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

[Sally Sunshine]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...f-the-brave-hatch-a-long-hosted-by-mike-sally ​

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Land of the Free​

Because of the brave!​

May 2016 Hatch-a-Long ​

Hosted by, Mike & Sally​

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Have Eggs in the incubator/s or under hens​

ANYTIME​

in MAY, 2016 to join us!​

COOL New CONTESTS​

w/ fantastic Prizes donated by…​

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Remembering Our Fallen CLICK HERE​

Random Drawing to be chosen from the stories.​

Prize: Bungalow CHICKEN COOP! (no run) CLICK HERE​

If the winner doesn’t want a coop $250 MPC credit.​

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Poultry Shaming Photo Contest CLICK HERE​

1st Place: Egg Collecting Apron CLICK HERE ​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: Green Goo, Herbal wound salve: CLICK HERE​

Show your Stripes! Patriotic Poultry CLICK HERE​

1st Place: Seabuck Feed Additive: CLICK HERE​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: Bon Temps Poulet Egg Soap: CLICK HERE​

Patriotic Party! Red, White & Blue Recipe/Photo Contest CLICK HERE​

1st Place: Peace, Love, Chickens T-shirt: CLICK HERE​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: Wire Egg Display: CLICK HERE​

Shouldered Poultry Photo Contest! CLICK HERE​

1st Place: Fresh Eggs Sign: CLICK HERE​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: 2 packs of The Chicken Salad Mix: CLICK HERE​

Poultry in Nature! Photo Contest CLICK HERE​

1st Place: Chicken Swing: CLICK HERE​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: 3.5 oz bag of Mealworms: CLICK HERE​

Natural Eggs & Flowers Photo Contest! CLICK HERE​

1st Place: My Pet Chicken Handbook: CLICK HERE​

2nd Place: Team Pokey Coffee: CLICK HERE​

3rd Place: Chicken Treat Ball: CLICK HERE​

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[DwayneNLiz]

Thank you all for your kind words really. It means a lot knowing that you all understand. This is only my second hatch that was a bust and my first was a very poorly packaged set(well two sets) of shipped eggs that the seller ignored my requests for being packed a certain way.

These eggs were our own and although we're having a few fertility problems currently due to our girls molting and not submitting to the roo I am sorely disappointed to have lost over 96 eggs. Really the number is probably closer to 120 after the eggs I added from the fridge, but many of those were old and not one did anything. I did my grieving for the losses and right now I feel well drained for one. The whole weekend was ups and downs while waiting for the eggs we thought were dead and had opened air cells to absorb their yolks and blood. It seemed like every time they got close to being ready they died. The chicks were beautiful and though a few were small and a couple had seemingly small legs proportionally they were all fully formed and most were very active in their eggs.

I'm not a fool I know there will almost always be losses. I understand and have come to terms with that. I don't like it but I know there isn't always anything I can do. I just feel like I could have done more. The whole hatch was buried in a mass grave today, something I hope we don't have to do again. After the eggtopsies I couldn't bring myself to throw out or compost the chicks, imagining the horror I would feel if we spread compost on the garden and found a chick skeleton. That's the part of hatching I think we all hate most probably is looking in those eggs we've been waiting on and finding out our waiting has been in vain and they have died.
I'm grateful to know people who understand the feelings when the hatch goes horribly wrong but I wish none of us had to.

along with world peace.

Sorry for the rant. Just needed to vent. I would ever so much rather have those chicks running around the brooder(in the side room) I know we all would.

I spoke to several of the people from the WI thread and discovered that most of them incubate at 40-45% humidity. They're more North of me but how is it that I can run my humidity at 26%-30% and have big sticky wet gooey chicks?

After cleaning the bottom of the bator with alcohol and wash/rinsing well and drying it, I placed the turner and all the staggered eggs back inside, including the huge egg on the side.

This afternoon another egg in the turner was pushed into the large egg and basically shattered one side of it. I pulled it out and opened it... Ugh. I'm sure eggs get more rotten but it was on its way. The insides were so far gone nothing was discernable except icky gross slightly off yolk colored goo that had started to smell. Thankfully I can see no grossness in the bator but it smells badly. Should I be worried about the smell? Again the egg didn't leak or ooze and it did not explode. Do I need to re-clean the bator?

I have been doing a smell check when we turned it BC it was hard to candle. I haven't smelled anything off until now. I'm so glad that I was able get it out before it got to the point of exploding, but it was too far gone to tell if it was even a double yolk. I did see a couple somethings that looked like possible embryos but if so they were quite early. No evidence of veining was discernable. It was a mess a smelly smelly mess. Lol


Good luck to us all on our next hatches, may the make up for as bad as these were.

