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

That is so neat to see! We missed out on all of that stuff because we weren't able to have any 'eyes on' time past day 15 or so... Guess thats a major advantage to using the incubators!
i know we were so excited that we saw it!! my mom had seen it earlier but wasn't sure but then when i got home from work i saw it and so did everyone else. we have 2 out of 4 that are wobbling a lot! we can't wait to see what happens in the next 24 hours hopefully a pip!
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Well I still have the 1 chicken & 5 duck eggs in the bator (to hatch tomarrow 2/2) but not very likely.

My tiny chick J , is now named Jaylee which means "Blue chattering bird in the meadow" according to some babyname website.
& WOW does Jaylee have a voice! She is so small I'm handfeeding w/ twisers , I cut a spec. of cooked beef fat & then I had to cut that into quarters b/c it was still way too large! I've given yogurt & soft cooked egg, the crumbles remain impossibly big for her. Since I have little hope of that 1 chicken egg hatching I have arranged to get 2 chick buddies for her Sat. I just hope they are not too large to put her w/ them.

As for trying again--
I have a borrowed 30 Egg LG incubator sitting here ready to set up --
But I have no eggs : (
I think it needs to have a good # in it for heat stability & right now I only have one gal laying who's eggs I'd want to hatch.
I'm going to to have to start saving up $ to buy some shipped eggs so it is gonna be some time f/b I can make use of this LG...
I can hook you up with some Rainbow Layers if you want. PM me & we'll see if we can negotiate a price or a trade.

Gracie is still busy teaching the little ones everything there is to be mini chickens! Today it was how to enjoy a treat of small meal worms and dead meal worm beetles... I gatherd a bunch from our meal worm farm and scattered them instead of their normal scratch seed. As you can see in the video Mindy was a concerned observer, wanting to make sure all the chicks were all OK. That dog is totally in love with her chickens!
I'm very surprised Gracie is so calm with them. Most broodies would either take the babies & run or would try to chase you off for being too close & I have never seen ANY that would allow a dog near, let alone lay down with her babies & let them walk across the dog's paws. Gracie is truly astounding!

I bought the eggs as Ameraucana, so they should be a cross of two EEs at the very least. Would pink eggs just be considered a form of brown egg, or is there a special trait that causes the pink hue? I was reading a thread that explained EE egg colors, but they didn't mention pink eggs. (Silkie, you know everything there is to know about these little guys, so I need to ask: have you ever taught one to play chess?)
The pink is actually pretty common for EE. It's a lack of the blue/green pigment that permeates most EE shells. There are several pink eggs in my bators right now. My BF taught his OEGB baby to "play dead" & has been trying to teach a couple quail, but we haven't had any luck teaching them to play chess yet
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Yah for the wobbling soon to pip, zip,hatch eggs!
I wish you & them very good luck :)
X2

OK, I was totally ready to give up on my remaining 36 Rainbow eggs. I went in to candle 1 last time before tossing & heard a peep as I was reaching for the 1st egg. I got to looking & saw 2-3 eggs with nice big pips. I quickly put the lib back on & reached for the flashlight to peek into the corners of the bator from above. I found at least 6 pips!!! We have gone back to check several times (especially my BF "BigPoppy" since this is his 1st actual hatch that he has been able to watch) & we definitely have babies hatching...4 DAYS LATE!!!
Here is the 1 that has made the most progress so far:


Pic is blurry but you get the idea.
 
I'm very surprised Gracie is so calm with them. Most broodies would either take the babies & run or would try to chase you off for being too close & I have never seen ANY that would allow a dog near, let alone lay down with her babies & let them walk across the dog's paws. Gracie is truly astounding!

OK, I was totally ready to give up on my remaining 36 Rainbow eggs. I went in to candle 1 last time before tossing & heard a peep as I was reaching for the 1st egg. I got to looking & saw 2-3 eggs with nice big pips. I quickly put the lib back on & reached for the flashlight to peek into the corners of the bator from above. I found at least 6 pips!!! We have gone back to check several times (especially my BF "BigPoppy" since this is his 1st actual hatch that he has been able to watch) & we definitely have babies hatching...4 DAYS LATE!!!
Here is the 1 that has made the most progress so far:


Pic is blurry but you get the idea.
Gracie got used to Mindy being near from the first day she was here, I think maybe it's because Mindy is so careful to move slow around the chickens. But yes, I am glad she has been so good about her being around also. Mindy would be heartbroke to not be able to watch close. What is amazing is that Gracie won't tolerate any of the other chickens near. The other hens hover at the fence divider and Gracie routinely charges them with wings out to tell them to back off. Meanwhile Mindy is laying 6 inches away from her chicks on the other side???
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I'm just glad it works for them! The chicks should be climbing over Mindy like a jungle gym soon if things keep going like they are!
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Congrats on the late eggs! That is great!
 
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BigPoppy is ecstatic!!! He just watched his 1st chick being born. LOL He walked in just as she gave her final shove to pop out of the egg. I had doubts about this 1 because the air cell was on the side of the egg, but obviously she made it. The hatching has begun!!! (No sleep for us tonight. We can hear her cheeping in the bator on my daughter's dresser clear from our room. JJ will be running in there every 5 minutes to see what is going on now
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Gracie got used to Mindy being near from the first day she was here, I think maybe it's because Mindy is so careful to move slow around the chickens. But yes, I am glad she has been so good about her being around also. Mindy would be heartbroke to not be able to watch close. What is amazing is that Gracie won't tolerate any of the other chickens near. The other hens hover at the fence divider and Gracie routinely charges them with wings out to tell them to back off. Meanwhile Mindy is laying 6 inches away from her chicks on the other side???
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I'm just glad it works for them! The chicks should be climbing over Mindy like a jungle gym soon if things keep going like they are!
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Congrats on the late eggs! That is great!
Charging the other hens is exactly what I would expect. The dog being allowed so near is a surprise.

JJ is back over there again monitoring progress. He swears the egg with the giant pip has stopped moving. I keep telling him it's just resting but he swears if it isn't moving it must be dead. I told him to let it rest & it will be back to work on the shell soon. I'm trying SOOOOO hard not to laugh at my "big kid" over there watching his Christmas presents unwrap themselves.
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JJ is back over there again monitoring progress. He swears the egg with the giant pip has stopped moving. I keep telling him it's just resting but he swears if it isn't moving it must be dead. I told him to let it rest & it will be back to work on the shell soon. I'm trying SOOOOO hard not to laugh at my "big kid" over there watching his Christmas presents unwrap themselves.
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That has to be nearly as much of a joy as watching the eggs themselves! I know that Radioman (my fellow) is totally taken by these little ones... I thought he was a pushover with our other ones but these little chicks have really given him a thrill... The night we heard the cheeping under her (the day before they hatched) I heard it first, then had him kneel down by the broody box to listen and he didn't hear them at first. Once he finally did he stood up and gave me a big hug to celebrate. We probably looked like idiots... two grown adults, standing in a 25 degree coop and celebrating a few cheeps!
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That has to be nearly as much of a joy as watching the eggs themselves! I know that Radioman (my fellow) is totally taken by these little ones... I thought he was a pushover with our other ones but these little chicks have really given him a thrill... The night we heard the cheeping under her (the day before they hatched) I heard it first, then had him kneel down by the broody box to listen and he didn't hear them at first. Once he finally did he stood up and gave me a big hug to celebrate. We probably looked like idiots... two grown adults, standing in a 25 degree coop and celebrating a few cheeps!
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BigPoppy says that's funny
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He has finally crawled into bed & we are laying here listening for more peeping coming from next door.
 

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