Serama Hatch-A-Long!!

[darkbluespace]

if I get a pair of silkied to hatch maybe we could do an egg trade in the spring

I love egg trades.

 

[formerchickenlass]

Thanks, the other one died too, but that wasn't surprising. I am still kicking myself a bit, it just sucks, but I don't think it is my fault really. From our communications, she was selling eggs that she didn't even really know we're going to develop. The eggs were really porous too. My eggs are much healthier. The breeder I got my silkied girl from has eggs with even thicker shells than mine. Her eggs are practically armored! They can be hard to hatch but they incubate well.

I have silkies hatching tomorrow-ish so that will make me feel better and Seramas in a week. Hatching can be so emotional, I appreciate the support : )

So sorry to hear about your eggs. That's extra disappointing to lose them when they're so close to hatching.

I have 6 serama eggs on lockdown as of today. 4 from a chocolate rooster I got a couple months ago, this is my first hatch from him. One from a beautiful rooster (my profile pic) who died unexpectedly last night (looked like a heart condition, he went down rapidly). And one mystery egg that was laid when I had a bunch of my gang were out together in the run, lol. Really really hoping all of these hatch.

 

[darkbluespace]

So sorry to hear about your eggs. That's extra disappointing to lose them when they're so close to hatching.  

I have 6 serama eggs on lockdown as of today. 4 from a chocolate rooster I got a couple months ago, this is my first hatch from him. One from a beautiful rooster (my profile pic) who died unexpectedly last night (looked like a heart condition, he went down rapidly). And one mystery egg that was laid when I had a bunch of my gang were out together in the run, lol. Really really hoping all of these hatch. 

Oh geez, I am sorry about your rooster! I hope his egg and all the others hatch! He was so beautiful!

I have 5 more eggs from my new silkied hen I am going to set tomorrow. I wonder how long they will stay fertile? My silkied roo is still young and they are not really used to each other yet.

 

[formerchickenlass]

Oh geez, I am sorry about your rooster! I hope his egg and all the others hatch! He was so beautiful!

I have 5 more eggs from my new silkied hen I am going to set tomorrow. I wonder how long they will stay fertile? My silkied roo is still young and they are not really used to each other yet.

Thank you. I'm so bummed about losing him, yet also wondering if it's good I didn't hatch much from him (I also have two 3 wk old chicks from that boy). That is, assuming the possibility it was a genetic predisposition to heart failure or just general inability to tolerate stress. The other two birds I got from the same breeder also have issues... one has seizures and the other can't put a shell on any of her eggs. In fact I don't think she's laid in months and she's still a pullet. Can't help but imagine there's some dud genetics in that line, which is a darn shame 'cause they're all beautiful. Hopefully these chicks will inherit mother's constitution. She came from lower quality but bomb-proof stock, lol.

This is mom when she was younger. She's turning a year old this month.



And their two boys:




I've been told two weeks is the expected time for a hen to retain sperm to fertilize her eggs, but that it can stay in there awhile longer. That's just the time period you'd wait before mating again if keeping them housed separately.

 

[darkbluespace]

Thank you. I'm so bummed about losing him, yet also wondering if it's good I didn't hatch much from him (I also have two 3 wk old chicks from that boy). That is, assuming the possibility it was a genetic predisposition to heart failure or just general inability to tolerate stress. The other two birds I got from the same breeder also have issues... one has seizures and the other can't put a shell on any of her eggs. In fact I don't think she's laid in months and she's still a pullet. Can't help but imagine there's some dud genetics in that line, which is a darn shame 'cause they're all beautiful. Hopefully these chicks will inherit mother's constitution. She came from lower quality but bomb-proof stock, lol. This is mom when she was younger. She's turning a year old this month. And their two boys: I've been told two weeks is the expected time for a hen to retain sperm to fertilize her eggs, but that it can stay in there awhile longer. That's just the time period you'd wait before mating again if keeping them housed separately.

She is amazingly beautiful. That is really too bad about all the health issues. I wonder if it happens in the breeding for more extreme type when people breed too closely related and exacerbate issues. I was pondering that in relation to the eggs I was attempting to hatch.

 

[darkbluespace]

My first three eggs from my silkied hen are on day 18! I put them in the incubator and left the next three for my hens to hatch next week. I put 6 more in the incubator the other day. I am excited to see the new chicks!

 

[Fluffyserama]

My first three eggs from my silkied hen are on day 18! I put them in the incubator and left the next three for my hens to hatch next week. I put 6 more in the incubator the other day. I am excited to see the new chicks!

day 19 candled before lock down and tossed one EE with a blood ring. One of the serama eggs looks way behind the the rest. it's only filling half the egg but it has strong veins and was moving so I know it hasn't quit. If I hadn't been so paranoid about marking them in different colors I would swear by looking at size it's one of my day 11 eggs. I hope it can survive to hatch.
On a super happy note I heard a cheep when checking temp today so I know someone in there has internally piped!!!

 

[darkbluespace]

Good luck! I have noticed the ones that look smaller and behind like that are often malpositioned and will pip the wrong end.

I am on day 18 today I realized I was getting ahead of my self. My silkied hen and cockerel are now getting along and I put them out to enjoy the grass together today. They are both super sweet birds!

 

[formerchickenlass]

She is amazingly beautiful. That is really too bad about all the health issues. I wonder if it happens in the breeding for more extreme type when people breed too closely related and exacerbate issues. I was pondering that in relation to the eggs I was attempting to hatch.

Thank you.

I think you're right about the focus on type. Breeders line breed to focus in on desired genes but undesired genes will also become concentrated. And many don't keep their stock for longer than a couple years. I'm sure a lot of them don't refresh their stock and/or cross back out frequently enough to maintain optimum health.

I'll probably have the opposite problem. I love typey birds but I don't show and I like buying new birds too much. I filled my coop with seramas from so many different sources this year, I hardly have room to grow out new ones.

But, on that note, here are some pics from my latest hatch. 5 of 6 that went into lockdown hatched, one with assistance (from Aero, my recently deceased rooster).

 

[Fluffyserama]

super cute!!!! I hope I have babies like that soon.
Have one external pip that just broke through in the past hour, but the others seem to need more time.
Worried about a big storm due to hit this weekend. If it hits we'll most likely be out of power for god knows how long.
we don't have a wood stove yet so might be brooding by body heat
plus I have no idea what to do with my younger eggs if the power is out more than a few hours