Mid January Hatch thread....

[joneus]

My eggs are under a broody and I feel just as attched to them as I prob would if I had them in a incubator but incubators scare me i'm afraid i would screw something up royally and i just don't want to take the chance. This time I promised myself time I would leave these eggs alone and only candle them twice but I candled them 3 times thinking that me messing with the my first set so much caused them not to hatch but I raise my silkie up daily to check on them. The last batch of eggs I had were my 3 banty's first eggs and the nest got tossed on a daily basis by my young polish hen so i candled them just about everyday to make sure they were still alive and in the end one out of 10 hatched. I honestly think the only way i wouldn't be attached to the eggs is if a hen went broody and hid her nest where i coudn't find it and just showed up with chicks

I think being unattached has more to do with the fact that I lost 6 of the 10 chicks that I hatched in November and the memory still stings. If I get attached to these ones & something horrible happens, again, it may put me off of ever hatching again. It hurt too much, kwim? Not handling them (turning & candling) or fussing over them (worrying about temps & humidity) has helped me keep from getting too attached to them. Letting my broody do it & not being attached has helped the time go faster, too! I cant believe we've only got a week to go!!

Anyhow, I wasnt going to try hatching again until next spring, but my Matilda went broody & I couldnt break her of it. Her stubbornness won out over mine, I guess, LOL! So- I gave her some bantam eggs and a penthouse suite on the front porch & wished her luck. I've checked on them twice (clearly she's doing a better job than I did!) and fuss over her but if they hatch, great! If not, well.... I mostly got them just to appease my very much loved, very much spoiled, little diva of a hen.

 

[suzeqf]

I think being unattached has more to do with the fact that I lost 6 of the 10 chicks that I hatched in November and the memory still stings. If I get attached to these ones & something horrible happens, again, it may put me off of ever hatching again. It hurt too much, kwim? Not handling them (turning & candling) or fussing over them (worrying about temps & humidity) has helped me keep from getting too attached to them. Letting my broody do it & not being attached has helped the time go faster, too! I cant believe we've only got a week to go!!

Anyhow, I wasnt going to try hatching again until next spring, but my Matilda went broody & I couldnt break her of it. Her stubbornness won out over mine, I guess, LOL! So- I gave her some bantam eggs and a penthouse suite on the front porch & wished her luck. I've checked on them twice (clearly she's doing a better job than I did!) and fuss over her but if they hatch, great! If not, well.... I mostly got them just to appease my very much loved, very much spoiled, little diva of a hen.

I totally know what you mean, I've been good I waited until Rosebud(daughters silkie) had been sitting tight for close to 10 days before I candled them and I feed her in her nest and moved her to the broody apartment about 2 weeks ago just to make sure no one tossed her nest my daughter would be very upset with me if anything happen her baby's babies normally she doesn't help me with the chickens but ever since Rosebud has gone broody she's been with me every evening when i put them to bed and she gives her a little snack before bed its so cute

 

[Sphinx]

OMG Ambrosia!!!!

I'm so excited for you!!!

Joneus, what happened with your last hatch?


I've successfully hatched two batches of chicks. The first set, I knew going in that I was giving them all away to SIL/BIL, and the broody did everything til day 20. I didn't trust the other hens to leave the chicks alone, so I took them in to the incubator the last day so my kids could watch them hatch. Plus, my broody had been so for 2 months straight, and I was genuinely worried about her healthy. While I was excited to see those chicks hatch, I wasn't particularly emotionally invested in them.

This batch, I've been much more attached to. Possibly because I incubated them, possibly because all my adult hens had been killed a couple months ago, so this symbolized the start of my new flock?

 

[ambrosia]

me too!

 

[joneus]

Joneus, what happened with your last hatch?

I still dont know for sure. Of the 28 eggs I set, only 13 made it to lockdown. Of those 13, only 10 hatched. They were shipped, so I expected a crappy hatch rate. The chicks did good for about 5 days & then one morning they started dying, one after another. In the end, I lost 6- including one that I was absolutely in LOVE with and fought really hard to save (he was an EE with a really funny pattern: his head started out yellow, but it faded into blue on his body & he had chipmunk stripes).

Interesting lesson, tho. Matildas eggs are shipped too- and I've only chucked one egg because it wasnt fertile. The couple of times I've checked- all the others are developing. Now I'm kinda worried that I really WILL wind up with 13 bantams and an EE on my front porch all winter!

 

[lilcritters]

I had one egg I left in from the Jan 12th hatch and it it PEEPING!!! There's a hole in it and I see a beak!!!! I heard it peep when I walked into the room to turn eggs... There was no lockdown and it is hatching!!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!


April

 

[ambrosia]

I had one egg I left in from the Jan 12th hatch and it it PEEPING!!! There's a hole in it and I see a beak!!!! I heard it peep when I walked into the room to turn eggs... There was no lockdown and it is hatching!!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!


April

Congrats! Sometimes it pays to just not give up

 

[lilcritters]

IT'S OUT!!!!!!!!


April

 

[ambrosia]

OH EM GEE!!! Awesome!!! now... have your peeps talk to my peeps....



Congrats!

 

[lilcritters]

It will be lonely for a few days... it's the only one that made it to hatch day... and I had it down for yesterday to hatch. I have others of the same color and lost track of which one it was! I figured if it hatched ok... and then prayed if it didn't hatch it wouldn't get stinky!


April