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

[Molly020403]

Hello! This is my first year with chickens and I have TWO broody hens (out of 8). My splash ameraucana (Veronica) is due on the 14th and my copper maran hen (Maya) is due on the 28th! I'm very excited! I'm not sure exactly what the chicks will look like because they will likely all be crosses. My two roosters are a copper maran and a white leghorn. Does anyone have experience with crosses? Is it just luck of the draw what they will look like?

 

[cmom]

I have been hatching weekly for the past three weeks. Just had a hatch with another hatch due Tuesday Apr., 14th and then most likely my final hatch of the season due on April 28th.

 

[cmom]

I have done some experimental crosses but not with the breeds you listed. It will be a surprise as to what they look like. Barnyards... Good luck and have fun...

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Hello! This is my first year with chickens and I have TWO broody hens (out of 8). My splash ameraucana (Veronica) is due on the 14th and my copper maran hen (Maya) is due on the 28th! I'm very excited! I'm not sure exactly what the chicks will look like because they will likely all be crosses. My two roosters are a copper maran and a white leghorn. Does anyone have experience with crosses? Is it just luck of the draw what they will look like?

Barnyard mixes are always fun! You never know what you're going to get. If your Marans rooster is over some blue eggs layers you could get some first generation Olive Eggers.
Good luck on your hatch!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

50 + something hatches later with numerous species, I still learn something new in almost every hatch!

That does sound like a malposition from your description.

Shipped ALWAYS contributes to difficulty in hatches. In hatch-a-longs last year I watched shipped eggs in the same incubators show signs of sticky chicks, shrink wrapping, and malpositions all in the same hatches and it just got worse with the heat of the summer. I avoid shipping eggs when I can but when there aren't alternative options I would say at the very least you can't count your hatch rate against you or your incubator because there's just no way to know what they went through during shipping. Jostling, altitude changes, x-rays, etc.

I think too often people assume when their shipped eggs develop or make lock down that they're out of the wood in terms of damage done my shipping. When the truth is hatching is also drastically effected by shipping. It's hard to fill new hatchers in on this without seeming like a fearmonger.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Well, I've been hatching all week and tagging chicks as they turn up. So far, 8 marans or marans/ameraucana mixes, 4 silkies, 3 isbars, 2 cream legbars, 1 black marans, 1 golden spitzhauben, 1 blue laced red wyandotte, 2 swedish flower, and 1 silver laced orp. They are sooo cute!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

What colorful additions to your flock!

 

[Fatimetta]

I couldn't resist and candled my eggs last night. They are on Day 5. So I for sure saw veins in the lightest egg - the bielefelder. Yay! There were about 3 other ones (for sure the mint egger, an olive egger, and the maran I think) that had a dark blob attached to the side of the egg, but I couldn't see inside well enough to see any veins.

There were two that had what I think is the yolk floating around in it still - would these be considered unfertile or clears? The yolk isn't attached to the wall of the egg like in the other ones. I really have no idea what I'm looking for besides candling pictures I've looked up.

Either way at least some are growing- yay!! I also calibrated my hygrometer now so I can trust in it now!

 

[cmom]

Don't give up yet on them. This one was marked as a quitter. Surprise...

 

[Fatimetta]

Don't give up yet on them. This one was marked as a quitter. Surprise...
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So adorable! I won't take any out unless I smell something. Since this is my first hatch ever, I don't trust my eyes or anything I've read yet- lol

 

[gmjarvi]

So adorable! I won't take any out unless I smell something. Since this is my first hatch ever, I don't trust my eyes or anything I've read yet- lol

I'd wait until at least D10 to call anything clear, if you dont see any veins by then the egg likely hasn't developed. You can always put a mark on the ones you're not sure about so you know which ones to keep a close eye on.