August Hatch-A-Long

[Don 27]

I usually hatch local eggs and I've only hatched shipped eggs once so I would definitely follow @jolenesdad's recommendations as he has quite a lot of experience. From my singular experience with shipped eggs, most of the air cells were detached upon arrival but I still had a fairly good hatch. I did have lower development from some of the eggs being completely scrambled from rough handling though. It's usually recommended to incubate them in an upright turner but since my most reliable incubator has a horizontal turner I took a chance with it and I don't feel it impacted the hatch rate at all and the horizontal turner is supposed to be more like incubation under a broody hen. So I don't think there is any harm in trying to incubate them under your broody hen in my personal opinion but I've also had good luck incubating my eggs and placing them under my hen at day 17-18 right before hatch. Good luck!

I have tried hatching eggs be for and realized later on that the thermometer on the incubator was off by 5 degrees!

 

[john_wrightson2003]

I have tried hatching eggs be for and realized later on that the thermometer on the incubator was off by 5 degrees!

AH, thatd be infuriating, I cant imagine.

 

[jolenesdad]

I have tried hatching eggs be for and realized later on that the thermometer on the incubator was off by 5 degrees!

Whoops!

If you can get a thermometer to calibrate before setting, I would for sure. But if not, a broody is way trustier than an incubator that isn’t calibrated.

In all the hatching groups I follow I would say 90% of people with major issues or no hatches respond with ?????????? when asked if they calibrated an additional thermometer.

It would be SO amazing if an incubator came with an additional thermometer and instructions on calibration! That would be tooooo Easy.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Did your chick make it?

Yes! She's getting around quite well with one functional leg! She tires easily but now that her feathers are coming in she kind of land surfs, lol.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

What about your little special needs chick @jolenesdad ? Did she make it as well?

 

[jolenesdad]

Yes! I just made a thread about her this week, her splint came off today, and she is moving around on one leg. Still don't know what's going on, and I'm trying to just figure out what I am in for. I feel like I bit off more than I can chew, she is a heritage style broiler, I can't imagine I am going to give her the best life on one leg if that's the ultimate deal. Im all for exploring this whole disconnect I have with food, and building a business on it.... but I'll be damned if I am eating this chicken.

She is currently in her own gigantic brooder on the back porch right off the living room living large. So her life can be fabulous while she is here. ;-) I'm hoping because she isn't a traditional broiler and being separate I can really limit her food and protein if she recovers, she could be happy for a while.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Yes! I just made a thread about her this week, her splint came off today, and she is moving around on one leg. Still don't know what's going on, and I'm trying to just figure out what I am in for. I feel like I bit off more than I can chew, she is a heritage style broiler, I can't imagine I am going to give her the best life on one leg if that's the ultimate deal. Im all for exploring this whole disconnect I have with food, and building a business on it.... but I'll be damned if I am eating this chicken.

She is currently in her own gigantic brooder on the back porch right off the living room living large. So her life can be fabulous while she is here. ;-) I'm hoping because she isn't a traditional broiler and being separate I can really limit her food and protein if she recovers, she could be happy for a while.

View attachment 1919412

Aww, maybe once her little legs and feet strengthen some more she will hop more like my special chick. I also think the flight feathers make a huge difference. I was starting to question whether I was doing the right thing until a few days ago when she really started to scoot around the brooder flying.
I'm contending with the weight thing too though! I need to make sure my chick stays active enough because Iowa Blue's are a dual-purpose heritage breed and I don't want her getting too plump to the point that she's unable to hop comfortably. I will admit I'm surprised by how well she's doing as a lone chick. I was fully prepared to get some Silkies for her since they're typically so docile but at least for now she seems content being a people chicken.
She will eventually have her own enclosure next to the rest of my flock once she's ready and I do plan on attempting integration but not for quite some time. I'm definitely not rushing this one even though my hens have always tolerated little ones. I don't like that she wouldn't be able to get out of the way quickly and I'm still not 100% confident that one of my new hens isn't a bully to chicks. I'll be sitting out there a lot more in the coming months while attempting to make this work (and because it will finally be cooling off!)

 

[jolenesdad]

Aww, maybe once her little legs and feet strengthen some more she will hop more like my special chick. I also think the flight feathers make a huge difference. I was starting to question whether I was doing the right thing until a few days ago when she really started to scoot around the brooder flying.
I'm contending with the weight thing too though! I need to make sure my chick stays active enough because Iowa Blue's are a dual-purpose heritage breed and I don't want her getting too plump to the point that she's unable to hop comfortably. I will admit I'm surprised by how well she's doing as a lone chick. I was fully prepared to get some Silkies for her since they're typically so docile but at least for now she seems content being a people chicken.
She will eventually have her own enclosure next to the rest of my flock once she's ready and I do plan on attempting integration but not for quite some time. I'm definitely not rushing this one even though my hens have always tolerated little ones. I don't like that she wouldn't be able to get out of the way quickly and I'm still not 100% confident that one of my new hens isn't a bully to chicks. I'll be sitting out there a lot more in the coming months while attempting to make this work (and because it will finally be cooling off!) View attachment 1919441

Sounds like a really good plan. I've got that Brahma that hatched in the june/july hatch a long with the wonky eye. Everything has been REALLY great until I started to really integrate them. She is okay, and the flock is okay with her, but she really can't comfortably see out of that eye... so she is just a nervous wreck. She doesn't want to leave their area, so she will be there all by herself, and then a hen comes in and she FREAKS and runs out everywhere.

I think she will settle, she is the SWEETEST chicken. If this one would grow a little bit, maybe I can keep them together.

Also, same here. She is functioning really well as a solo chick. Who would've thought!

 

[john_wrightson2003]

Id love to see update pics of those brahmas and marans!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Sounds like a really good plan. I've got that Brahma that hatched in the june/july hatch a long with the wonky eye. Everything has been REALLY great until I started to really integrate them. She is okay, and the flock is okay with her, but she really can't comfortably see out of that eye... so she is just a nervous wreck. She doesn't want to leave their area, so she will be there all by herself, and then a hen comes in and she FREAKS and runs out everywhere.

I think she will settle, she is the SWEETEST chicken. If this one would grow a little bit, maybe I can keep them together.

Also, same here. She is functioning really well as a solo chick. Who would've thought!

Brahma's are a super sweet breed even without her eye damage I bet she'd be a great friend for your little bitty.

Are you going to be updating your thread on this chick? I'd love the link so I can follow it!