September Hatch-A-Long!

[epmchickens]

The quail portion of my hatch is over lol. 18 out of 19. I candled it and listened to it after all the others were out and nothing. So I piped it and was dead. And smelly..... verr gross. Tomorrow my chicken eggs should start. I have 4 old english crosses, 5 silkie crosses, and 1 mystery egg. Iys white and all my hens lay brown eggs. I'm really excited about that one. And then next Wednesday I have 1 more old english, 1 silkie, 1 mystery white, and 1 blue egg due to hatch and that's it for the year. Well....maybe 1 more group of quail before my hens stop laying but no more chickens till spring.

 

[familypendragon]

And here are the chicks in the brooder!

 

[jnjmanning]

Some pics of my malpositioned chicks waiting while they absorb everything.

This one is one of my olive eggers (Mommy was a Blue Marans and hopefully her daddy is the Ameraucana - if not its the Cuckoo Marans). As you can see her foot is straight above her head and she is wedged in good and tight. She still has absorbing to do so I am not letting her out.



This was another olive egger with the same mommy and I am pretty sure her daddy was the lavender ameraucana since she appears to already have a beard but we'll see better when she is dry. She was all done absorbing so I freed the top membrane and the shell behind her back which was at the top of the egg and prevented her from turning. Once I did that I set he back in the hatcher and she was able to push her way out. All yolk was absorbed. He naval bled a tiny bit when she puller the shell of so I put some antibiotic ointment on it and it seems fine now.


Here are my 5 waiting chicks. clockwise from the white egg is my SBEL (They call a cross between a White Leghorn and an Ameraucana a "Super Blue Egg Layer") She also has her entire back in the top of the egg. She is almost done absorbing her blood but I don't know about the yolk. Better safe than sorry so I am leaving her in to cook some more in spite of her chirping insistence that she wants out. Today is only day 21 so all of them should be fine for some time.

Next is the Olive Egger from the 1st picture. Still has plenty of absorbing to do - again you can see her foot across her face.

Then are the 3 Partridge Penedesenca. They are all virtually upside down - almost sideways - with their backs in the tops, butts by their heads and wings seem to be under them. The last one was the one that was trying to pip out the side of the egg and hit a vein but couldn't get its beak clear. Its still hanging in there. But the hatched chicks were tearing up its membrane so I got them out and into the brooder. Now they all just need to rest and absorb some more without being used as soccer balls.

I have read many posts from breeders with the dark hard shelled eggs. They have a hard time hatching. Some even file the shell before setting. And I always hatch in trays. I have lost chicks due to egg bowling from excited hatchers. Never again. I bought these awesome trays where they get good air and moisture. I do keep an eye on them in case a pip comes at the wrong end. But I have only had one pip low so far. Legs over the head is very common and not considered a mal position. It happens a lot in long legged chicks especially. Are you incubating upright and then laying to hatch?

 

[sweetappleacres]

How soon does a hen take her chicks out of the coop? My hens decided the chciks were apparently old enough- at 2 weeks- to take them into the run.

 

[Heidisgran]

How soon does a hen take her chicks out of the coop? My hens decided the chciks were apparently old enough- at 2 weeks- to take them into the run.

mine do sometimes with in days

 

[chickydee64]

How soon does a hen take her chicks out of the coop? My hens decided the chciks were apparently old enough- at 2 weeks- to take them into the run.

Of course there are no absolutes..... My hens usually take them out after a few days..........

 

[katie1500]

Went to sleep and now I have two more Silkie babies that hatched!

The AM is so photogenic as you can tell. I'm still waiting on some of them to pip. But I'm still on the bottom of the 20th, so I'm being patient

 

[Angie Poo]

I had 2 hens that went broody this spring and as soon as they were sure all their eggs that were going to hatch hatched they had them out and about in the run. Of course the babies couldn't make it back in the coop so I had to build them a separate pen away from everyone else.

How soon does a hen take her chicks out of the coop? My hens decided the chciks were apparently old enough- at 2 weeks- to take them into the run.

 

[sweetappleacres]

I had 2 hens that went broody this spring and as soon as they were sure all their eggs that were going to hatch hatched they had them out and about in the run. Of course the babies couldn't make it back in the coop so I had to build them a separate pen away from everyone else.

Mine have all seemed to acknowledge and accept the chicks. there is one hen that I think is just curious bc she's only 6 months old but she gets pecked at by the mommas. she's not allowed to get too close. I'll have to help them get back in the coop bc of the pieces of wood they'd have to cross to get back in. They're so cute though. I love seeing the moms teach their babies the ways of chicken life.

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: isn't that the sweetest? I sit and have my coffee and watch all my babies...the mamas with the chicks is overwhelmingly sweet