"Springing in the Chicks" 2016 April Hatch-a-Long Hosted by Mike & Sally

[weegarden]

Yay! All 6 chicks are out!

Awww, I so wanted my small Brinsea to be full of babes like that, but I am having problems getting them through the last couple of days in there. Not sure why. I have to do some checking on humidity and temp. Something isn't quite right. Yours are adorable!

So sad...and mad at myself. Came home to a drowned chick. We have the small chick waterers but it still drowned. Added marbles now. It was my Delaware with the messed up feet so maybe it was a blessing since I wasn't sure we could fix them as bad as it was, but still it is heartbreaking. 4 of 5 silkies hatched. I put them in a new brooder and moved the blind Moran with one of the other small morans into that brooder too. Hoping that the silkies will be nice to the blind Moran, but it was too upset at the move so I had to move one of the others over with it.

I'm so sorry. That is absolutely frustrating. Hugs.

So sorry for your lose. It is heartbreaking when something happens. I have been battling healing and lose at out house too. I discovered a scorpion in our brooder today and I just don't think 2 of the small chicks resisted playing with it and appears 2 have been stung... recovering is not going well. Hugs to you and best wishes to your flock.

Oh my, I couldn't handle scorpions! Terrifying!!!! But, you probably think that about our snowstorms! Oh wait, I do too! Ugh!!!!!

Nice hatch!!

Very nice hatch! Cute babies!

Day 20 is almost half way complete and I have my first Silkie!!!!!


I also have 2 more pips....and a few internals pips as well!!!!

day 21 they pop like popcorn!

Precious! I can't wait to see popcorn. I need more mommas first. I only have a couple of girls, so we are hatching slowly, a couple at a time.

My first Silkie just popped out too! It looks like yours, but I think it is a paint. I forgot how loud Silkie chicks can be too. I gave it my little chick toy and now it is quiet.

My friend wants some of my Silkies but if this one has loud spots, I am keeping it!

Yippee!!! It sounds adorable! Yes, my friends always want mine too, but they are mine, all mine!!!

Ok...just locked down...& FORGOT to put my no slip pad in there...it's just the metal grate that's over the water troughs right now...will they be ok???! Should I take them out and add the pad now?! Dang it...this day was nuts enough - I KNEW I'd forget something!!!

Also, can someone remind me the ideal temp for lockdown on a forced air styrofoam incubator??

Yep, I would throw it in quick before pips. The metal grate works, but it is gets super hard to clean. Temp stays the same, humidity up. Paper towels work too, as long as they are rougher for traction.

I don't know too many people that raise bantam pure Rhode Island Reds. I know one BYC member who I believe does, Dick Horstman who is a poultry judge who lives in I believe Pennsylvania. I raise large fowl pure Rhode Island Reds. There is a thread on BYC for the Heritage Rhode Island Reds. My current avatar is one of my females that won a champion at a show. Hatchery RIR's can be somewhat aggressive but I have never had a mean Heritage Rhode Island Red. I raise both Rose Comb and Single Comb.

They are very beautiful!

 

[weegarden]

So, what happens if I am so addicted to reading the posts on this hatch-a-long, and to watching my baby chicks hatch and grow, that I can't get any of my other work done? I keep sitting down to do it, and I can't stop thinking about chickens!

@weegarden My April hatch update:
Apr. 3 10 out of 11 hatched 6 white silkies and 4 Plymouth rock
Apr. 13-15, in my classroom 8 out of 11 hatched. So, we have 2 white silkies and 6 Plymouth rock X any other rooster winner.
April 24-25 Out of 15 eggs, hatched out 7 Plymouth rocks and one blue silkie.
Set 55 eggs, that are due to hatch on May 2nd, but will have plenty of infertile, due to one rooster who is not doing his job. (Yep, I pitched a ton of these. I have 18 left.) Should hatch on May 3rd.

Exchanged the infertile black ameraucana rooster on Apr. 23rd, so I’m excited to be getting some chicks from my very nice black ameraucanas. The breeder was super nice about this, and I got to visit his beautiful farm again! Gorgeous!!!!

I found out that my Easter Egger rooster, in another pen, is also not fertilizing. He is old, and produced plenty of beautiful chicks, so it might be time to put him out to pasture. He was hatched when my daughter was in my first-grade class, and we have had him ever since. He was the reason we built our first chicken coop, and got the bug bad. J His name is Cock-a-doo-doo.

Found out that the rooster my students named Mikey, is a girl! The first-graders had a great laugh over that!

April Total Count: 26 chicks. 17 Plymouth Rock and 8 white silkies, and 1 blue silkie.

Ready for the May Hatch-a-long to begin! Hoping for some better numbers this month. I really want some more silkie babies badly! Praying for at least 1 baby from my beautiful show girl Princess, who layed her first egg in a very long time, and it is fertile!!!!! Yippee!!!!

 

[dgibson0604]

Had 1 guinea hatch at 4:00 this morning will update with pictures.

 

[rossfam06]

My first Silkie just popped out too! It looks like yours, but I think it is a paint. I forgot how loud Silkie chicks can be too. I gave it my little chick toy and now it is quiet. My friend wants some of my Silkies but if this one has loud spots, I am keeping it!

If this one is a paint....I an keeping it also!!! .

I have another out and it's black or blue.... Hard to tell when they are wet. And 2 more pips. So that's 3 pips waiting to come out. Lol!!

 

[BullChick]

Ok...just locked down...& FORGOT to put my no slip pad in there...it's just the metal grate that's over the water troughs right now...will they be ok???! Should I take them out and add the pad now?! Dang it...this day was nuts enough - I KNEW I'd forget something!!!

Also, can someone remind me the ideal temp for lockdown on a forced air styrofoam incubator??

You drop it one degree. It is still a new thing, so not everyone knows about the study.

 

[trailrider330]

So, I gave in and decided to take a better look under my broody. Glad I did. 6 chicks have hatched!!! Unfortunately, 2 of the chicks were actually out of the back side of the nest and were no longer under the broody.

At first I thought one was dead, but upon moving the other one, it moved. I placed them both back under the broody, but now I am wondering why they are not doing well. Is it because they are cold (it's currently 55 degrees here and I have no idea how long they have been out of the nest) or did the broody kick them out of the nest because she sensed something was wrong with them? I guess time will tell.

Checked on the chicks last night at 11:30 PM and the two that were out of the nest were doing much better. Checked again this morning and they are still going strong and staying under mama hen.

Hoping their only issue was that they were a little chilled.

 

[Chaos18]

Had 1 guinea hatch at 4:00 this morning will update with pictures.

I have officially had my worst night mare come to life

I set 24 cream legbar eggs in my incubator 3 weeks ago
2 were infertile which is fine.
One died in the egg around the middle of th incubation.
Everything else hatched which is great...........
But 14 are roosters!

So only 8 hens
I am happy and sort of angry that
There is so many roosters...

If that's your worst nightmare I'd say you're doing pretty good. Problem is Cream Legars don't really get big enough to make a proper meal out of them.

 

[Chaos18]

Checked on the chicks last night at 11:30 PM and the two that were out of the nest were doing much better. Checked again this morning and they are still going strong and staying under mama hen.

Hoping their only issue was that they were a little chilled.

Hope they continue to improve.

 

[weegarden]

You drop it one degree. It is still a new thing, so not everyone knows about the study.

Interesting. I didn't know that! Where can I read more? Thanks for posting this.

 

[Chaos18]

Interesting. I didn't know that! Where can I read more? Thanks for posting this.

LOWERING TEMPS lockdown IS NOT NECESSARY but is said to AID THE HATCHING PROCESS post #2898