Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

One of Athena's eggs finally hatched! The other is talking and I could feel it moving in there when I picked the egg up just to check that things were okay still. The two incubator babies are in there somewhere, too, but they've vanished into her fluff. She seems pretty pleased with herself!

Little splay-leg baby is apparently doing okay, too, though still wide in stance. I checked on her, then went to close the brooder back up and accidentally made more of a 'clunk' than I usually do with the door. Well, that little baby shot out from under the EcoGlow and a good foot or so across the brooder in surprise, so those legs must work all right! I 'walked' her back to the EcoGlow and she has an odd gait, but when she rests her feet are underneath her better at least. I haven't put any sort of band on her legs or anything as I was hoping that they would correct without intervention once she was out on a towel and thus far that does seem to be happening. That kind of indicates to me that I need to put something more grippy in my incubator for chicks to hatch out on, though.

Slight edit for clarity​

 

[JacinLarkwell]

One of Athena's eggs finally hatched! The other is talking and I could feel it moving in there when I picked the egg up just to check that things were okay still. The two incubator babies are in there somewhere, too, but they've vanished into her fluff. She seems pretty pleased with herself!

Little splay-leg baby is apparently doing okay, too, though still wide in stance. I checked on her, then went to close the brooder back up and accidentally made more of a 'clunk' than I usually do with the door. Well, that little baby shot out from under the EcoGlow and a good foot or so across the brooder in surprise, so those legs must work all right! I 'walked' her back to the EcoGlow and she has an odd gait, but when she rests her feet are underneath her better at least. I haven't put any sort of band on her legs or anything as I was hoping that they would correct without intervention once she was out on a towel and thus far that does seem to be happening. That kind of indicates to me that I need to put something more grippy in my incubator for chicks to hatch out on, though.

Slight edit for clarity​

I use shelf liner usually

 

[NanaK]

I use shelf liner usually

Me too.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

That's what I was thinking as well. The grippy kind with holes in it so that air can still move through it.

I was talking with my mom about this and I think the reason it was an issue this time and not any other time before is because these were for Athena to rear, so I didn't want to put them under the EcoGlow and have them get used to that and be confused when I moved them out to her. Normally, they'd hatch out, I'd give them an hour or two to fluff in the incubator, and then they'd be straight out to the brooder. This time around, the first to hatch was in the incubator for about 18 hours waiting on the others to hatch. The floor in that incubator is lattice-like, with little square openings a couple millimeters wide all across it, so I wouldn't think it would be very slick, but apparently it's slick enough!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Apologies again for terrible pictures, I had three subjects wanting to move all over the place this time instead of posing for pictures, but...

She did poke at their beaks a little bit, but hopefully that was just curiosity and won't lead to anything too aggressive.

Also that last egg still hasn't hatched... But it did seem like there was a long time between when the first one pipped and when that one did, so I'm trying to be patient...

 

[NanaK]

Awww, Mama and her babies!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

That last egg still hasn't hatched. I opened the pip just a little further to assess and the membrane doesn't look dry or sticky or anything, so hands off for now. I'll consider intervening if there hasn't been any progress by morning. Baby should be okay until then if it really is stuck.

In the mean time, look who's walking around the brooder inside! The chick at the bottom of the picture is our previously-splay-legged baby! Already out and about, and learning to eat and drink from her broodmates! Her feet still stick out a bit to her sides when she's standing, but seem to be gradually going back into the proper place the more she walks around.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

This morning, I grabbed some cotton swabs, prepared for a potential assisted hatch, braced myself for the worst case scenario of the little one having died in the night, and headed out to the Cochin coop to see how things were progressing.

When I got out there, I found another empty shell and four little peepers all snuggled under mama. The last little one managed to hatch all on its own in the night.

I assume mama will take them out of the nest today. Poor darling hasn't eaten in two days, after all, and the littles will be getting hungry, too! Pictures to come of that!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Athena was hungry so she came out for food, but is still sitting tight to the ground like she's on eggs. The babies are popping out every now and then and she's showing them the food and water, but she still seems to be confused as to why her eggs are moving around now. Anyway, it's still a bit dark in the coop so hard to get a good picture, but here's a shot I grabbed of one of the incubator babies eating out of mama's beak.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Athena was hungry so she came out for food, but is still sitting tight to the ground like she's on eggs. The babies are popping out every now and then and she's showing them the food and water, but she still seems to be confused as to why her eggs are moving around now. Anyway, it's still a bit dark in the coop so hard to get a good picture, but here's a shot I grabbed of one of the incubator babies eating out of mama's beak.

View attachment 3486384

Personally, I prefer the hens that stay close to the ground like they're still nesting for a day or so while they're showing the chicks where food and water is. They seem more in tune with their chicks and lose fewer than the ones that just walk around and have chicks screaming before they move down to keep them warm.