Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[jeremy]

UPDATE!

I came home to an incubator FULL of chicks!

2 Delawares have hatched!

4 more are pipping!

I counted 8 W/BW Ameraucana babies too!

This is how I feel now ->

I am a bit worried about the first chick though, that hatched on day 19, tomorrow will be day 3 out of the egg, I hope he isn't getting hungry, I don't want to open the incubator now...

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I take them out 5 or 6 at a time as quickly as possible because of that! I just spray the remaining eggs with warm water. Congrats on the hatch so far!!!!

 

[kathyinmo]

Jeremy,
I take mine out, too. I do not allow them more than 24 hours in the hatcher. I do not spray the eggs though. Congrats on the chicks, and good luck with the rest of the hatch!

 

[jeremy]

What if the chicks are still damp from hatching? I've got a couple that are almost dry, a few that are like half dry half wet and I just walked in the room to find another baby Delaware that literally just hatched. I watched it climb out of the egg!!!

Should I grab the mostly fluffy ones that are standing up pretty steadily and leave the rest? The incubator is getting really full...

 

[jeremy]

There are too many chicks hatching to count!! I can't tell which are Dells and which are the Ameraucanas! Ah! I'm never going to go to bed tonight and I have to be to work at 6:00 tomorrow. They are all so adorable!

 

[joletabey]

Laney - you are so right about spring and a farm-time to repair, renovate and renew!!!Souls as well as buildings and equipment. I just stare and stare at my daffodils and my pyrrhus. I do NOT know how to spell phyrrus. Don't laugh. But it's a beautiful pihryss and it looks the best it ever has.

Rooster romance. . . . .Luke just jumps the girls, too. I have not seen Buckshot do anything yet, nor Ultrasuede, but I am guessing Ultrasude will be the romancer of the three- which reminds me, I have to go look up those pictures of fertilized eggs again, and see if Lukie boy is making contact!

I can't wait for those pics, Jeremy- I am SO sorry you have to go to work!

Countrychickengirl- good luck finding a home for your roos- I never could find one for mine, so three of them are in my freezer, and one in my MIL. When I work up the courage to eat one, I will report in about the experience.

Hope you all have a great day!!!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
I keep telling myself, "It's only a four hour shift, it's only a four hour shift, it's only a four hour shift...". Then I can breathe a little easier.

There are now 6 chicks that I removed from the incubator last night completely dry in a temporary brooder. I woke up to find 7 more little buggers in the bator! There were a few more Delaware pips and I saw 1 more Ameraucana pip, when I come home with the way these chicks have been hatching, pipping and completely zipping in like an hour and half, they should be out!

No movement or pip from the 1 BBS Orp egg that I set, hopefully it's just deciding to take it's time. I'd love to have him come into the world.

 

[popcornpuppy]

for Jeremy hatching his chicks!
Still want to see pics though. So while waiting for Urbanfamboi to get some pics, I thought I would share some of mine.
We have been flooded here in MA for days, and the weather has been making me blue. But today I am in a good mood because the sun finally came out and I have new chicks! In the last 5 days I have hatched about 40 chicks. Heritage RIR's, hatchery stock RIR/Barred rock mixes and doot do do doot.........DELAWARES!
Yes, my guys are of breeding age and this was a test hatch for me. All my Del eggs were fertile

but 3 quit on me early on

So I set 11 Dels eggs from my own backyard and 8 hatched

Now I can work on the second generation. So for all you guys with Ike kids, here are my Ike kids and their kids:
(I should mention that only half my flock are Ike kids, the other half is from a breeder in Pennsylvania)


This in Johnny. He is the roo from the PA breeder. His wing carriage is often droopy, (not the case in this photo) but he has a good comb (one extra point on the blade) and good body type.

This is Ben. He is an Ike son. Ben's tail is his only downfall. He has a nice comb (one extra point) but it's smooth and straight. he has excellent wing carriage, (just like the previous pic of Johnny, that's not the case with this photo) good color and makings, and he is actually bigger than Johnny. Ben is my man because he has his father's personality. Ben is such a sweet roo, that's why I can forgive the tail being too high and squirley).

These are some of my girls playing in their own personal jungle gym.
The girls from Cynthia have the darker markings. The girls from the PA breeder have good markings, but not as strong as my girls from Cynthia. I think the PA Dels will look alot lighter with age.

This gal has strong markings. She's the only PA gal in my group that is this dark in her markings.

Now for the babies.
this is the first one to hatch. He was a big joy to see. My very first Del hatched from my own flock!

Thes pics are horible! The brooder is filthy because I have been spending all my time pumping water out of my basement and not enough time doing my other chores. But I wanted to post because like I said, I am in a good mood today and wanted to share.
The dels stick out in these pics against the Red/Rock mixes.

Thanks for letting me share. I know you Del lovers with brothers and sisters to my flock may want to see what your guys will look like when they are mature.

 

[speckledhen]

Ladyhawk is going across Wyoming now. She has only a couple band of snow/sleet/rain to go through but when she passes through Cheyenne, WY, the rest of the country is clear as a bell. Poor thing! What an awful trip. And her drivers side wiper quit in a snowstorm! ARGH!

 

[kathyinmo]

Here's hoping Cetawin has a safe and uneventful journey the rest of the way. Poor thing has been through it all!

popcornpuppy, thanks for sharing the pictures! That's great, you now have another generation!

Jeremy, Can hardly wait for an update. Leave that Orp egg in there an extra day or two, if it doesn't hatch right off. Those Orps are notoriously late hatchers.