Hatching Updates for this weekend, MORE PICS!!!

[LoneCowboy]

I candled. All the eggs were bad but one. They started to develope, got to day 7 I'd guess and died. They had eyes, but no veins but for one. Most of the yokes were mush. I thought it was just the way I cracked them open, but it wasn't. They had that murky shadow. So, I left 3 eggs in there. 2 I know are bad, but didn't have the heart to cull. One showed near solid black at the bottom of the egg. So I'm hoping that it's ok. However I've seen no movement whatsoever from the egg. I didn't candle on day 18, but I did the day before. It's supposed to hatch on the 15th.

I'm having some issues with the humidity in my bator too. It says it's 61%, but it's raining in there. So I'm guessing that it's off.

I'm pretty bummed. I miss those little fuzzy butts around. I opened my brooder coop yesterday, and it seems so lonely and cold.

I'm trying really hard to find some local eggs, but I'm not having any luck.

I just can't believe my whole hatch is a total bust.

Ok, so a little history on the eggs. I bought them off Ebay, the seller delayed sending them, because all the sudden everybody was interested in her eggs..... That was ok, I needed to do a little more work on my bator. Then I told her it was ok to send them. (of course the weather is nice and warm during all this.) Then she says they stopped laying for some reason. Then they found that a wild boar was trying to get into the coop. They killed it and then she sent the eggs. My worry was that the chickens were still scared and not producing good eggs after that. Well, the were fertile but didn't make it. So she was going to send them. I asked her not to send them if they would be in transit over Thanksgiving. I didn't want them sitting in a cold warehouse somewhere. Well, she sent them anyway. In the meantime the weather turned and now it's like maybe 10 degrees in the morning and that's what it was like when I finally got the eggs. So, that's the story of the eggs.

I kinda felt I was doomed from the beginning, but when they started to develope, I got really excited. But I guess I was right to be concerned.

 

[Tsagirl]

Lone Cowboy,
If all of my eggs hatch, I could send some fertile ones to you! The lady I got my eggs from has 45 chickens and it was like 6 dollers for 24 eggs and all of them were fertile!
Just tell me if you want to do that and I can get a hold of her.

They are just mutt chickens though...mixes.

Dont worry about them...it will be ok and there are other eggs! muahahaa

 

[LoneCowboy]

That might be a good idea. I've not been able find any local. I keep trying though. I only need about 12. They would probably fit in one of those flat rate boxes don't you think? Let me know what you think.

What kind of mutts? Layers or what? Thanks.

 

[Tsagirl]

Well her roosters are Aracanas,
but her hens range from
Rode Is Reds
New Deleware
Barred Rock
Blue Andalusian
Buff Orphinton
some of the others not sure about
but some of them are mixtures of those as well.
I do live in Oregon and I can see how much 1 or 2 day shipping is for your area.

On another note I am on day 19 with you and my eggs were rocking and rolling yesterday and ever since I have been up no movement at all

I guess we will find out in a couple of days If I did good or not.. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and I will keep my fingers crossed for you about your one egg left. go chickies go

 

[d_rooster]

Well, my broody Betty, has taken this contest between her and the incubator very seriously. Yesterday was Day 19 for her. When I got homr form work yesterday evening at dusk I checked on her and noticed two eggs had pipped. When I checked on her again this morning, at least 3 or 4 chicks had hatched and one was fully zipped.

When I got home this evening from work, there were four little chicks running around her. I lifted her up to check in the nest and there was one egg in the nest still not broken open. I did the math quickly - started with six eggs, I saw 4 chicks and 1 unhatched egg. Where had the fifth chick gone. In a panic I looked all around the straw in the coop in case it had wandered off and gotten lost and chilled. No chick to be found. So I picked Betty up again and she ruffled her wings quite a bit and out dropped a baby chick from under her wing. No worries, it only dropped about 4 inches to soft straw bedding. Mystery solved. Betty is still not giving up on that last egg. It's only day 20 today so I'll give her a until tomorrow evening before I candle the egg to see if there is hope. Here's a grainy picture of Betty and her new chicks from this evening. I had to make major image file adjustments to reduce the red light glare from the heat lamp that is in the coop.

You can't see the colors very well in the photo, but out of five chicks there are three silvery/gray colored ones and two black ones. Hopefully the incubator or the last egg will yield a white silkie chick.

The best I can hope to do with the incubator is to tie Betty with 5 out of 6. I started with six in the incubator and am one day behind Betty with five left after the Day 14 candling. So the incubator eggs are ending Day 19 this evening. I am hopeful some will pip before I go to bed tonight. If I see pipping action before midnight I may be sleeping on the sofa in the sunroom in hopes of seeing one actually hatch.

However, it turns out, I am thankful to Dipsy Doodle Doo for selling me the Silkie hatching eggs. The whole reason for getting the eggs in the first place was to make Broody Betty feel better by hatching some eggs. Now I wait patiently

to see if the 'bator will produce any results.

 

[msbliss]

Congrats Donald! Cute babies and Betty looks pretty content! I'm ending Day 19 myself, oh to be so lucky to get a pip tonight, huh? Last night the eggs were moving like crazy when I took them out of the turner - today not so much so. Hope all goes well & we all have some little fuzzy butts soon.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hatching on DAY 19 !!!! Blame it on SRS, lol.
Betty did good!
I hope the ones in the bator pop on out and Betty will have a big happy family to raise

Good luck with the rest!
Lisa

 

[d_rooster]

Well, the color of chicks which are not yet completely fluffy under red light is very misleading. I thought I had two black and three gray. After staring at Betty's chicks under the red light for at least 15 minutes, it became apparent that I have two whites and three gray/silver with no black chicks, yet.

I just gave the new chicks their first tray of water and food. There was no interest in the food, but the water was a very big hit. It is so cute to watch these little thumb-sized chicks get water and tilt their little heads back to swallow.

 

[LUVMYCHICKS]

Betty is soooo sweet. She's going to be a fantastic mom. How exciting!! Can't wait for the rest of the hatch!

 

[d_rooster]

Yes, Betty has become a very sweet chicken throughout all of this brooding and sitting. Before she became broody she was fairly flighty like most of my other bantams. However, once she was under the broody influence, she became much more docile. I think she might have tried to peck me once, the first time I picked her up off the nest. Since then I've been picking her up almost everyday.

I was worried at one point that Betty wasn't getting up from the nest for a water or food break. So I started trying to get her up to eat and drink each morning. Now that most of the eggs have hatched, I noticed that she is a little more vocal and active when I pick her up, but still not aggressive at all. Betty also tolerates us picking up the chicks from right in front of her with no aggressive displays toward us. It will be interesting to see if she becomes flighty again once the broody spell is broken.

I'm still checking the silkie eggs in the 'bator. No pipping, yet. I'm waiting, waiting, and waiting... I'm ready to see something hatch!

However, the eggs have a different opinion at the moment.