November/December "Hatch-a-Long"

[tommysgirl]

Just candled again...out of the five mottled ameraucana left I see definite movement in 3, the six silkied ameraucana I saw 4 with good movement! The others and the marans were too dark so only time will tell

how exciting hope you have a great hatch.

LOCK DOWN just commenced!

I have: 1 mystery egg (lovely mint green shell), 14 Lavender and Splash Orpington (not sure which was which), 6 Blue Orpington Roo over Splash Maran Hens, 11 Silkies, 8 BO/RIR crosses.

I'm so excited now. 4 eggs (3 Silkie and 1 BO/RIR cross) will be hatching later, but 36 are due by this weekend. Trying to contain my enthusiasm. This will be the first time I've seen Lav or Spl Orp babies. Really looking forward to the Blue Orp/Splash Maran mix too... if they're like their parents they will be GIANT meat birds.

I can hear your excitement. It's going to be a fun weekend isn't it!

My little malposition chick is zipping! I thought for sure I'd have to help her, but nope, she's got it covered.

She's out

Yipeeee!!!

Hatch Day is here...Finally!! I checked everything before bed last night and had a great surprise...one white silkie chick decided to hatch early! I also had two additional pips. This morning the chick is nice and fluffy and moving around well. One additional pip, so a total of three pips with no advancement from the two from last night. Hoping today will be a busy, productive hatch day!

So glad your hatch is going so well!

I am so beyond sad. My eggs in the bator are all goners. I keep the humidity in the 30's as advised due to the bator I have and on sunday I still have live babies and last night I candled only to reveal dark lifeless masses or almost transparent eggs. No movement from anyone or veining. And they were my catdance silkies.

I'm gonna take a long hyedas from hatching in the bator. Too many losses and almost nothing to show for it. I'm in the hole, financially and emotionally.

Don't give up yet. The ones that look lifeless may be fooling you.

 

[Pyxis]

Woke up this morning to one mix and three faverolles e And of course, the little malpositioned chick, who's happy to have friends. Duckling is due today and she pipped yesterday, so we'll see, they take forever. And I have one pipped EE left to hatch, and one faverolles egg, which still has movement but no pips.

And today was lockdown for the other batch, yay!

I promise to post pics of the chicks for you guys later.

 

[ShayBaby]

 

I thought I remembered reading that somewhere! Considering two others that looked the same made it to full development and died at hatch, it would make sense, but my little Brinsea holds temperature like a rock and never got over 100. So maybe it was a nutritional deficiency on the mothers' part or something. Thanks, though!

Good luck! They're so addicting!

Do you have a secondary hygrometer to read the temp/humidity? I have read about issues with Brinseas being off - all incubators can be. I remember someone in one of my hatch alongs having one that turned out to be like 4 degrees off. I didn't find that thread but did find a couple others.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/740642/brinsea-mini-advance-temperature-way-off
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/688078/problems-with-temp-on-brinsea-octagon-20-eco

I use at least 2

Yeah, the thermometer that came in the Brinsea reads a few degrees off, so I ignore that one have a second thermometer inside that I calibrated with another to make sure it was correct. I also have two analog hygrometers inside, both read the same.

 

[ShayBaby]

Looking forward to those pics, Pyxis! Especially the favs.

 

[DeannaA]

We all need to be patient. Everyone is so excited to meet their first chick that they are causing harm or worse, breaking live eggs or throwing them out. I have read over and over again about people throwing out 'clear' eggs at day 5 or 7. If the egg is clear, it doesn't hurt to leave it as long as it doesn't smell. They help maintain the temp. I have had the veins in the center of the air cell not show up until day 10. I wait until day 14. I have had no movement in an egg for a week and it still hatched just fine. When the chick is getting ready to hatch it stops moving to save up energy to pip the membrane. Then it rests and it's lungs get adjusted to the air in the air cell preparing it for the air outside the egg. When the oxygen in the air cell is used up it causes muscle spasms. (There is a pip muscle behind the neck/head and an egg tooth on top of the end of the beak just for breaking out of the egg that go away after hatch.) The spasms cause the chick to pip the shell. It rests again to save up strength to zip the egg. I have had a chick rest as little as 15 minutes and as long as 36 hours between pip and zip. I have had a chick zip in less than a minute and others that do it over a period of 24 hours stopping to rest. If you try to help an egg to soon, the veins may still have blood and the chick could bleed to death or drowned in the blood. The yolk may not be absorbed. The chick will be exposed to more germs before it is ready to hatch. If you help very weak chicks and you breed them, you will be breeding progressively weaker chickens. Each hatch you will have to assist more than the last. As hard as it is to let a chick do it on it's own, human babies need lots of help so we are programmed to help, it helps to make stronger chickens.

