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

[Outrun Acres]

That's great! I just got 2 Delawares & other than comb they look identical. I had to look up the differences to see which I had so that's how I had a pretty good idea of what she was. The only others that really look close are Columbian Rocks (which are essentially the same bird as the Delaware with a slightly different cross used) & Light Brahmas. Brahmas are feather legged. The pea comb gave her away.

They do look very similar to Delawares to me as well. It is fun to play the breed guessing game, although I rarely guess correctly. I guess it's probably similar to the Dominique vs.Barred Rock "guessathon." (I don't know why I just used that 100% made up word. I must be getting sleepy!) It all comes down to the comb. We have 2 Dominique chicks in our brooder right now. We don't have any barred chickens in our flock right now and my husband was dieing to get some. We also have a cuckoo maran chick in there as well. I guess he got his wish this year .

 

[fisherlady]

Does anyone know if chickens will molt this time of year? I had a strange experience with my Welsummer. She stopped laying for about a month and half. She just started up again and her eggs are much darker than they were before. She didn't lose any feathers that I was aware of. Could she have just stopped laying for some unknown reason? None of her eggs even made it into the incubator. During the first hatch all of her eggs ended up being clears anyway and I don't think I have ever seen a rooster try to breed her.

Ours are molting some, many do in the fall/ winter for some reason. Each chicken can molt differently though, some you hardly notice and they don't seem to go off their normal routine, others molt hard and look horrendous for weeks (like our roo does right now!) and as for the laying it could be from molting, or just that your hen is more senstive to the lower light levels of winter and she quit laying as her seasonal break because of that and she started again because the days are getting longer again.

I heard that after taking a break the eggs will be darker for a while, with the pigment amounts gradually decreasing again during the laying season and will be lightest before she takes her next break, then will start over again being darker.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I think I'm probably next. Tomorrow is day 20 for me. I have 21 eggs in lockdown. Two of those were under my broody hen I candled them and it looked like there were developing chicks inside. I am unsure about those two but the other 19 looked pretty good to me. I started out with 28 eggs and had a lot of clears I had to throw out. I calculated my flock fertility and it seems like my roosters really aren't doing their job very well. I have 2 roosters to cover 9 hens. I wonder if all the nasty weather we have had could effect their fertility? All I know is that was worse than the first hatch. Oh well, it's all a good learning experience I guess. I wonder if that is what is going on with your trio?

Does anyone know if chickens will molt this time of year? I had a strange experience with my Welsummer. She stopped laying for about a month and half. She just started up again and her eggs are much darker than they were before. She didn't lose any feathers that I was aware of. Could she have just stopped laying for some unknown reason? None of her eggs even made it into the incubator. During the first hatch all of her eggs ended up being clears anyway and I don't think I have ever seen a rooster try to breed her.

I was SUPPOSED to have eggs hatching this week (28th) but when I candled last night they are no where near ready. There is lots of movement & obvious development, they just aren't where they should be for 18 day eggs. They look closer to 13-14 day eggs. Apparently my temps are running low again & I'm going to have another 4-6 day late hatch like last time.

As for your fertility, yes, weather can effect fertility GREATLY. They are to busy trying to stay warm to do the "chicken dance."

For the hen, they will often take a break from laying in the really hot or really cold months. It's the same as the weather effect on fertility. She's using her energy for more important things. It's possible she could also be molting. Some birds molt very subtly & just lose a few feathers at a time that never even get noticed. Others end up looking like they have been plucked. A lot depends on the age & breed of the bird. Younger birds tend to molt "softly" losing feathers gradually & regrowing them quickly. Older birds & anything frizzled tend to have a "harder" molt where they lose feathers much faster than they regrow them & end up with bald patches.

They do look very similar to Delawares to me as well. It is fun to play the breed guessing game, although I rarely guess correctly. I guess it's probably similar to the Dominique vs.Barred Rock "guessathon." (I don't know why I just used that 100% made up word. I must be getting sleepy!) It all comes down to the comb. We have 2 Dominique chicks in our brooder right now. We don't have any barred chickens in our flock right now and my husband was dieing to get some. We also have a cuckoo maran chick in there as well. I guess he got his wish this year .

The comb is often the distinguishing feature. Sometimes it's leg color as well.

Ours are molting some, many do in the fall/ winter for some reason. Each chicken can molt differently though, some you hardly notice and they don't seem to go off their normal routine, others molt hard and look horrendous for weeks (like our roo does right now!) and as for the laying it could be from molting, or just that your hen is more senstive to the lower light levels of winter and she quit laying as her seasonal break because of that and she started again because the days are getting longer again.

I heard that after taking a break the eggs will be darker for a while, with the pigment amounts gradually decreasing again during the laying season and will be lightest before she takes her next break, then will start over again being darker.

Egg colors will often darken after a break & lighten again as laying goes on. It's especially true of any of the "chocolate egger" breeds or mixes of them like olive eggers.

 

[Outrun Acres]

Our Welsummer must have gone through a molt then. She didn't lay eggs for quite awhile, and since she started laying again this week, both eggs are much darker than they used to be. She is less than a year old still so maybe it was that "pullet" molt you guys were talking about.

Oh man. I'm already starting to stare at the incubator. Day 21 doesn't start until tomorrow morning. I think I may have figured out my incubator this time around. During lockdown last time it was really hard for me to stabilize my humidity. I realized in my LG I have to fill all the water wells in the bottom and put two west sponges in there as well. Before I put each sponge in I heat it up in the microwave for 20 seconds. Once my temperature restabilizes after adding the sponges I put a plug in one of the vent plugs. Last time I tried not putting any vent plugs in and after a couple of hours my humidity would drop about 20%. It was very frustrating. I kept microwaving dish rags and sponges to try to keep humidity up around 60-65%. I had a pretty good hatch last time (13 of 16) but I guess it's human nature to always strive to do better. Just glad I figured out the whole humidity thing, it have made the last couple days a lot less stressful. If this hatch goes well, I may be ready to purchase some eggs to get breeds I really want.

