December hatch along

[Tbjenkins2007]

I have never done a hatch before. Can you explain the zipper thing, and what I need to do in case of all this? I’m hoping that I can leave alll the babies in while they hatch. We have a good set up for that.

View attachment 1617481
Condensation on the inside window got dusted a bit when I took the lid off off the incubator to remove chicks. Best photo I can do with the remaining. I will likely need to assist in hatching. If they are not zippered in the next 4 hours I will zipper pip the ones already pipped with my finger all the way around the egg and place it back in for the chicks to bust out. Sometimes you get a chick with half the egg shell stuck to it. Poor things, but thats what you get for being late to the party! Some of the pips were face down likely from hatched chicks rolling them around. I tried to get all pips to be face up.

 

[Compost King]

I have never done a hatch before. Can you explain the zipper thing, and what I need to do in case of all this? I’m hoping that I can leave alll the babies in while they hatch. We have a good set up for that.

Ok the zipper pipping (others may use a different term, I sorta use my own) is when after they pip their first hole they pip another hole next to it, then another hole next to the and it looks almost like they are unzipping the egg. They usually make half a circle around the egg before they bust out. Someone else might be able to explain it better than I can.

 

[Compost King]

One more hatched (25 total), when he is dried off I will be going in to manually zipper pip the rest that have already pipped. I never bust them of the egg I make them do it after I weaken it... even it means putting the chickens back in the egg because it fell apart during manual zipper pipping. I never had a chick survive if it didn't bust out on its own. Not sure if there is a reason for this or if I am doing an act of superstition. Don't care either as long as I do what has worked out with good results in the past.

 

[Compost King]

Hand zippered 3 eggs, one was alive, 2 seemed dead and one was connected to a large yolk. I discarded the one with yolk. The other than seemed dead I kept in their incase I was wrong but if it doesn't move soon I will discard it too.

 

[mandelyn]

I plugged in 2 hatchers for lockdown, will need to move the eggs tomorrow morning. Had some company over and I candled a couple, lot's of movement! The turkeys due next week looked good too.

There are both Olive Egger and blue eggs, a sampling of both that were fertilized by the same rooster. They're going in different incubators so that I know for sure which is which.

Some family history on those colored eggs...

Sire's side, great grandpa "Cluck Norris", the first rooster I kept for size and solid temperament, from a $1 chick bin of dubious origins.

Grand parents, a Cluck Norris daughter and a Lemon Barred Niederrheiner.

Dad to the chicks inside the blue and olive eggs, with a throw-back attitude/demeanor like his grandad and his Chipmunk cheeks.

I had to scrap the Nieds because they didn't come off as pure, several had feathered feet, sparse, but there. This rooster has feathered feet. I did some outcrossing and then culled them, I had only ended up with one pullet and 4 roosters from shipped eggs.

Momma's to the Olive eggs are Silverrud/Marans, these two Splash girls...

The blue eggs came from Twentse/Legbar hybrids. Those were auto-sexing at hatch, the resulting males were barred and the girls not.

So I'm feeling REALLY nosy at what's inside those eggs!!!

The rest of the hatch is purebred Marans and Bresse... so I know what to expect from them. These goofy hybrids are my little pet project. Then I'll have to wait around to see what color the daughters get for eggs.

Hopefully at next hatch in February I'm setting eggs from my other brain child, a better structured project. More on that later.

 

[Compost King]

26 hatched 10 in the incubator did not hatch... 6 did not make it to lock down. This is actually my first hatch to ever go well above 50% from the eggs that made it to lock down. This is first to go above 21 out of the the 42 I started with.

 

[muddy75]

26 hatched 10 in the incubator did not hatch... 6 did not make it to lock down. This is actually my first hatch to ever go well above 50% from the eggs that made it to lock down. This is first to go above 21 out of the the 42 I started with.

watching the hatching here is making me even more excited about my upcoming hatch! I was going to skip the day 14 candling but ended up candling last night! removed the dud....other 8 still going strong! lockdown scheduled for wednesday night and based on the looks of these guys I will not be surprised if I start seeing pips/and or hatching thursday or friday! it has the potential to be my most successful hatch to date!!

 

[Compost King]

watching the hatching here is making me even more excited about my upcoming hatch! I was going to skip the day 14 candling but ended up candling last night! removed the dud....other 8 still going strong! lockdown scheduled for wednesday night and based on the looks of these guys I will not be surprised if I start seeing pips/and or hatching thursday or friday! it has the potential to be my most successful hatch to date!!

This hatching stuff gets addicting. I now have over 100 chickens now the down side is that many of them will end up being roosters with no good home. I only eat white meat and they aren't going to have plump breasts.

 

[Matieus27]

It does get addicting I am already wanting to get more eggs and hatch more but I will gladly eat a rooster

 

[Compost King]

Maybe I can make cat food out of the extra roosters. I also have a neighbor who processes free roosters. I don't mind keeping them until they fill out because I need the manure and the leaf scratching they do for my compost piles. The next Hatch will be dorking and the dorking/meat bird crossings. Those males I want to process for my own freezer.