March hatch along

[carcar80]

Well I just put my joke of a hatch on lockdown, lol. Only thing showing obvious life is the EE. All five remaining legbars don't look good but don't smell either, so I'll just keep a nose out and hope they surprise me.

Good news is, I've got BRAHMAS after this!! I told my friend who gave me the EE egg, thank God she did or else I'd be feeling horrible about all those eggs.. I figure if it was me, I'd have killed them all.

 

[chicken junky]

Okay I am back. Since I have so many boys who will be sold or dinner I ordered more silkies in colors and some Ameraucana eggs so excited. I think I will put a few of my eggs in to see what comes out they are very fertile I cracked 20 open for frit at a and all were good, kind of eggsiting not knowing what may hatch.

 

[christine9]

Oh my goodness! Today was the first day in a while that I've been home in the afternoon...during good light...to look at these chicks. All three have pinkness to their combs. They are almost five weeks old...

This is the only good pic I could get, but they are all about the same color. Ahh! This is really turning me off to hatching. Is there any hope for a girl getting pink this early? Or do I think about rehoming while they're still young?

 

[johnderosa1]

Oh my goodness! Today was the first day in a while that I've been home in the afternoon...during good light...to look at these chicks. All three have pinkness to their combs. They are almost five weeks old...

This is the only good pic I could get, but they are all about the same color. Ahh! This is really turning me off to hatching. Is there any hope for a girl getting pink this early? Or do I think about rehoming while they're still young?

Looks like a cockerel.. Sorry. Dont get discouraged, the odds will even out over time. Too bad you werent closer, I would be happy to give you a few EE pullets from a test hatch... They will look like black ams but have green on the underside of their feet. I cant use them myself.

 

[christine9]

Looks like a cockerel.. Sorry. Dont get discouraged, the odds will even out over time. Too bad you werent closer, I would be happy to give you a few EE pullets from a test hatch... They will look like black ams but have green on the underside of their feet. I cant use them myself.

Thanks john. I really appreciate your input and your offer. Not a bad idea to look for culls. With all the stipulations in breeding AMs, I could probably find some really nice EEs. Hmmm....

 

[johnderosa1]

Well I just put my joke of a hatch on lockdown, lol. Only thing showing obvious life is the EE. All five remaining legbars don't look good but don't smell either, so I'll just keep a nose out and hope they surprise me.

Good news is, I've got BRAHMAS after this!! I told my friend who gave me the EE egg, thank God she did or else I'd be feeling horrible about all those eggs.. I figure if it was me, I'd have killed them all.

Maybe some of those legbars will wind up hatching... As for the brahmas make sure you thoroughly disinfect the incubator before setting the new eggs, run it for a few days before you get your eggs and try to keep it in a location that doesnt have temperature swings( iI keep mine in my basement where the temp stays a uniform 58 degrees) and finally try not to handle the eggs after setting them!!!! Try candling only on day 10 and day 18... Make sure you wash and dry your hands before candling them. I will keep my fingers and toes crossed the entire time for you!! Good luck.

 

[carcar80]

Thanks! Don't worry, I always wash my hands.. It's engrained in me. I do think I've figured out why all the fails and slow growth- I believe my temp has been low (like 97) this whole time. I was going by my mercury thermometer when my digital was reading low but I chose to ignore it bc I THOUGHT I trusted the mercury. It's the only thing that makes sense.

 

[johnderosa1]

Thanks! Don't worry, I always wash my hands.. It's engrained in me. I do think I've figured out why all the fails and slow growth- I believe my temp has been low (like 97) this whole time. I was going by my mercury thermometer when my digital was reading low but I chose to ignore it bc I THOUGHT I trusted the mercury. It's the only thing that makes sense.

That would be a problem... You should be able to calibrate a standard thermometer pretty easily... If you dont want to do that you can use my method... Buy four digital thermometers and use the average....

 

[subhanalah]

Hatched bantam cochin two more still haven't internally pipped but look close. These are three of the four survivors from the bantam cochin shipping egg fiasco. The other one was from the original shipment, yeah only one developed.

My new silkie and ameraucanas are doing so so. The Ameraucanas have two blood rings, one fertile and developing and the rest were clears. When I remove them I'll check for fertility on the egg itself. But I believe the silkie eggs are doing fantastic. I guess silkies maybe ship better than larger eggs? I don't know, we'll have to see...lost a little less than 10 of my quail eggs due to some stinkers explosing. Yuck. Anyway, I have over a hundred still so I think I'll be alright for quail lol. I sniffed and sniffed for those dang eggs and couldn't identify which were the stinkers, I passed right over them with the whiff test.

 

[subhanalah]

Oh, and my duck eggs look like they are doing pretty good

Carcar, good thing you finally found out what was going on with your hatches!