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

[FortCluck]

Egg waste you mean? It's this gross booger looking substance and yes it's normal. Hatching is a messy business.

Duck eggs are even worse

 

[FortCluck]

I candled the eggs with my super cheap and only flashlight and saw yolks pretty much lol. There were yolks in all of them idk if thats what I’m looking for? They are 52 hours along now. I’ve been looking up candling pics for different stages but I think my flashlight is so weak I couldn’t really see anything.

You won't see anything till after day 5 especially if it's your first time. Usually day 7 you can clearly see veins if it's your first time incubating or candling.

 

[FortCluck]

Brooder question: how to you all adjust your temp in your brooders? I’m wondering at what point the heat lamp can go and just the plate can stay... my chicks are in my mudroom which never goes below 60 degrees. I havent had experience with the brooding phase as my hen did all the work last year. I am starting to appreciate my last years broody girl more and more haha.


Also, I’ve noticed the chicks (all bantam) are having a hard time eating the crumble starter I bought. It’s almost like the pieces are too big. I have been wetting the food in a little jar lid and they gobble it up that way. I don’t want to “baby” them but I’m wondering if anyone else can advise.

I'd wet the bantams food or grind it up in a blender. Bantams have smaller everything. Regular chick starter is usually too big so I grind mine up for them.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Brooder question: how to you all adjust your temp in your brooders? I’m wondering at what point the heat lamp can go and just the plate can stay... my chicks are in my mudroom which never goes below 60 degrees. I havent had experience with the brooding phase as my hen did all the work last year. I am starting to appreciate my last years broody girl more and more haha.


Also, I’ve noticed the chicks (all bantam) are having a hard time eating the crumble starter I bought. It’s almost like the pieces are too big. I have been wetting the food in a little jar lid and they gobble it up that way. I don’t want to “baby” them but I’m wondering if anyone else can advise.

I never use heat lamps anymore. The heat plate offers plenty of warmth from day one. That's what my brand new little bittys are under now.

You can crush the feed finer while they're extra tiny or just keep wetting it. Most of the time I don't do either and they can eat just fine but I have wet my food. They act like it's a treat and to this day my adult hens still get excited about wet food. Lol

 

[2102Simm]

Introducing Dos! As a nod to his fallen brother we've named him Dos, and because it's another barred HollandxBO cross.

I have 3 other with external pips but they're taking their time while being super noisy. All in all it's much better than last time. I've already checked Dos over and made sure he didn't have the same issues Uno had. He's now in my makeshift brooder beside my actual brooder filled with the 4 week olds.

 

[CindyinSD]

Brooder question: how to you all adjust your temp in your brooders? I’m wondering at what point the heat lamp can go and just the plate can stay... my chicks are in my mudroom which never goes below 60 degrees. I havent had experience with the brooding phase as my hen did all the work last year. I am starting to appreciate my last years broody girl more and more haha.


Also, I’ve noticed the chicks (all bantam) are having a hard time eating the crumble starter I bought. It’s almost like the pieces are too big. I have been wetting the food in a little jar lid and they gobble it up that way. I don’t want to “baby” them but I’m wondering if anyone else can advise.

I've been giving all my birds (and I have three pens and a brooder-full) lightly fermented feed. I add water as the buckets get close to empty and mix in more feed. The chicks up to 6 months old get fermented starter crumble. I have Light Brahma and Silkie chicks together in the brooder. I was worried that the Silkies didn't seem to be eating, but they eat. They just don't eat as much as the Brahmas. Duh...

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Update on my 3 assists. The one I got out yesterday is in the brooder with the others. He is more wobbly than a normal chick and I can hear/feel a little click when he breaths. He is happily drinking nutri-drench and the others aren’t bothering him, so we will see.
I got the other 2 out of their eggs late last night because the veining was gone. One still has a bulge of yolk coming out of him so he slept in a cup in the bottom half of his shell but it’s still there this morning. He’s not attached to the egg. I have him in a cup still so he doesn’t pop the yolk. What do you think will happen? It doesn’t seem like he’s absorbing this anymore. He’s so perky otherwise.
And then the last baby had fully absorbed the yolk but the area doesn’t look normal and one of his legs is sticking out straight in front of him. Maybe it’s a slipped tendon but his hock isn’t swollen and he doesn’t chirp in pain when I bend the leg. He was in a very weird position in the egg. I have him in a bowl so he can rest and try to keep his legs under him. Pic attached of his umbilical site too. What do you think?

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

@CluckNDoodle What do you think the prognosis is for the one that has that but of yolk sticking out? Will the hole maybe close around it and that part just dry up and fall off? What do I do?

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Not sure I’ll be assisting again for a while after this unless they’ve pipped on their own. On a happy note, one of my 3 Sky Girl Farms Black Ameraucana eggs has pipped.

 

[2102Simm]

One still has a bulge of yolk coming out of him so he slept in a cup in the bottom half of his shell but it’s still there this morning. He’s not attached to the egg.
And then the last baby had fully absorbed the yolk but the area doesn’t look normal and one of his legs is sticking out straight in front of him. Maybe it’s a slipped tendon but his hock isn’t swollen and he doesn’t chirp in pain when I bend the leg. He was in a very weird position in the egg. I have him in a bowl so he can rest and try to keep his legs under him. Pic attached of his umbilical site too. What do you think?

Your second pic looks exactly how Uno's underside looked. Hopefully someone will have helpful advice on what to do.