March Hatch-A-Long

[SA Farm]

I just put my last batch of the month in lockdown. 12 Speckled Sussex, 2 of my own EEs, and 9 of my own ducks, 2 or 3 of which have already internally pipped.

 

[two j farm]

There's 7 in there, 3 of which I don't expect to make it. One is the one that I stupidly opened (It wasn't moved since...), one I think bloodringed. And I can't remember the other one.

I'm glad I thought to check my notes. I've had horrible tooth pain (just got the two crowns on today, and it hurts worse now, ha!) but that's no excuse. I bought them from another member and I promised I'd take good care of her eggs. The ones still around I'm going to take careful care of now. I need more tiny babies to brighten my day!

I hadn't taken out my trash, so I was able to find the egg I tossed. I took a picture of the inside before I officially tossed it. Maybe I'll upload the picture somewhere and get opinions on whether or not it would have made it. It never moved when I poked it before I threw it out, so I'm pretty sure it was gone.

It's been a crappy three days, but that's overwith now, so I can focus on my cute little eggs. Killian, my tiny Silkie, is still stupidly tiny, so when they are REALLY overdue I can bring her into my room to peep and coax them out. She's great at peeping.

This just my opinion. If your eggs are due to hatch next week, I would take the one you opened out. Only because with it open and possibly dead there is a good chance it could spread bacteria to your other eggs.

 

[Ms Biddy]

My little turkey hasn't pipped yet. Ugh, the suspense. It's been 19 or 20 hrs since I observed it had pipped internally and it's still alive. I actually got my dremel to drill an emergency air hole and then stopped myself. It's the buildup of CO2 that causes the spasms that help the poult break the shell. So now I'm sitting on my hands waiting for my poult to save itself or not. Good luck little one!

 

[cppeace]

Six of the seven that were set to hatch Sunday, hatched. There are two cemani crosses, one sultan, two mille fleur d'uccles, and the first porcelain d'uccle I've ever hatched which is so cute and funny looking because she(hoping it's a she) is all grey/gray with a little orange head. The seventh egg is a sultan which doesn't seem to be moving, so I'll probably throw it out soon.
Also, my cochin pullets from last September are laying eggs, and I'm tempted to hatch some just for the fun of it. We'll see...

oo if you can set some Saturday you can join the big hatch along

 

[Ms Biddy]

I'm super happy to say my poult pipped on its own. What a relief. I know turkeys are fragile.

Hey, did I tell you guys one of my remaining three Marans chicks is rumpless? I knew it looked different and it has a messy bum that I have to clean regularly. Well, it turns out it doesn't have a Parson's Nose/tail. I checked with the breeder and they hatch a lot of chicks but haven't seen this in their line before. So I guess I have a super cute little freak mutation, as well as extra work since the messy bum is common for rumpless birds. My word, what an eventful hatch this has been. These three are super friendly btw. I think me pressing my face against the window of the incubator may have caused them to think I'm their mom, lol.

Can you see it?

 

[cppeace]

Yeah definitely looks rumpless. How odd.

 

[Chicksnmind]

Wow didn’t know that rumples caused more work. Is it just when they are young or are they messy their whole life?

I’ve been having trouble getting my humidity just right. One half/ cut wet sponge brings it right around mid to high 30’s. I tried adding a kids medicine measuring cup but that brought it up over 75%. So I took that out and added another piece of cut sponge and it went over 80%. So I halved that sponge and I’m leaving it for a hour and see where that brings it. Didn’t know it was so difficult to get it in the 60%.

I’m worried that sponges will dry up during the night and I will end up with higher temps and low humidity.

Meanwhile my egg that is on day 18 is rocking as is my small bantam egg ( day 17) . I checked the day 18egg and it hasn’t pipped inside yet which is good because I need to get the humidity right.

 

[notasilkie]

We have pip off!

Just the one out so far, 2 more pipped. None of the ones that should have hatched yesterday have yet... so hard not intervening!

 

[Jennrz]

Probably a silly question... but are the monthly "hatch-a-longs" for when you set the eggs or when they hatch?

I just set some eggs yesterday. So I set them in March but they will hatch in April. I don't see an April hatch-a-long other than the Easter one, which I'm too early for...

Anyway, just looking to follow along with other hatching right now.

 

[Ms Biddy]

Wow didn’t know that rumples caused more work. Is it just when they are young or are they messy their whole life?

I’ve been having trouble getting my humidity just right.

I didn't know that either but I've now heard from several people that they stay messy their whole life and once the surrounding feathers grow it's more or less hidden. Being that mine is a baby, I feel I need to keep it clean to prevent pasting and picking from its siblings, so it's a pain. Cute little thing though.

For your humidity, maybe try placing a damp sponge above or near one of your outside air vents. Don't block the vent, but try to get it to draw air coming off the moist sponge. This is what I do.