Sorry to hear about your losses, it is never easy

good luck on the rest of them

 

[Sueg4332]

Quote:
pretty bird, how blue are your eggs.

 

[Bantambird]

pretty bird, how blue are your eggs.

Pale blue, there is a hen out there that lay a bluegreen egg with offwhite spots. She might have damaged shell glands. They aren't super robins egg blue, but sometimes i get one that is bluer on one side than the other... Some of my ladies are getting 3 to 4 years old.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

 

[mamahmendez]

Final Duck Hatch Update!

I have 4 wonderful Ancona ducklings. 1 Chocolate male, 1 "Likely Lilac" Femle, 1 TBD Female, and 1 Chocolate nonsexed. They are all happily waddling around and making a mess. They seem to love each other. They snuggle up together and comfort each other it seems. I did have a cord wrapped around on of the chicks (the one on the left in the first photo below, you can see were it was wrapped around her clearly even 2 days later). More info is below in case anyone encounters this.



My chocolate male "Cafe Latte"


Snuggling in the incubator together



Cord Wrapped Around Chick Info (maybe you need this someday) - I had one duckling born with the cord wrapped around i tightly. The cord held one wing down and she couldn't really balance. When the egg was completely detached from her and she was mostly dry I sterilized some first aid scissors, quickly grabbed the chick, clipped the cord (not removing or pulling it, just cutting it and kinda taking it off the skin) and put the chick back in in incubator. This chick still has a mark across its body with no feathers and a slight indention when the cord was. Her naval seems to be healing great too! You can tell which one she is because her feathers are kinda missing in a strip on the left side of her body. All seems fine with her at this point though.

The cord baby is the one in the front. You can see the "stripe" of no feathers going down her body. She is the one one the left in the first photo.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Final Duck Hatch Update!

I have 4 wonderful Ancona ducklings. 1 Chocolate male, 1 "Likely Lilac" Femle, 1 TBD Female, and 1 Chocolate nonsexed. They are all happily waddling around and making a mess. They seem to love each other. They snuggle up together and comfort each other it seems. I did have a cord wrapped around on of the chicks (the one on the left in the first photo below, you can see were it was wrapped around her clearly even 2 days later). More info is below in case anyone encounters this.



My chocolate male "Cafe Latte"


Snuggling in the incubator together



Cord Wrapped Around Chick Info (maybe you need this someday) - I had one duckling born with the cord wrapped around i tightly. The cord held one wing down and she couldn't really balance. When the egg was completely detached from her and she was mostly dry I sterilized some first aid scissors, quickly grabbed the chick, clipped the cord (not removing or pulling it, just cutting it and kinda taking it off the skin) and put the chick back in in incubator. This chick still has a mark across its body with no feathers and a slight indention when the cord was. Her naval seems to be healing great too! You can tell which one she is because her feathers are kinda missing in a strip on the left side of her body. All seems fine with her at this point though.

The cord baby is the one in the front. You can see the "stripe" of no feathers going down her body. She is the one one the left in the first photo.

dawwwwww CONGRATS!!

 

[GitaBooks]

So sorry to hear of your bad luck!!! Last hatch, I had a chick that had we neck and Leo flipping on its back. It also had trouble drying ugh and I finally had to bathe it. It went in for over 24hrs looking like it was on death's door step but I kept it in the incubator longer and I finally told my husband we needed to cull it. Well I didn't want to - and he forgot and left so I sat down to read for a little bit and thought surely it was going to die but I stared hearing frantic cheeping!! I went over and the chick that had Kaye's around and floors on its back for nearly two days, had righted itself and was sitting up! I thought it was a fluke but it was trying to get around. I took it out, carefully bathed it again and put it in it me own tiny box with towel (protected from the other chicks) in the brooder, right near the heat (not directly under so it wouldn't get too hot)

I had to leave for a few hours and I fully expected that this little one would not make it. I came home and it was still alive! It had a rough start for sure and needed some special attention but it's thriving with all of my other Easter HAL chicks now! I know this isn't always the case but I'm glad we didn't cull when I said to or that little one wouldn't be here. It's super quick and doing well - smaller than the others and not feathering out as fast BUT completely healthy and happy now.

We're your auction eggs from eBay?? I've heard horror stories from eBay hatching egg auctions! So sorry!!

That's so awesome it survived!

The crooked neck chick just passed.

The flipping chick is still hanging on. It is pretty active, just keeps getting stuck on its back.

I'm sorry to hear that. It can be so difficult to loose a chick when you try so hard to help it.

I've got a web named Gravy & one more who pipped about 11 am who will be named Toast (my April HAL is probably gonna turn into a May HAL).

Love the names.

Update: 26 eggs that made lockdown 14 hatched, 2 pipped and quit. tomorrow is day 21 at 11 am. Better pics later.

Congrats on the hatch!

