Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

Hatch Rate Breakdown and Statistics​

Total number of eggs set: 41
Of those:
- shipped eggs (mine): 22
- local eggs (incubator owner's): 19

My eggs by breed:
- 6 Partridge Orpington
- 5 Silver Laced Orpington
- 4 Lemon Cuckoo Orpington
- 7 Silver Laced Barnevelder

Total number of eggs at lockdown: 21
Of those:
- shipped eggs: 17 out of 22, or 77% (failed eggs: 5 blood rings)
- local eggs: 4 out of 19, or 21% (failed eggs: 1 blood ring, 14 infertile)

Shipped eggs at lockdown:
- 2 Partridge Orpington (4 failed before lockdown)
- 4 Silver Laced Orpington (1 failed before lockdown)
- 4 Lemon Cuckoo Orpington (all made it to lockdown)
- 7 Silver Laced Barnevelder (all made it to lockdown)

Hatched chicks: 15
Of those:
- shipped eggs: 11
- local eggs: 4

Hatched chicks from shipped eggs by breed:
- 1 Partridge Orpington (1 failed in lockdown)
- 2 Silver Laced Orpington (2 failed in lockdown)
- 4 Lemon Cuckoo Orpington (all made it!)
- 4 Silver Laced Barnevelder (3 failed in lockdown)

Hatch rates:
- my shipped eggs - total hatch rate: 50%
- my shipped eggs - after lockdown hatch rate: 65%
- incubator owner's local eggs - total hatch rate: 21%
- incubator owner's local eggs - after lockdown hatch rate: 100%

Shipped eggs - hatch rates by breed:
- Partridge Orpington: 17%
- Silver Laced Orpington: 40%
- Lemon Cuckoo Orpington: 100%!!!
- Silver Laced Barnevelder: 57%

Total failed eggs by breed:
- 5 out of 6 Partridge Orpington
- 3 out of 5 Silver Laced Orpington
- 0 out of 4 Lemon Cuckoo Orpington
- 3 out of 7 Silver Laced Barnevelder

Early failures by breed (pre-lockdown);
- 4 Partridge Orpington
- 1 Silver Laced Orpington
- 0 Lemon Cuckoo Orpington
- 0 Silver Laced Barnevelder

Conclusions and Observations​

- The total winner of this race is the Lemon Cuckoo Orpington - all 4 eggs hatched beautifully, for a stunning 100% success rate!

- The biggest loser is the Partridge Orpington - only 1 survivor, 5 failed (4 early blood rings, and one malpositioned failed assist). I'm very sad, because I REALLY wanted those!

- All the Barnevelders made it to lockdown, and of those, all the ones that failed did so after pipping internally.

- Interesting to note: the shipped eggs arrived in 3 shipments: 2 from the Orpington breeder and 1 from the Barnevelder breeder. The two boxes of Orpingtons were identical in packaging and arrived 2 days apart. The wildly successful Lemons were in the second box, along with 1 Partridge and 1 Silver Laced. I really wish I had marked each egg individually, because now I'm wondering if that 1 PO and 1 SL are the ones that ended up hatching, too! Because either the Lemons are super robust, or something about the second box's journey was different and it suffered a lot less shipping trauma. It is possible that that one box had a 100% hatch rate, but, alas, we will never know.

- The ultimate hatch rate for my shipped eggs was 50%, exactly as expected and as predicted by my breeders. But it feels a lot more successful to me, because of the odds against me that I described in my very first post. This was my first time, incubator was unreliable and needed a lot of adjustments, and the eggs were shipped from far away - most of them, coast to coast for a total of 2621 miles! (the "Farthest Shipped Eggs" contest disqualified me because it was an Easter contest only, and I was off by a week, but I checked their winners, and my eggs traveled much farther! So, in my heart, I'll know I have the farthest shipped eggs on BYC at the moment ✈)

I am very happy with my results, and have way more chicks than I thought I would. So, I declare this experiment a success!

This concludes my report. Science!

 

[K0k0shka]

They have wings!!

Also, as you can see, I gave them a baby waterer. They learned very quickly how to use the nipples, and were very persistent, just not strong enough to push them in on their own yet. I’ll try again in a week.

 

[aart]

Also, as you can see, I gave them a baby waterer. They learned very quickly how to use the nipples, and were very persistent, just not strong enough to push them in on their own yet. I’ll try again in a week.

I noticed that in the videos.
You can leave the nipples in there too, some will pick it up.
Then at about 2 weeks start pulling the open water for most of the day.

 

[adirondak5]

What a great thread and also a great outcome . I'll be using this thread as a reference when I set my eggs which should be here Thursday (hopefully) . Thanks for posting

 

[K0k0shka]

What a great thread and also a great outcome . I'll be using this thread as a reference when I set my eggs which should be here Thursday (hopefully) . Thanks for posting

I'm glad it's helpful! If there's interest, I can keep posting updates on how the chicks are developing.

Thursday, wow, coming up soon! Do start a hatch thread, I'd love to follow. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions! (not that I'm an expert or anything, but I did just go through it all )

 

[adirondak5]

I'm glad it's helpful! If there's interest, I can keep posting updates on how the chicks are developing.

Yes , keep posting updates

Thursday, wow, coming up soon! Do start a hatch thread, I'd love to follow. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions! (not that I'm an expert or anything, but I did just go through it all )

Yes , I've started a thread just waiting on the eggs

My Hatch Thread

I'll have questions along the way I'm sure .

 

[K0k0shka]

I can't edit my statistics post anymore to add this, but I wanted to point out that, thanks to the breeders sending so many extras, I got what I paid for in terms of chicks and am very happy with both breeders. I ordered 12 eggs total, and now have 11 chicks (they sent me 22 eggs total after ordering 12). So that was money well spent in terms of returns.

 

[aart]

they sent me 22 eggs total after ordering 12

WOW, what a deal!

 

[K0k0shka]

WOW, what a deal!

I know! I'm VERY happy with both breeders and if I do this again, I'd definitely order from them again.

 

[K0k0shka]

I make a point to pick up, examine and cuddle each chick at least 2-3 times a day. I want them to be well socialized, since they’ll be mainly pets. Some of them complain, but most are content to be held and will even stay in my hand after I let them go. They’re starting to jump up and perch on my hands/arms when I reach in to clean, too