California - Northern

[lizanne]

Sorry that you have to make that hard decision Liz. I haven't had to do it myself, but when I do I'm so thankful for the kind hearted people on this thread who walk us through the hard stuff.

BIG hug.

Thanks!! I did it, and it sucked. I guess I've been lucky up until now though. Thanks for all the support guys.

 

[EZFarms]

Two eggs had alot of liquid and all i coulf see was the chick curled up they were both tinier then they should have been and the third one was fully formed and pointed towars the aircell (beak was actually in the air cell membrane but didnt poke throug it also had absorbed most of the yolk as u can see in the first pic. aircells were all good size, humidity was 50-60% during incubating and 70-80% during hatching

The first pics look like there was a lot of liquid still inside the egg.  What position were the egg-topsied chicks in? What did you keep your humidity at during incubation?  Did you keep track of the air cells?  The last one looked like it died some time in the second week.  

 

[lizanne]

That humidity seems pretty high to me. I usually don't go over 30% humidity until lock down. Did you mark the air cells when you candled? This is a visual of what the air cells should look like. - From Sally Sunshine's Hatching 101 Article- https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101. It might help you trouble shoot so your next hatches are more successful.

 

[EZFarms]

Hmm two were the size of the day 18 the other was the size of the day 14. i thought it was a bit high too but didnt focus on it to much. the 3rd pic on here shows kinda the gooey membrane but when i cracked it the membrane was like glued to the shell and was really mucusy and gooey

 

[member 142084]

I have had them do that too its like bacteria got int he egg and bactieria multiplies rapidly. Maybe I am wrong... but thats what it looks like to me. Like how mucus changed when you have a cold. it goes from clear and liquidy to thick gooey green or yellow nastyness. I had one batch with 6 of those.

 

[member 142084]

Yay my hubby is ebaying me 2 chicken coop kits so I can have breeding/laying cages to control my Lemon Cuckoo Orpington breeding. We are looking at a pro scale brooder (used of course) too! There are very few breeders in the US for these babies so he agreed to let me expand for our needs. Plus I have a friend starting an organic co-op and I will be the egg supplier so I can up my hen count

. I would build the pens but he is deploying again and won't have the time to help me nor will I have the time to build them. Builfing out massive pen and barn was enough plus we have a rooster pen. For the one I am selling or will be butchered. I need more room. Plus I can build a duck pen and get those mud makers out of there. They don;t need an elaborate set up They could care less about shelter half the time.

It will be one rooster and 2 hens. I will rotate what hens get bred to which roo. They have numbered leg bands so I can track who is who. Eggs will be marked and chicks banded. I can keep good track of geaneology this way. fun fun I will be chick hatching frequently.

 

[PetRock]

Remember how I wanted a broodie?

Well.... Somebody heard me and within a day, I had a broodie!

I also have insane MF leghorns that don't do what they are supposed to do.

I believe this one has gone broody. Or is trying to anyway. She has completed 2 whole days in this nest.

The video is of me risking my limbs to sneak in an egg and offer fresh shavings for nesting.

I do have to figure out a better spot for her but that will take a couple days of fixing.

Too funny!!!!! I have a tiny Lav AM named Gidget who does that and she isn't broody! She is just a temperamental layer! She sounds ferocious when I open the door to the nest box to check for eggs. She had never pecked me until I checked her yesterday with gardening gloves on. She did not like those orange gloves! I need to take a video of her to add to my chicken archives.

 

[PetRock]

I just want the one breed! But more of them. She has a listing that says it was "bumped" 4 days ago. The last actual post was 2/22/14. . I know generally "bumped" means the offer is still valid and the OP is making it more visible by pushing it to the top of the topic. Not sure if that is the case here though.

I must not look! I must not look! I must not look! I better go back to my incubator and watch my own mottled Pita Pinta chicks that are hatching!

 

[PetRock]

Thanks!! I did it, and it sucked. I guess I've been lucky up until now though. Thanks for all the support guys.

Four years of having chickens and I haven't done it yet. My DH is the one who takes care of it for me. Since he is only home on the weekends, I know the day is coming when I will have to do it especially because I am hatching more chicks this year.

 

[juststruttin]

Remember how I wanted a broodie?

Well.... Somebody heard me and within a day, I had a broodie!

I also have insane MF leghorns that don't do what they are supposed to do.

I believe this one has gone broody. Or is trying to anyway. She has completed 2 whole days in this nest.

The video is of me risking my limbs to sneak in an egg and offer fresh shavings for nesting.

I do have to figure out a better spot for her but that will take a couple days of fixing.

Ha.. yep I guess she did not read the memo that Leghorns don't go broody.