Hatch-Along - Setting eggs this weekend (Jan5/6) WHOS WITH ME!

[Shellz]

Ack! I've missed so much! Is ok if chicks play bowling with their unmatched sibs!
Congrats everybody! Great pics!
Hubby is declaring war on my iPad! Aaaaah, save me, lol!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

 

[chicken pickin]

All these pictures are great. My chick pics never come out good. I need to figure out a way to make them look pretty better.

 

[fisherlady]

Yah, soooo cute! Gracie is amazing, & I want to know exactly what kind of chicken she is!! Most of my broody hens in the past have been mixes that looked like part game hen and none of them would have let me do what you did in that picture! So where ever did you get Gracie and what exactly is she....inquiring minds want to know

Gracie was bought last fall from a lady who couldn't confirm her breeding... she was either bought from a local feed mill or was a product of a cross from some feed mill chicks she'd gotten the year before.

I figure she's either a 'hatchery' silkie... or a majority silkie mix of some type. She was very skittish when we first got her, for weeks I would go out every evening and frequently through the day and pick up each of that group we had gotten from the lady so they got used to being handled. Gracie took to it very well, and is very calm and docile normally, and has been very good throughout this broody thing.

 

[fisherlady]

Adorable!!!! breed?

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Adorable!!!! breed?

BCM on the left, and White Maran on the right.
So far, I've hatched 9 BCM, 4 White Marans, and 1 Golden Cuckoo Maran. So I think nearly all of the eggs that never developed were Golden Cuckoo, which is a bummer, because that chick is SO darn cute. The guy I got the eggs from must be having fertility issues with that breed, maybe weather-related.

I do still have the 2 eggs left in the bator that I nearly threw away. I'm hoping they'll hatch and turn out to be Golden Cuckoo Maran.

If the chick survives, I might have to name it "Compost Bin", since that's basically where it was when I heard it chirping.

 

[chicken pickin]

I thought one of my eggs was oozing so I opened the lid real fast tossed in a damp cloth and pulled the egg only to find the egg is not cracked. So I tossed it back in and now Im nervous because I had 4 pips at the time AGH I feel so dumb

 

[fisherlady]

Well.... for anyone who is bored and wants to watch 'Gracie TV' for a few minute...

We just got video of her trying to keep her chicks tucked under her, a couple of the ones who were evidently first hatched are getting ambitious already! If you wait till nearer the end of the video you will see one finally 'escape'!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I thought one of my eggs was oozing so I opened the lid real fast tossed in a damp cloth and pulled the egg only to find the egg is not cracked. So I tossed it back in and now Im nervous because I had 4 pips at the time AGH I feel so dumb

It should be fine. I do that all the time. A lot of folks keep a spray bottle nearby to mist if they need to open the bator during a hatch. I opened mine briefly to remove chicks yesterday, and tossed in a folded warm damp paper towel. It was getting too crowded, but there were 6 pips at the time. All 6 hatched with no problem.

 

[chicken pickin]

It should be fine. I do that all the time. A lot of folks keep a spray bottle nearby to mist if they need to open the bator during a hatch. I opened mine briefly to remove chicks yesterday, and tossed in a folded warm damp paper towel. It was getting too crowded, but there were 6 pips at the time. All 6 hatched with no problem.

Thanks Im glad to hear that.