All righty! Our first hatch is officially over, incubator clean and ready to fire back up in a few days for round 2. We had 29 in lockdown, hatched 18, one of those got shrink wrapped and I didn't notice in time(piping on the underside) and one had issues form the beginning and only lived a day(it was so sad). All in all we are very happy with the first round. Excited to set some more. Thank you everyone for your great advice a long the journey. Hatch with you again soon!

Congrats on the chicks! I'm sorry about the ones you lost, but 18 is really good.

2 more pics.

.

Beautiful colors!

 

[GitaBooks]

@Sally Sunshine



I finally got a picture to upload

Here are the 4 brahmas that hatched. From my experience (which is minimal) from this breeder the darker ones are the gold/black partridge and the one in the middle is the blue/gold partridge. I have hatched 1 splash from her in the past but it was very blond compared to the rest. All of the chicks are beautiful and I am so happy that I had a better hatch this time around

Beautiful picture and adorable chicks. I love their colors. : )

1 more pip this morning.

Congrats on the chicks! They're so cute!

Thought you'd all enjoy my 5 yr old daughter's picture...she said it's a chick in an egg and the point is where it's pipped and going to hatch from (according to her) and the chick on the outside already hatched...

That's so awesome!

She really knows her stuff about chickens.

2 more under the broody! Incubator 5, broody 4!

Awesome!

Waffle, Biscuit, Gravy and Toast.... if I get a duckling (I have decided to wait and to try again) I think I will name it Latte!
Congrats. I can't wait to see it all dried off.

I've got a chick hatching named Latte.

A few obligatory shots of my 4-5 day old Red "bricks"...

Awesome pictures! That is a nice red color.

Here is a basket o boys, all different colors of cockerels for cream legbar. There are more down patterns, but these are just a good example of the variety they can come in. These are from my flock.

So cute! I love the mix of colors. Its like art.

Well, I had a disaster this weekend. My outside dog got into the chicken run and killed all of my hens. I only had 4 in the run but he got them all, just for sport apparently. He didn't eat any of them. Fortunately, my 2 Icelandic chicks are still in the brooder inside. He's a good watch dog but he may be going away. I came real close to shooting him but then decided to think about it before I let my anger do something that I would regret. If I decide to get rid of him, I'll give the rescue people a chance before I put him down.

Any advice on this is welcome. Can a chicken killing dog be rehabilitated? I really don't want to put him down but I still want to have chickens.

I'm so sorry to hear that. It is so hard to loose your chickens.
Dogs have such a strong chase and kill instinct in them it can be hard to train them otherwise, especially if they've done it before. However, many dogs can be trained and if not then I'm sure another would love your dog. We've pet-sat dogs that tried to kill our chickens before and one of our dogs accidentally killed a chick it was trying to bring to Mom.
I volunteer at a shelter. They are always willing to find a home for a dog that has issues in another. If there is a risk of your dog getting to your chickens still, then don't feel guilty surrendering it to a shelter in order to protect your flock.

 

[GitaBooks]

I already shared my hatch results, but thought I would throw in some pictures too. They are all Silver Double Laced Bantam Barnevelders.

6 out of 8 hatched under my broody (the 6th chick is hiding).



6 out of 8 chicks hatched in the incubator.


And now my Buff Orpington thinks she wants to be broody too. Decisions, decisions!

Gorgeous babies!

That's an adorable picture! What breed are they?

She passed

I'm so sorry. That's always tough.

Final Duck Hatch Update!

I have 4 wonderful Ancona ducklings. 1 Chocolate male, 1 "Likely Lilac" Femle, 1 TBD Female, and 1 Chocolate nonsexed. They are all happily waddling around and making a mess. They seem to love each other. They snuggle up together and comfort each other it seems. I did have a cord wrapped around on of the chicks (the one on the left in the first photo below, you can see were it was wrapped around her clearly even 2 days later). More info is below in case anyone encounters this.



My chocolate male "Cafe Latte"


Snuggling in the incubator together



Cord Wrapped Around Chick Info (maybe you need this someday) - I had one duckling born with the cord wrapped around i tightly. The cord held one wing down and she couldn't really balance. When the egg was completely detached from her and she was mostly dry I sterilized some first aid scissors, quickly grabbed the chick, clipped the cord (not removing or pulling it, just cutting it and kinda taking it off the skin) and put the chick back in in incubator. This chick still has a mark across its body with no feathers and a slight indention when the cord was. Her naval seems to be healing great too! You can tell which one she is because her feathers are kinda missing in a strip on the left side of her body. All seems fine with her at this point though.

The cord baby is the one in the front. You can see the "stripe" of no feathers going down her body. She is the one one the left in the first photo.

That is so sweet! Chicks sure do like to help one another out and often stay good friends for life.