May Hatch-a-Long!

[Jennrz]

So, I was reading through the thread to get up to speed before I posted...then I looked at the date and realized I was reading posts from 2014.

So I decided to jump to the end and post with the current group of people. lol

This is my second hatch. On my first, I bought 15 shipped eggs. (6 Speckled Sussex, 6 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 3 Wyandotte) 8 went into lockdown and 3 hatched. I only got Sussex chicks out of the endeavor but I'm happy with them. They are in the brooder still. Will go outside in about a week or so.

On the 6th, I set 18 more eggs (also shipped). All White Plymouth Rocks. On day 7 I candled and took out two clears. The rest showed some veins. One has a very pronounced saddled air cell. A few look like they didn't turn correctly (had some issues with my turner the first couple of days) and there are only veins on one side of the egg with the other side being clear.... I did a search on it in the forums and decided to supplement the machine turning once a day to try and correct. (if possible)

Honestly I haven't been as attentive to this batch as the prior one. The day before I set them, my youngest broke her arm in two places. The first week of incubation I was back and forth to orthopedic doctors and outpatient procedures to get it set. So I feel kinda bad I didn't watch them too close at first, but I figure chickens are hardy and hopefully a few will pull through.

Happy Hatching Everyone!

Jenn R

 

[yeye5]

@jenn R
I'm sorry for you not-so-great hatch ratio on your first time. That said. sometimes it's a matter of patience (on the part of the human of course) and when we (me too) are able to wait and observe, observe and Wait, we get sweet results.
You and I are in different situations as I am a broody-hatcher,
(I have flirted with the purchase of an incubator for the past couple of months but nothing is happening yet)

Let me just backtrack a moment to ask--and I apologize if this is info you've given already!
How many eggs do you have set right now? Have you candled at 7 and/or 14 days? Are you able to really tell if there's a definite discard or only maybes?
You've said there were 3 (?) clear eggs--I'll guess unfertilized. If it were me and those were my eggs, I would choose to discard unfertilized eggs if they've made themselves known.
How many eggs have passed the "are you in there?" test of candling?
(I have to say I'm one or the worst candlers I know!) Likely some of that malfunction is due to broodies' interference instead of eggs that appear questionable...
So plz do tell us where this stands right now?
When was the set-date? When is the due date?
I know that ppl with so much more experience that I have and can offer will chime in and give feedback, opinions and hopefully advice!

*for me I'm still sorting out the how-to-best-use this new improved format. Since it is unusUal for me it is def taking more time to know where/how to post or reply to any given topic.
I appreciate anyone working with my presently awkward style in this new format.
I do REALLY CARE about who is doing what, how success or challenge is affecting them and--I FeaR it's not likely that I grasp the new format in time to help some.

Just KNOW that I am here, on your (all of our) side and that I will do my utmost.

Hoping and praying that each person's hatches go more excellently that they could even imagine! <3 ! <3 ! <3! <3! <3 !!!!!

 

[JacquelineJ]

I'm petty sure at day 7 there should only be veining on one side? good luck with the hatch!

 

[yeye5]

@JacquelineJ I love your avatar pic!

 

[yeye5]

My May hatching (seems) to be complete.
In the Silkie House: Peaches and Chula (sisters) hatched 12 together. Some of those were eggs they started with and some were eggs I moved over to their nest from Antonia's nest bcs Antonia became unusually high strung (never was/is that way as a "normal pullet" but as a broody she was very high strung).
Antonia was finally able to have one egg hatch under her and we are all happy about that!
While the site was in transition, Antonia jumped into Peaches and Chula's nest with her chick and they naturally combined their chicks and nests!
I didn't know that sisters would do things like that. Or maybe it's just going on here in my unusual flock...
In the Condo (coop next door) Zuza and Story who got to day 21 with 7 eggs hatched 3. I don't know why they had the low % but the 3 are adorable.
Ironically I have been looking forward (almost obsessively) to the hatching of one or more Polish or Polish/silkie crosses. Since I've never hatched a polish before it's hard for me to tell what they'd look like. (I've been spending the time I would have been on this forum looking up what polish chicks look like their first week).
ONE may be a polish or polish cross. It seems to have a top-hat look even in its down. Time will tell.
Whoever goes broody next will get the majority of polish eggs (I have them saved from 4-24 on thru yesterday!)

Question for others:
If you have eggs that you're really attached to, how long or how old is too late to include them in a clutch?
Do you all consider an egg over X amount (how long after being laid) to be a "lost cause" or a bigger risk to the other eggs than it could be a benefit to hatching?

I hope the rest of the May hatch-along'ers find their way back to this thread. I've become very fond of everyone here!

 

[JacquelineJ]

@JacquelineJ I love your avatar pic!

thank you Yeye5 she's one of my chicks. Her name is "Hatchetface" which apparently is a really good character from a 90s movie called "Crybaby" I've not seen the movie but I asked people on my FB to name the chicks and this is what stuck!

 

[JacquelineJ]

My May hatching (seems) to be complete.
In the Silkie House: Peaches and Chula (sisters) hatched 12 together. Some of those were eggs they started with and some were eggs I moved over to their nest from Antonia's nest bcs Antonia became unusually high strung (never was/is that way as a "normal pullet" but as a broody she was very high strung).
Antonia was finally able to have one egg hatch under her and we are all happy about that!
While the site was in transition, Antonia jumped into Peaches and Chula's nest with her chick and they naturally combined their chicks and nests!
I didn't know that sisters would do things like that. Or maybe it's just going on here in my unusual flock...
In the Condo (coop next door) Zuza and Story who got to day 21 with 7 eggs hatched 3. I don't know why they had the low % but the 3 are adorable.
Ironically I have been looking forward (almost obsessively) to the hatching of one or more Polish or Polish/silkie crosses. Since I've never hatched a polish before it's hard for me to tell what they'd look like. (I've been spending the time I would have been on this forum looking up what polish chicks look like their first week).
ONE may be a polish or polish cross. It seems to have a top-hat look even in its down. Time will tell.
Whoever goes broody next will get the majority of polish eggs (I have them saved from 4-24 on thru yesterday!)

