Colorado

[lyndseylynch]

Just a gentle reminder that thin "perches" are for song birds, not chickens. Their feet aren't designed to grip thin things like curtain rods... their roosts should be wide enough that they can stand comfortably on them and lower themselves down to cover their feet to stay warm during the cold months. For adults, a 2x4 laid wide side up seems to be about perfect. Cute chicks

We only stuck the curtain rod in as a very temporary thing, the coop should be done soon, and they'll have a nice wide roost soon enough, they are doing a great job balancing on the sticks and hopping onto the waterer too.
I think they're 6 or 7 weeks old now, should it be pretty obvious to tell the ladies from the gents?

 

[nate1the1great1]

My eggs go into lockdown on Friday can't wait to see them cute little fluff butts

 

[COChix]

Well yesterday was a marathon day, it began at 5 am. When I went to bed Tuesday night we had one pip and woke up to 12 pips and one unzipping. We had hatches in waves yesterday, the first 8 moved pretty quickly once they got going. Then we rounded out the day with 4 more. The first pip ended up not hatching until almost 4 pm (they pipped around 4:18pm Tuesday) and I had to partial assist. Her shell had gotten stuck as she zipped down towards the floor rather than around. Anyway long story short, after all day of her trying to unzip all the way she couldn't. So I moistened the membrane and then was able to get most of the shell off. There was still about 1/4 stuck to her, that eventually came off and she is doing ok. The first wave seemed pretty robust a healthy, the second weave definitely seemed more small and a little more fragile.

So right now we have 12 from yesterday, two that just hatched and two more currently unzipping and a hand full in the bator still. Here are a few pics of the gang from last night.

Here is the one I assisted, so I didn't pull the shell all the way off, I moistened the membrane (it was dry, brownish/yellow) and then turned the egg over and pulled the membrane back some and the shell partial off. She was able to free herself eventually.

It was the strangest thing, in the middle of dealing with hatching etc, I decided to go check on the flock. I went out and started slopping their fermented feed into their feed pans when I noticed one of our dark Cornish. She was laying lifeless on the ground. I walked over and picked her up and she seemed dead. She wasn't cold yet, she wasn't stuff. I picked her up and examined her some. No visible injuries, my BF then started to go over her body. He tried giving her some air, nothing. It did seem as if her vent was protruding some, not all the way outside of her body but it was fairly swollen and reddish. The best we can figure is she died while being mounted by our roo. She was the runt of the litter and was rather small. It was just a very odd day, bringing in babies and saying goodbye to a flock member. We have no come full circle with our flock from just over a year ago. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we started this journey.

@Percheron chick your two eggs are still in the bator and haven't pipped yet, but will keep you informed.

 

[suncatcher]

Quote: I always move mine to the brooder right away, if you do it quickly, I have never had an issue. They seem to prefer the temp in there over the bator. Also, Congats!!!!

 

[suncatcher]

Well yesterday was a marathon day, it began at 5 am. When I went to bed Tuesday night we had one pip and woke up to 12 pips and one unzipping. We had hatches in waves yesterday, the first 8 moved pretty quickly once they got going. Then we rounded out the day with 4 more. The first pip ended up not hatching until almost 4 pm (they pipped around 4:18pm Tuesday) and I had to partial assist. Her shell had gotten stuck as she zipped down towards the floor rather than around. Anyway long story short, after all day of her trying to unzip all the way she couldn't. So I moistened the membrane and then was able to get most of the shell off. There was still about 1/4 stuck to her, that eventually came off and she is doing ok. The first wave seemed pretty robust a healthy, the second weave definitely seemed more small and a little more fragile.

So right now we have 12 from yesterday, two that just hatched and two more currently unzipping and a hand full in the bator still. Here are a few pics of the gang from last night.




Here is the one I assisted, so I didn't pull the shell all the way off, I moistened the membrane (it was dry, brownish/yellow) and then turned the egg over and pulled the membrane back some and the shell partial off. She was able to free herself eventually.







