Mid December Hatch-A-Long!

[diamondsilkies]

I know a lot of people will probably be doing the Christmas Hatch-A-Long this year, but I'm doing a hatch planned for relatively mid-December, so if anyone had any eggs they had to put in the incubator earlier, please feel free to join, even if they're hatching several days off from mine!

I'm doing a couple different hatches, all set within the past few days and tomorrow. They should hatch right around Dec. 15-ish. I'm using a Brinsea Mini Advance incubator and one other that I'm not sure on the brand (borrowing it from a friend).
Anyways, I've got:
1 serama egg set Nov. 23
14 silkie eggs set Nov. 24 (I got them from @RubyNala97 )
I might also stick 2 more serama eggs in there if I have the room, although it might get a bit crowded!

Anyone who wants to tag along for the fun (whether they're hatching eggs or not!) is more than welcome. Let's hope for a good hatch!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I guess I qualify. I have 2 batches. The first is 10 Black Penedesenca eggs from one flock due on December 5. Then 12 eggs from 2 other flocks due Dec. 8. All Blk Penes.
They're in a LG.
This will probably be my last setting this year. I'll likely set again January 8. They'll hatch January 29 under a waxing moon in Cancer.
If I hatch enough and have buyers, I'll be shipping that Monday.

That will give me a month to rehab my big incubator and maybe get work done on building an Arduino controlled one.

 

[diamondsilkies]

I guess I qualify. I have 2 batches. The first is 10 Black Penedesenca eggs from one flock due on December 5. Then 12 eggs from 2 other flocks due Dec. 8. All Blk Penes.
They're in a LG.
This will probably be my last setting this year. I'll likely set again January 8. They'll hatch January 29 under a waxing moon in Cancer.
They'll be ready to ship bright and early the next morning (a Monday).

That will give me a month to rehab my big incubator and maybe get work done on building an Arduino controlled one.

You definitely qualify! Can't wait to see the chicks!

 

[diamondsilkies]

Alright, well one of my seramas went broody and I needed to hatch out a couple more seramas so that one in the incubator won't be lonely...so I stuck three serama eggs under her as well. This is her first time being broody so I probably won't end up letting her keep the chicks, but we'll see.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I sometimes break first time broodies. But, if they screw something up, it is usually during the incubation. Once the chicks hatch, they usually make fine mothers. And no need for electricity.

 

[diamondsilkies]

I'll see how she does, and then if she gives up or if she starts picking on the chicks, then I'll put them in my incubator/brooder. There's a first time for everything, so I might as well let her try it out. I'm also worried about her ability to keep them warm, since she's so tiny. She has trouble keeping herself warm some nights. We'll see how it goes.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Well the new broody went to bed and left her eggs behind in the nest, so I made room for them in the incubator. I also accidentally cracked a silkie egg while turning today...luckily they aren't very far ahead.
Anyways, that makes for a total of 18 eggs in my incubator , five seramas and 13 silkies. Normally I just hatch white silkies, but these ones can be white, black, or paint, plus the occasional random color, so I'm excited to see what I get!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well the new broody went to bed and left her eggs behind in the nest, so I made room for them in the incubator. I also accidentally cracked a silkie egg while turning today...luckily they aren't very far ahead.
...

If the crack isn't too bad, you can use liquid skin bandage to seal it.
In the past, I've tried beeswax and nail polish to no avail. However the last 3 eggs I sealed with liquid skin successfully hatched. It also has antiseptic properties in case some bacteria was in the crack.

 

[diamondsilkies]

It was pretty bad, across the whole middle, unfortunately. However, I did candle the first serama egg and it's fertile! I haven't hatched out any chicks yet from this hen or roo, so I'm super excited to see what it looks like!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

One of the eggs I dropped had cracks on at least one third of the shell. It was basically mush. I loaded the liquid skin on all cracked parts. I worried the chick wouldn't be able to break through. Don't know how long it took but I went to bed without a pip and woke up to a chick, none the worse for wear.