July Hatch-a-long

[Shellz]

Oh dear, to be sick & hatching chicks. That sucks! Hope you feel better in the morning & have lots more cute & healthy chicks!

 

[chickydee64]

Off topic but my kitty Seymour passed away today at 5:13pm. He was turned 15 in Feb and I bottle raised him. Sad day!

I am so sorry...........

Kind thoughts being sent your way..........
I lost my 14 year old Great Dane this spring and still miss her.
Seymour was a beautiful kitty............................

 

[sharol]

I was surprised how easily the 3 hatched this time. The first time around (in June), my 2 survivors had a terrible time getting out of the shell. Pipped at the wrong end, and ran out of energy at about 36 hours requiring help. These guys pipped in the morning and then once they started going a couple hours later, they were out in 20 minutes. They made it look easy (well sort of easy).

 

[sbrown]

Oh dear, to be sick & hatching chicks. That sucks! Hope you feel better in the morning & have lots more cute & healthy chicks!

Yea, but doing something I enjoy makes me feel better. My wife and most of my friends dont really get it I think. I guess they think chickens is something old people do. I've always enjoyed it since I was a child and find watching them to be peaceful. Plus it doesn't seem to get old to me watching these chicks hatch. I've raised many different breeds of dogs through out the years including English Mastiffs, owned horses, cows etc and thought I knew something about breeding and such. But this chicken stuff with all the different breeds and genetics and coloring is a whole new deal. Very interesting for me. Plus I enjoy passing it on to my kids and letting them see a small part of how life, reproduction, and food cycle works.

 

[sbrown]

I was surprised how easily the 3 hatched this time.  The first time around (in June), my 2 survivors had a terrible time getting out of the shell.  Pipped at the wrong end, and ran out of energy at about 36 hours requiring help.  These guys pipped in the morning and then once they started going a couple hours later, they were out in 20 minutes.  They made it look easy (well sort of easy).

Something I did when I built my cabinet incubator was I took a level and elevated the front side of it a few degrees. My thinking was the air cell in the eggs would go to the proper end just like the level. My 2nd batch of 38 is hatching now and so far not one has been at wrong end.

 

[Sclark73]

Thanks for your kind words, I had him longer than anything in my life besides my children.

Im finally home now and all 11 of Little Lady's hatched.

I will get a better photo tomorrow.

Now on to the next hatch. I have 2 pips of the 9 so far, but on is pipped on the wrong end. Do I intervene or leave it alone? I've had to assist a few over past few hatches from being shrink wrapped so I feel confident that I can assist if needed, just news to know if it can still hatch on its own or not?

Candled Buffys eggs due Monday and 2 were further along than the rest so put them in homemade, both are internally pipped with much of the air sack showing unlike the other 4 she's sitting on yet. After these fast hatch is Reds 12 then I think ill be done for the year I hope.

 

[Shellz]

Yea, but doing something I enjoy makes me feel better. My wife and most of my friends dont really get it I think. I guess they think chickens is something old people do. I've always enjoyed it since I was a child and find watching them to be peaceful. Plus it doesn't seem to get old to me watching these chicks hatch. I've raised many different breeds of dogs through out the years including English Mastiffs, owned horses, cows etc and thought I knew something about breeding and such. But this chicken stuff with all the different breeds and genetics and coloring is a whole new deal. Very interesting for me. Plus I enjoy passing it on to my kids and letting them see a small part of how life, reproduction, and food cycle works.

Yea, there's just something about chickens. Hard to explain to some folks. I'm so glad you have them - they really do enrich our lives in so many ways!

 

[Shellz]

Something I did when I built my cabinet incubator was I took a level and elevated the front side of it a few degrees. My thinking was the air cell in the eggs would go to the proper end just like the level. My 2nd batch of 38 is hatching now and so far not one has been at wrong end.

That's a great tip! I've got to write that down for future reference. Thanks!

 

[Shellz]

Thanks for your kind words, I had him longer than anything in my life besides my children.

Im finally home now and all 11 of Little Lady's hatched.

I will get a better photo tomorrow.

Now on to the next hatch. I have 2 pips of the 9 so far, but on is pipped on the wrong end. Do I intervene or leave it alone? I've had to assist a few over past few hatches from being shrink wrapped so I feel confident that I can assist if needed, just news to know if it can still hatch on its own or not?

Candled Buffys eggs due Monday and 2 were further along than the rest so put them in homemade, both are internally pipped with much of the air sack showing unlike the other 4 she's sitting on yet. After these fast hatch is Reds 12 then I think ill be done for the year I hope.

Yowza! She did a great job!
I think there may be a possibility of assisting when it pips at a wrong end. There are times though that I've seen the pip where it shouldn't be, but then end up later at the right spot. Very nerve wracking! Best to keep an eye on things. If there's no further progress after 24 hours from the pip, that's when I intervene. I've heard some folks wait even 36 hours. It's always a tough call. Best of luck to you - hope it all works out!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Im finally home now and all 11 of Little Lady's hatched.

I will get a better photo tomorrow.

Now on to the next hatch. I have 2 pips of the 9 so far, but on is pipped on the wrong end. Do I intervene or leave it alone? I've had to assist a few over past few hatches from being shrink wrapped so I feel confident that I can assist if needed, just news to know if it can still hatch on its own or not?

You will probably have to assist, but yeah, I'd give it about 24 hours. I have had wrong end pips successfully hatch on their own, but that's rare. Usually a wrong end pip happens because the chick never rotated, kind of like a breach human baby. It might not have anything to do with air cell placement. They might externally pip through the bottom, away from the air cell. A lot of times when I see this happen, there's a little bit of blood around the pip. You want to give the chick plenty of time, because it may not have absorbed the yolk yet. I've had a lot of success helping wrong end pips. But those chicks are more likely to have other problems, like crooked feet or splayed leg, becauae assisted chicks tend to be weaker at hatch, so be prepared for that.

Good luck!!