June Hatch-A-Long

[FortCluck]

2nd bantam Brahma out... now waiting for whatever is in the brown egg.

My observations of hatching in the turner, so far...

1) Chicks hatch smoother. No malposition or wrong end pips.

2) Cleaner

3) No string connections left between the chicks and eggs

4) Chicks are overall cleaner

5) Chicks are more active

6) Legs are stronger

 

[CindyinSD]

WTF. My proven broody, alpha hen, is killing eggs.

Earlier in the week she stepped on one and another chicken ran off with it. I found another half bloodied egg two days ago in her box. This morning, she had one killed half hatched egg and one where she had pecked off parts of the shell as it hatched. Excuse me, miss? That's not how we do it here.

Thinking back, I have lost a couple of eggs with her each time. And several have disappeared in "lockdown", I honestly wonder if she only lets an egg hatch at night. I specially remember her second brood I assumed several eggs had gone bad, because they disappeared in the day and then overnight she hatched several. Wow. There were zero pips this morning, I assume she went crazy with two external pips after I checked. Im going to test my theory by continually removing anything that pips in the daytime from her and leaving her only with whatever eggs have not pipped by nighttime.

So, I took the half-hatched, half torn off egg and put it underneath the other broody, yes, the one that killed the chicks 2 weeks ago. However, she has two eggs pipped and has left them be under her.

Let's hope at the end of this hellacious hatch that something can be put together and learned even if it's individualistic to these hens. I STILL have the issue of what's going to happen when they both come out fo the boxes with chicks.

I believe the lesson I would be expecting to learn from this situation is whether that egg-eating hen tastes good in soup.

 

[GhislaineDel]

My observations of hatching in the turner, so far...

3) No string connections left between the chicks and eggs

View attachment 2183451

Every single chick that's hatched so far this go around (all 4) have had that string connection dragging their egg shell behind them. I don't like that much so next time I may try hatching upright too!

 

[FortCluck]

Every single chick that's hatched so far this go around (all 4) have had that string connection dragging their egg shell behind them. I don't like that much so next time I may try hatching upright too!

I usually have at least a few like that, but this time I don’t at all. I’m really liking the cleanliness of hatching this way.

My maran eggs are next to hatch on the 14th so I’ll see how those do hatching this way.

 

[jolenesdad]

I believe the lesson I would be expecting to learn from this situation is whether that egg-eating hen tastes good in soup.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

Final count from my paintXgrey Silkie hatch - four paint and one very dark chick that I'm not sure what it will turn out as. Two other eggs were also the very dark color, but one was DIS, the other externally pipped but then quit.

My paint rooster died just after I set the eggs due to hatch next week, but I replaced him with a gorgeous Splash boy. I'm interested to see what he produces with my grey girl, because I don't know what her underlying color is!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I use heat plates, I used the heat lamp like once and then gave it to my friend. I'm not a fan of the heat lamp personally. I keep my chicks indoors for the first 2-3 weeks and I like that they sleep naturally with the heat plate and can cuddle under it. They also seem healthier in general. When I used a heat lamp they would run around and they just drop randomly from exhaustion, I don't really see that at all with the heat plate, they go under it to sleep and come out for everything else. I also had issues with them pecking each other with the lamp and that doesn't happen with the heat plate. It also gives them somewhere to go where the others leave them alone when I'm raising multiple ages together. Just my thoughts.

Using the Brinsea heat plates for the first time. The chicks LOVE it. I too, used the heat lamp, but only for the first 2 days, seemed to work well. The heat plate definitely does not cover as many chicks as they advertise though (kind of like the ready made coops exaggeration of the number of chickens they can house...). Overall very happy with the brooder plates.

 

[RoseHawke]

For what it's worth, I ran across mention somewhere when I was researching hatching, of someone who used an egg carton with the bottoms cut out for hatching upright. IF I ever do this again I may try that.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I love this idea! The seedling mats I have on hand don't have a thermostat so I would need to buy a new one. I use a heating plate but I was just thinking about having the supplies for a MHP on hand as backup.

You may not need to. I needed to buy something anyay so chose the thermostat controlled one, but if you already have a mat try making a make shift pad and let it run for a day with a thermometer under it to check it.
The thermostat doesn't exactly control them like the incubator's thermostats do, just mainly gives them a target range to aim for. Supposedly it will cycle on and off as needed for normal use.
From what I read most mats can't really warm anything more that 20 degrees higher than what it (the dirt) already is and this type of set up is pushing the mats a little bit the first week. (but I also needed a mat for seeds anyway)

I keep my AC set for 75 to 76. It's a newer unit so does a good job of blasting out the icy air, so if the mat can add another 15 to 20 degrees that should be target for the first week.

It's been on the counter with minimal insulation around it, about 6 feet from an AC vent, and set for 95F. Right now it's holding 90 degrees in the "cave". I'm betting once I get it into a brooder with more insulation around it, things will work even better.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

For what it's worth, I ran across mention somewhere when I was researching hatching, of someone who used an egg carton with the bottoms cut out for hatching upright. IF I ever do this again I may try that.

That's what I have been using!