April 2023 Hatch-A-Long

[Honora]

Hi all, good to see some familiar faces here. I had a swarm of broody hens last year and hatched about 15 chickens, sold 4, but after a predator attack I only have 2 of those left. My chickens are now in a more secure location so we are ready to hatch more for this year.

I have a first time broody and we gave her about 8 eggs yesterday so we will see how that goes. She is sitting in the coop with other hens so hopefully no eggs get broken. I am also going to put some in the incubator today, just waiting for it to get up to temperature.

So I’m setting Swedish Flower eggs, might have some Swedish Flower/ Buff Orp crosses in there too. This will be the first time I have had a blue rooster and some blue hens so I am hoping to hatch some blues and maybe splashes!

 

[doctormap22]

I am incubating only the eggs that I am pretty sure have been fertilized by my rooster. Our three Polish hens have not yet been accepted by the rooster, so their small, white eggs are set aside for breakfast. The rest of our hens lay brown eggs and large white and buff colored eggs so it's easy to tell them. I am using my brand new NR360 that I bought 3 weeks ago at the farm and feed store. I haven't incubated eggs before, so this is going to be an adventure! They should be due April 10th.View attachment 3441160

I couldn't hold out any longer, just had to candle one egg yesterday (day 4) just to see if there is anything developing. It was so exciting to see the blood vessels and the tiny embryo! I was looking at the big white egg, as it is the easiest to see. Not much there yet.
I plan to candle all the rest on day 10 when it will be easier to see behind the brown shell.

 

[bluer78]

I was going to wait until tomorrow since I just cleaned the incubator, but I turned the heat up a little and it was very dry. So in went my eggs, 1 dozen were laid 13 days ago, and the other 10 are from 2 in my flock that had issues during last hatch, so
Good luck to all your incubations!!!
My hatch date is officially April 15th!

 

[Honora]

My incubator is not working
So I ordered a bigger one

But it means the hatch dates will be later compared to my broody hen. Hopefully the new incubator will arrive soon & I can get the eggs in.

 

[Hucklekree]

Morning, Just popping in to say I joined this incognito lol. My phone wants to make my ability to use these forums rather difficult. I am finally sitting down at my computer and able to officially join.
I set 22 eggs in my NR 360 last Sunday. These are a mix of all my possible breeds as we work on building a new coop. We have Crevecoeurs, Bielefelders, Andalusians, Olive Eggers, Mixes, Partridge Rocks, Sapphire gems, Crested Cream Legbars and some other odds and ends all mixing and matching together at the moment. I thought it would be fun to see what came of the mixing.

If all goes well should hatch on the 9th. Just candled and only found one clear. Not bad for the first collection of eggs for the season.

Anyway, good luck everyone I will continue to follow along!

 

[Honora]

Morning, Just popping in to say I joined this incognito lol. My phone wants to make my ability to use these forums rather difficult. I am finally sitting down at my computer and able to officially join.
I set 22 eggs in my NR 360 last Sunday. These are a mix of all my possible breeds as we work on building a new coop. We have Crevecoeurs, Bielefelders, Andalusians, Olive Eggers, Mixes, Partridge Rocks, Sapphire gems, Crested Cream Legbars and some other odds and ends all mixing and matching together at the moment. I thought it would be fun to see what came of the mixing.

If all goes well should hatch on the 9th. Just candled and only found one clear. Not bad for the first collection of eggs for the season.

Anyway, good luck everyone I will continue to follow along!

Good luck, I bet you will get a lot of colorful chicks!

 

[Canadian Wind]

I need to fit another dozen in that blank pocket later this week, lol!

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I have 12 eggs set. Due Easter. At least 3-4 should be from this pairing. Full brother and sister. I asked someone on here a while back but I think I could get all kinds of different offspring from this match. Their parents were a BLRW and a Lavender Orpington.

View attachment 3443011
View attachment 3443012

Wow, they are beautiful!

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Morning, Just popping in to say I joined this incognito lol. My phone wants to make my ability to use these forums rather difficult. I am finally sitting down at my computer and able to officially join.
I set 22 eggs in my NR 360 last Sunday. These are a mix of all my possible breeds as we work on building a new coop. We have Crevecoeurs, Bielefelders, Andalusians, Olive Eggers, Mixes, Partridge Rocks, Sapphire gems, Crested Cream Legbars and some other odds and ends all mixing and matching together at the moment. I thought it would be fun to see what came of the mixing.

If all goes well should hatch on the 9th. Just candled and only found one clear. Not bad for the first collection of eggs for the season.

Anyway, good luck everyone I will continue to follow along!

We are hatching twins One bator is due on the 8th, the other on the 9th. Good luck to you

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I candled my first incubator full last night - only two clear out of 22, not too shabby! Unfortunately the two were from my cemanis, which is very odd considering he only has six hens to cover I’ve seen him cover them all, but two were broodys I just put back in, so maybe that was it. Hopefully it’s not an issue any longer as it’s been a good week since they were reintroduced.

Anyhoo - happy hatching to all!