July Hatch-a-Long

[mcclucker]

Trinity I’m sorry for the rough hatch. They are such fragile little creatures.

 

[AUChickenGal]

Very sorry that you lost a chick, @Trinitydraco.

I just moved my first three out of the incubator and into the brooder. It gave me a chance to discard their broken shells and bring the humidity back down a bit (was up to 90% again after the third hatched). The last two viable eggs are pipped and chirping away; hopefully they'll hatch this afternoon and be able to go into the brooder before I go to work in the morning.

I went ahead and pulled the two eggs I was pretty sure weren't going to hatch, too. I opened them up to check things out. One had obviously quit quite a while ago - maybe at day 14 or so. The other was fully formed but dead in the shell.

It looks like I'm probably going to end up with a 5/9 hatch rate. Considering that these eggs were 2-3 weeks old when I put them into the incubator, not stored/turned with the intention of hatching, and collected only about 10-14 days after I added the rooster to my flock, I'm pleased. The three chicks that have hatched so far are all Ameraucana/Faverolles crosses and all have five toes. At least one has feathered legs. I can't wait for them to finish fully fluffing up so I can see their puffy cheeks!

 

[mcclucker]

Two are out

 

[PortlandHen]

All of this is so exciting to watch! Yay! I still have 5 days to go. I’ll candle again when my hens get up to stretch/poop/eat/dust.

 

[PortlandHen]

Crap...I just went out to take some pics of the chicks and the last 2 to hatch have died. I am not surprised given how hard this hatch was but it still makes me sad. So we are down to a final count of 5 strong healthy chicks. I think that those first 5 were the most developed when the power got shut off in the middle of the hatch so it didn't effect them as much. These last 2 were weak from the start. Still 5 out of 9 isn't bad. But I have learned a lot in this hatch and I can prevent a lot of things in my next one. Still it's hard to loose chicks.

I’m sorry.

 

[Trinitydraco]

No chicks yet but three pips. The first one is getting close to zipping. Pretty good sized crack going

This is not even the end of day 20 though. How are they ready so fast? I’m concerned. My first hatch last spring was exactly 21 days +/- 6 hours or so.

Mystery egg pip!

Oooo I can't wait!

 

[KittyCat13]

Crap...I just went out to take some pics of the chicks and the last 2 to hatch have died. I am not surprised given how hard this hatch was but it still makes me sad. So we are down to a final count of 5 strong healthy chicks. I think that those first 5 were the most developed when the power got shut off in the middle of the hatch so it didn't effect them as much. These last 2 were weak from the start. Still 5 out of 9 isn't bad. But I have learned a lot in this hatch and I can prevent a lot of things in my next one. Still it's hard to loose chicks.

Sorry to hear you lost two, it's never easy

All three eggs due to hatch tomorrow have pipped! And all have pipped at the wrong end!!

 

[AUChickenGal]

Look at these fluffy faces! Two of the three have feathered legs. They’ve all found the food, and one has already learned to drink water. Still waiting for the last two to zip. They’re chirping, and I can see their beaks moving, but they haven’t made any visible progress since early this morning. I wish they’d get on with it already!

 

[AUChickenGal]

Fourth egg (the RIR cross) just hatched! I swear this chick is almost twice the size of the Faverolles crosses.

 

[KittyCat13]

Fourth egg (the RIR cross) just hatched! I swear this chick is almost twice the size of the Faverolles crosses.

View attachment 1469271

So cute! What are they crossed with? I love my mixed breed babies, you never quite know what you're going to get! Our silkie x cornish game is my favourite!