Michigan Hatchers! What'cha got cookin?

[gladahmae]

Update pic of my possible barred/laced Wyandotte mixes. Cockerel is on the left, pullet (I think) on the right. He has better barring and she has better lacing.

 

[gladahmae]

This is the chick I'm most excited about from my broody hatch. It almost looks like a lemon Mille fleur or buff spangled or something. Hoping it keeps those white feather tips as an adult.

 

[BTinks]

So one of my broody hens seems to be thinking about bailing on her eggs. Thankfully her eggs aren't the expensive ones I got in the mail but I had just candled a couple nights ago and all were looking good on day 5. Now one has disappeared and she has been hit and miss with sitting on the remaining eggs (day 7 today). I'm starting to think about maybe putting my silky in tomorrow instead to try and force her to go broody and replace this one.

Thankfully my other broody with the shipped eggs is very dedicated and only has about a week left.

she's on day 13 with banty eggs. She is down to 15 eggs though. I think one broke and she ate it early on.

 

[gladahmae]

You can't really "force" a hen to go broody. Just sayin.


Waiting for my last egg to hatch. It was pipped yesterday morning, but since I moved the 5 hatched chicks out and into the brooder before noticing it was pipped, I thought maybe it was shrink wrapped. I made the hole a little bigger, and it is in fact NOT shrink wrapped. Hoping it's out sooner rather than later. And of COURSE one of my barred rock pullets is broody now (and MEAN! she almost broke the skin pecking me last night). Couldn't have gone broody a week ago so I could sneak these chicks under her. Noooooo. That would have made things too easy! *sigh*

 

[BTinks]

You can't really "force" a hen to go broody.  Just sayin.  

Yeah I know. There's not a lot of hope for these eggs at this point though so I figure I might as well try. My silkie has been acting a bit broody anyways and I have read a few threads of people being able to get a silky to sit with a bit of motivation. I caught my bad broody eating an egg this morning though so she is now banded so I never use her again and back with the flock. I don't have an incubator so my silky is my only shot at saving these eggs.

 

[iamfivewire]

Started up the incubator & set 39 eggs tonite - 31 IaB & 8 EE. We'll see what we get in about 20~21 days. Hopefully a better %age than the last time.

 

[BTinks]

My shipped eggs have been hatching yesterday and today! Most are done but I have one left that has pipped and has a ring of broken shell around like the chick was trying to hatch. I saw pips on it last night at about 9pm though and just now at 12:30 it was still in the shell. The shell has a full ring around now whereas last night was just four little spots but shouldnt the chick be out already? Should I help it at all?

 

[naglady]

btinks- my rule of thumb is if 24 hrs past, and is zipped, i help it out, sometimes the head is down to far, or wing is stuck to head.. check it out if you think its in danger especially if its the last one left..

 

[RTFchickens]

btinks- my rule of thumb is if 24 hrs past, and is zipped, i help it out, sometimes the head is down to far, or wing is stuck to head.. check it out if you think its in danger especially if its the last one left..

I agree.
I waited too long, and list a good chick because it was shrink wrapped. There was one other chick that pipped later then the shrink wrapped one, and I helped it out at 36-48 hours. I'm glad I helped "Lucky" because he is over a month old now and doing great!
I will never go so long again and let a chick die if I can help it. 72 hours was obviously too long...
I have a disclaimer though. I'm NOT a seasoned hatcher. I've only hatched out 40 chicks total from about 4 rounds in the incubator, so please consider the source when taking my advice.
Good luck to you and the little guy. Let us know what happens.

 

[BTinks]

I agree.
I waited too long, and list a good chick because it was shrink wrapped. There was one other chick that pipped later then the shrink wrapped one, and I helped it out at 36-48 hours. I'm glad I helped "Lucky" because he is over a month old now and doing great!
I will never go so long again and let a chick die if I can help it. 72 hours was obviously too long...
I have a disclaimer though. I'm NOT a seasoned hatcher. I've only hatched out 40 chicks total from about 4 rounds in the incubator, so please consider the source when taking my advice.
Good luck to you and the little guy. Let us know what happens.

I ended up losing the little one. When we went back out to check it and help it out the mama hen was off the nest and it had died in the shell. The abdomen wasn't all the way closed up tho so I think between that and the membrane seeming awfully thick, it didn't have much chance.
I did get 9 healthy chicks out of 16 shipped eggs though. One egg disappeared early on, three were either infertile or scrambled, two were quitters, and then the one DOA.

Verdict is still out on whether my other broody clutch will hatch. I successfully got my silky to go broody and sit on them but I'm not sure if the other hen was off them too long. I'll be candling them this weekend to try and get a feel for whether anything is developing.