Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[darkbluespace]

Here is a naked neck serama I told you all about...


So cute, I want one!

 

[mightymax]

me too, me too !!! It looks as though she'll need a little knit scarf to wear in the winter !!!

 

[Skink]

I'm a little worried about one of Pepper's eggs. I candled all the ones she was sitting on last night, and while all 5 are alive and kicking, one was cooler to the touch and seemed to be much further behind in development. I think she's not been keeping it as warm as she should be and it has slowed embryo growth significantly. I'm thinking come day 18 candling if it is still looking far behind I'll pull it and put it in the incubator, since it will likely be a late hatcher.

Dang though, I don't know what it is about hens but those little embryos are FIESTY. Granted serama don't have as much room to wiggle as these do come day 14 but they were kickin' harder than I've ever seen!

 

[mightymax]

@Skink ...Now Heaven knows I'm no expert on how to hatch Serama eggs (my current hatch being my first batch of them), but I have had other chicken breeds where this same
thing occurred. Usually when I would find one that seemed to continuously 'roll' out from under the hen, I would just keep sticking it back under her by putting it in the very center
of all the other eggs she was sitting on. I figured that way the egg would have a little buffer zone surrounding it and it would possibly take longer for it to 'roll' out the next time. That's only if I knew it to be viable of course, because my broodies are pretty good in determining whether or not an egg has potential or if it's a dud...so to speak, and for the most part, I trust
their judgement. So if I were you, I would just keep putting it back under her since you say it's alive and kicking, regardless of how 'delayed' the embryo might look. I once had a batch of
6 silkie eggs take over three days to completely hatch. A lot of development can happen in that amount of time. I mean just look at how much has already happened inside that
shell in just a couple of short weeks !!! Good Luck !!!

-kim-

 

[darkbluespace]

I have heard of hens with too many eggs where there is always an egg getting cold and none develop properly, but certainly 5 is not too many! If it is the same egg that is always getting pushed out, perhaps the hen has a sense that something is wrong with it and so she is purposely not letting it develop like the others. They may have a special sense for that sort of thing?

Without jinxing myself... I think I am about to have a good hatch, finally. I have 17 eggs that made it to lockdown and already have 2 wrong end pips this morning, so that is an excellent sign. I think I finally got all incubating conditions under control : ) Hopefully I will have more pips by this evening!

 

[Skink]

I personally really don't believe hens have a special sense for when an egg is good or bad. Hens will kick out perfectly viable eggs and sit on rotten bombs in the making none the wiser, there is nothing to really suggest they would know better. It luckily wasn't being rolled out from under her, it was just arranged on the outer edge of her batch all the time, and she wasn't always covering it completely as a result. She is actually hatching these babies in the adorable cat bed that she often plays on or naps in when she's not broody. Like here, skip to the end if it's too long because she accidentally cartwheels:

That thing is getting so ratty from her scratching and pecking at it so much. I think for her 1st birthday (april 21st I think it is,) I'll get her a new one. She's too heavy to roost comfortably now that she's full grown (bigger than in the video even) but who knows if she'll take to it. I wonder if she'd like one of those cute strawberry ones? Would be convenient since I had to build a little privacy tent around her for her brooding.

​

Good news though! I candled it again since tomorrow is lock down.. I can't tell which egg it is! After I moved it to the middle for her she seemed to get her act together and it is seemingly all caught up, since I can't tell who might possibly be behind! Maybe she just needed a little practice covering. Hopefully we are keeping a Lavender and a Millie Fleur, though if they turn out to be roos they'll be sold once sexable. All the others have buyers lined up. She's such a good hen, I'm really excited for her to be a mom. She doesn't yell at me when I check on her (raises hell when anyone else so much as comes in the room though.) I hope she'll be happy to let me hold her babies without a bunch of fuss.

I hope you get a good hatch, darkbluespace! The hard times have to let up eventually! Fingers crossed that you wake up to pips and zips as far as could be desired

 

[darkbluespace]

Pepper is one funny bird. The strawberry bed is adorable but I don't know if she'll be able to do all her tricks in it!



My hatch is going well... yay!! I have 7 fully hatched and 8 more working on it. I have 2 tiny eggs that quit late but if I get near 15 that would be awesome.... and about time!

Using a different incubator and winter humidity being surprisingly low, really messed with me for a while.

My little hatcher was a bit overrun so I put the hatched chicks in the bottom of my cabinet incubator and I LOVE being able to see them through the window.

I got 6 goose eggs last night so I could try hatching them. They are African and African/Chinese mix. I really want Sebastopol geese someday but for now I am going to try to hatch these!

They are HUGE!!! I can't imagine how big the yolks are.

 

[darkbluespace]

I have 14 chicks!! #15 hatched but I think I put him in the brooder too soon : ( I feel like I got Serama hatching mojo back.

Most of them are yellow to golden and some have chipmunk stripes... so cute. I have a bunch of eggs in the bator so I should be rolling in chicks soon. I was tired of people asking for them and not having any. My big frizzle hen went broody too so I put eggs from my black cuckoo/barred roo under her. I really want more of his babies... I hope to get some smaller than him.

 

[DRGLENNON]

Congrates!

 

[Skink]

Glad your serama mojo is back! I hope they threw some good babies for you. I haven't hatched a batch that size yet, it must be fun to stick your hand in to a swarm of wee fluffs! I hope they all do well for you, and that #15 hasn't fared too poorly. My first boy, I took him right out of the hatcher in to the brooder at seconds old since he was the only chick and went careening for a light bulb I hadn't properly chick-proofed. He's was ok! Dried faster, possibly.

The cochin bantams in the incubator have pipped. The millie fleur is zipping right now! I'm at a bit of a crossroads with hatching now because of it. I will be raising shipped chicks all of April and since they're my laying pets I'll want to give them my total attention, then going on a brief 4 day vacation at the end of May, so anything I set would be getting left unattended for the better part of a week or hatching when I'm not here. I know I want to hatch Muscovy, but I can't find eggs of the varieties I want, and I need to raise them alone so I have lots of time to spend with the ducklings so not until the girlsare 8 weeks soonest. I also want to hatch more serama though. My newest batch looks like 3 roos and a hen... I have been hatching two roos for every one hen. I need more hens and hatching seems to be the only way without paying for a $70 rooster I don't want, you know? At this rate I won't be hatching anything until June, and I don't know what to do next.

I need to sell my oldest roos, I guess. They aren't turning out great and I think they're beaten quality wise by what I've hatched since. At least I got my lovely blue hen Ping from that hatch.. I have no idea if she will type up enough to breed, but she is the sweetest thing since sugar. If I can move the boys fast enough, I'll have room to raise more Serama, and if not I guess I should plan to hatch summer Muscovy provided I can find the eggs.