Hatch-Along - Hatching GS Barred / Blue Plymouth Rock Prize Eggs from Easter Hatch-along Natural Egg Photo contest

[JoyfulPromise]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post more pictures, but it has been a tiring day! I promise to post pictures tomorrow! Since I last posted, the Rock I mentioned is out, and two more Rocks managed to zip out before bedtime. There are two more Rock eggs pipped. One Delaware Chick finally made it out, and there is another Delaware Egg pipped, as well as two more EE Eggs.

That is all for tonight!

Good night!

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Ok, FINALLY! Our internet has been wonky all morning, and I was dying to tell you what happened last night! *Yawn* Boy am I tired! I think I was up every hour with another frantic peeping as a chick hatched! By this morning both the other two pipped Rock eggs were out, two more EE chicks had hatched, and one more Delaware chick! To recap and get the numbers straight (for me as well as you!

) here is the hatch results this morning...

6 out of 12 Rock chicks hatched, 1 died in shell from pipping wrong end.

8 out of 10 EE eggs hatched, 2 died in shell, wrong positioning, I think.

1 out of 2 Olive Eggers hatched so far.

3 out of 5 Delawares hatched so far.

Total of 18 chicks hatched, 3 dead in shell, and 8 undecided eggs.

Well, that was THIS MORNING's results! After moving the last three hatched chicks to the brooder I pulled the empty shells out the incubator and did a quick check - tap and listen - on the remaining eggs. Two more Rock eggs tapped or peeped at me! Oh, and a mystery late egg (probably Delaware x Black Star) from one of our other broody hens FINALLY pipped! One of the Rock eggs did a small pip early this morning too.

Around noon today, I noticed that the pipped Rock egg was zipping. It did a nice circle and then flopped its way out of the shell! Yay! 7 Rock chicks so far! Hopefully this chick's peeping will encourage the 8th Rock egg to pip!

And THAT is the final count as of right now. We switched out the two EE chicks that Little Girl, the broody BO hatched, and gave her two of the fluffiest Rock chicks last night. Then this morning we gave her two more, and just a few minutes ago, the last two that had hatched at that time. So she has 6 Rock chicks so far (the 7th is still in the incubator) and they are settling in just fine! She is clucking to them and showing them food...so cute!

Ok, now for the important part...PICTURES!!!!

Because we took the Rocks out to Little Girl as they hatched and fluffed off, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of all 6 of them together. But I do have a picture of the last two that we just took out - definitely a Blue and a Black here - and also a picture of the other 4 in front of Little Girl in her box!

Black & Blue




Up Close - Black



Up Close - Blue



Little Girl & 4 Rock Chicks







I am so THRILLED at the results of this hatch! If we get 8 out of 12 Rocks, that would be AWESOME, and the EE babies are adorable too, and that Olive Egger baby...

I will have to post a picture of her later. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, and thank YOU Brookhaven, for sending me such strong, healthy, and well packed Rock eggs!

I will be sure to let you know how things finish up!

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Oh, I almost forgot - Brookhavens - do you have any pictures of chicks that you have hatched that would help me identify if any of these are going to be barred or not? Can you tell from the pictures? Just wondering.

 

[chickenpooplady]

Congrats!!! The chicks are beautiful!

 

[Brookhavens]

I am terrible at taking pictures...lol. I have found that the ones that have a white or yellow dot on their heads are usually the barred. The one really light chick (to the left of mama) may just turn out to be a splash. This is a pic I took inside my hatcher and the one in the right hand corner turned out to be a splash. The ones with the darker heads will more than likely be the solid blues.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Thanks for the tips Brookhavens! It would be neat if that one turned out to be a splash! So, if the black looking ones don't have a white mark on their heads, will they just be solid black?

The other egg that was peeping has finally pipped, so we will probably have the 8th Rock chick hatch tonight!!! YAY!!!

I am extra happy that this egg is hatching, it is the only one that was distinctly speckled, and had a 5 on it. Do you know which hen of yours it was from?

I am afraid this may be the last Rock hatching. The remaining three eggs do not have any pips and I did not hear any peeping or tapping when I checked them this morning. I did candle one egg later today, and did not see any movement.

Oh well, like I said before, I am THRILLED to pieces that we actually will have 8 chicks from these eggs!

 

[Brookhavens]

Thanks for the tips Brookhavens! It would be neat if that one turned out to be a splash! So, if the black looking ones don't have a white mark on their heads, will they just be solid black?

The other egg that was peeping has finally pipped, so we will probably have the 8th Rock chick hatch tonight!!! YAY!!!

I am extra happy that this egg is hatching, it is the only one that was distinctly speckled, and had a 5 on it. Do you know which hen of yours it was from?

I am afraid this may be the last Rock hatching. The remaining three eggs do not have any pips and I did not hear any peeping or tapping when I checked them this morning. I did candle one egg later today, and did not see any movement.

Oh well, like I said before, I am THRILLED to pieces that we actually will have 8 chicks from these eggs!

No dot will be solid black. A keeper for sure because there are not too many Black Rocks out there. They are also good to keep for breeding back to the blues to keep the lacing more crisp. They should start feathering out in a week or so and you will really know their colors then. I have one now that my broody hatched that is a very dark blue barred the other she had is going to be a lighter blue barred.

The number 5 on top was the day that egg was laid. I believe the speckled egg came from my Good Shepard BR pullet. When she started laying hers had the speckles on them and then went to no speckles but every once in awhile she still throws one out.

8/12 is fantastic for shipped eggs!!! I am so glad this hatch went better than the last one for you.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

STOP THE PRESSES!!! lol!

First - The 8th Rock chick zipped VERY fast and just hatched about 5 minutes ago! He was in a race with the late mystery egg from our local flock. It hatched seconds after the Rock. It is funny because the mystery egg was very large, and so its chick is HUGE, but the Rock egg was smaller, so that chick is much smaller. But they are almost the same color - Black, with possibly a bit of yellow/white around the face! The mystery egg is probably a Delaware x Black Star mix.

BUT EXCITING NEWS!!! When I reached in quickly to pull out the old shells, I picked up one of the remaining Rock eggs and tapped and listened, and there was a distinct tapping and movement inside!!! So we may get NINE Rocks after all!!!!

On a sadder note, I checked the other two Delaware eggs and one was full term but dead and looks like another malposition - no sign of the beak on top and no internal pip. The other Delaware looked like a late quitter. Holding out faint hope for the other Olive Egger, but not much. The only eggs left in the incubator now are the Olive Egger, and the three remaining Rock eggs. Hopefully the two peeping and rolling chicks will encourage anyone else who is alive in there!

 

[Brookhavens]

Don't give up hope yet. I usually give my eggs until day 25 before I either do an eggtopsy or toss them. I have had stragglers hatch out as late as day 24.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Here are some pictures of little Rock chick #8! The one that came from the spotted egg. See - he has a little white spot on his head!

I haven't heard anything from the other Rock egg this morning.

I hope it is still alive. But even if not, I am very happy with the 8 chicks that did hatch!