
Eight hatched 1 was chipmunk end colored 6 were black colored and 1 was a chocolate colored. Young hen and pullet eggs hatched good.

NN to NN breeding. 22 eggs set 11 hatched. So a 50% hatch rate on those.

4 green eggs set from a Crested EE bred to a Marans rooster. Pullet eggs 3 hatched. So pretty good.

Crossbreds 21 set ( 2 different clutches) 15 hatched. 6 of these were Naked Necked so those were keepers (the six).

Next group were my project Green Egger Naked Necks. Set 14 eggs, 13 hatched. Excellent rate there. 6 non NN and 7 NN's.

Black Copper Marans set 11 eggs only 5 hatched. Not so good.

What I'm calling the Wheaten group set 6 eggs, zero hatched. Eggs weren't fertile.

Easter Eggers, set 20. 10 hatched. A lot of blue chicks. Keeping only 5 chicks from these.

 

[jbenson]

42 set, 22 live chicks. (24 hatched, but a one had not fully absorbed it's yolk and pulled out it's intestines and one needed help to zip after breaking off the egg tooth, but was too weak having been partially hatched for about 36 hours - so both of those did not make it.) Had a bit lower fertility than I expected, but I know some of the eggs were older than 2 weeks when set and also some of them got well below 50 degrees before I collected them. I have a new batch due the 19th. Those ones were not quite as old and I've been checking the temp of any that are kinda cold with an infrared thermometer before putting them in my collection spot. 52%. Pretty decent for winter in MN without a heated breeding pen.

 

[MisfitMarie]

Hi, everyone! I've run into a bit of a problem, and I need your advice.

I woke up this morning to check on my hatcher and noticed that my last egg (a couple days late now) had cracked. Upon further inspection, I noticed blood around what "looked" like an external pip hole. I probably did something wrong here, and opened a hole at the top of the air cell to get a look down into what was going on. It appears that the chick MAY have pipped and then been kicked into another egg (I still have a "dud" in there that was too dark for my little candling experience), or the side of the incubator by movement from the other chicks.

So what I have now is... a baby chick inside of a cracked egg. There is a small pool of blood around its beak where it looks like there was some impact. I wet the membrane with warm water and a Q-Tip, wrapped it in a moist paper towel, and turned the egg so that its beak is at the highest point. I figured that if there was any fluid or excess blood, having the beak raised up would help keep the fluids from pooling around it?

The membrane is broken at the site of the pip/crack. The baby chick appears to be "gasping" or taking very deliberate, heavy breaths. It is not making a sound... only big, deliberate breathing. I find this alarming, because I have not witness this kind of "hatch behavior" before, but I also lack a lot of experience...so maybe this is normal?

I want to remove more shell from the top to get a better look at what's going on, but I probably shouldn't meddle?

I have removed the active chicks and put them into the brooder. Humidity and temp are holding perfectly.