June Hatch-A-Long

[CluckNDoodle]

My second chicken baby hatched just after midnight. It had surprised me greatly. Wasn’t expecting it till morning.

this one has a pale face vs the dark face of the other one. Not sure if that is normal or not for Americanna

but here is the little one.

View attachment 2188059

Also question about brooder bedding for chickens. Can I use an animal safe sand as the substrate? Is that safe for them? I really don’t want to use wood chips or flakes in it because unlike with ducks I can actually scoop the poop out of this brooder easily.

Sand is fine, I've seen others use it. One person complained that it smelled worse that other substrate after a period of time because the ammonia stays behind or something. I change out my pine pellets completely when I clean out the brooder so I don't think it would be too different if you have to do the same with the sand.

 

[Oldhallchicks]

When dealing with shipped eggs, I say it's a success when they pip period!

so do they usually make it to lockdown and just not pip? I’ve got quite a few shipped eggs that are looking good so far, but a lot of them dohave the saddle shaped air cells. Guessing I shouldn’t get my hopes up?

 

[Offshoreorca]

My Marans eggs are killing me!

Five of the seven made it to lockdown (one infertile, one early quitter). Yesterday was Day 21 and the first one that pipped is mal-positioned and closer to the pointy end of the egg. Then in the evening a second one pipped (correctly) - one of the darkest eggs. This morning one more has pipped and another is wiggling and peeping, so hopefully things will start moving soon. I'm willing to help the mal-positioned one out, but since it did an internal/external pip through the side of the shell I'll have to wait longer. The only one that doesn't have signs of movement or peeping is ironically the lightest coloured of the eggs.

My Cochins normally come out like popcorn on Day 21, so this slower and tedious hatching is a bit unnerving

 

[CluckNDoodle]

so do they usually make it to lockdown and just not pip? I’ve got quite a few shipped eggs that are looking good so far, but a lot of them dohave the saddle shaped air cells. Guessing I shouldn’t get my hopes up?

Sometimes they still hatch ok so don't worry too much. There are just a higher number of late incubation quitters with shipped eggs for a number of reasons, some I'll probably never fully understand. You can still have a great hatch from eggs with saddled air cells. In general there is just a higher percentage of late incubation quitters with shipped egg.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

And this morning's update in "Ashley's chicken hatching drama":

That big storm caused power to blow at my house. Ok, nbd, the outage report says they will have it reconnected within two hours.

Uh, no. Within half an hour of reporting the outage, we have been downgraded to "we dont have an estimate for your time of restoration at this time".

I panic pack up all my eggs (14 day 19/20, and 5 day 15) and one incubator, to dash to my mom's house. Eggs warm back up nicely, and are moving. Whew, crisis averted!

Wake up this morning - still no power at home, but three eggs externally pipped and yelling loudly!

 

[mandi427]

I woke up to two babies in the incubator this morning. One of them was from an egg that wasn't even pipped last night. Two more eggs in the incubator, so we'll see if either of them hatch.

 

[Trisseh]

So this hatch of mine is done. 4/6 chicks hatched and alive, that had made it to lockdown. The one hedemora was malpositioned and hadn’t really internally pipped (I don’t know what I saw when I looked yesterday morning haha) but by the time I got home and candled, it was doing this gasping motion in the shell. so I opened up the air cell end and opened the membrane but it just didn’t do much after that and passed shortly after. It wasn’t so badly positioned that it shouldn’t have been able to pip, although it would’ve had to go through the side of the shell if it did.
one of the d’uccles hatched with an open navel so that guy went with his egg shell into a cup - came into the kitchen this morning and there he was flopping around on the floor of the bator good as new.
the other d’uccle that started with problems was bizarre. It was positioned correctly, had pipped and was in the process of zipping, pushed its head out and stopped. So I pulled it out to check on it a couple hours later, and it had a completely unabsorbed yolk, and a loop of bowel hanging out still. so it went back in too, but ruptured it’s yolk overnight and died this morning.

I didn’t get a pic of the d’uccle from yesterday but here are the hedemora that’s doing well (Hoping it’s the silkie feathered type) and the porcelain d’uccle.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

So this hatch of mine is done. 4/6 chicks hatched and alive, that had made it to lockdown. The one hedemora was malpositioned and hadn’t really internally pipped (I don’t know what I saw when I looked yesterday morning haha) but by the time I got home and candled, it was doing this gasping motion in the shell. so I opened up the air cell end and opened the membrane but it just didn’t do much after that and passed shortly after. It wasn’t so badly positioned that it shouldn’t have been able to pip, although it would’ve had to go through the side of the shell if it did.
one of the d’uccles hatched with an open navel so that guy went with his egg shell into a cup - came into the kitchen this morning and there he was flopping around on the floor of the bator good as new.
the other d’uccle that started with problems was bizarre. It was positioned correctly, had pipped and was in the process of zipping, pushed its head out and stopped. So I pulled it out to check on it a couple hours later, and it had a completely unabsorbed yolk, and a loop of bowel hanging out still. so it went back in too, but ruptured it’s yolk overnight and died this morning.

I didn’t get a pic of the d’uccle from yesterday but here are the hedemora that’s doing well (Hoping it’s the silkie feathered type) and the porcelain d’uccle.View attachment 2188405
View attachment 2188408

Cute cute babies! Sorry for the rough hatch though.

 

[Trisseh]

Cute cute babies! Sorry for the rough hatch though.

Thanks. I hate losing babies but with shipped eggs, what do you do? I’ve still been getting better hatch rates with these shipped eggs than any of the local eggs I’ve had so far. It’s so weird. I’ll try to remember to grab a pic of the other d’uccle when I get home. I think it’s a porcelain too but I’m not actually sure, I had just grabbed it and popped it in the brooder with the jungle fowl. Haha.

 

[FortCluck]

So this hatch of mine is done. 4/6 chicks hatched and alive, that had made it to lockdown. The one hedemora was malpositioned and hadn’t really internally pipped (I don’t know what I saw when I looked yesterday morning haha) but by the time I got home and candled, it was doing this gasping motion in the shell. so I opened up the air cell end and opened the membrane but it just didn’t do much after that and passed shortly after. It wasn’t so badly positioned that it shouldn’t have been able to pip, although it would’ve had to go through the side of the shell if it did.
one of the d’uccles hatched with an open navel so that guy went with his egg shell into a cup - came into the kitchen this morning and there he was flopping around on the floor of the bator good as new.
the other d’uccle that started with problems was bizarre. It was positioned correctly, had pipped and was in the process of zipping, pushed its head out and stopped. So I pulled it out to check on it a couple hours later, and it had a completely unabsorbed yolk, and a loop of bowel hanging out still. so it went back in too, but ruptured it’s yolk overnight and died this morning.

I didn’t get a pic of the d’uccle from yesterday but here are the hedemora that’s doing well (Hoping it’s the silkie feathered type) and the porcelain d’uccle.View attachment 2188405
View attachment 2188408

I have a porcelain d’uccle and she’s about 20 weeks. I absolutely love her. She hangs out with my Silkie (Chubs) and my Millie Fleur cockerel. All 3 were bought together at TSC with others but I sold the others. My Millie Fleur is getting hormonal and jumps Chubs and the porcelain. That’s how I know they’re pullets