SheaBee
In the Brooder
- Jun 29, 2018
- 3
- 11
- 34
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I am not new to raising chickens, though I have not hatched any out before this batch.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I have 9 laying hens and a roosters.
(3) What breeds do you have?
We have one Leghorn hen, A good mix of Buff and Cochin.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
I found y'all with the help of Google.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Besides the chickens, I garden and create things. I especially enjoy painting. I am most familiar with using oil paints, but recently began using watercolors. I also enjoy photography and graphic design.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
It's just my husband and I living here. My children are all grown and we have 9 grand-kids. He is a chef of 25+ years and I am now a stay at home gardener/critter wrangler. I use to be in Emergency Preparedness and Management. We have four dogs, all of which were rescues. I'm sure we'd have many more if money would allow it. We also have an outside pond and two aquariums with a variety of fish in them.
So my first hatching: I collected a dozen eggs 3 weeks ago and placed them in my homemade incubator and set out for the adventure. I read and reread many of the articles here and a couple of other places online and in my chicken book. Confident I could do this I forged on.
I had been candling approximately every three days and marking the progress of the air pocket with a pencil. On day 15, I had to throw out 3 that had started to ooze slightly, and began to smell foul. Then on the candling of day 18 discovered that 3 more were no longer viable. So down to six eggs with little wigglers in them I went into lockdown. That's when the waiting really begins.
No longer turning or candling or anything else.....just waiting.
Well, on the morning of the 21st day two pipped! I got super excited.
It was a long day, but nothing happened. The two were cheeping now and then and I could see they were breathing. But nothing else the rest of the day. So on to day 22. I check first thing, still no progress. But while I was out feeding the critters two more pipped!
Reread the steps for hatching and sat on my hands. Read other posts and troubleshooting for hatches. Determined that it was time to help 'em out a bit. I zipped the first two eggs. Then put them back in the incubator and waited some more.
It was not long until the first baby made it out! You can see the video here:
Number two had no progress until later in the day after a bit more help and more time in the incubator.
Number three hatched this morning and and number four this afternoon. They are both doing quite well. So of the six that went into lockdown, four have hatched. Still nothing from the other two, no pips, no peeps, no response when I tap the egg. I'm going to give them both a couple more days and see where we are then. I hate to open it too soon, and not give them enough time.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any comments or ideas on how to improve my methods.
~SheaBee
I am not new to raising chickens, though I have not hatched any out before this batch.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I have 9 laying hens and a roosters.
(3) What breeds do you have?
We have one Leghorn hen, A good mix of Buff and Cochin.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
I found y'all with the help of Google.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Besides the chickens, I garden and create things. I especially enjoy painting. I am most familiar with using oil paints, but recently began using watercolors. I also enjoy photography and graphic design.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
It's just my husband and I living here. My children are all grown and we have 9 grand-kids. He is a chef of 25+ years and I am now a stay at home gardener/critter wrangler. I use to be in Emergency Preparedness and Management. We have four dogs, all of which were rescues. I'm sure we'd have many more if money would allow it. We also have an outside pond and two aquariums with a variety of fish in them.
So my first hatching: I collected a dozen eggs 3 weeks ago and placed them in my homemade incubator and set out for the adventure. I read and reread many of the articles here and a couple of other places online and in my chicken book. Confident I could do this I forged on.
I had been candling approximately every three days and marking the progress of the air pocket with a pencil. On day 15, I had to throw out 3 that had started to ooze slightly, and began to smell foul. Then on the candling of day 18 discovered that 3 more were no longer viable. So down to six eggs with little wigglers in them I went into lockdown. That's when the waiting really begins.
No longer turning or candling or anything else.....just waiting.
Well, on the morning of the 21st day two pipped! I got super excited.
It was a long day, but nothing happened. The two were cheeping now and then and I could see they were breathing. But nothing else the rest of the day. So on to day 22. I check first thing, still no progress. But while I was out feeding the critters two more pipped!
Reread the steps for hatching and sat on my hands. Read other posts and troubleshooting for hatches. Determined that it was time to help 'em out a bit. I zipped the first two eggs. Then put them back in the incubator and waited some more.
It was not long until the first baby made it out! You can see the video here:
Number two had no progress until later in the day after a bit more help and more time in the incubator.
Number three hatched this morning and and number four this afternoon. They are both doing quite well. So of the six that went into lockdown, four have hatched. Still nothing from the other two, no pips, no peeps, no response when I tap the egg. I'm going to give them both a couple more days and see where we are then. I hate to open it too soon, and not give them enough time.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any comments or ideas on how to improve my methods.
~SheaBee
We are glad you joined our flock!
You did good, mama hennie! 
Welcome to BYC!!! 
Congrats on the chicks! 
The little white one really stands out.