It was the strangest thing, in the middle of dealing with hatching etc, I decided to go check on the flock. I went out and started slopping their fermented feed into their feed pans when I noticed one of our dark Cornish. She was laying lifeless on the ground. I walked over and picked her up and she seemed dead. She wasn't cold yet, she wasn't stuff. I picked her up and examined her some. No visible injuries, my BF then started to go over her body. He tried giving her some air, nothing. It did seem as if her vent was protruding some, not all the way outside of her body but it was fairly swollen and reddish. The best we can figure is she died while being mounted by our roo. She was the runt of the litter and was rather small. It was just a very odd day, bringing in babies and saying goodbye to a flock member. We have no come full circle with our flock from just over a year ago. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we started this journey.

@Percheron chick your two eggs are still in the bator and haven't pipped yet, but will keep you informed.

They are cuties! Nice you were able to assist the one, sometimes they just can't get it done! So sorry for your loss, is sometimes sad this chicken keeping thing.

 

[COChix]

They are cuties!  Nice you were able to assist the one, sometimes they just can't get it done!  So sorry for your loss, is sometimes sad this chicken keeping thing.

Thanks and I was hesitant to help but someone on another thread that has hatched a lot kinda gave me pointers and I took it from there. I have another one who is in similar situation. I just wet down the membrane and rolled the egg over. They have already made progress since doing that. I am just going to see what happens with this one, see if they cn get it done.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Well yesterday was a marathon day, it began at 5 am. When I went to bed Tuesday night we had one pip and woke up to 12 pips and one unzipping. We had hatches in waves yesterday, the first 8 moved pretty quickly once they got going. Then we rounded out the day with 4 more. The first pip ended up not hatching until almost 4 pm (they pipped around 4:18pm Tuesday) and I had to partial assist. Her shell had gotten stuck as she zipped down towards the floor rather than around. Anyway long story short, after all day of her trying to unzip all the way she couldn't. So I moistened the membrane and then was able to get most of the shell off. There was still about 1/4 stuck to her, that eventually came off and she is doing ok. The first wave seemed pretty robust a healthy, the second weave definitely seemed more small and a little more fragile.

So right now we have 12 from yesterday, two that just hatched and two more currently unzipping and a hand full in the bator still. Here are a few pics of the gang from last night.




Here is the one I assisted, so I didn't pull the shell all the way off, I moistened the membrane (it was dry, brownish/yellow) and then turned the egg over and pulled the membrane back some and the shell partial off. She was able to free herself eventually.







It was the strangest thing, in the middle of dealing with hatching etc, I decided to go check on the flock. I went out and started slopping their fermented feed into their feed pans when I noticed one of our dark Cornish. She was laying lifeless on the ground. I walked over and picked her up and she seemed dead. She wasn't cold yet, she wasn't stuff. I picked her up and examined her some. No visible injuries, my BF then started to go over her body. He tried giving her some air, nothing. It did seem as if her vent was protruding some, not all the way outside of her body but it was fairly swollen and reddish. The best we can figure is she died while being mounted by our roo. She was the runt of the litter and was rather small. It was just a very odd day, bringing in babies and saying goodbye to a flock member. We have no come full circle with our flock from just over a year ago. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we started this journey.

@Percheron chick your two eggs are still in the bator and haven't pipped yet, but will keep you informed.

Congrats on all your hatches! And I'm sorry about your hen.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Does molting happen only in the autumn? I'm asking because none of my chickens went through it & now my rooster is suddenly losing feathers underneath his wings, tail & on his chest/underside. I didn't find any signs of mites (still going to treat them/the pen & coop for it), so I'm at a loss as to other reasons why he's losing feathers there. He's also the only one losing feathers. The hens are in great condition.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Does molting happen only in the autumn? I'm asking because none of my chickens went through it & now my rooster is suddenly losing feathers underneath his wings, tail & on his chest/underside. I didn't find any signs of mites (still going to treat them/the pen & coop for it), so I'm at a loss as to other reasons why he's losing feathers there. He's also the only one losing feathers. The hens are in great condition.

How old is your rooster?

 

[uzisuzuki]

How old is your rooster?

I unfortunately have no idea since he showed up on my grandparents' front porch last October. We couldn't find anyone that wanted to claim him and I ended up taking him home.