Question for others:
If you have eggs that you're really attached to, how long or how old is too late to include them in a clutch?
Do you all consider an egg over X amount (how long after being laid) to be a "lost cause" or a bigger risk to the other eggs than it could be a benefit to hatching?

I hope the rest of the May hatch-along'ers find their way back to this thread. I've become very fond of everyone here!

I was told that a chicken mama goes broody once she has enough eggs, so I guess eggs that are still viable would / could reasonably be up to that many days (ie if your breed normally sits 12 eggs and lays everyday, then 12 days. This makes sense to me personally. I will say that many *many* sources say that hatchibility goes down dramatically after 7 days. Storage also plays a big part from what i've read.

 

[Jennrz]

So plz do tell us where this stands right now?
When was the set-date? When is the due date?
I know that ppl with so much more experience that I have and can offer will chime in and give feedback, opinions and hopefully advice!

*for me I'm still sorting out the how-to-best-use this new improved format. Since it is unusUal for me it is def taking more time to know where/how to post or reply to any given topic.
I appreciate anyone working with my presently awkward style in this new format.
I do REALLY CARE about who is doing what, how success or challenge is affecting them and--I FeaR it's not likely that I grasp the new format in time to help some.

Just KNOW that I am here, on your (all of our) side and that I will do my utmost.

Hoping and praying that each person's hatches go more excellently that they could even imagine! <3 ! <3 ! <3! <3! <3 !!!!!

Hi yeye5. Thanks for the reply!

I set 18 eggs on May 6th.
Candled at Day 7 and took out 2 clears.
Still have 16 incubating with an expected hatch date of May 27. They all showed some veins at Day 7 with one having a saddled air cell.

One thing I've done different with this hatch that I didn't do with the first one, was I weighed the eggs when they arrived and again at Day 7. I hope charting the weights will help me track development and humidity levels. I think I had my humidity levels too high with the first hatch.

I love that you are hatching with a broody hen. I would love to give that a try, but I don't have a rooster. I suspect one of my Speckled Sussex chicks is a roo so I'm hopeful that next spring I can have a broody hen. (fingers crossed)

~sending good hatch vibes to everyone~

 

[MBK Farm]

Purchased a new Dickey's cabinet incubator earlier this month and loaded up the first set on the 13th. I then remembered the BYC hatch-a-long threads and decided to jump right in. I will be just incubating in the Dickey's and hatching in two other units. Much better for cleanliness of cabinet and will be able to set more eggs with staggered hatches.

Set a total of 81 eggs. Breeds include: black ameraucana, cuckoo marans, black copper marans project birds, new hamps and a smattering of olive egger project. Let's see how the Dickey's performs! Holding good temps currently. I use dry hatch method for incubating in this Florida summer weather. Good luck to all on your sets and hatches.

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

Hello everyone!

I hope you don’t mind me jumping in on your hatch along? I was talking with my sister-in-law about getting chickens again and she told me she had a broody hen. I was like SCORE! So, I ordered 3 Partridge Brahma eggs and 3 Oliver Egger eggs from Papa’s Poultry. Well, what I didn’t know was that they send “extras”. I received 11 eggs total 6, PB and 5 OE! What could be wrong with extra eggs you might ask?? The issue with this is that little Pecky can’t sit on more than 5 medium size eggs and a few of the PB’s were larger. So…I did what any expecting chicken mom would do…I whipped out the incubator and put the remaining 6 in on May 12th. Pecky is sitting on 3 PB’s and 2 OE’s, that leaves me with 3 PB’s and 3 OE’s!

Then I was reading about the hatch rate of shipped eggs…and thought…hmm…OK…just get more eggs! Right? So, I ordered 12 Blue Isbar eggs and 12 Easter Egger eggs. They arrived, she sent 14 Isbar and two were badly cracked during shipping so that left me with 12. I received 13 Easter Egger eggs which all arrived in one piece!

I will be setting these in the incubator tonight when I candle my Partridge Brahma eggs. I can’t candle the Olive Eggers…they are too dark…so I’ll have to wait till hatch day to see what happens. It will be like a kid waiting to open presents on Christmas! LOL! I did candle the eggs under Pecky yesterday when she was out taking a break from being a mama! I confirmed that one of the PB’s is developing…the other two looked clear to me, but my sister-in-law thinks differently, no biggie, I didn’t intend to remove them anyway. Again…not able to peek at the OE’s .

When we were done candling the eggs yesterday my sister-in-law said “watch this”. She opened the door and yelled “Pecky, Pecky, your eggs are getting cold, your eggs are getting cold!” That hen came running in, slid sideways hopped into her box and rolled her eggs back under her and looked at us as if to say…” What is so funny?” It was hilarious! I wish she had warned me about what I was going to see! I’d have videoed it! It was too cute!

So, that is my hatching story for now, thanks for reading and I look forward to reading about the hatches you have going on!

Oh…and I did want to thank everyone that shares their vast knowledge, success and failures on here…it is awesome and quite the learning experience!

Happy hatching everyone!

Tina