BYC's 2025 Spooktacular Halloween Hatch-Along

[african chickens]

Y'all I can't name mine there a hatch project for our local boces animal program and I can't get attached even though I'm raising them for 5 months

The males are for meat the girls will be used for eggs so the class can learn about caring for laying hens

I also want to give the class a chance to name the girls

 

[redinator]

Y'all I can't name mine there a hatch project for our local boces animal program and I can't get attached even though I'm raising them for 5 months

The males are for meat the girls will be used for eggs so the class can learn about caring for laying hens

That's gotta be rough. I have 8 males from 11 chicks in my last hatch and deciding which to keep, if any, is pretty rough since I hand raised them and they're all sweet.

I can't wait for my girls to go broody so I'm more hands off with the chicks. I'm hoping those decisions will be easier then.

 

[african chickens]

That's gotta be rough. I have 8 males from 11 chicks in my last hatch and deciding which to keep, if any, is pretty rough since I hand raised them and they're all sweet.

I can't wait for my girls to go broody so I'm more hands off with the chicks. I'm hoping those decisions will be easier then.

It is though I believe it will be worth it knowing the class will be learning to care for poultry.
The class didn't have chickens last year since they didn't have anyone to hatch and raise them over winter, so they would start laying at the beginning of spring

 

[redinator]

Day 15, 3 days from lockdown, 6 days until hatch. One of the eggs I candled looked like it was about to pop, so I'm keeping a close eye for early hatchers.

 

[redinator]

Oh, I don't know how I forgot to mention this in the candling video, but I dropped an egg the other day when I was switching incubators.

It only fell a few inches, but it cracked a bit right on the air cell. I grabbed the first thing I that I thought would seal the cracks, which was my dad's denture adhesive.

Apparently it worked! It's the first egg I candled in the video that has a bit of pink on the top. The chick is active and seems to be growing as expected.

 

[Rooski456]

Oh, I don't know how I forgot to mention this in the candling video, but I dropped an egg the other day when I was switching incubators.

It only fell a few inches, but it cracked a bit right on the air cell. I grabbed the first thing I that I thought would seal the cracks, which was my dad's denture adhesive.

Apparently it worked! It's the first egg I candled in the video that has a bit of pink on the top. The chick is active and seems to be growing as expected.

That is so awesome that it worked! I am always so worried I will drop one when I handle them. Do you think it will have any issues with breaking thru it when it’s hatch time?

 

[redinator]

That is so awesome that it worked! I am always so worried I will drop one when I handle them. Do you think it will have any issues with breaking thru it when it’s hatch time?

I don't think so. I know from cleaning the bathroom counter that it softens pretty easily when it's wet, but when it's dry it like cement, lol.

I don't think it would've worked so well with a traditional hatch because the added humidity might've kept if from hardening. When I boost the humidity at lockdown it should, theoretically, soften

 

[Rooski456]

I don't think so. I know from cleaning the bathroom counter that it softens pretty easily when it's wet, but when it's dry it like cement, lol.

I don't think it would've worked so well with a traditional hatch because the added humidity might've kept if from hardening. When I boost the humidity at lockdown it should, theoretically, soften

I didn’t realize it softened so easy, that’s good! I’m sure you could assist hatch if really needed too. Either way I’m glad it worked and little chick was able to keep growing!

 

[redinator]

I didn’t realize it softened so easy, that’s good! I’m sure you could assist hatch if really needed too. Either way I’m glad it worked and little chick was able to keep growing!

I'm surprised the egg even cracked when I even dropped it a few inches. I dropped an egg from roughly 3ft (hip height) in the yard when I was collecting eggs and it didn't crack! Of course that was on grass and this was on a metal file cabinet, so there's that.

 

[jxp]

It is though I believe it will be worth it knowing the class will be learning to care for poultry.
The class didn't have chickens last year since they didn't have anyone to hatch and raise them over winter, so they would start laying in fall

Wouldn't that be "start laying in the spring"?