Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[freejpony]

Well, I'm down to 1 Serama egg. Lockdown is on friday, so we shall see if my 1 little egg can beat the odds. I went ahead and added some more eggs to the incubator, it looked WAY to empty in there. So now I have the 1 Serama, 3 coturnix quail, 4 button quail, 5 bantam pheonix, and 11 barnyard mix. This will be my first staggered hatch!

 

[freejpony]

I am dry hatching this summer and it is going pretty well so far!  I made an incubator with a fan and a thermostat and it is doing great.  Still air doesn't have great hatch rates I hear.  I just used a computer fan and a phone charger to power it.  Not sure if I will totally dry hatch the next Seramas, but humidity has been pretty high without added water.

I hope you get some chicks soon!  I'm excited to see how they hatch for you!   As they are close to hatch I really cannot see anything in them at all!  The batch that my hen hatched I could not see much till they pipped internally... that was so exciting!

The Serama hens seem quite broody!  My Frizzle hen is sitting on some eggs that quit and I should have marked them because my little white hen has been laying there when Frizzle gets up.  I am wondering if her eggs are fertile... they weren't before but she's spending more time the rooster now.    Frizzle is on 5 eggs right now and sometimes they roll out from under her.  I try to keep hay in the box but it always comes out and the eggs just roll around ; )  I asked on the Serama thread and someone told me her hen hatched 9!  Guess it depends on the size of your hen.

My Castle Delight eggs should be here in the next week or so.  If none of these eggs are fertile then I will try putting some of the CDS under her.  I hear she packs her eggs really well and many people have good hatch rates on them.  Where did your last mailed eggs come form?  I have so far resisted buying any from ebay as they all ship from so far away.

My first Serama eggs were from CDS, but not shipped, picked them up at a swap. Hatched 2/12 eggs both pullets

 

[freejpony]

This new batch was from a ebay breeder in Arizona. Bird lady of alcatraz, I think? I think the shipping was to far for the little eggs.

 

[Tajann]

Here are my babies a week or so ago. I need to get more photos, they are getting bigger! It looks like I have 3 roos, one dark and 2 grey and yellow. Two of my girls are frizzled and one is brown with brown legs... can't wait to see how they will look!

Can you reliably sex that early?

 

[darkbluespace]

Well, I'm down to 1 Serama egg. Lockdown is on friday, so we shall see if my 1 little egg can beat the odds. I went ahead and added some more eggs to the incubator, it looked WAY to empty in there. So now I have the 1 Serama, 3 coturnix quail, 4 button quail, 5 bantam pheonix, and 11 barnyard mix. This will be my first staggered hatch!

Can't wait to see how they do! I'll have to look up bantan phoenix... they sound really cool! I have a barnyard mix in right now and thought I could try a staggered hatch with the Seramas when they arrived but I wimped out and ordered another thermostat so I can build a hatcher... have it all together, just need another fan.

 

[darkbluespace]

Can you reliably sex that early?

Yes, the roos combs are coming in and turning red. The hens have virtually no comb at all. I hope to get more photos soon... they will eat out of my hand and are getting more relaxed with me. I wonder how long my hen will take care of them... maybe longer than usual because they are so small? When she is done I want to bring them in and put them in a little aviary so I can handle them more before they go into a bigger coop.

 

[Tajann]

Well we are on day twenty on the eggs under the broody that were started in the incubator. I have been expecting chicks for the last two days. I have been on pins and needles and have been out to the broody box at least a dozen times just today listening for peeps and peeking in the box. I finally gave in tonight at dusk and disturbed the broody to get a quick candle. There's a chick mostly out!! It looks good and is peeping up a storm. Two more have internally pipped and two others look like they are working hard for it! One of the six was a dud. I was wondering about that one when I put it under her and it looks like it quit right after that, about ten days ago. I will be thrilled if all five make it.

I also have a single standard egg in the incubator that is on day 22. It's still moving around a lot but doesn't look close to hatch yet, still has bright veins near the top. Since it's a single chick I am hoping to sneak it in with the seramas for a while so it's not alone is the brooder box.

 

[darkbluespace]

Well we are on day twenty on the eggs under the broody that were started in the incubator. I have been expecting chicks for the last two days. I have been on pins and needles and have been out to the broody box at least a dozen times just today listening for peeps and peeking in the box. I finally gave in tonight at dusk and disturbed the broody to get a quick candle. There's a chick mostly out!! It looks good and is peeping up a storm. Two more have internally pipped and two others look like they are working hard for it! One of the six was a dud. I was wondering about that one when I put it under her and it looks like it quit right after that, about ten days ago. I will be thrilled if all five make it.

I also have a single standard egg in the incubator that is on day 22. It's still moving around a lot but doesn't look close to hatch yet, still has bright veins near the top. Since it's a single chick I am hoping to sneak it in with the seramas for a while so it's not alone is the brooder box.

Awesome!! So excited for you! I thought mine would hatch on day 19 too and then they finally did on day 21... looks like your chickies have the same plan : ) Let us know how they do! Oh little Serama chicks are the cutest, can't wait to see them!!

 

[darkbluespace]

My broody Serama is still sitting on eggs. All of her eggs quit... or so I thought... but my other hen laid eggs in her nest and they started developing so we have about 8 eggs, three under the broody and 5 in the incubator, all at various stages of development. That wasn't my plan, it just sorta happened. I am still nervous to try to hatch them myself, I thought maybe I could let the broody hatch them and take them out as they arrive so she can continue to hatch the others out and give her the last ones to raise. I really want some in a brooder so I can get my mitts on them and love 'em up!

 

[freejpony]

Glad to hear about the chicks hatching! I have one Serama egg that made it to lockdown, today is day 21 and I have a pip!