Hatch-A-Long (May-June)

[chickenpooplady]

Meet Rice, Spicy & Terriyaki.





Rice is the White Silkie who is still a little wet. Spicy is a Splash and in these photos closet to Rice. Terriyaki is showing us her butt above. She is a Partridge.I have a feeling not only is Terriyaki a Partridge but also a Roo. Just the mannerisms and neck, he's fearless and it's only Day 2.

So cute!

 

[julierupert]

Julie-Congrats on your hatch! The pics are great! What type of incubator are you using?

I've got some eggs rocking in mine so I am hoping I'll see a pip soon. I have had some trouble with my incubator keeping a steady temp. A few days ago it spiked up to 108 and I was convinced that I had killed them all but I candled three of them and saw definite movement in 2 so I stopped since they are supposed to be in lockdown. The egg that I can see rocking the most is not one that I candled so I am thinking that there is still hope for some of the others. We shall see. I think that this will be my last hatch with this incubator tho. It takes way too much monitoring to make sure that everything stays constant and it is too frustrating to lose chicks because of factors out of your control. And unfortunately non of my chickens want to go broody so that is not an option.

Anyway, Thanks for sharing with us!

I have a 3Com mini w/automatic egg turner. It only holds 3 eggs but that might be a blessing, I won't hatch more than I can handle at one time. I am in the middle of a neighborhood with my "illegal and illicit" chicken trade. I was going to get the Brinsea but I ordered through AmazonPrime and I get 15% off and free shipping. They wanted $25 shipping for the Brisnea and I would not have received a discount. The only 2 drawbacks I heard regarding the RCom mini was size and that you couldn't regulate the humidity, it does it automatically.

I didn't double check the temps because I just didn't have a thermometer purchased at the time. I now have one that is in the brooder and I will be able to double check the incubator the next time.

I hope your rock'n rollin' eggs turn into little fluff balls. I have to tell you, I am not impressed with what the chicks look like right after the hatch! Maybe you can fast forward from hatch to fluff.

 

[Teacherchick18]

I have a 3Com mini w/automatic egg turner. It only holds 3 eggs but that might be a blessing, I won't hatch more than I can handle at one time. I am in the middle of a neighborhood with my "illegal and illicit" chicken trade. I was going to get the Brinsea but I ordered through AmazonPrime and I get 15% off and free shipping. They wanted $25 shipping for the Brisnea and I would not have received a discount. The only 2 drawbacks I heard regarding the RCom mini was size and that you couldn't regulate the humidity, it does it automatically.

I didn't double check the temps because I just didn't have a thermometer purchased at the time. I now have one that is in the brooder and I will be able to double check the incubator the next time.

I hope your rock'n rollin' eggs turn into little fluff balls. I have to tell you, I am not impressed with what the chicks look like right after the hatch! Maybe you can fast forward from hatch to fluff.

Thanks! I appreciate your opinion on it as well. My main reason for hatching is as a life cycles and oviparous animals unit in my classroom. It is important that I have an incubator that is large enough to hold several eggs so that we can get a good size hatch (I like to hatch around 15-20 eggs for the kiddos since we always lose a few along the way due to factors out of our control: unfertilized or whatnot) and it absolutely has to have an egg turner because I can't come in 3 times a day on the weekend to turn them (I live too far to justify that). But right now I have just a styrofoam incubator that is not the best. I do have a turner with it, but it is very hard to regulate the temp and the humidity...it is all manual and if environmental factors change, it throws it off. Lol When I use it I spend 3 weeks stressing about temp and humidity nonstop. I live in central Texas and it is pretty humid here during the spring/summer so I don't really need to have any water in it to get enough humidity. Lately, I have been having very poor hatches and I can't seem to figure out what is the reason. I am thinking that it is the incubator because all of the chicks are developing fully and then never hatch. I get the eggs from a very reliable source and she has a good strong flock. It just seems that the humidity and temp will randomly spike or drop and then I lose the whole hatch. I was expecting to see some progress this morning but, no pips yet. I did get a single peep tho. Not sure who it came from. Am I correct in assuming that if there is a peep, the chick has pipped internally? I can't remember but that seems to make sense. It is day 22 so I seem to have late arrivals. This is typical for me. I know that temp can be the cause for that, but if it isn't temp related what else might it be?
You are right, they do look a little awkward when they are still wet and stumbling around the bator, but I have to say that when they are all fluffed up and staring at you with those oversized eyes and giant feet you can't help but think they are cute! I have never hatched silkies, but I imagine that the extra tufts of feathers do add to the lack of cuteness!

Thanks Again!
(I love the names you picked-btw!)

