Hi just an update on this hatch ( I put pics of them further down the thread), they are all doing really well ! I got x1 silver laced Wyandotte from the only egg of that breed I had so very lucky there, I got x3 Buff Sussex, x1 Wheaten Maran and x4 Cream Leg Bar - of which 3 are girls yay !
In total of the 18 I thought were fertile - x2 Wheaten Maran were not but its hard to tell with them, x1 hatched with a bizarre deformity in the form of a large growth on its head - it did not live long and another Wheaten Maran had late death at about day 17 or 18, of the Buff Sussex I lost one to a late death as well, one died trying to get to of the shell and one died shortly after hatch so really bad luck with those and of the Baranvelder eggs I got 0, as one was a late death and one was deformed - had no eyes but had developed all the way to day 17 or 18. So sadly I lost a large number right towards the end of incubation.
In total 7 chicks lost very late on, aside from the two that were deformed, I am not sure what I did wrong towards the end, but I have a sneaky feeling the incubator temp might have fallen by a bit on day 19, as I can not trust any thermometer 100%, the incubator indicated its temp was stable, but the thermometers I had inside it were reading a little lower, it was very cold that day and the indoor heating had kicked out over that period - not sure its just a guess. Either way I am happy I managed to hatch anything, as this is my first time ever attempting it, also my eggs were all mail ordered from
Ebay sellers, which I understand tends to produce mixed results. Still I have to say its been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life and I am just in love with my 9 new babies, I can sit and watch them play for hours. I should also add that my eggs spent four days in the post despite being sent First Class !! That was the UK Royal Mail.
As for the little cream leg bar who came out the gummy egg, she is the most tiny chick out of all of them, yet she came out the largest egg !! I feel very glad I helped her now - it was the right thing to do in that case, she really did need help to get to more air, actually all the cream leg bar chicks are small in comparison to the others, the Wheaten Maran is the largest. I am going to set a dozen more Wheaten and Copper Blue Maran eggs straight away, as I am keen to have mixed coloured eggs off my hens when they start to lay and seeing as I only got one Maran out of my last batch I am desperate for more, plus I just love hatching the babies ! lol
