March 2017! Hatch with us!

[angieangie]

Another question. Do new born chicks legs and feet look weird? And when do they stop being wobbly? Ok so 2 questions.

 

[slantrhymes]

Hi, all! First-time hatcher here.

My s/o and I were talking all day yesterday about encouraging a hen to go broody (we have an entirely separate coop and run to use as a "maternity ward"). I did a ton of research. This is my first real flock (previously brooded chicks for my neighbors), so I am SO excited for babies!

Anyways, after lots of discussion and prep, and even selecting the Australorp we thought we might want to sit, we got home from work yesterday and got ready to put the girls in for the night. We opened the nesting box door, and we saw nothing but fluffy chicken butt...one of the Australorp /mixes/, bigger and not quite as shy as the purebreds, was there. No big deal; I reached in to nudge her off and she whipped her head around, puffed up all her feathers, and hissed at me. Yikes!

I reached under her to see what, if anything, she was sitting on, and she bit (not pecked!) me. So, boyfriend grabbed a hoe and tried to push her off with that...she just bit the hoe instead.

We're looking at each other like "this hen is broody," so I gently reach under the butt-fluff and grab the egg. She clicks low and loud. I then gently placed it right by the lip of the nesting box. She looked at it for about two seconds before gently rolling it back under her body with her beak.

She's settled on fake eggs in the maternity ward now, but we'll be swapping them out for fertile eggs tomorrow if she keeps sitting. We have partridge Cochin, blue Andalusian, and a few "hatchery assortment." We can't wait to see what we get!

 

[orrpeople]

Another question. Do new born chicks legs and feet look weird? And when do they stop being wobbly? Ok so 2 questions.

Yes, they even fall over completely upside down and it looks like they'll never right themselves again! Do watch their feet though - in my experience, within about twelve hours, those feet should be pretty well lined up correctly. if they're not, here's a link to check out.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it.html

 

[orrpeople]

Hi, all! First-time hatcher here.

My s/o and I were talking all day yesterday about encouraging a hen to go broody (we have an entirely separate coop and run to use as a "maternity ward"). I did a ton of research. This is my first real flock (previously brooded chicks for my neighbors), so I am SO excited for babies!

Anyways, after lots of discussion and prep, and even selecting the Australorp we thought we might want to sit, we got home from work yesterday and got ready to put the girls in for the night. We opened the nesting box door, and we saw nothing but fluffy chicken butt...one of the Australorp /mixes/, bigger and not quite as shy as the purebreds, was there. No big deal; I reached in to nudge her off and she whipped her head around, puffed up all her feathers, and hissed at me. Yikes!

I reached under her to see what, if anything, she was sitting on, and she bit (not pecked!) me. So, boyfriend grabbed a hoe and tried to push her off with that...she just bit the hoe instead.

We're looking at each other like "this hen is broody," so I gently reach under the butt-fluff and grab the egg. She clicks low and loud. I then gently placed it right by the lip of the nesting box. She looked at it for about two seconds before gently rolling it back under her body with her beak.

She's settled on fake eggs in the maternity ward now, but we'll be swapping them out for fertile eggs tomorrow if she keeps sitting. We have partridge Cochin, blue Andalusian, and a few "hatchery assortment." We can't wait to see what we get!

Haha! That's awesome! I hope she sticks with it - she sounds like a force to be reckoned with!

 

[lilwildrabbit]

I

Hi, all! First-time hatcher here.

My s/o and I were talking all day yesterday about encouraging a hen to go broody (we have an entirely separate coop and run to use as a "maternity ward"). I did a ton of research. This is my first real flock (previously brooded chicks for my neighbors), so I am SO excited for babies!

Anyways, after lots of discussion and prep, and even selecting the Australorp we thought we might want to sit, we got home from work yesterday and got ready to put the girls in for the night. We opened the nesting box door, and we saw nothing but fluffy chicken butt...one of the Australorp /mixes/, bigger and not quite as shy as the purebreds, was there. No big deal; I reached in to nudge her off and she whipped her head around, puffed up all her feathers, and hissed at me. Yikes!

I reached under her to see what, if anything, she was sitting on, and she bit (not pecked!) me. So, boyfriend grabbed a hoe and tried to push her off with that...she just bit the hoe instead.

We're looking at each other like "this hen is broody," so I gently reach under the butt-fluff and grab the egg. She clicks low and loud. I then gently placed it right by the lip of the nesting box. She looked at it for about two seconds before gently rolling it back under her body with her beak.

She's settled on fake eggs in the maternity ward now, but we'll be swapping them out for fertile eggs tomorrow if she keeps sitting. We have partridge Cochin, blue Andalusian, and a few "hatchery assortment." We can't wait to see what we get!

had a big white hen like that but I got to the point I would open up the box and pet her and after a few days she was ok with me messing with her they will bite and hiss like you better not mess with me and mine !! I just love it when one starts setting!!

 

[Mylied]

Question. So, I checked on my silkie's eggs last night and some were pushed out and cold. She's sitting on quite a bunch, though I forgot to count how many. Some looked like the fetus died. I was going to throw them out, but from reading about the cold eggs hatching, I put them in the incubator with the turkey eggs. Today, the fetuses were moving around so I'm glad I didn't toss them. Two eggs were infertile, so I did remove those. One of the cream legbar eggs that I brought inside has a long crack in it and there is a definite blood ring, but the fetus is still moving. Should I toss it since it's contaminated with bacteria and cracked or what? I'm going to give the three silkie eggs back to her tomorrow since they seem fine.

 

[lilwildrabbit]

I would watch the one with the ring and any eggs that get cold I'll stick into the incubator from now on I just hatched 8 from 11 cold eggs that were abandoned if in doubt don't leave out !!

 

[WVduckchick]

[COLOR=333333]Hello, I have been having some trouble lately with hatching my sulmtalers. I use a sportsman GQF incubator and hatcher but I can't seem to get it right. During incubation the temperature is around 99.8 degrees and humidity is about 30%. And during the hatch the temp is 98.5-99.0, and the humidity is at at least 55% for the last two days. They hatch on day 22.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]I just got a poor hatch of 2/13 sulmtalers. The two that did make it seem perfectly healthy. All of the others were fully developed but didn't hatch. If anything it seemed like the membrane was tightly bound to the chick even though they didn't pip yet.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Please give me some tips about how you incubate your birds and if there is anything that I am doing wrong. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING.[/COLOR]

Saw a few good response to your questions, but I wanted to add that although you have 2 agreeing thermometers, have you tested to see if they are accurate? They could agree and both be wrong. Google tests for them, there are several easy ones, depending on what kind you have (probe, submersible, etc)

As someone else said, I would also go higher with humidity the last 3 days. Block a vent if you have to. Just don't totally close all ventilation.

I'm curious as to how air cells looked throughout incubation?

X2 but it's my husband pitching a fit. I've taken over his man- cave with as a brooder/incubator room!

I tried to do that, but he said no way!

 

[Mylied]

I would watch the one with the ring and any eggs that get cold I'll stick into the incubator from now on I just hatched 8 from 11 cold eggs that were abandoned if in doubt don't leave out !!

Thanks for the input.

 

[Lamancha]

Day 19 here. I just upped the humidity about 10 minutes ago when I started hearing cheeps. 13 out of 19 legbars made it to lockdown from shipped eggs (although I have my doubts about 2 of them), and 6 of my own Swedish flowers. I have the best luck if I wait until internal pips before lockdown. I have a cruddy old little giant still air incubator. I refuse to get a nicer one. I like the challenge.