DECEMBER Hatch-A-Long!😊

[halefamily_flock]

Photo shoot of the two fluffers!
I can see the Marans in the larger one (four toed). Though they have the same parents.
I think they are both bearded. Hard to tell if they have crests yet.
Curious how the rest will look
Third one is pipping right now.View attachment 2437012View attachment 2437013View attachment 2437014View attachment 2437015

Adorable! What do you use for leg bands? I've had trouble finding options that are small enough to stay on them when they're little and don't get tight too fast as they grow like weeds. This time around, the two I really needed to keep separate I marked with white paint crayon on their legs (the kind you might use to mark a turtle shell, if you were trying to do some sort of wildlife experiment lol). But I would like to track more of them individually, starting as soon as I put them in the brooder.

 

[halefamily_flock]

Day 3 on the outside...
Gold Spitz roo over Legbar hen & Legbar-cross



Legbar roo over Dominique hen


Legbar roo over Legbar-cross hen

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh good, I'm not the only one!

Right now I'm waiting on my second partridge girl to start laying, but they're only 9 months old, and 3BBS, 1 grey, and two more paint girls that are all six months. I had some really bad luck with what I was feeding this past summer, and lost most of my mature ladies to starvation thinking it was parasites (you never think it's the feed when you're paying an arm and a leg for the fancy mix you were recommended by the feed guru). Changed back my feed two months and almost everyone is back to a good weight, but I lost all but one of my greys, and that's the color I had such good results with.

So sorry about losing your birds, that must of been devastating, also not knowing what was causing it. How did you realize it was the feed?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Adorable! What do you use for leg bands? I've had trouble finding options that are small enough to stay on them when they're little and don't get tight too fast as they grow like weeds. This time around, the two I really needed to keep separate I marked with white paint crayon on their legs (the kind you might use to mark a turtle shell, if you were trying to do some sort of wildlife experiment lol). But I would like to track more of them individually, starting as soon as I put them in the brooder.

I use these. On Amazon. They come in different sizes. The medium fits nicely on most chicks. They were a little big for my purebred silkies. You can get different sizes and switch them out as the chicks grow. I do not keep them on very long.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

So, after a 0% hatch rate for ducks in my first attempt (5 eggs), and knowing I couldn't better 84% for my second attempt with chicks (2 of 12 were infertile) I wake up this AM to find one chick cheeping and has successfully pipped the outer shell and made a significant hole for itself, growing slowly. Assuming nothing catastrophic now, that means I got at least 8% right. Most of the other eggs are two dark brown to have successfully candled (any flashlight recommends??) but there were a couple I'd swear I saw movement in. And a few that didn't seem to be filled enough with "dark" -pretty obvious air sack (1/5th egg?), large dark spot (1/2 egg), and something in between for the rest, about which I am very nervous. Today is day 0, but the eggs were collected over three days, so I guess I'll keep this thing running till mid- next week, and move hatchlings to their brooder as they dry out and pair up???

Its the back egg - the one in foreground is marked with pencil 2-10A (Day 2, 10AM) and a suspected dud. I can't read the marks on the hatching egg to determine where it falls in the timeline. Two of the others I'm hopeful of are 3-7A (Day 3, 7AM).

In the future, should I use grease pencil instead of actual pencil? I assume I shouldn't use magic marker...

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Congratulations on your 8% so far!
Your plan sounds solid. Remove the littles as they dry in pairs if possible. I think you can use grease pencil, and you are right about the marker, but I know others who use them without problems.I use regular pencil.
Everyone has their own methods, I write the date the eggs are placed in the incubator and the expected hatch day on the eggs, as I have staggered hatched this time around. I also wrote it up on paper which egg is due for candling, etc to keep it all straight. Use a system that works for you.
I am very happy with my MagicFly candler. It is rechargeable and has a very bright LED light. I can see movement even with darker eggs. You can also try using your phone on the other end of dark eggs, like Marans. This helps, though requires extra hands. I would keep any eggs you are unsure of in the incubator until day 23 at least.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

colored zip ties. I use tiny colored zip ties. Not the ones for electrical work, the ones for electronic & computer work, length measured in MM. I use the smallest electrical bands (4") once they hit 10-12 weeks.

Not sure where to get the tiny ones any more, Radio Shack is gone, and I'm a long way from a Fry's electronics.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Day 3 on the outside...
Gold Spitz roo over Legbar hen & Legbar-cross
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Legbar roo over Dominique hen
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Legbar roo over Legbar-cross hen
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They are all so gorgeous! I love the down coloring especially in the chicks from the gold roo over legbar and legbar cross! Going to be cool to see how they feather out!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Congratulations on your 8% so far!
...
I am very happy with my MagicFly candler. It is rechargeable and has a very bright LED light. I can see movement even with darker eggs. You can also try using your phone on the other end of dark eggs, like Marans. This helps, though requires extra hands. I would keep any eggs you are unsure of in the incubator until day 23 at least.
...

Thank You and THANK YOU. I have some old cell phones lying around, will give one or two a try. They are very bright, upon reflection. My main is providing my internet, so it would be "inconvenient".

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Thank You and THANK YOU. I have some old cell phones lying around, will give one or two a try. They are very bright, upon reflection. My main is providing my internet, so it would be "inconvenient".

You are welcome. Let us know how it works out. If you have some help, see if you can get a candling photo of the eggs in question.

 

[Mogul Moonshine]

They are gorgeous I want two call ducks so bad

I sure do! I don’t have any pics of my two blue fawn call hens and the one eyed pastel hen But here are the other 4! There’s a pastel hen, a grey hen, and 2 pastel drakes.
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