APRIL Hatch a long ......Anyone?

[GR Chicks]

Ok, So the chick I inadvertently got out has died.. Poor thing, I had hoped it would rally, but it was to no avail.. It was a lot larger that these other three...

But the other chick that started out weak is doing better, it can stand for short periods but having trouble holding his head up... I'm hoping it is better tomorrow.. I was hoping to give these chicks to Broody butt tonight but I think I'll wait one more day and see how the little guy does tomorrow... I could give the first two to her but don't want to separate them yet, will see how the little emergency care chick is doing tomorrow.

But here is the hatch...

.... I hope I NEVER do that again...

So sorry! I had that happen recently, and it never gets easy.

 

[GR Chicks]

Well started with 42 in the bator and as of lock down I had 29. Well at the end of day 21...today....26 have hatched.





A few still drying off in the bator.

 

[matlock585]

MAT thanks for the incubator pics.i like the hardware cloth idea to keep little beaks away.The plywood is a good idea too.Im going to set mine up like yours.How big is your cooler.?
So you have 2 lights a night light then the bigger bulb for heat?

I got the biggest styro cooler they had at Wal Mart. It's roughly 20"x30". The Hardware cloth works great for the floor and to keep the hatched chicks away from the works. The floor is 2" tall, and I keep a rubbermaid bowl that's about a 6" square underneath it. I use the rubber cabinet liner on top of the floor and it works great. I think the plywood lid helps alot with humidity issues people with all styro bators face. That was actually completely unintentional. I took the lid off the cooler when I was plotting everything out and my dog tore it to pieces. The wood seems to absorb and hold moisture quite well. And yes, I use two lights. The main light bulb, or the heater bulb, is only on for 3-4 minutes at a time. The night light staying on constantly is solely so I can look in and see whats going on. I keep it at the top of the bator by the lid so it doesn't influence the heat really at all. The key thing is getting the thermostat just above the light bulb you use for heat, and of course the fan to circulate the air and keep it nice and steady.

In unrelated news, my 5 turkey eggs are still doing great. Tomorrow night will be 21 days they've been going. I'll lock them down Monday evening when I get home from work. My turkey hen finally went broody so I gave her back the eggs I've collected since these have been incubating. So I have 5 in the bator and I gave her six. She broke one which had a fairly thin shell anyway. I had enough forethought to scribble on the eggs I gave her, and I found today that she laid a new one so I just wrote the date on it in case she abandons it when the others hatch. There's a four day difference. Hopefully she doesn't keep laying, I don't need that stress! LOL

It's great seeing everybody's chicks hatching. I LOVE this time of year. I moved my chicks from my hatch last month outside day before yesterday and they are doing great. I have them in a makeshift grow pen over by the turkeys and the tom just loves to watch them. It's pretty funny too. When they start cheeping really loud he gets excited and gobbles, then you could hear a pin drop! It's like it blows their little minds. LOL.

 

[goodb]

Well started with 42 in the bator and as of lock down I had 29. Well at the end of day 21...today....26 have hatched.





A few still drying off in the bator.

Yeah for chicks...I'll be in a similar situation next week at this time.

 

[Roxannemc]

want to comment on so many replys here. cant think of all so many on here now but...
Bantam... is that a serama roo the white and black one? Pretty!!!!
American ... good job of hatching those babys!Shoot cant think of what else but


29...Yeah where are the ostrich baby pics?

Glad more people are joining. the April hatch. more is better on these hatche

ive had one or 2 more chicks pop out in my bator today but have to update next peek .
Just peeked 4 out and 4 pips end of day 23.This is unbelievable after what these went through122 twice and many 94 drops

 

[Roxannemc]

Oh also the Naked Neck pics Is that Kasaundra chicks.?I thought they only hatched now and then.Didnt know you could get so many at once!

Good looking..!the last guy is sad.


ok silky broody people.Read someone today said silkes were good broodys but bad Mothers .true?

 

[sweetappleacres]

I got my second broody set up. She's a first timer so we'll see. I'm a little concerned bc she's setting on 15 silkie eggs. I think it's too many and I was/am tempted to discard a few. She seems to be managing fine, I can see partial eggs sticking out on a couple but for the most part they're fitting well. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[subhanalah]

I got my second broody set up. She's a first timer so we'll see. I'm a little concerned bc she's setting on 15 silkie eggs. I think it's too many and I was/am tempted to discard a few. She seems to be managing fine, I can see partial eggs sticking out on a couple but for the most part they're fitting well. Keeping my fingers crossed.

she will shuffle them around so they are all heated evenly, which means she'll ruin every single one. I highly recommend removing at least a few since you can see she's not able to cover them.

 

[subhanalah]

Oh also the Naked Neck pics Is that Kasaundra chicks.?I thought they only hatched now and then.Didnt know you could get so many at once!

Good looking..!the last guy is sad.


ok silky broody people.Read someone today said silkes were good broodys but bad Mothers .true?

part of being broody is the mothering instinct. Some birds have it and some dont. Just like you can have a great leg horn sit and hatch out eggs, you can have a broody silkie who gets it wrong.

 

[rayray983]

Really excited going tmrw to pick up 6 white Chinese goose eggs I know they won't hatch in April but still needed to brag and the fact that I'm getting them free is even better