Setting eggs July 6th. Need some hatching buddies. Lets have some fun!

[chicks4fun]

The reason is mainly humidity. Most home incubators are quite small, and when you open it the humidity drops drastically and then can take several hours to climb back up. The chicks have to do a lot of wiggling about in order to hatch, and when they unzip they need to be able to rotate inside the shell to keep unzipping. If the whole egg loses too much moisture in the final days, the inner membrane sticks to the chick like they've been shrink wrapped. It dries to a tough leathery membrane that traps the chick in the shell and they won't make it out without assistance. By keeping the incubator closed the last few days, all all through the hatch, you prevent any chick from drying out so much they can't hatch. Back in my spring hatches, I had to open the incubator each day during lockdown to add more water because it was SO dry in the house the reservoirs were empty in 24 hours. So I violated the lockdown rule, but I went as fast as I could and opened it only when absolutely necessary. It worked fine, I had great hatches. So the lockdown rule CAN be broken, but you'd better have a darn good reason, haha.

Thanks for the great answer.
My last egg had a pip and no activity. We just helped it open so it may be from us opening to take out the other chicks & putting in water. Don't know how quickly they dry out. I hope this poor little guy makes it. The membrane was stuck and kind of tough---it was very scary trying to gently pull it away. We are watching the baby in the bator now. I want to take it out to the broody but it's so tired and weak.
More patience needed. . . .

 

[AZ Birds]

man it sure is bummer that everyone is having problems i was hoping to see plenty pictures on newly hatched chicks.as of tomorrow all my chicks will be gone. put a add on craigslist for $2 each and within an hour a guy called and said he'll take all that i had. kind of thinking now maybe i should have priced them a little higher lol. oh well $80 is good enough to buy many more eggs for hatching

.

 

[DraigAthar]

man it sure is bummer that everyone is having problems i was hoping to see plenty pictures on newly hatched chicks.as of tomorrow all my chicks will be gone. put a add on craigslist for $2 each and within an hour a guy called and said he'll take all that i had. kind of thinking now maybe i should have priced them a little higher lol. oh well $80 is good enough to buy many more eggs for hatching

.

Oh, I can show you pics! So in the end I got seven chicks out of my 13 eggs, but only because I helped five of them out of the shell. They were ALL shrink wrapped so badly, I'm surprised the first two made it out on their own. But they all seem to be doing okay so far, so I took photos. Here are all seven of them, grouped by mother.

 

[denmage]

Quote: That's great! What breeds will you be getting? Have fun!!!



Their roosters are a Salmon Favorelle and a Barred Rock. The hens are Americanas, Barred Rocks, Brown and Buff Orpingtons, Black Marans, and Red Blue Laced Wyondotte.

He said he would give me a call Monday or Tuesday, after they hatch, to arrange pickup.

Thanks for the great ideas!

 

[DraigAthar]

Their roosters are a Salmon Favorelle and a Barred Rock. The hens are Americanas, Barred Rocks, Brown and Buff Orpingtons, Black Marans, and Red Blue Laced Wyondotte.

He said he would give me a call Monday or Tuesday, after they hatch, to arrange pickup.

Thanks for the great ideas!

I have a salmon faverolle hen, she is the most entertaining chicken I have ever seen. She follows me around the garden like a puppy dog, right on my heels, bwaaarking constantly like she is telling me everything that went on while I was away. It's hilarious. She's also a good broody momma. I have a couple of buff orpingtons, too. One of them chases and eats mice. They are so funny when they run toward you, they look ridiculous. Sounds like you'll get some fun crosses!

 

[kreagerm]

Funny you say that about your faverolle. My faverolle is identical, such a great bird. This is her first time going broody and she
Is very devoted, maybe comes off the eggs every 2 days or so to stretch and talk, very funny.

Today should be day 21, I'm not hearing anything from her box but it could be muffled because if her laying on them. I hope so anyway.

 

[DraigAthar]

Funny you say that about your faverolle. My faverolle is identical, such a great bird. This is her first time going broody and she
Is very devoted, maybe comes off the eggs every 2 days or so to stretch and talk, very funny.
Today should be day 21, I'm not hearing anything from her box but it could be muffled because if her laying on them. I hope so anyway.

That's great, it must be a breed characteristic. Mine is named Sophie, she is SUCH a hoot. She walks right up to you and bwaaarks at you, then she stands on your feet and bwaarks some more. If you don't have a treat for her, she'll flop down on the ground right next to you and bwaaaark while taking a dust bath. You can pick her up and carry her with her legs dangling and she doesn't care, she just keeps bwaarking. The only time she was quiet was when she was setting on eggs or had babies. Then she was remarkably subdued. But as soon as the babies were grown, she was back to noisy old Sophie. She makes us laugh so much. Good luck with yours, I hope she has a good hatch. Sophie was the BEST momma, she tried to attack one of the neighbor's sheep that got out of its pen, because it got too close to her chicks. But she let me handle them all the time. Her chicks grew up to be tamer than any of the ones I had in the brooder house, because momma taught them not to be afraid of us.

 

[chicks4fun]

They're here!

I have three little chicks, they are so sweet.

 

[chicks4fun]

Oh, I can show you pics! So in the end I got seven chicks out of my 13 eggs, but only because I helped five of them out of the shell. They were ALL shrink wrapped so badly, I'm surprised the first two made it out on their own. But they all seem to be doing okay so far, so I took photos. Here are all seven of them, grouped by mother.

they are beautiful!

 

[Danielle2017]

I still have only one pip on the wrong end of the egg. I've seen two of the three rock today. They are due tomorrow.