July Hatch-a-Long (including 4th of July hatch-a-long)

[Knighstar679]

If I did my math right today is hatch day! No external pips yet. Hopefully by tonight I will have some. Everyone looked pretty good last night when I candled. I only had one I was really worried about.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Nice! I can't say on the Dominique. My bielefelder fathered a hatch this spring that was crossed with olive egger, BLRW, buff orpingtons, cochin, and others and I got some dark barring in about 95% of his offspring. Most are black and dark brown and there is some rust and yellow in some of them but a good number of them look almost like barred rocks.

Interesting. I've been wondering what Biele offspring might look like when a roo covers other breeds. I think barring is dominant, right?

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Nice! I can't say on the Dominique. My bielefelder fathered a hatch this spring that was crossed with olive egger, BLRW, buff orpingtons, cochin, and others and I got some dark barring in about 95% of his offspring. Most are black and dark brown and there is some rust and yellow in some of them but a good number of them look almost like barred rocks.

Thanks for your input! Yes, so far I've had chicks that look similar to Barred Rocks, only usually darker. And no color, just black barred. Rather disappointing actually, I wonder if the father is passing on more of his barred genes? As opposed to, say, barred mother but solid color father. I know that would be sex-linked, but of the sons that were barred, would they still be just black barred or would they have the solid color in them as well?

How do you get light barring?

 

[AgnesGray]

Interesting. I've been wondering what Biele offspring might look like when a roo covers other breeds. I think barring is dominant, right?

I've heard that it is and it would seem so. I know very little about chicken genetics, but that is one that has proven to be pretty accurate.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

While I have been doing much better this time around, I still can't keep my darned hands off the eggs so I did a quick candle last night.

Day 12-
Of 11 original Biele eggs, 7 are still going and I saw movement in each of them.
All 7 from my flock are still going too.

Mine are-
Australorp X Ameraucana - 4
Australorp X Sapphire Gems - 3

In the last batch of the above mixes half were blue, so I'm hoping for more blue babies. And I'll be thrilled if any blue pullets from the A. x A. mix go on to lay green eggs.

 

[AgnesGray]

Thanks for your input! Yes, so far I've had chicks that look similar to Barred Rocks, only usually darker. And no color, just black barred. Rather disappointing actually, I wonder if the father is passing on more of his barred genes? As opposed to, say, barred mother but solid color father. I know that would be sex-linked, but of the sons that were barred, would they still be just black barred or would they have the solid color in them as well?

How do you get light barring?

The light barring I got was very similar to the bielefelder father's orange barring when crossed with the buff orpington hens.

 

[AgnesGray]

While I have been doing much better this time around, I still can't keep my darned hands off the eggs so I did a quick candle last night.

Day 12-
Of 11 original Biele eggs, 7 are still going and I saw movement in each of them.
All 7 from my flock are still going too.

Mine are-
Australorp X Ameraucana - 4
Australorp X Sapphire Gems - 3

In the last batch of the above mixes half were blue, so I'm hoping for more blue babies. And I'll be thrilled if any blue pullets from the A. x A. mix go on to lay green eggs.

I bet those mixes are adorable!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I bet those mixes are adorable!

They are! One of the A x A blue chicks even got the Ameraucan beard muff too.

 

[slbenter]

I'm so sorry to hear this! I've heard good things about the Hovabators from some and other say they have this issue with the still air styrofoam bators. I hope the manufacturer will have some wisdom to share. Did you candle the eggs anyway? I've heard of a few times where the temp went up on the outside, but inside the egg was still ok in some of the eggs... maybe near the outside where it's cooler. I'm very sorry this happened!

Thank you for your condolences.
No, there was no need to candle them really. I had 3 separate thermometer/hydromitors monitoring, one was a calabrated one hung from the top, that has an app for a smart phone set up, which did set an alarm off, but my phone was being charged at the time it happened. It read the 118*, the unit's own which was reading that everything was fine at 100.9*, and a cheap stand-type which has always been about 4 degrees off, reading 122*. I touched the eggs immediately, and knew from how they felt that they were way too hot. It's apparent now that the thermostat failed. According to all the records of my app for the calibrated one, this never happened before....it read fine until it obviously wasn't.

I just got off the phone with Incubator Warehouse, where I bought the Hovabator. They were very apologetic and understanding. They agreed with us that the thermostat failed, and offered me a refund or replacement. I chose the refund. If and when I decide to buy another incubator, I'll either go with another Brinsea, or I'd actually like to try the Nurture Right 360, that I read so many good things about. My Brinsea 28 EX has worked flawlessly now for 2 weeks, and today the eggs in there that I set 18 days ago are going on lockdown as soon as I candle them for the last time.
The Hovabator was going to be a gift for my son in California when I was done with the Favorelle hatch. He had trouble getting chicks this year because of some disease going around in that state. While the company was more than accomodating, I'm sort of convinced that paying more for a good unit is worth it.
Thanks again for your kind thoughts.

 

[Hucklekree]

7 out 11 Bielefelder eggs on lockdown today I am not sure how I feel about that ratio going into lockdown, but if they all hatch out then I will be pretty darn happy.

Other eggs still incubating:
6 out of 9 crevecoeurs
8 out 9 my barnyard mix (dropped one on day 2 )

Very Excited to have little chicks running around again!

My chicks that hatched from the last batch (Meyer's eggs) are almost 4 weeks and growing out well. They are now in an outside brooder with access to a heat lamp and are loving the extra space. I am loving a temporary reduction in chick mess in the house . Won't be gone for long though....

I have these eggs hatching soon, ordered some more and have live chicks shipping out July 20th... My husband is going to roll his eyes so hard.