Red Partridge Orpington informational hatch thread

[K0k0shka]

In my hatch thread from last year, I documented everything with lots of pictures and explanations, especially overcoming some issues I had with the incubator. Lots of folks told me they found the thread very useful and helpful. So I decided to document this year’s hatch as well, including lessons learned from last time, and more process improvements.

I also want to photograph and share the growth and development of my Red Partridge Orpington chicks - what they look like at different life stages and how the partridge pattern comes in - so it can be helpful for people trying to sex partridge-colored chicks (I imagine the pattern develops similarly regardless of breed). Last year only one of my partridge eggs hatched and I had nothing to compare the chick to, and photos at different ages were VERY hard to find online. So I had a hard time sexing it until pretty late. That's why I want to chronicle my chicks’ growth this year to fill that void. Not just because it’s fun to guess boy or girl, but because sometimes there’s more at stake. For example, one of my neighbors hates my chickens and is looking for an excuse to call the authorities on me. Crowing would be a great such excuse. Last year I had a cockerel crow as early as 5 weeks old, before I was sure who’s who! The chicks were outside by then, and it became a huge problem. I can’t have that happen again, so this year I’m keeping everybody in the brooder inside my house until I can reliably sex the chicks and only take the girls outside.

Today is set day! I set 12 Red Partridge Orpington eggs ordered from Papa’s Poultry. They’ve flown coast to coast from CA to MA so I’m expecting about 50% hatch rate. Hoping to keep 2 girls, and eat the rest. My lone partridge Orp from last year was the family favorite from the brood, and the best chicken ever. So sweet, friendly, funny and full of personality. Sadly, he died at 5 months old. The kids really loved him, we gave him a proper burial in a little coffin, with flowers and everything. We wanted him to live on somehow, so we tried hatching eggs from his favorite girlfriend, but I guess he hadn't been doing the job well enough yet, because they were all infertile. So we decided to order eggs from the same breeder and hatch a new batch of partridge Orps, who would be related, in spirit if not in reality, to our lost friend. So this hatch is in honor of him.

I also set 14 barnyard mix eggs that a friend asked me to hatch for her. So, 26 eggs total.

I’m using the same Little Giant still air incubator again. Still air absolutely sucks and I had a lot of problems with that last year, so I'm using the same hack again - the handheld fan. I also have a salt-tested hygrometer in there and three calibrated thermometers. The first day is always the worst, tweaking things and moving eggs back and forth to overcome the inevitable hot and cold spots that are still there despite the fan (though not as pronounced as without a fan).

Tomorrow I'll write about lessons learned and things I've done differently this time. For now, here's my setup:

I have the thermometer probes in different parts of the incubator, and I color coded them so I know which display corresponds to which probe without having to follow the cords every time.

Salt-testing the hygrometer (before putting it in):

And calibrating the thermometers in ice water. They are impressively accurate:

 

[K0k0shka]

Recap from today: Day 21 started this afternoon. So far I have 3 fully hatched chicks and one external pip, all from my friend's local barnyard mix eggs. Nothing yet from my shipped eggs, not a single pip We're still only partway into day 21, so I'm trying not to worry. Last year I had shipped eggs hatch all of day 21 and all of day 22. So we'll see. They were all incubated under the same conditions (if anything, my shipped eggs got preferential treatment and got the best spots in the incubator!) so at this point it's just a matter of shipping stress or genetics.

Here's baby #3 bursting into the world:

That one is my favorite. It's the smallest of the three, and for some reason it bonded to me straight away. It became a bit of a problem, because it would not stay under the brooder plate. It kept running back out towards me and crying, then jumping into my hand as soon as I reached for it, nuzzling it and poking its head between my fingers. It was adorable, and so sad... this poor motherless orphan looking for a warm maternal body to snuggle against. The plate and its siblings clearly didn't satisfy that need It slept in my hands for a while, and after a bunch of unsuccessful attempts to stuff it under the plate (it got mad at me for it and sounded downright betrayed!), I finally managed to get it to stay there by turning the room light off (it was getting dark outside) and stuffing it under the plate with my hand under there as well, making contact with it, waiting until it fell asleep, and slowly sneaking my hand back out. It was content to stay under the plate as long as it could feel my hand touching it. I'm in love... And so sad that I'll have to give it back (my friend would totally let me keep it if I asked, but I can't succumb to chicken math). Another reason why this chick is my favorite is that it seems pretty smart and well aware of its surroundings. Out of the three, it was the only one that drank water on its own as soon as I placed it next to the waterer. The others looked at the water with a WTF look and walked away. I had to dunk their beaks in to show them what it was. Same with food, this little thing started pecking on its own without being shown. It seems very alert and confident, even though it's the smallest.