 

[julierupert]

Thanks! I appreciate your opinion on it as well. My main reason for hatching is as a life cycles and oviparous animals unit in my classroom. It is important that I have an incubator that is large enough to hold several eggs so that we can get a good size hatch (I like to hatch around 15-20 eggs for the kiddos since we always lose a few along the way due to factors out of our control: unfertilized or whatnot) and it absolutely has to have an egg turner because I can't come in 3 times a day on the weekend to turn them (I live too far to justify that). But right now I have just a styrofoam incubator that is not the best. I do have a turner with it, but it is very hard to regulate the temp and the humidity...it is all manual and if environmental factors change, it throws it off. Lol When I use it I spend 3 weeks stressing about temp and humidity nonstop. I live in central Texas and it is pretty humid here during the spring/summer so I don't really need to have any water in it to get enough humidity. Lately, I have been having very poor hatches and I can't seem to figure out what is the reason. I am thinking that it is the incubator because all of the chicks are developing fully and then never hatch. I get the eggs from a very reliable source and she has a good strong flock. It just seems that the humidity and temp will randomly spike or drop and then I lose the whole hatch. I was expecting to see some progress this morning but, no pips yet. I did get a single peep tho. Not sure who it came from. Am I correct in assuming that if there is a peep, the chick has pipped internally? I can't remember but that seems to make sense. It is day 22 so I seem to have late arrivals. This is typical for me. I know that temp can be the cause for that, but if it isn't temp related what else might it be?
You are right, they do look a little awkward when they are still wet and stumbling around the bator, but I have to say that when they are all fluffed up and staring at you with those oversized eyes and giant feet you can't help but think they are cute! I have never hatched silkies, but I imagine that the extra tufts of feathers do add to the lack of cuteness!

Thanks Again!
(I love the names you picked-btw!)

Thanks about the names.

I have read all the technical stuff about incubators and thought, "OMG, how can I do that, work full time, raise three kids and keep the house clean." So I read and read and read about which would be the easiest for me. The Brisnea and RCom either got the best reviews or just had more reviews out there. I think the Brisnea could hold 7 or 12 eggs so maybe your next go round you could use the Brisnea with your other bator and compare results.

My reason for hatching was to teach the kids the life cycle of the chicken over the summer. We are doing some in-home summer school (in all my spare time). It's funny,sometimes we go a week with no classes and then everyday the next week. However, I feel like the hatching of the eggs was one of the greatest teaching tools. Even for the neighborhood kids. Everyone is amazed at how small the eggs are and how big the chicks that came out were. My two year old already understands that our chicken lay eggs so when he was watching a chicken coming out of the egg, he was memorized. "OOOOOO, chicten. Egg! Chicten mommy!" It went like that for a few hours.

While there was a lull in hatching I kind of sort of candled the last egg without holding it. I could see some movement without picking it up. So maybe if you do that you can locate your Peep that has internally pipped.

 

[Teacherchick18]

Aww! I love when kids are learning and discovering like that! I have to say that our best unit this school year was the life cycles unit too. They loved watching the eggs and learning about them hatching.

Yesterday morning around 11 I found a tiny little pip and by 1 the crack had grown slightly. We had to go out for the day and when we got back home around 10:15pm I looked in the bator and there was a little baby laying there. I missed the whole hatch! It was pretty dry and had managed to knock every other egg clear across the bator. The humidity was getting low so I decided to take the baby out and then add some water and reset the eggs. When I did that I really quickly candled. I could see movement in only 2 eggs. This morning is day 23 and there isn't any more progress so I am not sure if they are going to hatch or not.

I did have a question tho. You mentioned that one of the cons to your bator was that it doesn't let you regulate the humidity because it does it itself. Can you explain what you mean about it being a drawback, lol cause I thought having the bator do that for me sounded good. I think my personal weakness in incubating has to do with my humidity levels. I measure and weigh the eggs using the size of the air sac to determine the humidity requirements and I still feel like I am always guessing and crossing my fingers that it is right lol. Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

[julierupert]

Aww! I love when kids are learning and discovering like that! I have to say that our best unit this school year was the life cycles unit too. They loved watching the eggs and learning about them hatching.

Yesterday morning around 11 I found a tiny little pip and by 1 the crack had grown slightly. We had to go out for the day and when we got back home around 10:15pm I looked in the bator and there was a little baby laying there. I missed the whole hatch! It was pretty dry and had managed to knock every other egg clear across the bator. The humidity was getting low so I decided to take the baby out and then add some water and reset the eggs. When I did that I really quickly candled. I could see movement in only 2 eggs. This morning is day 23 and there isn't any more progress so I am not sure if they are going to hatch or not.

I did have a question tho. You mentioned that one of the cons to your bator was that it doesn't let you regulate the humidity because it does it itself. Can you explain what you mean about it being a drawback, lol cause I thought having the bator do that for me sounded good. I think my personal weakness in incubating has to do with my humidity levels. I measure and weigh the eggs using the size of the air sac to determine the humidity requirements and I still feel like I am always guessing and crossing my fingers that it is right lol. Thanks again for your thoughts!

Sorry for the late reply.

My incubator just has a hole for water. You put it in every 5 days. It doesn't not have an indicator telling what the humidity levels are and I can't adjust the levels. I will say that all 3 chicks are doing just fine. I am pretty sure my Painted is a roo! Big, long neck and freaks out when the other two chirp too loud. I can't keep any more illegal roosters so I have prepped the kid for this little guy to find a new home. He is so precious, poor little dude.

On a different note, my 6mos Silkie Roo has taken a recent liking to my brown sex link. I think I might try one of those eggs to see what happens. I have no idea what I will do if it hatches ,