Wendell, sounds like you are having a good hatch, congrats!
I candled the 12 Dom eggs in the incubator, 1 shows development, thought I would try to candle the 9 under the broodies, they rather impolitely told me to take a hike
There is something just plain funny about two little hens doing the head-down, wings-out threat posture. I am hopeful all of them are developing, I guess we will know in 2 more weeks - they haven't kicked anything out, but then again they didn't kick out their own egg when it was in the nest almost 6 weeks without hatching, so I can't really use that as a guide. They also have 13 of the 23 Cream Legbar eggs and the other 10 of those are in the incubator. 3 in the incubator are showing development, which amazes me, but it's early and lots can still go wrong (these are the eggs the Post Office had from Wednesday until Monday). Among the 4 hens they have plenty to sit on. When 1 or 2 get up to stretch or feed the chicks, if it's during the day it's so warm the eggs barely cool, and in the morning the others just spread further and cover the eggs. Amazing little things they are. They have basically taken up residence across the entire back of the pen, which is 4 feet wide, and have sort of nestled into a slight depression in the shavings. In the evening as they prepare to sleep all four are lined up with their eggs and the babies, with The Mister perched in front of them, standing night guard. This has definitely been one of the more delightful experiences I've had as a chicken keeper.
Weird stuff that happened over the last week - the two Egyptian Fayoumi cockerels have started to squabble, one is clearly dominant over the other, and I know it relates to how close the pullets are to POL. I am probably going to have to take one of the cockerels out of the group. The group as a whole remains unique - they are the last to bed and the first to become active in the morning. Right now they aren't in bed until just about 9, almost a full hour later than all the others. Yesterday I noticed one of the Speckled Sussex cockerels appears to have injured himself somehow, although no blood or broken skin, and no ouchy places when I examine him, but his right wing appears to have gotten dislocated and his right leg is raised very high when he walks. He eats and drinks, runs about, shows no indication of pain at all. A pullet I put in the run later than the others was unable to integrate, and last night things came to a head when one of the others pecked a bloody spot on her head. I put her in with the youngest RIR and Colloncas, and she nestled right in with them overnight. This morning one must have looked at her crosswise and she tried to wedge herself into a tight spot in the pen, so I put her in a brooder for the day. By this evening she wanted OUT. I put her back with the youngsters and she seems fine now.
I candled the 12 Dom eggs in the incubator, 1 shows development, thought I would try to candle the 9 under the broodies, they rather impolitely told me to take a hike
There is something just plain funny about two little hens doing the head-down, wings-out threat posture. I am hopeful all of them are developing, I guess we will know in 2 more weeks - they haven't kicked anything out, but then again they didn't kick out their own egg when it was in the nest almost 6 weeks without hatching, so I can't really use that as a guide. They also have 13 of the 23 Cream Legbar eggs and the other 10 of those are in the incubator. 3 in the incubator are showing development, which amazes me, but it's early and lots can still go wrong (these are the eggs the Post Office had from Wednesday until Monday). Among the 4 hens they have plenty to sit on. When 1 or 2 get up to stretch or feed the chicks, if it's during the day it's so warm the eggs barely cool, and in the morning the others just spread further and cover the eggs. Amazing little things they are. They have basically taken up residence across the entire back of the pen, which is 4 feet wide, and have sort of nestled into a slight depression in the shavings. In the evening as they prepare to sleep all four are lined up with their eggs and the babies, with The Mister perched in front of them, standing night guard. This has definitely been one of the more delightful experiences I've had as a chicken keeper.Weird stuff that happened over the last week - the two Egyptian Fayoumi cockerels have started to squabble, one is clearly dominant over the other, and I know it relates to how close the pullets are to POL. I am probably going to have to take one of the cockerels out of the group. The group as a whole remains unique - they are the last to bed and the first to become active in the morning. Right now they aren't in bed until just about 9, almost a full hour later than all the others. Yesterday I noticed one of the Speckled Sussex cockerels appears to have injured himself somehow, although no blood or broken skin, and no ouchy places when I examine him, but his right wing appears to have gotten dislocated and his right leg is raised very high when he walks. He eats and drinks, runs about, shows no indication of pain at all. A pullet I put in the run later than the others was unable to integrate, and last night things came to a head when one of the others pecked a bloody spot on her head. I put her in with the youngest RIR and Colloncas, and she nestled right in with them overnight. This morning one must have looked at her crosswise and she tried to wedge herself into a tight spot in the pen, so I put her in a brooder for the day. By this evening she wanted OUT. I put her back with the youngsters and she seems fine now.
