June Hatch A Long

[CluckNDoodle]

Well it's a good thing I decided to hatch these chicks in the incubator and then move them out to the broodies tonight, I always just give the hens the eggs to hatch themselves but for multiple reasons, I decided to do it the hard way this time and I will sneak the chicks under the broodies tonight instead.
The eggs I traveled several hours with must have gotten more shaken up than I realized because I feel like I'm dealing with shipped eggs right now (we did have a minor emergency on our egg road trip and had to carry the eggs with us everywhere because it was too hot in the car, I'm sure that didn't help things.)
11 chicks successfully hatched and are in the brooder, 4 are still in the process of hatching, 2 of those 4 looks like they will hatch fine on their own and 2 I'm assisting because they're malpositioned, that makes 4 total chicks from the eggs I traveled with that were malpositioned, I was too late for one, and the other actually managed to hatch regardless of being upside down in the egg, AND 1 chick hatched without the yolk sac completely absorbed so it's in a mug in my Little Giant.
FYI I would rather not have to assist at all, I really like to just sit and watch them pop out like popcorn but when I do have to assist, malpositions are my LEAST favorite! UGH!
Rant over, please enjoy these images of a chick in a mug, lol. It's moments like this that I'm grateful I bought that cheap old model Little Giant incubator at a second-hand store, it really comes in handy for drying and assists like this and the mug actually fits in there!
I promise to post some much cuter pictures before I give them all to the broodies tonight. Hoping all these assists make it! What a catastrophe this has been!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I free range my chickens and chicks. I'm out there when I let the chicks and ducks free range, but the chickens are out from daylight til dust. Door is always open. I have lost a few to a fox but I have 3 dogs that do a good job at keeping them safe. Some times I catch the dogs sleeping in the coop with the chickens.

Yeah, after losing a couple during “semi-supervised free-range”, this is how I free range my ducks! Like literally, right now! Um, girls, the heat index is 100 F now... Can we go in yet???

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I knew that Naruto’s chicks were hatching! She was crouching and looking under her and making tiny little clucky sounds! I see two! One solid black and one black with a white head spot. The white spot should be a male olive egger. The black could be a female OE or either sex BCM. Go Naruto! First time broody mom!

And Susan.... looks just exactly like she has for the past three weeks. Smushed flat as a pancake and silent, unlike Naruto who is doing the crouch. Susan is a light bird, but I hope she’s not smushing any chicks! I can totally see her as the mom saying “Love me, don’t ever leave me! We will stay here always...” While I bet Naruto is saying, “Hurry up already! I have to go to the bathroom and I’m hungry!” I bet that Naruto hasn’t lost an ounce, while Susan has probably dropped a third of her weight!

I love her! Good job Naruto!!! She looks so much like the chicken we were told was an Amberlink, what is yours a mix of? This is Coconut.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well it's a good thing I decided to hatch these chicks in the incubator and then move them out to the broodies tonight, I always just give the hens the eggs to hatch themselves but for multiple reasons, I decided to do it the hard way this time and I will sneak the chicks under the broodies tonight instead.
The eggs I traveled several hours with must have gotten more shaken up than I realized because I feel like I'm dealing with shipped eggs right now (we did have a minor emergency on our egg road trip and had to carry the eggs with us everywhere because it was too hot in the car, I'm sure that didn't help things.)
11 chicks successfully hatched and are in the brooder, 4 are still in the process of hatching, 2 of those 4 looks like they will hatch fine on their own and 2 I'm assisting because they're malpositioned, that makes 4 total chicks from the eggs I traveled with that were malpositioned, I was too late for one, and the other actually managed to hatch regardless of being upside down in the egg, AND 1 chick hatched without the yolk sac completely absorbed so it's in a mug in my Little Giant.
FYI I would rather not have to assist at all, I really like to just sit and watch them pop out like popcorn but when I do have to assist, malpositions are my LEAST favorite! UGH!
Rant over, please enjoy these images of a chick in a mug, lol. It's moments like this that I'm grateful I bought that cheap old model Little Giant incubator at a second-hand store, it really comes in handy for drying and assists like this and the mug actually fits in there!
I promise to post some much cuter pictures before I give them all to the broodies tonight. Hoping all these assists make it! What a catastrophe this has been!

