August Hatch-A-Long

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I’d highly recommend them! I bought four straight runs from TSC in the early spring and been super happy with them! Unfortunately I ended up with three roosters and I had to give 2 away but they were all crowing at 1 month old. Mine have a little bit of a wild temperament. The two Roos I gave away fought constantly with each other but never once attacked me, and the hen is sweet as can be but she will fight with the roosters as if she had spurs when they try to mount her and she sends them running! They’re excellent flyers and seem to be a little more intelligent than my other birds.

Wow, very cool description!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Came home to 2 chicks and 2 turkey poults running around in the incubator... I am toying with the idea of giving my turkey hen a few more???? Mmmmmm I have to wonder out and see how she is doing before I get excited about the thought.

Awesome!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well, I’ve got another cup situation going on... we are now at 24 hours pipped and I’ve had to brace an egg with a cup because it kept getting flipped by chicks and was gasping and bubbling at the beak, which was fully out! There’s still quite a few veins to recede though, and it’s a very liquidy egg. The other half of the cup is protecting another slow hatcher that pipped through a vein, and also keeps getting turned pip side under.

View attachment 1879841

I’ve got one external pip in the wrong end that seems to be doing fine, another pip in the middle of an egg and also through a blood vessel. Heading off for dinner in 5 minutes, praying my cup babies will be ok until I get back around 6:45-7ish pacific time. I’m hoping to get all the pips hatched out so I can move some of the rolled eggs to better places in the incubator and check them for progress...

Best of luck with the slow babies!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I can’t wait to have a turkey or two.

Y’all my welsummer is crowing today. She is a girl. She did this last year about this time right before she molted.

She laid 5 eggs last year as a pullet. FIVE. And then... not her fault... was in a hawk attack. No damage but stress. So she molted as a pullet and took a break from laying. FOR SEVEN MONTHS. Her eggs this year have broken every rule. Two back to back in a day, different sizes all the time, darker later in the season because they’re back to pullet egg size, no speckles for months then speckles for dayyyyyys, lots of white banded eggs and thin shells. I think it’s all stress related she is pretty high maintenance and I switched their coop.

She is a lot of work.

Geez! Better luck with your Welsummer!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Checked on the turkey.... she had wondered off without the baby... sigh it is a color I dont have so into the brooder it goes.

Bummer! We have two guinea moms with one keet. They have a nest in the coop, but access to a run. I watched them try to get the keet up the huge ramp into the coop last night but had to leave, so DD was on point to make sure the keet got in. When I got home, I saw the two moms on the nest in coop and DD said keet was in there. So I was surprised at 6:45 am to find the keet cheeping up a storm in the run and moms outside frantically trying to get in. The keet has spent the whole night alone in the run! At dark last night, the moms went into the coop and left the keet alone in the run!!!

 

[aliciaplus3]

Bummer! We have two guinea moms with one keet. They have a nest in the coop, but access to a run. I watched them try to get the keet up the huge ramp into the coop last night but had to leave, so DD was on point to make sure the keet got in. When I got home, I saw the two moms on the nest in coop and DD said keet was in there. So I was surprised at 6:45 am to find the keet cheeping up a storm in the run and moms outside frantically trying to get in. The keet has spent the whole night alone in the run! At dark last night, the moms went into the coop and left the keet alone in the run!!!

Crazy birds.... hopeful they will figure it out

 

[Kris5902]

Did you have shipped eggs this time? We've had numerous discussions on and off through the hatch-a-longs about how the shipped eggs seem to retain more fluid causing sticky chicks. Fingers crossed for your chicks!

Not shipped but we did have to drive them across the island, with some rough roads. They are doing ok!

Best of luck with the slow babies!!!

Thanks! I assisted it out when I got back, it’s still very damp looking and less active than I would like... it’s really large! One more to come out in that incubator and I’ll be ok going home to sleep for the night and bake off buns for work tomorrow. The remaining pip is also at about 28 hours now...

The incubator with my flocks eggs in it is going well, still keeping a close watch on two of the eggs, the middle bloody pip and pointy end pip... buy so far no signs of major distress there. I might offer to supplement the other person with some of my chicks as well, depending on the gender ratio he gets... I’m sure I can find a place for a few more roosters... really!

 

[Kris5902]

Not the assist, my hands were too busy to video that, but another successful chick.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Not the assist, my hands were too busy to video that, but another successful chick.

Nice hatch videos!!!

 

[Kris5902]

Nice hatch videos!!!

Thanks... cup baby is still doing ok, but there was a small issue with one of the chicks in “my” incubator, I think it was from the farm that my Barnvelder boy is at, (the eggs that were quite dirty and not at all what I would have chosen for hatching...) the little one was on its back more than usual and flailing a bit. I looked closer and there was something wrong with the leg. It turns out it has a not fully healed navel and a loop of something was wrapped around its hock. I got the protrusion off the leg, but it still has a very large off center belly button type protrusion... hoping it will go in and there won’t be permanent damage. Has anyone seen something like this before? I put it back into the incubator, to finish drying.

Edit to add: chick is quite active and behaving normally now, 1/2 hr later, I’m not going to inter fear with it further. Leaving it in the incubator for the night and heading off to bed... will check in on it as early as possible tomorrow