April 2020 Hatch-A-Long! All are welcome!

[gmjarvi]

Congratulations on your hatch with 14 chicks, how do you sell them

These ones I was actually contacted before I set the eggs and asked for a dozen barnyard mix chicks. In the future I will use Facebook (you have to use clever wording, like "I have chicks, PM for more info" or "looking for new roost") and Craigslist, plus local bulletin boards at the feed stores.

 

[kelseyk]

Do you have pics of your saphire gems? Would love to see them, some of mine had white on the tips of their wings at a week old wondering if the could a cross mix

I will try to grab some more recent pictures of them sometime today. The only one I have is the one I posted earlier from when I moved them to the brooder.

 

[barn206]

I have the NR360, as well. It's taken awhile to learn its' idiosyncrasies, but I'm beginning to like it! I had five eggs left in it at day 23. I tossed two - a quitter and a clear - and was going to toss the last three, simply because they looked "flat" inside and we were already well past hatch day. Something told me to let 'em ride one more day. I actually argued with myself out loud over it (DD looked at me like I was certifiably nuts!) but I ended up putting them back and going to bed. Lo and behold ... the next morning we had two pips and the start of a zip!

A word of warning for the NR360. Mine is my second of that articular model. The first was replaced for free because the turner died halfway through my second hatch. We didn't hand turn because, once we suspected a problem, it still worked properly every time we manually tested it. I'm paranoid, now, so I check several times a day to make sure that the eggs' positions are changing properly. Losing that hatch of critically endangered Nankins was heartbreaking!

Thanks for the heads up... I have been watching them turn the exact time everyday. I did hit the turn buttons at least one time a day if I was busy ( just in case). So far so good. I am going to take your advice and wait til tomorrow. But I think that I will crack the leftover eggs outside to really know what went on with these last 8 eggs. Other than that, I’m pleased with the results. I just have to say this- Last night I went to bed at 230am. Lots n lots of action on day 21... I’m recovering today

 

[CindyinSD]

I love this post! Completely accurate. As buyers we assume a lot of responsibility and must do our due diligence.

I've learned to ask many questions. And never make assumptions. I've had someone selling a dozen eggs when they only had 2 hens. Making some of those eggs 7+ days old even before shipping. Also another seller, when I asked about hatch rate on his Muskovy duck eggs, told me he'd never managed to hatch a single one despite many efforts.

I bought a dozen eggs from a reputable breeder across the state. Beautifully packed. Didn't look to have been knocked around in transit. Just a couple hundred miles, very fresh w/o much for air cells yet. Also got a dozen from a haphazard-seeming guy across the country, wrapped about the same, battered in shipping... In-state eggs, same hatch, same incubator, 4 of 12+4 successfully hatched. Out-of-state guy, 11 of 12+2 successfully hatched.

 

[cmom]

Most of the chicks hatched last night. A few hatched yesterday and a few are in progress.
Here is a picture of the ones that have hatched. Mostly RIR.

This is my dry box where I put the chicks while they are drying out.

 

[kelseyk]

I fed Gladys crumbles. I feed all of my other birds pellets but she couldn't eat the pellets. I was out painting the coops which I do usually once every year, when the fox sneaked in and grabbed Gladys. She was dust bathing in one of the garden beds. I didn't see it, but since had seen a fox on my game cameras during the day so I'm pretty sure it was a fox. I didn't even hear anything but when I called her and she didn't come I knew something was wrong because she always came when called. I should have left her in her pen. I did find a pile of feathers down by the road and there is thickets across the road. I never found Gladys.

We lost my kids favorite Silkie and a duck to a fox a couple years ago. We know it was a fox because my FIL saw a fox carrying a black chicken (would have been our silkie) down the road a ways from our place. I built a day run after that...they had been free range. It is just a simple chicken wire fence, so not the best predator defense...but at least a bit of a deterrent. I'm going to be beefing it up here over the summer.

 

[FortCluck]

Sorry! I don’t have experience in this and I know this doesn’t help but what breed is that chick??? It looks just like one of my mystery chicks that I just hatched.

This is a jersey giant cross from my flock

 

[kelseyk]

My Barn Yard cross eggs that I set from my flock are in a hurry to hatch! Yesterday was day 19. When I went to check the incubators last night I had 6 of 9 pipped. Woke up this morning to 3 hatched, 1 zipping, and 3 that pipped last night plus 2 more pipped. I wasn't 100% sure which of my chickens laid which egg, except 3 of them where I knew which next box they had been in. (I have 2 EE's that I will see in a nest box and then they move once I leave....would really like to know which one lays the light green egg). So far, I think my black chick is possibly from my Australorp, the orange chick is probably from one of my Buckeyes, and the 2 yellow chicks with stripes are EE's. (Other options are Barred Rock and RIR.) Father of all of them is a Buff Orpington. I'll post pics when I take them out of the incubator.

 

[Mablethechicken]

This is a jersey giant cross from my flock

Thank you!! What color eggs?

 

[FortCluck]

Thank you!! What color eggs?

Mine should lay brown eggs. Where did you get your chick from?