First time: Incubation Lavender Orpington Rooster w/ Welsummer and EE

[Millsa]

5 out of 7 made it : terrible shrink wrapping … 2 are actually still in the process of hatching .. the 3 tough one are alrealy standing around!! Waiting for them to fluff up so i can move them to the brooder

 

[Millsa]

We got 5 out 7

 

[Millsa]

Integration complete. Tonight they learned how to go into the coop at dusk. My rooster played a BIG role in getting everyone into the coop. Im so proud of him AND my chicks. Here they are sitting ON TOP of their hot plate. The rooster is so loving. He broke up a few squabbles today and dragged the hens away from the chicks. I was so impressed. No one was hurt even tho there was a lot of sqwaking. He seems to have gotten it right away that He;s in charge of these babies too…

 

[Millsa]

I dont have an ability to take pictures of candling but here are some of the first eggs.. showing fertility - the bulls eye blasto derm and here’s my little set up. I will continue to take photos if possible. Of the process.. and will post when ever there is news. My girls are really getting into laying now. So if this hatch fails.. i should be able to gather about 12 eggs in 4-5 days to do another hatch. And a friend is wanting some chicks from me because he’s down on one old hen.. and he wants to a_ give her company. B. Re-boot his flock. My EE is so nice. im confident her offspring will be wonderful additions to anyone’s flock. im hopeful to see some interesting colors with this pairing … On the pictures. The “dirty” egg is a soft shell from my Welsummer - she laid her first 3-4 eggs from the roosting bar. They all broke. Or laid in their poop until i could gather.. but another great chance to check fertility.

 

[Millsa]

It’s day 15 here. just took the rollers out and put them all in pointy side down.. its hard to tell if there is development - i dont see new movement for a couple days now … because of my egg shell color its hard to tell if theres a bird filling the egg or a bloodline or what? so - im just going to keep on keepin on. humidity and temperature have been more consistent the last 10 days or so now that i really understand how my little hotbox works better. next week - when we get to day 21 im going to start putting NEW eggs aside to do another incubation. If my eggs hatch - GREAT i can give the next incubated chicks to my friend whos flock is down on ONE chicken. of course if this batch fails.. im going to want to start a new batch. i need more hens! my three to one ratio hen/rooster is not sustainable. my roo is also getting to be a real jerk, i think if he had more hens at the height of his maturity he might just be TIRED OUT and not notice if im coming or going. HAHAH.

 

[Bound to Sea]

Day 16. Power outage, major winter storm. Switched the incubator over to our generator… but not sure thats going to last through the night. I may just move them near the fireplace… and monitor Heat and humidity really closely. Not sure what to do otheir wise.. i mean if they are still alive and we dont know why they wouldnt be alive, if they are still alive obviously we want to keep them alive so i might just have to sit up all night. It’s what a mother hen would do.
If my partner didnt think i was crazy before, its about to get REAL

Hope for the best.

 

[Bound to Sea]

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't know how long your power out was, if it was 12hrs, there may be a delay in hatching.

 

[Millsa]

Ok… put the eggs on lockdown. Im getting 68% humidity and 98 degrees. Hoping to increase the humidity by 2 degrees if possible. Keeping a close eye on it. Tomorrow is day 18… so im about 6 hours early for lock down but… im doing it anyway. I just want to see that i can control the humidity and heat for this next phase. so… starting a few hours early

 

[Millsa]

Reporting in : humidity control almost a steady 71% and temp is 97 ish. Im Anticipating the eggs taking a bit longer to hatch actually since i fear i was at a cooler temperature all along? I dont know i think im just thinking up things to worry about. Next big milestone will be if i hear peeping on day 19? But i know also that doesnt happen in all cases. What’s the cut of.. like day 25 or 26? We are still running on our generator here… will switch over to battery power tomorrow until that dies then we will flip the generator on again. There is 2 feet of snow outside. Had to do emergency snow removal on the chickens run area and coop and shed.. so they dont collapse!