What does everyone do with the chicks they hatch? Why are you hatching them in the first place? Just interested.

 

[dblea202]

so im sitting at school waiting for my night class and all I keep thinking about is going home to candle the eggs in the baton. they go into lockdown tomorrow morning! I can't wait to see what's going on the last time we candled it was kind of disappointing we could see developing but not a lot of movement...hoping they are still growing and we don't have all bad eggs...will post later to let you know what happens

 

[FeyRaine]

So I have tried the Wax method to save a cracked egg.

It was a shipped egg, & when I candled it had a huge crack & nice veining so I left it in trying to decide what to do.

It is a really nice choc. egg & tonight I candled & it has a live growing embryo I can see even in this fairly dark egg.
So I took a deep breath, found a pure beeswax candle I've been saving for years for "something special"
& a few hot fingertips later the HUGE crack is totally covered in a line of wax.

I know the odds are all against this egg, it was shipped, it is cracked basically end to end long ways.
& I should have found the crack & waxed it prior to setting to seal out bacteria which likely it is full of.
But I've tossed 16unfertile eggs, & 2 good looking eggs w/ blood rings in 2 days,
so here is this lovely choc. <cracked> egg w/ a dancing embryo just doing what it can fighting to make it to hatch,
so Best of Luck little fighter, I've made up for your shipping crack w/ the best wax available, now becoming a real live hatched chick is up to you...

 

[Sally8]

Tonight I threw out 12 eggs. I bought 2 different doz eggs. Tomorrow, I break them open to see if they were fertile. I have 11 babies already hatched. All from my own birds. Chicks everywhere.
Ice and snow outside, lights flickering. Hopefully, I don't have to bring all the birds and eggs out near the woodstove. The cats will want to watch chick tv.

FeyRaine - Were you able to get rid of all the piglets? How many eggs have you still got in the incubator? I'm getting a blue and 2 different colors of green eggs almost everyday. Researching on how I can darken my BCM eggs. I need to find a chart. Do you know how accurate the charts are I find from the internet?

Good luck on the rest of your incubation.

 

[fisherlady]

So I have tried the Wax method to save a cracked egg.

It was a shipped egg, & when I candled it had a huge crack & nice veining so I left it in trying to decide what to do.

It is a really nice choc. egg & tonight I candled & it has a live growing embryo I can see even in this fairly dark egg.
So I took a deep breath, found a pure beeswax candle I've been saving for years for "something special"
& a few hot fingertips later the HUGE crack is totally covered in a line of wax.

I know the odds are all against this egg, it was shipped, it is cracked basically end to end long ways.
& I should have found the crack & waxed it prior to setting to seal out bacteria which likely it is full of.
But I've tossed 16unfertile eggs, & 2 good looking eggs w/ blood rings in 2 days,
so here is this lovely choc. <cracked> egg w/ a dancing embryo just doing what it can fighting to make it to hatch,
so Best of Luck little fighter, I've made up for your shipping crack w/ the best wax available, now becoming a real live hatched chick is up to you...

Sending some good vibes your way!!!.... Good luck Little Chocolate Egg!!

Dblea.... how did the candling go before lockdown? Hoping your hatch goes smooth after all the trouble you had before!

 

[FeyRaine]

Tonight I threw out 12 eggs. I bought 2 different doz eggs. Tomorrow, I break them open to see if they were fertile. I have 11 babies already hatched. All from my own birds. Chicks everywhere.
Ice and snow outside, lights flickering. Hopefully, I don't have to bring all the birds and eggs out near the woodstove. The cats will want to watch chick tv.

FeyRaine - Were you able to get rid of all the piglets? How many eggs have you still got in the incubator? I'm getting a blue and 2 different colors of green eggs almost everyday. Researching on how I can darken my BCM eggs. I need to find a chart. Do you know how accurate the charts are I find from the internet?

Good luck on the rest of your incubation.

Yes, all the piglets went to new homes as of last week - meaning I have finally gotten some sleep (round the clock bottle feeding 7 piglets w/ basically an eyedropper then having to wash all the towles & every set of cloths after each 2 hr feeding was a chore!)

I hope your electric stays on!! Yah for 11 hatched !!! pics needed as soon as poss. of course ; >

The issue w/ the egg color charts online is that all the graphics software & computer displays can change what you end up seeing, or printing. So while it might be a general guideline, I'd say if the color grades are really important like making a color claim for sales etc then investing in a professionally printed chart from a reliable source would be nec. This same issue comes up w/ goats weirdly enough - there is a color chart for inner eyelid redness scale which can be used as a basis for worming but I wouldn't trust the way the color appears on a website to decide, I'd only go w/ a color scale printed by a reputable organisation.

Sending some good vibes your way!!!.... Good luck Little Chocolate Egg!!

Thanks! I'll be very happily shocked if this egg hatches, but if it does then I figure it is one robust & hearty bird that I'd really like to have in my flock! Time will tell...

==
Good Luck to the several of you w/ hatching going on atm, I think there are at least 3 on this thread in LD/hatch today.
Come out little chickies and show us your fluffy cuteness : )

 

[SarahJaneB]

Alrighty, I think my second hatch is done now. Started with 30 eggs, 7 were infertile so that brought me down to 23, 1 quit early so 22, and 18 total hatched. I'm leaving the unhatched eggs in the incubator for a few days still I guess or at least until tomorrow because I want to set more eggs