Here it is

Asleep in its happy place:

And here are some fluffy butts enjoying a warm snooze under my DIY brooder plate.

Check out my fancy new brooder! Made it out of a chest freezer box. Much bigger than last year’s.

 

[K0k0shka]

#8 did it!!! My first partridge orp is out!!! On day 22, but still - it’s here and it’s alive

 

[K0k0shka]

She hatched all three! I’m so proud of her for seeing this through. They came out from underneath her to check me out when I started talking to her. One black, one gray and one chipmunk So cute!

 

[Faraday40]

Love this pic!

 

[K0k0shka]

I stayed up until 4am last night... I set a 15 minute timer on my phone and went to sleep in the guest room, got up to check on progress, set another 15 minutes, and so on for several hours. The chick that had trouble zipping did eventually start working around the egg, and by 4am had its back where the beak was initially, so I concluded that it must be able to turn after all, so I went to sleep in my bed. The kids woke me up around 7 to announce that there were 3 partridges in the incubator and a 4th that looked stuck... Sure enough, that same one was still having trouble. It hadn’t progressed since I left it 3 hours earlier, and was struggling with the shell. I didn’t want to lose it so close to the finish line and got worried it would dry out, get stuck and rip its skin off pulling. So I helped it the rest of the way out. The membrane had dried and was REALLY stuck all over its body, but I moistened it with warm water and it eventually peeled off without any damage. The baby is doing well now, drying off in the incubator with its buddy from this morning. The two from last night are running around the brooder pecking at toes right now.

Current count so far: 5 from my friend’s eggs and 4 from mine, a 5th from mine is starting to zip. The partridges all look different... The first is very red, the second very yellow, the third has a lot of brown/black on it, and the 4th is still quite wet so I can’t tell. This is a project breed and he’s still working on it, which would explain the color inconsistency. Makes it easier for me to tell the chicks apart, but I wonder what they’ll grow up to look like!

 

[K0k0shka]

The broody's babies finally agreed to follow her outside, on day 3 of the barrier coming down. Nice sunny day today, perfect for playing outside. They are still very timid and don't want to copy what she shows them, like dust bathing. The chicks in the brooder have been dust-bathing for days now, without anybody showing them, but the broody's chicks don't do much even when their mom is actively showing them. I'm very surprised by this, though it's been a very long time since I last observed a broody with chicks, so I don't remember much.

She's showing them everything though, even brought them to eat with the aunties (this is the wet mash I make for them because it's their favorite; the chicks still have their chick feeder and waterer with regular stuff).

She tried to dust bathe with one of the chicks, but all it did was try to shove itself between her feathers the whole time:

The dust bath is pretty deep (to keep the dust in), so I got worried that it wouldn't be able to climb back out, but by the time I went to get more bricks to make steps, it had already come out of there somehow. I still made a couple of steps up on the inside though.


The aunties are a little curious, but I haven't seen them make contact with the chicks yet at all, or make any kind of moves towards them. The yellow ones are very fearful of the broody and will run away screaming if she comes close

Enjoying some sunshine:

So far integration is going very well! I'm happy and relieved.

 

[K0k0shka]

7 week photo update, if anybody’s still following. By now I am absolutely positive that all 3 are pullets. The one I wasn’t sure about still stands out starkly in terms of color, but has the smallest and palest comb of all three!

