April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[Tammy N]

This gives me a chance to use up Part of my leahy LOL so far only 1/3 full 2 of 6 Draws holding 75 eggs

Lets so lets see Maybe some More D brahmas or should i go get some more welsummers and Marans from Zanna ?

What to do what to do ....... Quail ? OK help give me some ideas . More turkey eggs ?

 

[oesdog]

I read somewhere on BYC that they imprint in the first four days..........
My concern would be her size?????????? 15 is quite a few even for my large hens.......
You can always try and watch real close to be sure everyone can get under her for warmth.
Good Luck

I think it might be too many. My hen was a large breed sussex and to start she had about 13 eggs under her. We didn;t get any more than 5 hatch and only 4 viable. Gerty the other hen would take any eggs that she couldn;t sit on to "try" to sit on herself and just broke them. Bertha could not protect that amount of eggs. - so I am pretty sure your little hen would have a hard time keeping all those wriggling babies under her , safe and warm>??? Maybe you could put "some "under and see how she does. If you have to play momma hen its not that bad. Worm hunting is great fun!!!! lol -

Oes.

 

[oesdog]

Just saw this elsewhere and thought I would share it here since I'm starting to get the "what is it" angst.


According to UC Davis Veterinary Care Program.
2. Physical Characteristics (4-6 weeks of age)
a. Comb The cockerels comb is medium size and pinkish, the pullets is small and yellowish.
b. Legs The cockerels legs are sturdy and long, the pullets are finer and shorter.
c. Tail The cockerels tail is stumpy and curved, the pullets is longer and straight.
d. Back The cockerel has a thin line of stub feathers down the center of his back, the pullet has more advanced feathering along the center of her back.
e. Side of neck, flank and crop The feathering in the cockerel in these areas is poorly advanced, the pullets feathering in these areas is well advanced.
f. Wing bows In the cockerel the wing bows are bare, in pullets the wing bows are covered with small feathers.



Now if anyone knows offhand any breed exceptions or if you have your own your own easy reference guide you would like to share I would be be much obliged!



Top is my suspected baby roo..... Would be the sweetest bird too, now I may have to eat him.

That is good to know. - Last time I had a he/she bird! Honest the little Marans 28 day hatch - didn;t develop right? She had a fluffy butt and would squat if you went near "her" - so I waited for eggs. No eggs. - He started to grow boy feathers and do the rooster dance! I waited for a crow. - No crow. eventually I gave he/she away at about 5 months with another roo as they were fond of eachother - only after that did He / she decide to - CROW! -

try to day old sex now - the boys have a little tiny pimple on their doo da! Hard to see though! There is a thread on sexing baby chicks.. It is probably in the raising chicks section but I don;t have time to look for it now. - I have my own issues anyone know how to sex LIZARD CHICKS????

Oes -

 

[CherokeeFlats]

Well, my hatch is done for this week. Out of 3 eggs, I got 3 chicks Silver Ameraucanas. So excited!!

Now to wait for my broody hen to hatch hers next weekend.

 

[oesdog]

I keep thinking I can see the eggs move?????? I have been watching them close and sometimes I think there is a little movement but then it could be the light playing tricks or wishfull thinking on my part??????? ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my feathers are all in a knott!!!! I have 4 days till hatch!!!!!

Oes

 

[NinetreesMom]

I am so bummed.
We went out of town for the weekend, and when we got back my mother in law reported that Marshmallow was off the nest a lot. I checked the eggs, and they are all ice cold! It is 50 degrees F outside, so they are way cold. I tried putting her on them, and she didn't settle like she was before, just kinda squatted for a few seconds then hopped off. So, I candled ( today is day 14) . I can still see veins, but no movement, and the chicks aren't much bigger (if at all) than they were day 10. I am afraid they are goners. We don't have an incubator (this was an "unplanned" hatch), so if she won't brood there isn't much hope. I am pretty sure the eggs are dead anyhow.
Any input from someone with broody experience? Is there any hope?
She was broody for about a week before we put eggs under her... Could this be why she quit a week before hatch?

I feel so horrible for those little eggs, and we were so excited for our first hatch. Sigh. Hopefully we can learn from this and try again another day.

