February 2023 hatch-a-long

[LhickenChicken]

Joining as I set my first ever batch of eggs today. I'm excited to see how it goes! But also trying to be realistic - my cockerels are young and enthusiastic (sometimes too much so, see my other recent thread about a hen injury, and another one seems to be in love with one of my duck hens, to her dismay) but they are also clumsy and, well, young (7 mos).
I've only set eggs from hens I've seen the boys mounting, and when eating eggs have observed they do appear fertilized. So we'll see.

I put 13 eggs in - hoping to get at least 2-4 chicks. It would be just my luck if all 13 hatch. Some are mixed Orpington (mamas are buff, cockerels are Chocolate, Black, and Lavender, though the Lavender one mainly wants to get it on with my glove... did I mention they are young and dumb? )- and some are Barred Rock/Orpington.

Young and stupid cockerels! Are they crowing yet? I'm excited to see which kinds of chicks you get! How many cockerels have you got? When they mature, too many cockerels can be a problem as they will bully each other to be at the top of the pecking order.

 

[LhickenChicken]

I shut off the incubator today. I knew it was a longshot, but I suspect that since the girls were not Quite mature enough yet to be laying when he was taken, that maybe makes it impossible. Perhaps if they had already come to maturity ...and then I had eggs from up to two weeks later, there might have been a real chance.

Sorry to interrupt this super exciting hatch-along, already in progress.

I'm so sorry

 

[dreamofwinter]

Young and stupid cockerels! Are they crowing yet? I'm excited to see which kinds of chicks you get! How many cockerels have you got? When they mature, too many cockerels can be a problem as they will bully each other to be at the top of the pecking order.

Two are crowing - the Black Orpington and the Chocolate Orpington. The Lavender knows he's lowest ranked and keeps his mouth shut and stays out of the way.
I've had multiple boys before and definitely know how rough they can get. These guys have lots of space and on days when they need to be confined (like our upcoming -45 windchill weekend) I'll be putting at least one and maybe two of them in crates in the garage to avoid major fights.

I used the chicken genetics calculator and it sounds like odds are I will have mostly black chicks. My little goth flock! Any that hatch from the barred mamas will be sex linked, so if I see barring I'll have some decisions to make. I talk about having a large bachelor flock someday, but I don't have the housing built for it yet. Maybe by this summer....

 

[JustBabyMargo]

First hatch of this year, and it’s a February hatch!

I’m planning on setting an incubator full of eggs sometime this month as well (maybe in a week?).

 

[BarnyardChaos]

......and on days when they need to be confined (like our upcoming -45 windchill weekend) I'll be putting at least one and maybe two of them in crates in the garage to avoid major fights.

It may be just the dynamics of my flock, but when I have them confined, there are actually *fewer* skirmishes among my roosters and cockerels. I don't know, maybe it's the vertical space and roosting bars too, where they can escape vertically and not just horizontally? I have 37 hens/pullets and 4 roosters/cockerels, in a coop 8x22 (4 sq ft/bird) with 3 feeders and 2 waterers, scattered. They do fine all confined together.

 

[dominiquePL]

Haha! I’m wondering why I didn’t set up the incubator closer to my bedroom.

I did it's in my bedroom

 

[dominiquePL]

I had to get rid of some infertile eggs - the number of clear ones in case of Australorps was shocking. I was left with 2 out of 8
So i bought 10 more, should get them tomorrow.

 

[Kikilu]

I had to get rid of some infertile eggs - the number of clear ones in case of Australorps was shocking. I was left with 2 out of 8
So i bought 10 more, should get them tomorrow.

Hoping you have better luck with your new ones!

 

[gimmie birdies]

Cute chicks, I hope to have a few NN chicks too, we will see.

 

[Kikilu]

Day 7 - all the chickies looking good bobbing around happily minus the 2 Ee I couldn’t really see. No changes in air cell. I could even see the two jersey giants more clearly which have been difficult. Feeling good overall! Initial brooder all set just need to get the one ready for when they ‘level up’ lol