June 2021 Hatch - A - Long

[AUChickenGal]

I thought I was finished hatching for the year. My March & April babies are all integrated into the flock (have been for a few weeks now) and enjoying their new found freedom. And then...my Delaware hen decided to go broody this week. So I ordered her half a dozen hatching eggs, which should ship this coming Tuesday. Chicken math...

 

[yakitori]

My satin hen went broody, and I gave her eggs on Sunday evening... 5th day tonight!

I candled yesterday, and all the eggs are developing nicely. air sacs are round, but are not exactly centered at the fat end of the eg, they are a little tilted to the side... I dont know how much of a concern that is.

I’m wondering whether this box is too small for her when the chicks hatch? I dont want her to crush anything due to lack of room. She’s easy to move, and impossible to break (yay silkie genes), so if this set up isn’t ideal, would rather get her settled in a different place before she goes into broody lockdown.

Due date: June 13/14!

 

[BullChick]

Air cells are at the top. Since you have the eggs laying down underneath her, they are not going to be exactly at the fat end.
That cage is only all right for the first three days. After that, she is going to need room. In fact, she needs room now to do her broody poo, and dust bath once or twice a day. Are you letting her out occasionally?

 

[BullChick]

Your avatar makes me smile.

 

[yakitori]

Air cells are at the top. Since you have the eggs laying down underneath her, they are not going to be exactly at the fat end.
That cage is only all right for the first three days. After that, she is going to need room. In fact, she needs room now to do her broody poo, and dust bath once or twice a day. Are you letting her out occasionally?

Ah, I see. That’s good to know. I have my old giant tote brooder. I did plan on moving her ins there after the chicks become mobile.

i’m taking her out twice a day to eat/drink/dustbath/poo. I plan on doing this until day 18. Just quick breaks, and I cover the eggs with a thick towel to retain heat. She seems happy with this arrangement. If it were any other of my chickens (all hard feathered self sufficient big girls) I would have let them handle it on their own, but this one has always been a bit of a princess ... she’s 10 months old and only learned to walk to the coop and roost herself a few days before going broody. prior to that, I always hand shuttled her between run, coop and free ranging. There’s a bit of a story behind this...

 

[BullChick]

Goodness, I can imagine there’s a story! You don’t have to cover the eggs with a towel. They are fine.

 

[LadyAchee]

Candled the remaining eggs today and they looked about 4 days progressed which is right on track.

 

[yakitori]

Okay, I candled, even though I said I wouldn’t.... I couldn’t resist. This is my first time hatching eggs and I’m super curious about their development.

Day 5!

 

[yakitori]

Goodness, I can imagine there’s a story! You don’t have to cover the eggs with a towel. They are fine.

I was paranoid they would cool despite reading that they should be fine for 15mins or so. I feel like a first time momma too!

So, this paint satin was raised with a black satin frizzle.. and she was very attached to frizzle. Unfortunately the frizzle didn’t get a very good start to life, and passed about a month back. Because the frizzle couldn’t fly, or see very well, she was less active than other chickens. And the satin being so attached to frizzle, didn’t know that she herself, could actually fly and jump just like all the other chickens. because of frizzle, I ended up carrying them both around whenever they needed to move locations (about 4 times a day). and somehow, without really spending a lot of time with these two, they ended up being attached to me...

Well after frizzle passed, I decided that paint was equipped with everything to be quite self sufficient. There were a lot of firsts for her in the past month, being in the run with the flock of big girls. It took a lot of encouragement and treats to get her to use her wings, but i was happy with her progress. And just when I thought I was finally free of being a chicken transport vehicle... she went broody

 

[LadyAchee]

I have the possibility of frizzles and am really hoping I get at least 1.