Mahonri's 3rd Annual, BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[ChestnutRidge]

Thanks, Spangled and ChooksChick, for the links and recipes. I'm excited to take a look at your feed recipe, ChooksChick; that is exactly what I was trying to see the other night, so I appreciate the link. I'm glad to hear that others are using field peas without difficulty. I wish I knew exactly what percentage of my feed was field peas, but I'm resolving not to worry about it. Since I don't know much about readying breeders, I'll add the basic hatching egg rule to our list.

Hatchability Hints and Secrets

4. Choose clean, large, normally shaped eggs. Smaller eggs and double yolkers are poor candidates; smaller eggs may not have the proper room for development and double yolkers rarely make it to term.

 

[java girl 2]

I didn't check in this morning like I usually do and there were 60 some new posts. Whew.

Instead of checking BYC this morning I was setting up a brooder, transferring chicks to it and then deshelling the ones that were stuck pipped and glued in the bator. I think I have 21 new babies, but won't know for sure until later.

Tomorrow's Pie Day for my department... got home and cleaned, fed and watered the ducks and chickens, the indoor chickens, the new chicks and then threw together a crust. Now I've got to find the hubbard squash in the freezer. I'm pretty sure no one else will be bringing hubbard squash custard pie.

I also cracked open one of the non-pipped eggs. There was an approximate half sized fully formed and still alive chick in there, and a lot of water and some blood. The chick looked like it was behind in development because it was so small in the shell. It died right after I did this, and while I feel bad about it, it wouldn't have hatched anyway. Anyone ever seen this before? Know what causes it?

UMM, let me see if I got this right.......

YOU'VE GOT CHICKS IN YOUR PIE?!?!?!?

 

[wolftracks]

Great Cheryl. Will it hold an auto turner or will you have to turn by hand?

A friend is building me this awesome new cabinet incubator...it's being tested as we speak, I should have it this Sunday, just in time for the hatch!!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

UMM, let me see if I got this right.......

YOU'VE GOT CHICKS IN YOUR PIE?!?!?!?

100% chance of chick fluff in that pie.

(And the blueberry one boyfriend is whipping together [we are in the same department at work] my crust recipe makes 2.5 crusts!)

 

[java girl 2]

100% chance of chick fluff in that pie.

AWW, POOR CHICKES!!!!!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

You're not kidding, they had a rough day.

 

[happyhensny]

You're not kidding, they had a rough day.

Poor little thing. All wet with a piece of shavings stuck on his beak and the light is so far away.

 

[Spangled]

Quote:
Well, SCG, you are a breeder of noble repute. Hats off to you!

A couple of years ago some old timer breeder

online somewhere, I can't remember where, was going on about how we haven't completed our job of incubating until we have cracked open and checked the non-hatchers. Plus we were supposed to record the information by noting early, mid, or late death

in our hatch record. It totally made me ill.

And I couldn't figure out how to open an unhatched, but fully incubated, egg and then use my filthy hands to hold the pen and notebook. It was a mess. So I quit that really quickly and decided to be totally irresponsible when it came to that aspect of incubating.

 

[Spangled]

SCG, is the little guy with the eggshell stuck to his face getting warmed up and fluffed up? What a rotten day.

 

[crazyeggs]

You're not kidding, they had a rough day.

Poor little bugger