March 2017! Hatch with us!

[Jessimom]

I went to check on my chickens this morning before work and found that Noname Legbar's eggs had begun to hatch. I am so excited! They are all mixes, but feathery butts make me nuts!

YAY for Broody Mamas!!!! Go Chickies GO!

 

[WVduckchick]

First picture was 4 bantam EE, 1 Serama and 1 F1 Olive Egger
Second photo, as far as i could tell at quick look is Bantam EE, Serama and 1 or 2 more Olive Eggers. I have NO idea which chick is which in the photo. I know the bigger one is an Olive Egger.


Orange chickens on the left, in the bottom photo are Rhode Island Reds. I had 9 of those hatch, and they are bigger than anything else in the brooder. I put 4 under the broody hens, they killed 1, but the other 3 seem to be ok..

As far as telling hens or chicks apart - I have NO ABILITY whats so ever on most of my birds. I make the mistake of hatching multiple breeds at once, and I have no clue which one is which. That's what I did with my last hatch. I can tell the silkies but the Silver Laced Wyandotte and the Speckled Sussex will have to get real feathers before I can tell them apart.

The good thing about this hatch is the Seramas are TINY, the bantam EEs are really small and the Olive Eggers are monsters compared to the rest. They should be easy to track. Unfortunately, I just threw them in with the SS, SLW, RIR And Silkies.....

I had to go to work, and the poor egg I accidentally pulled, then put back, is quieter but hasn't externally pipped. I am MOSTLY a - do not help kind of person. So, I just came to the office and left them on their own.....

I'm sure you've seen the posts with little baskets to separate breeds, or even those mesh bags? But heck, the grow-out guessing is part of the fun!

I'm kind of mix-minded about assisting or not. Its situation/breed specific. Like with my cochins, I've learned if they don't make it out on their own, there's usually a leg issue, or whatever reason, so I kinda leave those to mother nature. But the more I hatch seramas, they are just so tiny, I think they have more trouble with artificial incubation. Maybe I just don't have the humidity dialed exactly right for them, since I'm usually hatching something else at the same time. But I find that they need assistance more often, and quicker, than others, and usually turn out fine when I catch them at the right time.

Kinda like call ducks usually needing assistance because of their stubby bills.

 

[Cerise1924]

I went to check on my chickens this morning before work and found that Noname Legbar's eggs had begun to hatch. I am so excited! They are all mixes, but feathery butts make me nuts!

Same here!

So excited we are sharing a hatch day. Good luck with your Legbar-mix chicks!

 

[Norlund568]

Same here!

So excited we are sharing a hatch day. Good luck with your Legbar-mix chicks!

How exciting! What do you have hatching?

 

[Mylied]

I notice that everyone else takes the new baby chicks and places them in a pretty pose and snaps BEAUTIFUL photos. I throw them into a box and snap a quick photo - don't check to see if it's clear, then I put them away. Well, here is a photo of last nights transfer: And this is from this morning.... The Olive Eggers are twice the size of the little bantams. And now they are ALL under the heat plate....

Beautiful babies!

 

[room onthebroom]

Surprisingly, this one lets me pet her (which she never did before she went broody last year!) She will vehemently defend her chicks, but she seems to trust me, and only me.

Since its a little slow this morning, and who doesn't love chick pics, I'll share some of my favorite shots from last summer:

These are THE CUTEST!!! Even though I'm not hatching, I'm here to absorb some of this fluffy, newborn goodness... Careful not to step in the drool.

 

[Mylied]

I removed the last three unhatched egg from my broody and they were dead. One had internally pipped, but never made it farther. The other two must've quit a few days ago. She was so happy to no have any more eggs. She immediately took the chicks out of the house to scratch around. It is too cute for words. One white chick went missing sometime between last night and this morning, so we're down to 6 chicks. Hopefully the rest make it to adulthood. No clue what happened to the missing one. There were no signs of it, not even fluffy feathers.

 

[WVduckchick]

These are THE CUTEST!!! Even though I'm not hatching, I'm here to absorb some of this fluffy, newborn goodness... Careful not to step in the drool.

That was from Harriett's hatch last summer. She hatched some Seramas for me last week

I removed the last three unhatched egg from my broody and they were dead. One had internally pipped, but never made it farther. The other two must've quit a few days ago. She was so happy to no have any more eggs. She immediately took the chicks out of the house to scratch around. It is too cute for words. One white chick went missing sometime between last night and this morning, so we're down to 6 chicks. Hopefully the rest make it to adulthood. No clue what happened to the missing one. There were no signs of it, not even fluffy feathers.

Oh wow, cuties! So sorry for the ones that didn't hatch, and the little white one! Nothing that it could have gotten stuck under or in??
But on the bright side, you have some adorable new ones!

 

[Cerise1924]

An Easter Egger just exploded out of its shell! I hadn't even seen a pip, and there was a chick bursting out. It has huge feet!

No wonder it was able to kick out so fast.

The sole Marans, on the other hand, is having a bit of trouble. It's had its beak out for quite a while, but I notice blood on the membrane. I think that means it's not ready to come out and should stay put, yes?

I think I'll scoop out the two latest chicks to let the Marans rest.

 

[Cerise1924]

I removed the last three unhatched egg from my broody and they were dead. One had internally pipped, but never made it farther. The other two must've quit a few days ago. She was so happy to no have any more eggs. She immediately took the chicks out of the house to scratch around. It is too cute for words. One white chick went missing sometime between last night and this morning, so we're down to 6 chicks. Hopefully the rest make it to adulthood. No clue what happened to the missing one. There were no signs of it, not even fluffy feathers.