Anybody setting eggs this weekend? (4-25-15)

[NTBugtraq]

Just as an FYI, I'm a 55 retired computer analyst who has been trying to get a small farm up and running for 3 years now. There have been many firsts for me in that time, but this one has to be the most exciting!

I don't know how these hatch-a-long threads normally go, but I'm so tempted to post something every hour I figured I would just create this message and keep editing it as things change. In reality, not very much is happening, beyond things like; "Oh wow, that pip is getting a little bigger, I can see the tooth!"...;-] It all just seems amazing.

41 eggs came from my coop which has 24 Red Sexling type (Frey's Special Dual-Purpose) hens and 1 very handsome BCM rooster I got 1.5 yrs old from a friend who bred him out of winning lines.

Day 14 (5/9) = Candled all eggs, 2 showed no signs of development so I gave them to the dogs
Day 19 (5/14) = 4 pipped eggs and lots of cheeping sounds
Day 20 (5/15) = 7 hatched so far (6 yellow, 1 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, about half the remaining eggs have pipped
Day 21 (5/15 after 3:00pm) = 16 hatched so far (8 yellow, 8 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, less than half of the remaining 23 eggs have pipped

 

[FoxyChicken]

I am just loving this! I lay on the floor of the coop and just watch Mamma interacting with the chicks

She's already teaching them how to eat and drink. They've taken a few bites of food but so far have just watched her drink. She's so patient with them, one was pulling on her earlobe!
So far I have two EE's, a Welsummer and a Buckeye. How long should I wait for the remaining eggs to hatch?

Buckeye


EE's


Welsummer

 

[NTBugtraq]

Ok, so my first hatch, no experience here, but I've read a lot...

Worst thing is an egg explodes unhatched, sprays all kinda crap over all the other eggs, and some believe, contaminates them. But, equally, from all I have read, that doesn't happen often, and usually not till day 22 or 23.

So, if you set on 4/25, which I did, today is only day 20. I'm not getting rid of anything until day 23.

To answer your question...days

To better answer your question, what are you waiting to do?...;-]

 

[FoxyChicken]

I'm on day 21 and at least three, if not all four of these hatched on day 20. I figure I'll wait until Sunday, or whenever she walks away from the nest. I'm just waiting to toss the eggs out, but I don't want to do that if there's a possibility they'll still hatch!

 

[NTBugtraq]

My guess Foxy, the mamma's not walking away from any unhatched eggs. She may kick them from beneath her, but even that's rare.

The only reason for you to step in under an actual mama is if you can really see how a human thing interfered. From all I have read, any other reason is only going to lead to a death later..e.g. helping a weak chick survive only leads to it dieing later.

e.g. my incubator had 39 eggs, the first 3 hatched, and moved around so much that they pushed a lot of eggs together. By doing so, they forced some chicks to not only push themselves outta their egg, but push as many as 4 eggs in the process cause they were crammed up. So I moved the eggs somewhat to give each some space. No mama was ever going to sit on 39 eggs, ergo, it was a human created problem, so I tried to fix it.

Forgive me, I am still in awe at this whole process and probably talking a lot of BS...but, a chick has to get outta its shell, and in your bunch, its all natural, so I gotta believe they will hatch, or not, the mama will give all the help that is needed.

 

[CrazyChickenCat]

Finally! Two pips before I left at 2:45!! They actually showed up about 10am, so I'm hoping to have some bcm babies when I get home!

 

[ClarkesCluckers]

I'm on day 20 and 1 light brahma has hatched and 3 other eggs have pipped.

A total of 6 eggs have made it to this point so fingers crossed.

 

[RubyNala97]

I'm on day 21 and at least three, if not all four of these hatched on day 20. I figure I'll wait until Sunday, or whenever she walks away from the nest. I'm just waiting to toss the eggs out, but I don't want to do that if there's a possibility they'll still hatch!

Have you read about the float test? Please, do it before tossing any eggs that you are unsure of. I did it before getting rid of a "dead" egg that didnt hatch with the others and their was a live baby inside. It's super easy to do, please let me know if you want me to post a link for the directions. Congrats on the babies!!! I can't wait until mine are old enough to become mothers and I can watch them take care of their babies!

 

[NTBugtraq]

Just as an FYI, I'm a 55 retired computer analyst who has been trying to get a small farm up and running for 3 years now. There have been many firsts for me in that time, but this one has to be the most exciting!

I don't know how these hatch-a-long threads normally go, but I'm so tempted to post something every hour I figured I would just create this message and keep editing it as things change. In reality, not very much is happening, beyond things like; "Oh wow, that pip is getting a little bigger, I can see the tooth!"...;-] It all just seems amazing.

41 eggs came from my coop which has 24 Red Sexling type (Frey's Special Dual-Purpose) hens and 1 very handsome BCM rooster I got 1.5 yrs old from a friend who bred him out of winning lines.

Day 14 (5/9) = Candled all eggs, 2 showed no signs of development so I gave them to the dogs
Day 19 (5/14) = 4 pipped eggs and lots of cheeping sounds
Day 20 (5/15) = 7 hatched so far (6 yellow, 1 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, about half the remaining eggs have pipped
Day 21 (5/15 after 3:00pm) = 16 hatched so far (8 yellow, 8 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, less than half of the remaining 23 eggs have pipped

Coming up on the beginning of day 22; 19 hatched so far (10 yellow, 9 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, 1 died between pip and zip, and only 1 remains pipped. So that leaves 18 that have not pipped. I quickly removed them from the bator and candled them...4 were undeveloped so got tossed, the rest are either black masses or distinct chicks...so back in they went. That's the last time the cover is coming off till the end of day 23.

 

[RubyNala97]

Just as an FYI, I'm a 55 retired computer analyst who has been trying to get a small farm up and running for 3 years now. There have been many firsts for me in that time, but this one has to be the most exciting! I don't know how these hatch-a-long threads normally go, but I'm so tempted to post something every hour I figured I would just create this message and keep editing it as things change. In reality, not very much is happening, beyond things like; "Oh wow, that pip is getting a little bigger, I can see the tooth!"...;-] It all just seems amazing. 41 eggs came from my coop which has 24 Red Sexling type (Frey's Special Dual-Purpose) hens and 1 very handsome BCM rooster I got 1.5 yrs old from a friend who bred him out of winning lines. Day 14 (5/9) = Candled all eggs, 2 showed no signs of development so I gave them to the dogs Day 19 (5/14) = 4 pipped eggs and lots of cheeping sounds Day 20 (5/15) = 7 hatched so far (6 yellow, 1 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, about half the remaining eggs have pipped Day 21 (5/15 after 3:00pm) = 16 hatched so far (8 yellow, 8 BCM-looking) all healthy looking, less than half of the remaining 23 eggs have pipped

Congratulations on your little babies! This was my first hatch too and I was blown away but how exciting & happy it was to see those guys break out of their shells! I sat infront of the incubator all day! Enjoy it!!