Having said all of that, I help some of my chicks. Especially when I only have a few of a breed. But I make note so I don't breed them. I am a sucker. I have to try and I don't mind taking care of a gimpy chick. I have been very lucky and have not had any that were in serious pain. Leg issues have been all I've had to deal with. I try to let them hatch on their own and if I do help, I help in a way that is simular to what the chick would do on it's own. With shipped eggs, it's hard to know if it's from the shipping or genetic. If you are only hatching for egg layers, helping won't hurt the chickens. If you are hatching to breed and sell, your chickens might look great but they could be passing on weak genes and causing hatching problems for the people buying from you. It's just something to keep in mind.

Most important thing is patients. Of which I had none but I am working on it every day. If you see my first posts way back when, I asked all of the same questions and made all of the same mistakes. It took me a long time to get this information from reliable sources. It helps me to know why. I can make a better decision with more info. People will just SHOUT!! at you not to do something but that doesn't help much. This is all from reading on Veterinary University web pages. I am hoping it is acuurate but I am not a vet.

Now back to Max....

 

[DeannaA]

I forgot to turn off my backyard light last night. So my Marans rooster thought he'd ask for breakfast at 5am. I turned off the light and he went back to bed. His crow is getting better. I feel like I am being blackmailed by my chickens. They are super picking but if I don't give them what they want they send the roosters to crow at my door. They stand right in front of my door and crow at me. The only thing that shuts them up is scratch. They don't like anything else. Poopy heads. I dug out all kinds or grubs, larvea and worms from my compost. They didn't care. It took a half hour for them to walk over and finally eat a few. I think most got away.

Today Max and I have been cleaning the house. Max is not afraid of the vacuum. She followed me everywhere while I vacuumed and cleaned. I think she was keeping her eye on it because it was stealing her treats. Max helps by eating half of the junk on the floor. I think I have become Max's mate instead of Mom. Or maybe I am the mom and my feet have become her mate. I sat on the floor to pet my dog and she fluffed up, hung her wings and started circling my dog. Oh Max, Max, Max, Max, Max. I had know idea this kind of behavior would start so young. She's just a baby, too young for a relationship even if it is with my feet.

 

[familypendragon]

I hope Max is a girl or you may be in for it... my BFs DH had to dispatch their male adult turkey because he would try to mate with everything - very roughly. He attacked her DH one too many times when he bent over in the yard

 

[DeannaA]

I hope Max is a girl or you may be in for it... my BFs DH had to dispatch their male adult turkey because he would try to mate with everything - very roughly. He attacked her DH one too many times when he bent over in the yard

I have been calling Max a her in the hopes it is a she. I love my Max, I hope nothing like that happens. Aww, Max just sneezed yogurt all over my computer screen.

 

[Pyxis]

Hey guys, opinions needed. My last little fav egg is doing nothing at all, and all the other eggs have pipped and the last one is zipping now. She hasn't even externally pipped yet, but when I candle I see movement. Now, I'm no stranger to helping chicks, so I know to wait and be very careful, but I'm starting to worry. Should I just go ahead and externally pip the egg for her so she has access to more air at least, or should I continue to wait? I just don't want to lose her this late in the game if I can help it.

 

[princess523]

Oh, hey my eggs were set last Thursday, shipped, as well. Seems if everyone has a great hatch, we should have a great lil' night waiting in agony together.

Haha all my shipped ones were set last Thursday and Friday! Fingers crossed for all of us. And them lol