Pooh:

The Baby:

The Pretty One:

They are VERY affectionate with me and love cuddles and perching all over me. If they get spooked, they fly at me and try to hide in my armpits or climb on my head. They are absolutely heart-warmingly adorable, and I’m keeping all three! If I need to thin the flock down for any reason, I have one or two from last year’s brood that I’d rather get rid of than these sweethearts. Last year’s were also heavily socialized and are very sweet, but these three surpass even that. They are perfect pet chicken material. I’ve been spending more time with them, and I only have 3 to split my love between, unlike last year, when I had 11.

 

[K0k0shka]

Long-overdue update: 4 months!

The chicks have really filled out and are now bigger than my adult Barnevelders! And each one of them has something quirky about her, which breaks the breed standard but also makes her more interesting and unique.

Here's Pooh. She used to be the largest when younger, but has been demoted to second-largest (after the dark one). She has the richest and most saturated colors of all, and looks like she'll have very clear and well-defined lacing once her adult feathers come in.

As you may have noticed, she looks quite buttless. The breed does have a very round shape, but this is something else - there seems to be something wrong with her tail She does have a tail nub, but it's smaller than her sisters' and she is unable to move her tail at all. It just always points straight down. She has always been like this, so it's not an injury. It's just more noticeable and prominent now that she has filled out more. It doesn't seem to bother her. She's healthy and acts normal, and is perfectly mobile otherwise, she just can't move her tail.

Here she is compared to one of her normal sisters:

Here's "the baby" - the assisted hatch, still smaller but not by much, very densely patterned pullet!

She's more yellow than her sister's orange, but also has good patterning and looks like she'll have denser lacing than Pooh's, though probably not as crisp and clearly defined (judging by my Barnevelders' feather development, which has the same double lace pattern, and so far these chicks' lacing is following the same trajectory).

The baby's unique feature is that she has blue legs. She'd be disqualified for that, but I love her blue legs! They make her look special. She's the sweetest and "babiest" of the three, and loves sleeping in my lap


And here's the dark one - the now largest of them all, the bravest, the most curious and most actively social of all! She resembles her deceased big brother the most, both in personality and in looks. The reason why we hatched this batch of chicks was so he could live on through a couple of sisters - we loved him so much! And we're very happy that at least one of them carries his spirit.

Her unique feature is her colors. She really doesn't look like the breed at all. She actually looks more like a Barnevelder! The original, red-laced variety, not the silver laced that I have. She makes a nice counterpart to my silver laced Barnevelders. I can't wait to see her final adult feathers and a nice clear double lace, next to the crisp white double lace of my Barnevelders. They'll be so pretty together! Except that she'll probably be twice their size

Fun observation: I just realized that her colors are an inverted version of what they are supposed to be. Her sisters are orange with black lacing, and she's black with orange lacing! How cool is that? And that blue-green sheen on the black is just icing on the cake!


All 3 pullets are VERY social and cuddly! They love hanging out in my lap, napping on me, climbing on my arms and shoulders, and love being held. They'll even squeeze themselves under my armpit to get a snug hug They used to all pile up in my lap together, sometimes on top of each other, but now are too big to all fit at once. So sometimes one will get pushed off, and will resort to sitting next to me instead. Last year's brood was heavily socialized and is very friendly, but I've spent even more time with this bunch and the difference is noticeable. They are even sweeter! I love love love all three of them!!!

 

[K0k0shka]

I sectioned off part of the coop for the broody and her chicks, so the other chickens don't mess with the hatching eggs. The chicken wire is loosely attached to the window (hooked onto the HC, since the window is open) so I can pull it aside easily and access the other side of the coop. I made a ramp down from the nesting box, not too steep so the babies can go up and down (the pieces are nailed down so they won't wobble). I moved the big feeder over to the other side and left a chick-size feeder and waterer on the broody's side. I saw her eating and drinking today just as I was wrapping up, but she went right back to the nest after. Actually, she tried but failed - I hadn't put up the ramp yet but had removed the little step stump that was in front of the box. The opening is less than a foot from the floor, but I guess even that was too much... She was sitting on the floor in front of the box, looking in, confused I put her inside and installed the ramp. I made a temporary nest box out of a milk crate for the other chickens. They already used it and seem fine with the changes overall. No eggs on the floor or in the run. I’m happy with my setup.