Leap Day Chicks!

[Slothinc]

Hello all! I just incubated my first batch of eggs since 2020. It is so fun to be back into it! I should have done a hatch-a-long thread from the beginning, but I apologize that I didn’t think to do it. Just wanted to share though, so I hope it’s okay that I posted here!

I used the new ChickCozy incubator. I have had some issues with this incubator and the fact that the company is non responsive and the biggest issue is that the “silicone” mat in the bottom smells like death (literally toxic fumes) so I had to improvise and I made my own bottom of a charcoal pad for an air filter. But anyways, I am pleased with the incubator overall because of the high hatch rate that I had.

I placed 25 eggs on the evening of February 8th. Twenty of the eggs were silkies shipped from Brenda Smith in Iowa. Five of the eggs were from a local chicken enthusiast. He said they were ameraucanas but based on the chicks that hatched they appear to be Easter eggers. They all hatched out of blue eggs. Those eggs were put in to fill the rest of the incubator up - I hate running an incubator with empty spots!

Of the 25 eggs placed, 1 of the blue eggs and 6 of the silkie eggs didn’t develop. That seems very normal to me considering they were shipped. BTW Brenda does the best packaging job ever, I’m a repeat customer

I also love that Brenda lets you choose the pens and she writes on each egg which rooster and the pairing that the egg is from.

I had one suspected late quitter at lockdown, but I kept it in the incubator just in case. So minus that egg, I had 17 live eggs going into lockdown. The first blue egg hatched early, around noon yesterday. (3 hatched yesterday so they technically aren’t Leap Day Chicks haha) Then they have continued to hatch, with the majority of them hatching today. So far 12 chicks have hatched without any issues, and 5 eggs are still in the incubator now (2 with pips.)

All the blue eggs have hatched, 2 are I believe blue, one is “paint” and one is a mystery color with a gray body and brown head.

Of the silkies that have hatched I will say what the parents are (several are projects that Brenda has going right now): 2 chicks are Mille x black satin, 3 chicks are NN black mottle x mottle satin frizzle, 1 chick is NN paint x black, and 2 chicks are black x paint.

I’m thrilled that all 4 chicks with the possibility of NN ended up being NN! I usually don’t have that kind of luck! I will post pictures of the babies on here later on. The silkies are such interesting colors - I’ve never had mottle or mille project silkies before, I didn’t know what to expect!

I’ll attach one photo each of the EE right now. And will do the silkies later!

 

[Sally PB]

Congratulations!

 

[GreenJay]

Beautiful chicks! Congrats!

 

[Slothinc]

Okay, going to finish sharing about the hatch now! I ended up with 13 chicks. One of the ones that hatched yesterday passed away, I’m not sure why. It was a white NN chick. Very sad about that one. Then in the middle of the night last night the last chick hatched, and I also tried to assist another chick that was alive but hadn’t pipped. It was also a white (probably paint) NN. Unfortunately it didn’t make it - I think I waited too long. I thought it had pipped internally but it hadn’t, and may have been a bit shrink wrapped. The last baby to hatch, I realized this morning could not stand or walk. It was spraddle legs and the chick is being treated with a brace made of bandages right now, and seems to be doing much better.

Okay on to the chicks! I’ll put a photo of each one along with the type of pen they are out of!

Three NN, these are all from mottle project pen, and they come from mottle silkie x mottle satin frizzle pen. I have never had a bearded NN so it surprised me to see how fuzzy the front of the neck was on a couple of these!

These are the 3 chicks that hatched from the black x paint eggs. The one with the vaulted head has some light spots on the vaulted part of the head. And a few orange toes, so it’s possible that I got eggs mixed up and it’s mottle.

And these are the 3 chicks from the Mille silkie x black satin pen. One is the chick that I have in a brace now and it is doing way better! The one with a lot of white on the face is my favorite right now just based on the markings, too cute.

I just got the Mille and the mottle eggs for a little variety but I haven’t ever had either color of silkie. I am so excited to see how they turn out. I didn’t know they would be this cute as chicks! I don’t know if the markings will stay or change substantially as they feather out.

I’m so pleased with how adorable all the babies ended up. Can’t wait to see how they grow.

 

[Hei-hei]

Hello all! I just incubated my first batch of eggs since 2020. It is so fun to be back into it! I should have done a hatch-a-long thread from the beginning, but I apologize that I didn’t think to do it. Just wanted to share though, so I hope it’s okay that I posted here!

I used the new ChickCozy incubator. I have had some issues with this incubator and the fact that the company is non responsive and the biggest issue is that the “silicone” mat in the bottom smells like death (literally toxic fumes) so I had to improvise and I made my own bottom of a charcoal pad for an air filter. But anyways, I am pleased with the incubator overall because of the high hatch rate that I had.

I placed 25 eggs on the evening of February 8th. Twenty of the eggs were silkies shipped from Brenda Smith in Iowa. Five of the eggs were from a local chicken enthusiast. He said they were ameraucanas but based on the chicks that hatched they appear to be Easter eggers. They all hatched out of blue eggs. Those eggs were put in to fill the rest of the incubator up - I hate running an incubator with empty spots!

Of the 25 eggs placed, 1 of the blue eggs and 6 of the silkie eggs didn’t develop. That seems very normal to me considering they were shipped. BTW Brenda does the best packaging job ever, I’m a repeat customer

I also love that Brenda lets you choose the pens and she writes on each egg which rooster and the pairing that the egg is from.

I had one suspected late quitter at lockdown, but I kept it in the incubator just in case. So minus that egg, I had 17 live eggs going into lockdown. The first blue egg hatched early, around noon yesterday. (3 hatched yesterday so they technically aren’t Leap Day Chicks haha) Then they have continued to hatch, with the majority of them hatching today. So far 12 chicks have hatched without any issues, and 5 eggs are still in the incubator now (2 with pips.)

All the blue eggs have hatched, 2 are I believe blue, one is “paint” and one is a mystery color with a gray body and brown head.

Of the silkies that have hatched I will say what the parents are (several are projects that Brenda has going right now): 2 chicks are Mille x black satin, 3 chicks are NN black mottle x mottle satin frizzle, 1 chick is NN paint x black, and 2 chicks are black x paint.

I’m thrilled that all 4 chicks with the possibility of NN ended up being NN! I usually don’t have that kind of luck! I will post pictures of the babies on here later on. The silkies are such interesting colors - I’ve never had mottle or mille project silkies before, I didn’t know what to expect!

I’ll attach one photo each of the EE right now. And will do the silkies later!

Beautiful! I hatched some leap year babies too! Mine are silkies. My roo is white, and I have a white hen and a black hen. These three I kept from my hatching eggs last year. Their siblings were all white, black, or paint. Somehow, my chicks are partridge, grey, and black. Maybe the grey will turn out to be silver based white? I’m super confused. LOL

 

[Slothinc]

@Hei-hei that is so crazy!! I have heard that white can mask a lot of other colors. I would have expected black/paint from the black hen, but yeah I’d imagine the white is a mixed bag! So interesting!! Congrats on your leap day chicks, that is so much fun!!