Dorkings, Dorkings, Dorkings!!!

[beckymom3]

OOOH, very rotten egg, chick stopped growing at maybe 14 days. Feathers, beak, good size, but it's abdominal cavity was open and I could see organs. Tiny heart, lungs. Looks like infection from early on. Poor baby!

The other one, I am just going to wait on until I get some ideas or it obviously is stinky. I'm keeping it in the regular bator, not the lockdown one. Just figure if it's alive, it will continue to grow, but if dead at least it won't contaminate my valuable eggs that have a good chance of survival.

Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

Not the best start to my lockdown!

That makes 10 of 13 obviously alive and well eggs going into lockdown.

I've got pics of our egg cups and eggs in the Brinsea for Lockdown I'll post in a bit.

 

[beckymom3]

Here's the Dorking eggs in their egg cups then in the incubator. Yes, I caved and drew faces on the eggs. Silly, silly.

The second questionable egg started to stink more obviously, so I took it out. I haven't had the courage to dissect it yet (the dreaded eggtopsy).

Had to recover from the first.





Someone reassure me that I'm lucky to have made it this far with 10 out of 13 healthy Dorking eggs! This is just my second attempt at hatching and I'm very scared. I've read a lot, spent HOURS on BYC, but the true test is actually doing it and finally seeing those babies be born. I'm worse at this than with my own babies/pregnancies! I could let go and trust my body and nature (yes, was a hippie mommy and had the boys at home

) but with this incubation thing I'm a wreck! I think I'll find me a broody hen to do this for me next time!

 

[beckymom3]

Well, we are on day 21 and it is finally happening!

Baby 1 pipped and zipped yesterday while I was out of town at work, and my friend who came to check on them called to say "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies!" I told her to leave them alone, don't open the incubator, and keep me posted. I was so excited I could hardly wait for my shift to end so I could come home and check on my babies.

Okay, are you ready for my first Red Dorking baby pics?









Baby number 1, I call her Boudica, hatched while I was at work. She is dry and fluffy and being broody on her siblings' eggs. She has been pecking at the pips and zips. All but 2 have pipped or zipped, most are zipping right now. 2 are almost out! One has pipped at the wrong end. Oh, my!

This baby is so red, too! She may be a he, but who cares. We'll figure that out later. For now, she's my broody big sister chick who has been encouraging her sibs to make the leap like she did.

I'm so proud!

I'll post more pics as more babies emerge.

This is a special hatch, not only being my second attempt at hatching, but being from a rare line of Red Dorkings bred for generations by a dear friend of mine. Big happy sigh!

 

[BeccaOH]

I want Dorkings!!!

 

[tgrlily]

Congratulations!!! We love our Dorkings too! We'll be setting our own in less than 2 weeks.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Congratulations, Becky! That is a wonderful hatch!! I have two SC Red pullets and one RC Red roo, and (not-so) patiently waiting for that first fertile egg. So far zero, zilch, nada.

Dorkings are awesome birds.

 

[beckymom3]

4 Dorks out, the rest are taking FOREVER!!!!! that first baby is so loud and obnoxious, I broke the golden rule and snatched her out, plus Mr. Number 2, and put them in the LG still air as a brooder for now. They were so thirsty!!! Number one had been out for about 36 hrs.

These kids are zipping sooooo slowly. I'm nervous. Today is day 22, so I shouldn't freak out, but 2 of the eggs have just barely pipped and I'm not sure they are chirping since the others are so loud. I can see movement in the ones with large openings, but the small pips are just that, small pips.

I broke the golden rule again to put in a soaking wet sponge because the humidity kept sliding down towards 60. I'm trying to get it to fog up a bit to keep them from shrink wrapping, but I'm worried it might be too late. Do some breeds need much more humidity than others? The Australorps and Brahmas in the other bator are hatching brilliantly at 70%. It's not fair if they are drying out! It's over 80% RH outside today! It shouldn't be so hard to keep up the humidity! Inside, it's 65%.

 

[BeccaOH]

Quote:
Is that a rule breaker? I've used the sponge thing during lock down, and it seems to work well.

I just had a really hard, late hatch on Brahmas. First pip on day 22. It is day 28 and I just found another pip, but the last 2 chicks have been deformed.

 

[BlackBart]

Wow, beautiful little chicks.
I read that Dorking chicks were fragile so be extra careful with your rare little beauties.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Dorkings are delicate for the first few weeks... they like a little more heat than most, and a little bit of vitamins in the water goes a long way. I think that's why they're so rare now... eggs don't really travel very well in the mail, and the chicks need extra TLC, but they are SO worth it.