 

[Mtn Margie]

I keep thinking I can see the eggs move?????? I have been watching them close and sometimes I think there is a little movement but then it could be the light playing tricks or wishfull thinking on my part??????? ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my feathers are all in a knott!!!! I have 4 days till hatch!!!!!

Oes

Oes, I believe you can sex lizard chicks by their tongues so make sure you look real close, forked tongue = girl, LOL!!!!!
As to the eyes, well I was convinced that I was seeing things or getting a bad case of macular degeneration. As it turned out, degenerating in some way very likely, but my eggs finally did hatch.

 

[Mtn Margie]

I am so bummed.
We went out of town for the weekend, and when we got back my mother in law reported that Marshmallow was off the nest a lot. I checked the eggs, and they are all ice cold! It is 50 degrees F outside, so they are way cold. I tried putting her on them, and she didn't settle like she was before, just kinda squatted for a few seconds then hopped off. So, I candled ( today is day 14) . I can still see veins, but no movement, and the chicks aren't much bigger (if at all) than they were day 10. I am afraid they are goners. We don't have an incubator (this was an "unplanned" hatch), so if she won't brood there isn't much hope. I am pretty sure the eggs are dead anyhow.
Any input from someone with broody experience? Is there any hope?
She was broody for about a week before we put eggs under her... Could this be why she quit a week before hatch?

I feel so horrible for those little eggs, and we were so excited for our first hatch. Sigh. Hopefully we can learn from this and try again another day.

Usually hens will set as long as the eggs are viable. I waited a week as well before putting eggs under my broody and she set them until they hatched, so I am guessing the eggs quit and then she stopped the brooding. Sorry about the missed opportunity but I bet she will be trying again here in a bit.

 

[oesdog]

They are probably sadly at this stage gone. You have no idea how long that they have been cold and because you don;t have an incubator there is no way for you to warm them to the right temp and candle to see if there is any movement. - I do feel for you... It is very sad. Once a hen has decided to abandon a nest there really isn't much one can do to "make" her sit again. She can usually tell if they are early quitters and if not viable she knows there is no point in her sitting.
We had a hen that we managed to get to sit for the entire three weeks after throwing eggs out of the nest and cracking eggs. we finally got little chicks only to find she was killing them the moment they hatched. Once she went back into her nest I found baby mice running through her feathers and when I showed them away she attached me and yet killed her own chicks?????
Hens can be very strange at times. The only thing you can do is buy an incubator and try again. Our two broody hens never went broody again so maybe your hen might not and that is why it is good to have an incubator. - MAY hatch along is going already, have another go! without the HEN! -

Sorry it didn;t work this time

Oes

 

[NinetreesMom]

They are probably sadly at this stage gone. You have no idea how long that they have been cold and because you don;t have an incubator there is no way for you to warm them to the right temp and candle to see if there is any movement. - I do feel for you... It is very sad. Once a hen has decided to abandon a nest there really isn't much one can do to "make" her sit again. She can usually tell if they are early quitters and if not viable she knows there is no point in her sitting.
We had a hen that we managed to get to sit for the entire three weeks after throwing eggs out of the nest and cracking eggs. we finally got little chicks only to find she was killing them the moment they hatched. Once she went back into her nest I found baby mice running through her feathers and when I showed them away she attached me and yet killed her own chicks?????
Hens can be very strange at times. The only thing you can do is buy an incubator and try again. Our two broody hens never went broody again so maybe your hen might not and that is why it is good to have an incubator. - MAY hatch along is going already, have another go! without the HEN! -

Sorry it didn;t work this time

Oes

I was afraid that was the case. I am guessing she has been off the nest for a couple of days from what my MIL said. We already have 4 chicks in the brooder (bought as day-olds), which was really all the chicks we were planning on anyhow. I mostly just tried a hatch because she went broody and I couldn't resist. I still have the hatching bug, but we are moving to a new farm this fall, so I think I will wait until we are moved, I have my new hen house set up, etc. before trying again. I was excited to see a momma hen in action, but in future I think I will definitely use an incubator for most of the eggs and maybe just give the broody (if I have one!) a few "extras". I have learned a lot from this thread (including how frustrating/fallible an incubator can be!), and I can't wait to be in a better place to try again, probably next spring.
Thank you for your input! There sure is a lot to learn in this hobby, and I don't know what I would do without BYC!