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Well those babies are just so lucky that they have YOU there to assist! If anyone can get them through, it’s you! Lucky lucky chicks! C’mon guys, don’t disappoint mom!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Well those babies are just so lucky that they have YOU there to assist! If anyone can get them through, it’s you! Lucky lucky chicks! C’mon guys, don’t disappoint mom!

Aww, thank you so much @Mixed flock enthusiast ! I'm trying, but time will tell if my past experiences will pay off. I've never actively assisted this many at once!

 

[two j farm]

Yeah, after losing a couple during “semi-supervised free-range”, this is how I free range my ducks! Like literally, right now! Um, girls, the heat index is 100 F now... Can we go in yet???

The heat index will be 107 here today, I really feel bad for my hen. I told my husband I was thinking about bringing her in the house and he looked at me like I was crazy.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The heat index will be 107 here today, I really feel bad for my hen. I told my husband I was thinking about bringing her in the house and he looked at me like I was crazy.

Yikes! That's hot!

 

[jolenesdad]

Well it's a good thing I decided to hatch these chicks in the incubator and then move them out to the broodies tonight, I always just give the hens the eggs to hatch themselves but for multiple reasons, I decided to do it the hard way this time and I will sneak the chicks under the broodies tonight instead.
The eggs I traveled several hours with must have gotten more shaken up than I realized because I feel like I'm dealing with shipped eggs right now (we did have a minor emergency on our egg road trip and had to carry the eggs with us everywhere because it was too hot in the car, I'm sure that didn't help things.)
11 chicks successfully hatched and are in the brooder, 4 are still in the process of hatching, 2 of those 4 looks like they will hatch fine on their own and 2 I'm assisting because they're malpositioned, that makes 4 total chicks from the eggs I traveled with that were malpositioned, I was too late for one, and the other actually managed to hatch regardless of being upside down in the egg, AND 1 chick hatched without the yolk sac completely absorbed so it's in a mug in my Little Giant.
FYI I would rather not have to assist at all, I really like to just sit and watch them pop out like popcorn but when I do have to assist, malpositions are my LEAST favorite! UGH!
Rant over, please enjoy these images of a chick in a mug, lol. It's moments like this that I'm grateful I bought that cheap old model Little Giant incubator at a second-hand store, it really comes in handy for drying and assists like this and the mug actually fits in there!
I promise to post some much cuter pictures before I give them all to the broodies tonight. Hoping all these assists make it! What a catastrophe this has been!

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Argh!!!! I’m going to setup my little giant solely for situations like this. Thanks for the inspiration. I don’t feel like I know it enough or have enough tools to truly control it for hatching but it should be perfect for help.

Good luck!!!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I love her! Good job Naruto!!! She looks so much like the chicken we were told was an Amberlink, what is yours a mix of? This is Coconut.

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Wow, Naruto does look so much like Coconut! I’d never hear of an amberlink! She’s a barnyard mix, so I don’t know what breeds went into her. These were the first eggs we ever hatched and all five hens turned out to be the opposite of docile to other birds - our “mean girls”... Our friend who gave us the eggs had mostly tractor supply egg layer breeds, like production reds, black sex links, plus EEs. Naruto has been a great egg layer, when she’s not broody. She and another who looks like a red sex link are the only ones that laid an egg every single day last winter. She lays a pinkish, terra cotta large to extra large egg. Of those 12 babies that 9 Ball hatched, many were hers, from EE x Naruto. My daughter is calling them our “production birds” as she is selling the eggs as a business. Not that we have many eggs right now when 1/3 of our hens are broody! Here’s a pic of Naruto as a POL pullet.

 

[jolenesdad]

Congrats @Mixed flock enthusiast and @SunHwaKwon on the hatches!!!! I’ll catch up after I go into lockdown!!!