June Hatch-A-Long

[gimmie birdies]

I have not gotten every breed yet, but it gives me something to look forward to.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I usually cook plant based meals then add meat for everyone else. I just make sure mine is separate

That's what I do, too!

 

[gimmie birdies]

This is a chicken I am calling Beau because he is a cuddler, and follows me every where. He is 1/2 spitz and EE. I thought he was a girl when he hatched and sold him, but had to trade him back because she could not keep a roo. He seems to be a keeper, because he is earning a place. She was calling him "Eli" Thinking he was a girl at first, I thought about calling him Elvis, but I just don't get that yet. I hatched him out 2 months ago or so. Look at his eye he is so serious.

 

[Willow2253]

A second egg pipped while I wasn’t looking! Now I’ve got a Wyandotte and a leghorn with pips

 

[chickiebaby1]

So I have eggs that are supposed to go in lockdown tomorrow. Get my surprise when I walk in the room where the incubators are this afternoon and hear chirping!! Sure enough there’s a baby chick in there and another one pipped! Hurried up and
Turned the turner off. I just didn’t get a chance to take it out or put down my non slip shelf liner or raise the humidity, though it was at 55%. I don’t like to have it much higher than that at the beginning of lockdown anyway. Just very surprising! I’ve had them hatch on day 19 but not 17.

 

[gimmie birdies]

They have Pipped on day 19 you mean?

 

[Willow2253]

I keep missing the pips! A third did it when I went outside for 20 minutes to give the big chickens some treats. Now I just have to stare at the incubator all afternoon until another one does it.

 

[chickiebaby1]

They have Pipped on day 19 you mean?

No. I’ve actually had at least one or two hatch on day 19 almost every hatch this season.Mostly it’s the bantam eggs that do that. I think I’m going to start putting my bantams in lockdown a day earlier from now on. Although these might have been eggs a hen was sitting on and I didn’t realize it. They were the last couple of eggs I threw in at the last minute.

 

[Willow2253]

I love hanging out in the room with my incubator and hearing the occasional peep. It’s been about 12 hours since the first pip and 5 more have pipped throughout the day. I know I’m not sleeping tonight waiting for these babies to hatch.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thanks @CluckNDoodle! I do tend to be the more hands on type myself in everything I guess! I also tend to overthink things. I just want to give these chicks time if they need it. If I do decide to intervene, what is the best way to go about it? I have read the assisted hatching threads, and have had to assist in the past. I have not tried making a starter or safety hole before.

I'm sorry I wasn't on the computer most of the day! I see you've already answered your own question and encountered a chick you wish you had assisted sooner and one you wish you hadn't assisted at all. This is what makes deciding to be hands on so difficult but I find that now that I'm experienced in assisting that most of the time it's rewarding and there is a less traumatizing reason for them needing help.

As far as the crossbeak chick, they can live happy healthy lives, it just depends on how severe it is. I've raised a handful of special needs chickens and while I won't allow a chicken to suffer I'm also of the mind that if they want to fight through that I'm not going to stop them. This is how I ended up raising Peg Leg Pete, the rooster with one functioning leg, lol. The difficulty with a crossbeak specifically is whether yours will be able to pick up food on it's own or not. A mild case might not need much special treatment beyond trimming their beak occasionally. Wetting food can make it easier for them to scoop but only you can decide how far you're willing to go.