- Mar 26, 2014
- 11
- 0
- 22
Day 20, and 3 new little chicks out of 18 are out strutting around. Four more eggs have pipped, and a couple more wigglers seem to be giving it a go. This is our second attempt, and our first attempt was a total failure. From what I learned, I think I drowned all the chicks on the first go. This time, I went with the dry system (and a better thermometer), and we are very excited to see this miracle for the first time!
Now, the questions....The easter egger seen below is having a lot of trouble positioning his neck...you can sort of see it in the pic, but his beak is pointed straight up most of the time, and/or his head is laying on his back (beak also straight up). Sort of looks like his head is just too heavy, but he is also substantially larger than the other chicks. Is this something that straightens itself out (pun intended), or is this a possible deformity?
What the max time to leave these guys in as part of the lockdown/hatch before we should move them out to a heat lamp with some water and food?
Last, this isn't a question, but this specific hatch has a history that is cool. We weren't looking to try one again anytime soon since the last failure, but our favorite easter egger hen, a huge barred rock rooster, and an australorp hen were killed three weeks ago in a daytime owl attack. The kids were sad. So we decided to take all her (easter egger) eggs from the previous 3-4 days, and several more that were fresh, and throw them in the incubator just to try to have some way for "Blackie" to live on.
So, we're super excited to have at least some success on this "whim" of an incubation cycle.
Now, the questions....The easter egger seen below is having a lot of trouble positioning his neck...you can sort of see it in the pic, but his beak is pointed straight up most of the time, and/or his head is laying on his back (beak also straight up). Sort of looks like his head is just too heavy, but he is also substantially larger than the other chicks. Is this something that straightens itself out (pun intended), or is this a possible deformity?
What the max time to leave these guys in as part of the lockdown/hatch before we should move them out to a heat lamp with some water and food?
Last, this isn't a question, but this specific hatch has a history that is cool. We weren't looking to try one again anytime soon since the last failure, but our favorite easter egger hen, a huge barred rock rooster, and an australorp hen were killed three weeks ago in a daytime owl attack. The kids were sad. So we decided to take all her (easter egger) eggs from the previous 3-4 days, and several more that were fresh, and throw them in the incubator just to try to have some way for "Blackie" to live on.
So, we're super excited to have at least some success on this "whim" of an incubation cycle.
