New to BYC

[JessicaMallison]

Hi there and Welcome to BYC! Sorry you had to give up your babies! I never incubate (broody hens are better, in my opinion) but TwoCrows has given you good advice. Good luck with the hatch!

I would love to be able to use a broody hen! I have some Silkies on the way. Fingers crossed they're as broody as everyone says they are. What breed are your broodies?

 

[Michael OShay]

I would love to be able to use a broody hen! I have some Silkies on the way. Fingers crossed they're as broody as everyone says they are. What breed are your broodies?

The broodiest hens and best mothers we have had (out of dozens of breeds) have been Silkies. Our Cochins have run a close second. Both breeds raised a number of broods for us.

 

[JessicaMallison]

[COLOR=333333]Hello there and welcome to BYC! [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

Sorry you had to give up your babies. I am sure that was pretty hard.

Good luck with the hatch! On lock down day, get your humidity up to 65% or 70% and open all vents wide open. If you have to, put some damp sponges inside the incubator to get the humidity up. Wet them down, don't completely wring them out, but don't put them in there too dry either. Day 21 is only an average hatch date so don't panic if day 21 comes and goes. Sometimes they can hatch days later if your temp was a bit low. When they pip, (break through the shell to breath) they can sit like this for 24+ hours, so don't think you need to break them out of the shell. They are busy absorbing the last of the yolk and detaching from the inside of the egg. And NEVER open the lid of the incubator when there is pipping! You can dry the chicks right up and they can stick to the inside of the shell and die. After they are all hatched and dry, you can remove them. If there are still eggs yet to pip and you know they are viable, you can quickly remove the dry chicks and continue the incubation process. 

Here is a nice article from our learning center on hatching eggs...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

Good luck and I hope you get a good hatch!!

Thank you! I candled for the last time tonight. Out of ten eggs I have 4 definate moving babies, 1 possible, 2 early quitters and 3 that appear to be infertile(unfertile). I don't want to remove any yet.This is my first hatch I don't want to be wrong and accidentally cull any babies.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.
Good luck to you!

 

[drumstick diva]

Sending good hatching vibes your way

please let us know the results

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with the hatch!

 

[JessicaMallison]

I keep seeing titles attached to your names like Golden Feathers. What does that mean?

 

[Kelsie2290]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/byc-memberships-help-support-backyardchickens Gold and Platinum Feather are paid memberships that give you some benefits (like making the ads go away, making up your own User Title etc).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...s-what-are-they-and-how-when-are-they-changed The New Egg etc are User Titles and they change depending on how many posts you have.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Welcome to BYC!!! There are loads of members on here…so if you have ANY questions…just ASK!!!

Hope you have loads of fun and all your answers answered here on BYC the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM on EARTH!!

 

[JessicaMallison]

[COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Welcome to BYC!!! There are loads of members on here…so if you have ANY questions…just ASK!!![/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Hope you have loads of fun and all your answers answered here on BYC the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM on EARTH!![/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

Thanks for making me feel so welcomed! I live in Galveston, Texas for those who don't know it's an island and there just aren't a lot of chickens around. Or chicken lovers. So it feels good to be apart of a group that understands my love for chickens!