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

[Akoharski4]

I actually use the puppy wee pads underneath equine pine pellets. The pads make for super easy clean up!

View attachment 2073179

Oh I like the pellets idea!

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

I’m definitely going to have to try out the pellets.

On another note, I totally forgot I set my Marans eggs at 8pm. I always set eggs in the morning so it totally threw me off! So day 20 just started 15 mins ago. Relieved!

My little hernia baby hasn’t started eating or drinking yet. Just been snoozing under the heat plate. Going to let him sleep tonight and help him find the food and water in the morning if he hasn’t already. I think I have 5 blacks, 3 blues and 3 splashes but there’s a chance 4 are blue.

 

[Akoharski4]

Since the chick lost a lot of blood it's probably going to be extra sleepy compared to the other chicks. If you have a multivitamin you can offer it for a little boost I would do that too. Just make sure if you give it by dropper or syringe to only put little droplets on the side of its beak and allow it to drink on it's own because they aspirate quite easily if forced.

I mixed some nutridench with water and put it on a qtip and she drank a little bit. But yes you’re right, she is extra sleepy. Hoping she’s still alive when I wake up tomorrow

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I mixed some nutridench with water and put it on a qtip and she drank a little bit. But yes you’re right, she is extra sleepy. Hoping she’s still alive when I wake up tomorrow

 

[Phillyndilly]

They look good for day 10 to me. Silkie eggs are small so the air cells are also smaller. Weighing works best when you start from day one but you can still get an idea of how quickly they're losing weight the way you're doing it.

Yes at first I was going to just trust the whole humidity being higher thing was going to fix it but I figured I’d better be sure. Hopefully it works out ok I guess I can get more of an idea on day 14

 

[Akoharski4]

Okay. Another question do you all hate me yet?
Today my Welsummer x CCL went broody. She turns 1 next week! I’m not exactly convinced she’ll commit 100% because she’s so young. She was raised by a broody (not biologically related) so maybe some broody dust was passed down. She sure acted like (and sounded like) a t-Rex today. I had to do the pit viper head hold with a stick to actually grab my breakfast out from under her.

she’s currently sitting on a group of 10 golf balls (now that I removed our breakfast eggs) that I put down about a month ago. But in any case- lets say I decide to throw my husband for another loop and order more eggs... will she set for more than 21 days? Like 26 days? Or if I decide to transfer some of my current incubator batch scheduled to hatch on 4/16- will she be okay with only setting 14 days?

Any advice welcome!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Okay. Another question do you all hate me yet?
Today my Welsummer x CCL went broody. She turns 1 next week! I’m not exactly convinced she’ll commit 100% because she’s so young. She was raised by a broody (not biologically related) so maybe some broody dust was passed down. She sure acted like (and sounded like) a t-Rex today. I had to do the pit viper head hold with a stick to actually grab my breakfast out from under her.

she’s currently sitting on a group of 10 golf balls (now that I removed our breakfast eggs) that I put down about a month ago. But in any case- lets say I decide to throw my husband for another loop and order more eggs... will she set for more than 21 days? Like 26 days? Or if I decide to transfer some of my current incubator batch scheduled to hatch on 4/16- will she be okay with only setting 14 days?

Any advice welcome!

I don't think we get tired of talking about chickens. That's why we're all here. lol

I've done both. I've had hens that I couldn't break, or for one reason or another they ended up waiting longer than 21 days for chicks. I try not to leave them sitting for too long because it is hard on them.
I've also had eggs that were in the incubator and I will sometimes even wait to put the eggs under my broody hens until right before hatch, some time between day 17-20.
I've also hatched chicks and given them to the hens. (I get a ton of broody hens can you tell? lol)

It is entirely dependent on your broody hen and her personality. 14 days should be plenty of time, chickens don't count the days. If they were only sitting for 3-5 days I would be hesitant though unless it's a proven broody that you know will accept anything you stick under her.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

You do definitely want to wait until her demeanor really seems committed though. I have a psycho broody that has been acting broody for longer than my proven broody hen...I may never give this Frosted Legbar chicks, she's nuts, lol. We'll see if she chills out by the time I give my proven broody chicks on Easter.

 

[Gio0203]

Hey everyone! I put my bielefelder egg in my incubator about 7 hours ago and I’m very exited since this is my first ever fertile chicken egg! It is nice and warm and has enough humidity in it, don’t have to worry about the humidity since my incubator make its own climate that will be right for the egg, but I can’t wait to ask questions so I can learn more

 

[FortCluck]

Wow thank you SO much that is amazing I will do it the same way you have done. Next time I candle I’m going to start marking the air cells.

Hello yes I also do have my own eggs from my girls right in the yard but my first hatch def could’ve been better and I’m not familiar with just looking at air cells yet.

An article would be amazingggg! Ya it was hard for me even with the diagrams last time.

That's why you research. There are several pics that show what air cells should look likd

Here are some pics. One of him resting and the other trying to show what I’m talking about. View attachment 2072185View attachment 2072186

I had one like this and I pushed up on it and it went in. The chick was perfectly fine.