February Hatch-A-Long

Is February too early for a hatch?

  • Yeah, I'm going to wait until spring!

    Votes: 12 8.1%
  • My chickens haven't started laying yet!

    Votes: 1 0.7%
  • No way! Hatching year-round is the way to go!

    Votes: 19 12.8%
  • The earlier the better!

    Votes: 10 6.8%
  • I'm going to summon spring with some early chicks!

    Votes: 22 14.9%
  • Already have eggs in the incubator!

    Votes: 84 56.8%

  • Total voters
    148
Pics
That beak has to be somewhere where the pip is and it looks like it has a good sized hole to allow for ventilation. I'll be sending good vibes to you! Let's hope mine and yours can make it out. Did you candle to see if the chick still had blood vessels to absorb?
Thanks, It looks clean. I cannot see any veins. Mostly solid. But I haven’t done coconut oil on the membrane yet.
Yea I can see decent movement and still hear chirping. But haven’t seen the beak, yet.
 
7 chicks have arrived. 1 egg was zipped all over, but so sticky it died. 1 of the remaining 5 eggs was a quiter that I didn't notice and I don't have much hope for the remaining 4 eggs.

But these are our fluffs:
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12 hrs left of day 21. #6 Barbezieux, hatched while I slept.
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Below are the 6
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2 below just hatched #7 another barbezieux, and the blonde CL that was totally sticky needed help hatching. #8.
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They are getting sea legs. I have one more barbezieux to hatch, (pip+ going) and one I am not holding my breath one but it is still in incubator.
 
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Egg number three (brown) is starting to hatch and will quickly surpass number two(greenish).
I helped a little on #2 but it’s still early, still peeping and carrying on. Opened the shell a little, moistened with coconut oil and peeled ever so slightly till there was a vein. Stopped bleeding almost immediately, but still enough to let me know to leave good enough alone for the day.
I expect pictures while at work of 3 hatching LOL. Was close even when I was home.
Off to work...
 

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So last chick from my own eggs hatched a bit ago, a polish/silkie cross. Giving me a hatch rate of 75% (9/12). I have been trying to figure out why so many malpositioned eggs in the pure silkies, and I have come to the conclusion that it must be that I used pullet eggs, which I know many people do successfully, but I have also read that it is better to wait until the pullets are hens (at one year of age) before using their eggs for hatching.
I waited until they had been laying for at least a month and I tried to only use eggs that were on the larger size, but then I have also read that this does not make any difference. So, not really sure what happened here, but I hope to avoid this is the future.
On another note my 4 little shipped, saddled eggs are doing well incubating upright at day 13. Hatch date 2/27.
Really hoping they make it and excited to see what colors they will be, as they come from a mixed pen.
My 25 other eggs arrived yesterday, they are on the March hatch-a-long.😊
 
I wouldn't wait a year for eggs to incubate but just a month or two after first laying.
Thanks! 🥰
Just wondering why all the malpositioned chicks. I was only able to save one. They all came from the same pair. All the others hatched just fine, also from this pair, and are healthy without any obvious problems. I will wait a few months before trying to hatch from them again.😊
 

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