Silkie thread!

[Rowsdower]

Had a few early hatchers last night...

 

[esme13]

Thank you MistyLea for taking the time to detail all my questions.

Kelxey and Fancychooklady thank you for the information on the eggs.

I am so excited to see her go broody at some point, way better than having an incubator. Here is the picture I have of the moment of her that shows the blue. her back has a faded light tan stripes (chipmunk stripes). The person that had her said she was a porcelain blue. But I don't think the coloration formation is correct for that. as she's began to feather out a lot of her wing feathers have tan specks while her fluff on the chest and legs is a very light gray. Will get her 4 week photos later, I need help with taking them with the good camera. She was the only silkie the person hatch and i'm surprise she turned out to be a girl.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

I have a question for all you Silkie experts. I have a incubator full of Silkie eggs, this is my second attempt at hatching them. My last try was very unsuccessful. I ended up with only 4 hatching and I had to assist with 2 of those. Many of the others were malpositioned in the shell and were not able to make it out before they died. After that hatch I went searching for answers to why all the malpositioned chicks. I did come across a couple of
Post on a different site that said Silkies normally hatch early and that you should stop turning them on day 16 so they have adequate time to get in position. Just wondering if any of you use this technique? Mine started day 16 last evening. Thanks in advance on any advice that might help me to have a successful hatch this time.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Were your eggs shipped? I don't do anything special for my Silkie eggs. I usually get one or two early hatchers, but most of them hatch on day 21 if my incubator isn't running hot.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Were your eggs shipped? I don't do anything special for my Silkie eggs. I usually get one or two early hatchers, but most of them hatch on day 21 if my incubator isn't running hot.

Thank you for responding, no these aren't shipped eggs, purchased from a local breeder so no traveling with these

My last eggs didn't travel far, came from 3 hours away, but cold weather was a huge factor with those and they were from older hens. Just hoping that these do better as they are pure Silkies and were a little pricey.

 

[seminolewind]

I have a question for all you Silkie experts. I have a incubator full of Silkie eggs, this is my second attempt at hatching them. My last try was very unsuccessful. I ended up with only 4 hatching and I had to assist with 2 of those. Many of the others were malpositioned in the shell and were not able to make it out before they died. After that hatch I went searching for answers to why all the malpositioned chicks. I did come across a couple of
Post on a different site that said Silkies normally hatch early and that you should stop turning them on day 16 so they have adequate time to get in position. Just wondering if any of you use this technique? Mine started day 16 last evening. Thanks in advance on any advice that might help me to have a successful hatch this time.

First off, you can candle them before they go in the incubator and see if any have a detached yolk. I'm sure you wait about 24 hours with the round side up before you put them in. My silkies did not hatch early. Early may be a sign of temp too warm. Maybe.

I have found that the most important thing is to not let the temperature fluxuate . Try real hard. Either add water balloons and drape a bubble wrap over the incubator. The temp should be between 99.5 and 100. Use 2-3 thermometers, I have 3 right now. I promise this will help.

Also, when you turn them or once a day, move the outer ones toward the center and the center ones outer. There are microclimates in incubators.

 

[MumsyIII]

I have a question for all you Silkie experts. I have a incubator full of Silkie eggs, this is my second attempt at hatching them. My last try was very unsuccessful. I ended up with only 4 hatching and I had to assist with 2 of those. Many of the others were malpositioned in the shell and were not able to make it out before they died. After that hatch I went searching for answers to why all the malpositioned chicks. I did come across a couple of
Post on a different site that said Silkies normally hatch early and that you should stop turning them on day 16 so they have adequate time to get in position. Just wondering if any of you use this technique? Mine started day 16 last evening. Thanks in advance on any advice that might help me to have a successful hatch this time.

I usually see this kind of trouble in chicks with enormous vaulted skull or shipped eggs. It could be you just had a bad batch/hatch. It happens.
I turn my eggs by hand three times a day until first pipped egg. I incubate dry at 30% humidity and up it to 60% at first pipped egg. My Genesis 1588 has a fan and holds a steady 99/100 degrees. I turned my eggs this morning that are due because there were no pips then at 8 am. When I came to check them and maybe turn at noon, two chicks had hatched! Robust healthy chicks will do that from robust healthy flocks. There are many reasons for bad hatch rates. I find silkies from some strains to be more tricky than just silkies in general. Nutrition, virility, and good health of breeders is where it starts.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I have a question for all you Silkie experts. I have a incubator full of Silkie eggs, this is my second attempt at hatching them. My last try was very unsuccessful. I ended up with only 4 hatching and I had to assist with 2 of those. Many of the others were malpositioned in the shell and were not able to make it out before they died. After that hatch I went searching for answers to why all the malpositioned chicks. I did come across a couple of
Post on a different site that said Silkies normally hatch early and that you should stop turning them on day 16 so they have adequate time to get in position. Just wondering if any of you use this technique? Mine started day 16 last evening. Thanks in advance on any advice that might help me to have a successful hatch this time.

My last silkie hatch was complete by day 18. Luckily I had turned the turner off 12 hours before and all but 2 of 24 hatched.
Have you calibrated the temp in your bator ? Mine was nearly 3 degrees out.
If you are running the unit exactly the same as your last hatch , then yes I would stop turning at day 16-17 .
Humidity could also be the problem , if it is too high you are prone to get fully formed ''quitters ' .

This is a very informative article that anyone even contemplating hatching should have bookmarked.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Fancychooklady]

Had a few early hatchers last night...

 

[Sylvester017]

Your eggs would be fine for consumption if it weren't for the antibiotics, CRD is not a zoonotic disease. It's true that some birds won't display notable symptoms but the disease will run its course through the flock and effect egg production. The disease is transmitted vertically through the egg from generation to generation. Ideally people with diseased birds should either cull or operate a ' closed flock ' no birds in , no birds out. Whilst people are treating birds and then selling them on and infecting other flocks , it will remain a problem. While raising chickens has become ' the in thing ' unfortunately responsible husbandry has not.

Yes, the eggs would be alright for consumption as with so many other treatments used for various maladies except as you say for antibiotics. You can't avoid getting around treating with antibiotics for some maladies and I've had flaming feedback from ppl violently opposed to even use of certain antibiotic brands but I like my vet's cautious and thoughtful approach to treatments he prescribes. So I continue sharing my experiences and leave others to form their own conclusions especially if they've thoughtfully done their own research.

I see so many posts throughout BYC where novices who never had poultry want to know how to go about selling eggs to help with flock costs. Research, research, research, BEFORE attempting to do anything that requires transactions with the public. Probably one of the main reasons CRD has been spread on to such a high percentage in U.S. backyard flocks - including customer claims that reputable business hatcheries have shipped unaware of disease or bacteria in their chicks. The latent diseases classified under the CRD umbrella can be one of those silent culprits that doesn't scream in advance "Here I Am!" so I love breeders who openly share the susceptibility in certain breeds in their reviews rather than hiding such information. The subject comes up in so many BYC posts.

Husbandry laws are in place for a reason (of course seeing them enforced is a whole other subject!) but I digress. The more I research the less I discover I know even though I was raised on a farm. Animals are a huge responsibility - on the equation of having children in my mind. I was fortunate to advise one potential chicken owner - assisting him in evaluating his requirements and alert him to the responsibility and expense of having such a "hobby." Besides no knowledge of chickeneering he had absolutely NO space that would allow even a small flock to remain healthy. I applauded him for doing the research BEFORE acting and he came to his own realization about the limits of his particular situation. Just because your city is zoned for livestock doesn't mean you plunge into chickeneering without research.

I love your input as you eloquently add and cover much information I might leave out in these posts.