JANUARY 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[jbenson]

Woke up this morning to two very sad things I haven't dealt with before. First, found a chick randomly dead in the brooder. Brooder temp is good, everyone has access to food and water. This was the last chick to hatch and the humidity had gone a bit high, but it seemed okay when I put it in the brooder yesterday. When I examined it, there was what looked like yolk and a little blood in it's mouth. Anyone ever heard of this or know what it is? The abdomen on this chick seemed a bit weird too, pouched out on one side, not the usual rolly polly new chick belly. Second, when the humidity was high, I had a chick hatch with some unabsorbed yolk. Normally, I'm able to keep a chick of this type in the 'bator and it absorbs enough that the remaining whatever is on the outside dries up and it's all fine. I've had that happen a few times. However, this one didn't absorb and didn't dry up. When I pulled it from the 'bator this morning to check on it, there was quite a bit of dried blood around the navel area. But the crazy thing was, the chick started to get antsy and struggled in my hand to turn back over and as it did so, what looked like liquified yolk or something shot out of it's navel. It was like the contents of it's gut was draining. I had to cull, I just didn't know what else to do and I was fairly certain whatever was making this happen was not going to be compatible with life in the long run (plus, I can't keep it in the incubator forever trying to heal it). Maybe some kind of perforated intestines or something? I know that the issues this one had was from the humidity levels. I never have unabsorbed yolk like that otherwise. I also had one with a curled toe and I never have that except when humidity is too high. The curled toe chick is doing great. I made it a little sandal and it's getting around just fine. This was a weird hatch. They popped like popcorn in two waves and then there were a couple stragglers, but all of them done before the end of day 21. And I was at work for part of it, so I wasn't around to adjust the humidity when it got too high (when they pop so quickly sometimes I have to remove the sponge so the only added humidity is that from the drying chicks. Then when they are mostly dry, I put it back. That's the problem with styrobators without any kind of humidity pump and regulation system. The fan can only disperse the moisture so quickly and sometimes it's not fast enough. I could tell this was why a few of my eggs didn't hatch, they appeared to have drowned.

 

[Purpletie3]

Congrats on your little one Purpletie3, I still just have the 3 out. Struggling to keep the humidity up with these litter buggers. Have done the same as every other hatch, I just don't understand grr.....

Seriously, I scratch my head on every hatch! Sorry things were rough for yours. I spent an hour on a chick that pipped last night and zipped 3/4 and stopped. That lil thing was stuck in it's shell like I have NEVER experienced before...I used so much antibiotic ointment on it.....I think most of a tube...going over top and under the gunk with q tips...holy cow...what a mess and it must have happened because the humidity was at 70% at 3 am and about the same at 4 am...when i got up at 640 it was at 45%...ugghhh. The little guy is in the brinsea drying off now.

 

[Purpletie3]

Woke up this morning to two very sad things I haven't dealt with before. First, found a chick randomly dead in the brooder. Brooder temp is good, everyone has access to food and water. This was the last chick to hatch and the humidity had gone a bit high, but it seemed okay when I put it in the brooder yesterday. When I examined it, there was what looked like yolk and a little blood in it's mouth. Anyone ever heard of this or know what it is? The abdomen on this chick seemed a bit weird too, pouched out on one side, not the usual rolly polly new chick belly. Second, when the humidity was high, I had a chick hatch with some unabsorbed yolk. Normally, I'm able to keep a chick of this type in the 'bator and it absorbs enough that the remaining whatever is on the outside dries up and it's all fine. I've had that happen a few times. However, this one didn't absorb and didn't dry up. When I pulled it from the 'bator this morning to check on it, there was quite a bit of dried blood around the navel area. But the crazy thing was, the chick started to get antsy and struggled in my hand to turn back over and as it did so, what looked like liquified yolk or something shot out of it's navel. It was like the contents of it's gut was draining. I had to cull, I just didn't know what else to do and I was fairly certain whatever was making this happen was not going to be compatible with life in the long run (plus, I can't keep it in the incubator forever trying to heal it). Maybe some kind of perforated intestines or something? I know that the issues this one had was from the humidity levels. I never have unabsorbed yolk like that otherwise. I also had one with a curled toe and I never have that except when humidity is too high. The curled toe chick is doing great. I made it a little sandal and it's getting around just fine. This was a weird hatch. They popped like popcorn in two waves and then there were a couple stragglers, but all of them done before the end of day 21. And I was at work for part of it, so I wasn't around to adjust the humidity when it got too high (when they pop so quickly sometimes I have to remove the sponge so the only added humidity is that from the drying chicks. Then when they are mostly dry, I put it back. That's the problem with styrobators without any kind of humidity pump and regulation system. The fan can only disperse the moisture so quickly and sometimes it's not fast enough. I could tell this was why a few of my eggs didn't hatch, they appeared to have drowned.

thanks for sharing your hatch story...help us all learn about different experiences. All i can think of with the abdomen is that it was scabbed and had a rupture.

Sorry you have experienced this...

 

[Purpletie3]

I have been hatching and selling mille fleur d'Uccles so far this year. They are the only thing I breed right now that 4H kids can show, so I hatch them early. I will probably hatch some bantam EEs later when it gets a bit warmer for the backyard city chicken folks. The customers in that category aren't ready for chicks this time of year here - it's still way too cold.

I didn't realize they had Easter Eggers in bantam size...how lovely!

Any advice on hatching the lil eggs? I have a bunch of Belgium Quail D'Anvers due on the 7th?

