Christmas 2014 Hatch-a-Long (12-25-14)

[TheChickenQueen]

Unfortunately I have lost one of the chicks, it was doing fine then I came down later and it was acting like it had been trampled. Then I checked on them again and it was dead, and it's buddy the spraddle leg is not acting so good. I have separated the chicks into two storage totes and the spraddle leg is in a box inside of the tote,and I take it out and make it drink, although it shows no interest in food

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Hi everyone here is my update for now. 4 chicks hatched Christmas eve morning, 2 hatched Christmas day, 4 have hatched by themselves today. 2 are resting in their shell after I had to assist this evening. Both had pipped malpositioned in the middle of the eggs yesterday afternoon. I lost 1 chick in the shell today. It had pipped last evening in the middle of the egg. I thought I would give it overnight then I would assist if I didn't see any progress. Unfortunately this a.m. 4 chicks were hatchin, 2 others were pipped, but in the wrong place. I didn't want to open the incubator until the 4 chicks had hatched completely. When they were out I took 2 incubators in the batthroom, cranked up the hot shower. When everything was good & steamy I opened the incubator to grab the oldest pipped egg. Very carefully I worked at finding it's beak. It was a perfectly formed chick that should have hatched yesterday, but it never made a internal pip and it died. I immediately removed another one of the malpositioned eggs and started to assist with that one. Once again the chick was in the wrong position and had pipped in the middle of the egg. I carefully found the beak and gently peeled back the membrane just until the chick could get air. Then I placed it on a warm wet paper towel in the incubator until it is ready to hatch. The other egg was exactly the same, repeated the same process. One just hatched, it's pretty pooped out, but will hopefully be okay. I have 2 others that have pipped & 3 wiggling. Looks like it will be a busy night here

 

[Zwei Eichen]

Here's my update. 15 of 15 eggs hatched. One was malpositioned, but hatched ok. One hatched out upside down and kept laying on his back...making me worry... overall SUPER HAPPY with the whole experience! ! Here's my granddaughter with one of the chicks!

 

[gogetter]

Here they are! (I finally figured out how to upload a picture.) 3 Christmas day and 6 today. There are 2 more working on getting out. So far there are 2 buff, 2 yellow, 1 blackish, and 4 with chipmunk stripes.

 

[gogetter]

Unfortunately I have lost one of the chicks, it was doing fine then I came down later and it was acting like it had been trampled. Then I checked on them again and it was dead, and it's buddy the spraddle leg is not acting so good. I have separated the chicks into two storage totes and the spraddle leg is in a box inside of the tote,and I take it out and make it drink, although it shows no interest in food :/    

Sorry about your struggling chicks.

 

[gogetter]

Here's my update. 15 of 15 eggs hatched. One was malpositioned, but hatched ok. One hatched out upside down and kept laying on his back...making me worry... overall SUPER HAPPY with the whole experience! ! Here's my granddaughter with one of the chicks!

Wow! 15 out of 15! Great job! If I don't count my unfertile eggs, and if the last 2 hatch, my hatch rate would be about 50%. But I'm still thrilled since I lost every one in my first attempt.

 

[TheChickenQueen]

Sorry about your struggling chicks.

It happens, although I wish it didn't

I'll have to take pictures of the others though, they very cute, and lively.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Hello everybody,
just got in this evening and I have been reading all the ups and downs from this hatch. We are joining the downs. After the first three chicks hatched nothing else happened. Came home this evening and still nothing. I decided it has been long enough and cracked the shells. All 8 were dead, and only two had an internal pip. It was very upsetting. Well, my F-I-L gave me 10 more eggs to try again. Hubby even got me a new incubator, which is warming up right now. It also came with an automatic egg turner that can hold up to 41 standard eggs, but I don't have that many. We will see if this one does better than my home made one where i hand turned all the eggs. Hubby is awesome.
Bonus, a feed store where we were visiting had week old and 2 month old pullets. I got 6 of the chicks and 3 of the 2 month old pullets. I am giving one of the older pullets to my neighbor for their help.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Sorry about the chick Honey Bee.

Hope you have a better hatch next time wornoutmom.

Any condolences to any posts I missed about any losses.

Congrats to those who have chicks! I just love the striped ones some have. In my brooder I only have a yellow chick and the rest are black lol.

I hope we can all do a Christmas hatch-a-long next year as well

 

[The Colonel]

Just checking in. Out of the 15 that made it to lockdown, six hatched, and a seventh didn't make it out in time. We also had one that had been fairly weak since hatch, this morning when I went to check he wasn't doing so well, so my wife held him and let him know he was loved before we had to bid him farewell. Five happy healthy babies remain, and they would like to tell you hi. The one in the middle with his head down was the weak one.

So, on to the next round, setting 3 dozen tomorrow morning and hoping for a much better percentage. Until then, take it easy BYC. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.