Michigan Hatchers! What'cha got cookin?

[Candy442]

Hello fellow hatchers.....looking for a little advice. One of my chicks that hatched has a good sized chuck of membrane dried on the side of its head....covering its eye. Am I correct in letting him recover over night and then try and soften it with some wet papertowel?

I would think letting it dry overnight would be best and maybe it would flake off better?

 

[naglady]

@mattsinger if your 3/4 zipped eggs have living chicks in them and its been 24 hrs i would help them, usually by day 23 i am done hatching.. there either dis or hatched..

for the dried membrane over eye, either way, wait and see if it flakes off or use moist paper towel.. or take it to the fawcet with warm water.. and put water on finger and work it off.

i do have a policy, if they dont hatch even with started zipping, and i can see or hear them chirping, i help them out , sometimes they get stuck.. and usually its the last day of hatch. dont help untill the last day,dont want to be opening the bator during lockdown, hope that helps for next time if its to late this time.

 

[mindylee]

Mindylee, you have bantam Cochins right? How many eggs can one hen sit on?

Yep lots of them.

Pending on the size and shape of the eggs and which hens I use to hatch... 9-12eggs each. I yry and use my bibiggest and fluffyiest hens at time of hatching. And have had 109 eggs going at once. I was using 14 hens then. As I looked at what eggs was fertile and alive, I had 81 good. As the egg # went down, I repicked hens and decreased their #s.
Them hens get moved to a broody hatch pen. At 15 days I look at the hens well being. Any skinny ones get replaced with newer broodies that have better weight. Once chicks hatch and turn fluffy they get pulled and placed into the chick brooder. As chicks hatch, certain hens get pulled from brooy pen as they are not needed anymore. After im down to the last few eggs to be hatched, I actually block off my nest boxes in the coop to start breaking the fever from any girls in there that way all hens are forced out of their broody state.

Then I just wait till it happens again in 30 days! Lol. Then it happens all over again with the broody fever! However if not hatchin eggs... I just block all nests to keep it under control and any egg laying hens lay in a open nest box milk crate. Broodies never use it so that nest is safe from them lol.

Its a none stop broody cycle fest in my coop with this breed.... but I know how to control it and keep it under control when need be. But when I want to hatch... I just let them go!

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I did help with one of my Marans mixes last hatch, she had partially zipped but not progressed for almost 8 hours. There were no other pips or zips at the time that so I opened the bator really fast and got her out of there. I already had 100* water running in the sink so I pried off most of the shell but it was stuck around her eye and head, so I just wetted my fingers every few wipes and hand cleaned her then dried her off with a papertowel. She fluffed up just fine in the bator.

 

[mattsinger]

@mattsinger
 if your 3/4 zipped eggs have living chicks in them and its been 24 hrs i would help them, usually by day 23 i am done hatching.. there either dis or hatched..

 for the dried membrane over eye, either way, wait and see if it flakes off or use moist paper towel.. or take it to the fawcet with warm water.. and put water on finger and work it off. 

 i do  have a policy, if they dont hatch even with started zipping, and i can see or hear them chirping, i help them out , sometimes they get stuck.. and usually its the last day of hatch. dont help untill the last day,dont want to be opening the bator during lockdown, hope that helps for next time if its to late this time.

Thanks. Last night was the beginning of day 23.. at first I flipped the tops off using some plastic pics that I could fit in through the top air vents in the bator. When I saw the one crawled out I also noticed that the Wheaton had its wing glued to its head and could not move. Thats when I moved the others out and helped the wheaten out some more

 

[tlscott54]

Right now my black cochin bantam is sitting on 8 eggs. I'm sure their are some silkie eggs in there too and her chicks will be sizzles as my roo is a black silkie! If I've counted correctly this is day 23 and none are hatching yet. Going to wait a little longer before I pull the eggs as I'm not sure when they were all laid. Started counting hen she first started sitting so may have my dates not right, Any thoughts about this out there??
Also got a mix of chicks, orpingtons, wyandottes, australorp and light brahmas. Under lights right now and doing well.

 

[mindylee]

A sizzle is a frizzle crossed with a silkie.

A silkie crossed with a cochin is a silkin or cochie

 

[tlscott54]

Thanks for the info on the cochin/silkie cross!

 

[mindylee]

Thanks for the info on the cochin/silkie cross!

They are cute crosses and the fun part is how their feathers come in and what color they are. How many toes and color of skin. My crosses come all diff ways! And some are smooth with silkie hats!

 

[naglady]

mattsinger - i had that same thing happen b4, chicks wings stuck to head, i just washed it and loosen the wing and it was fine..