 

[jbenson]

I didn't realize they had Easter Eggers in bantam size...how lovely!

Any advice on hatching the lil eggs? I have a bunch of Belgium Quail D'Anvers due on the 7th?

Yes, there are EEs in bantam size. Mine all lay blue eggs as they are 1st and 2nd gen cross of 2 blue laying breeds, however I am looking forward to crossing them with some other with some other breeds this year to get more egg colors.

The small eggs are not so hard. The thing I watch out for is that they get turned enough. I have an auto turner, but the holes in the bars are a little too big, so they sometimes end up sitting a little too much to one side for too long. I try to rotate them in the cups a few times during incubation to make sure they don't get stuck to the side, though I sometimes still have that issue. This is my first year trying hatching in egg cartons and so far I like it. Especially with the little eggs. The little guys get really banged up when the already hatched chicks play soccer with them. I did a test on this my mid-Jan hatch and put half in cartons and half on the floor of the 'bator. only 2 from the floor hatched and those were hatched before the soccer game began. There were like 10 eggs on the floor that didn't hatch. I cracked some of them open and found some of them had internally pipped and some appeared to have drowned. I had a much higher success rate with the ones in the cartons. The other thing I have noticed about carton hatching is that if a chick needs to chill in the egg to finish absorbing, they are more likely to do so when in a carton. They don't push off the bottom part of the shell potentially injuring themselves like they do when sideways. They are tired from pushing off the top and sit there in their little eggshell cup and take a nap. It does sometimes end with a little bit more membrane stuck to the fluff, but it comes of quickly after they are fully hatched, so no biggie. It's much easier to clean up as well, but to me that's just a welcome side effect of having a better hatch.

 

[Purpletie3]

Yes, there are EEs in bantam size. Mine all lay blue eggs as they are 1st and 2nd gen cross of 2 blue laying breeds, however I am looking forward to crossing them with some other with some other breeds this year to get more egg colors.

The small eggs are not so hard. The thing I watch out for is that they get turned enough. I have an auto turner, but the holes in the bars are a little too big, so they sometimes end up sitting a little too much to one side for too long. I try to rotate them in the cups a few times during incubation to make sure they don't get stuck to the side, though I sometimes still have that issue. This is my first year trying hatching in egg cartons and so far I like it. Especially with the little eggs. The little guys get really banged up when the already hatched chicks play soccer with them. I did a test on this my mid-Jan hatch and put half in cartons and half on the floor of the 'bator. only 2 from the floor hatched and those were hatched before the soccer game began. There were like 10 eggs on the floor that didn't hatch. I cracked some of them open and found some of them had internally pipped and some appeared to have drowned. I had a much higher success rate with the ones in the cartons. The other thing I have noticed about carton hatching is that if a chick needs to chill in the egg to finish absorbing, they are more likely to do so when in a carton. They don't push off the bottom part of the shell potentially injuring themselves like they do when sideways. They are tired from pushing off the top and sit there in their little eggshell cup and take a nap. It does sometimes end with a little bit more membrane stuck to the fluff, but it comes of quickly after they are fully hatched, so no biggie. It's much easier to clean up as well, but to me that's just a welcome side effect of having a better hatch.

very good info on the hatch...thanks! I noticed that they are very small in the egg carton. I kinda braced them in there! and then I rotate the eggs 1/4 turn so they aren't always moving in the same plain...
I can't wait to see these little chickens! They are going to be so cute!

 

[Purpletie3]

I have 1 silkie that looks like it's a splash, she/ he has been a little turd to the 2 other chicks. She repeatedly pecks at their feet & the last one to hatch today still has a little bit of stuff attatched to it belly button. She is determined to peck at it. Went in a few minutes ago to check how the pipped egg is doing and she had her head stuck in one of the dried eggs shells and was stumbling around trying to her her head out. I laughed so hard, she/he is going to be trouble with a capital T, lol.

lisa...any more luck with late hatchers??

 

[blackgoat]

Well, my hatch is officially finished. I tossed the last two eggs today. I gave them a few extra days, but I honestly didn't have much hope for them. I had one chick that died. I didn't end up with any of the lemon-blues that I had hoped for. The only one that hatched died. It's so weird. Are blues less hearty? The rest of the eggs that made it to lockdown hatched.
They are such cute little buggers! I can fit like 5 or 6 in my hands at once!

 

[Purpletie3]

Well, my hatch is officially finished. I tossed the last two eggs today. I gave them a few extra days, but I honestly didn't have much hope for them. I had one chick that died. I didn't end up with any of the lemon-blues that I had hoped for. The only one that hatched died. It's so weird. Are blues less hearty? The rest of the eggs that made it to lockdown hatched.
They are such cute little buggers! I can fit like 5 or 6 in my hands at once!

Awwweee! Hope they all thrive! Sorry about the ones who didn't make it.

 

[PrincessLea2]

our first eggs hatched last night!

we've had chicks before, but this was our first broody hen and home-grown eggs ever. it's been so exciting! our polish was sitting on somebody else's eggs... we candled all 3 of them at day 10 and only one wasnt growing.

the first pip was yesterday morning and they hatched sometime after 10pm and before 6am. I was worried about all kinds of things like their guts falling out their butts, and heat or light etc. etc.but they both came out perfectly health with no problems. we got medicated chic starter and water and chick grit all set up. now we are just going to let nature and mamma hen do the rest

now we are certain that the chicks came from our barred rocks, and the rooster is a polish