Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[aart]

WooHoo!!!!
Is your brooder ready to go?
Once the chicks are fully dry you could put them in the brooder

 

[K0k0shka]

WooHoo!!!!
Is your brooder ready to go?
Once the chicks are fully dry you could put them in the brooder

It’s ready, I just need to move it upstairs and put the sand in. Those two hatching have raised the humidity to 83%, and there are no other pips currently, so I feel okay opening the lid to take these guys out. The second one is still a little damp. I’ll take a nap (that was a long night!) and I’ll move them after.

They do love sitting on top of that fan though!! At least there will be no more blood now.

 

[K0k0shka]

Two more external pips! Another one from the Lemons from CA and a Barnevelder from NC. I did not expect my shipped eggs to beat the local ones, but so far they’re leading the race by 4!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

What a fantastic update! I'm so excited for you. All your work is paying off.

I always breath a sigh of relief when I see a pip. It almost guarantees you'll have a chick from that egg. Especially when they're pipping on time or early.

In an earlier post you mentioned extra space at the bottom of the egg before lockdown. I've seen this too but don't have a good answer for you on it. Some do, some don't. Sometimes it means the chick hasn't developed properly even though you're seeing growth and movement. Other times the eggs like this hatching without an issues.

 

[K0k0shka]

The first two made it to the brooder!

I put paper towels over the sand until they learn not to eat it. I showed them how the nipple waterer works. Each one pecked the nipple after me, got its beak wet, shook it disapprovingly and wiped it on the paper towel

Here are the kids teaching the chicks how to eat:

Cute little fluffs:

I stuffed both of them under the heating plate to show them where warmth was. The pale one was like OH YEAH! curled up nice and cozy, and just stayed there. The yellow one was like “I have no time for this, look at all this cool new stuff!” and ran back out, pecking at our fingers and climbing on things

Eventually they both settled down:

The humidity is at 76% after I was done opening the incubator. I was very quick. There are several more pips, but no zips yet. This is so much fun!

 

[aart]

Nice job on the nipple waterer, but they probably need an open one the first couple weeks.
Dehydration is not something you want to deal with.

 

[K0k0shka]

Nice job on the nipple waterer, but they probably need an open one the first couple weeks.
Dehydration is not something you want to deal with.

I've been debating on how to go about this. I read about people starting them on nipples from the beginning, here on BYC, and thought I'd give it a try. There's a large jar lid under the nipple waterer, to catch any drips, so if it looks like they're not drinking (after I give them a couple more demonstrations), I'll just push a nipple and let it run and puddle some water in the lid, so they have an alternative source until they figure it out.

 

[K0k0shka]

In an earlier post you mentioned extra space at the bottom of the egg before lockdown. I've seen this too but don't have a good answer for you on it. Some do, some don't. Sometimes it means the chick hasn't developed properly even though you're seeing growth and movement. Other times the eggs like this hatching without an issues.

Thanks for addressing this! I guess at this point I'll just wait and see. I was just curious. What do you think about the clumpy stuff at the bottom of the egg though? When these two chicks hatched, there was nothing in the shells... or at least not that I could see through the lid.

 

[K0k0shka]

My observations so far have revealed that the darker yellow one really likes people. It's attracted to our voices and runs out to greet us when it hears us, paces along the brooder door and tries to get at us. It likes falling asleep in my hands. Which is absolutely adorable and exactly the kind of chicken I want, but there's a downside... If it hears voices, it will come out from underneath the heating pad, then realize it's alone and cold, not know how to go back (or not want to!) and scream its head off... I've had to go stuff it back underneath several times. It doesn't want to go under, it wants to crawl in my hand, haha. Awww. I may need to leave a night light by the brooder, so it can see to get back under the heat if it crawls out in the middle of the night. After several rescue-and-returns this evening, it finally found its own way back under the heat a few minutes ago, so maybe it's finally learning... (or giving up on finding its people).

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Thanks for addressing this! I guess at this point I'll just wait and see. I was just curious. What do you think about the clumpy stuff at the bottom of the egg though? When these two chicks hatched, there was nothing in the shells... or at least not that I could see through the lid.

There's typically something left over in the bottom of the shell. Yellowish, greenish, jelly looking leavings. Just as delightful as it sounds.

I'm happy to hear the yellow chick is so friendly. It's what makes it all worth while.

How many pips do you have now? Any movers and shakers in the local eggs?