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

[mlm Mike]

Chicks in the bator early this morning! I am a bit slow in posting!!
Waiting for Sapphires and Brahmas!!







Tagging the legbar!









Gooserz is getting big!!!

Quote: "The viewing spot"

The relative humidity in my locked down 'bator has held steady at 69% for the last two hours. Time to call it a day. See y'all again in the morning.

I swear my kid and I must have butter fingers. She dropped a silkie egg and it was a goner a few days ago. I just deopped on candling tonight. And it was fertile

Luckily it cracked and no ooz, so I waxed it. Not sure if that will work but I'm going to try.

We finally set up an incubator today with 45 eggs. (4 mottled Houdan, 8 olive eggers, and the rest are a mix of Wyandotte and Austrolorp brown eggs.)

We have 4 different roosters: Blue Polish, Golden Wyandotte, Silver Wyandotte, and one mystery Rooster with feathered feet and bright red eyes ...so our hatch should yield a neat mix of "barnyard" surprises this year.

@Sally Sunshine @lindalouly
Oh wow I just found out the little barnyard mix I have been so carefully incubating are not just normal chicks. The are 1/8 gray gamebird 1/8 asil game bird and 3/4 Japanese game bird. I hate game chickens. I had homes for these if they hatch but since they wanted pets I think these would not be good. So the original owners are going to get them back and I ordered 12 "nice" eggs to hatch for my friends pets. So my eggs are due to arrive 4/16 so i'll set them on sunday or monday the 18th.Lol helps my addiction too.....

Update edit
I just purchased 6 isabelle split to brown and 6 ayam cemani eggs to set on monday. Yay

Sorry about the game bird mixup. Glad you got even more eggs to hatch!

Quote: I hope so too!

There is a pip in one of the Serama eggs!!!!!!!! Day 19.

I wasn't going to set for this one, but I now have 4 eggs between 2 Broodies, so I'm in.

 

[Honora]

Hi everyone!! I just had a broody hatch out some mixes last weekend--- this weekend I finished hatching Chocolate Cuckoo Orpington and Crested Cream Legbars... Sunday I have more Cream Legbars to hatch as well as some of my Welsummer over CCL Roo mixes Also have a broody in the coop due in about another week and a half

Gorgeous chicks & hen! I just hatched out 2 chocolate cuckoo orps too. Do they always have the yellow spot on the back of the head? One of mine does and one doesn't. I guess I should ask the person I got the eggs from!

 

[mlm Mike]

I see 3 pips!

I have an UPDATE @Sally Sunshine
Set 5 more eggs in the bator Yesterday 4/11 to hatch on my Birthday!

The other eggs will get candled Tomorrow night or Thursday Morning!

Happy Hatching!

Awesome!

My first ever pip? Should I start playing sounds of chicks peeping?

Perfect pip too!

The little one above this is a hona/isbar cross. He presents all hona but is not!

So, this is some of the pics of the cross chicks that I hatched this weekend. I sold over 30+ of them and these guys are still left. It was my first offering of my chicks to the public this way. Lots of wonderful families came out to pick out their new members.

I did learn a lot from this experience. I was setting my due date on Friday so I would have Sunday to offer them for sale. It wasn't enough time and I jeopardized my hatch by opening the bator. In turn, I had stuck chicks that was all my doing. Also, I need more floor space for them to run around after hatch as it was clearly too crowded in the bator.

I set 127 eggs. Pulled the clears at day 10. I had 113 go to lockdown & only 14 eggs left un- hatched/unfinished.

Incubator is full again- I have way too much room in there! If anyone is in CNY and would like to buy any of these chicks above $5 each!

Happy hatching all!

Cute chicks, and incubator full again!

I'm joining.

I've got some bantam eggs under a broody hen and some in the incubator (in case something should happen to those under the hen). Her name is Ruby and she is one of my mix breed "Dalmatians". The eggs should be from a mix of all my other bantams, so hopefully I'll actually get some spotted chicks out of this round (last time I got this crazy mix of black, barred and partridge chicks).

I'm hoping this hatch goes better then my last, where I got... one chick. He's doing well though. Eve, my broody Sebright x OEGB hen adopted him. His name is X because of the "X" that was on his egg. Dash, his sibling, was also an assist but he didn't survive. I'm finding it hard to get more then four chicks to survive under a broody hen, always for different reasons, usually not the hen's fault. Predators, other hens, eggs going cold, poor fertility, weak chicks, dirty eggs, a broody breaking up, it just seems like no matter how many or how few I give them, they always end up with four or less.

Thanks guys for letting me join.

Here's a picture of X when he was assisted out of his shell. I was worried he, like some of his siblings, would be upside down in his shell and drown. Thankfully, he was okay and a strong little guy, ready to come out and get under a momma hen.

Welcome!

So now we have 4 out, 6 pipped...

One of the silkies I noticed has a HUGE vaulted head... The others are not like that/not that large. Our first vaulted skull chicken!!

I am going to go camp by the incubator and watch some more!

Great!

 

[Brittsplace]

okay so my hatch went far better than any of my others, this time I had all 8 hatch out! All are doing great, set another 11 bantam/silkie eggs

 

[CherriesBrood]

Ok, here it is. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

It doesn't necessarily mean they could have problems but this is the article that diagnosis's the problem of one was to occur. I'm leaving for an appointment but I'll be back in about an hour and a half. Hope all goes well for the hatch.

 

[billiejw89]

Ok, here it is. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

It doesn't necessarily mean they could have problems but this is the article that diagnosis's the problem of one was to occur. I'm leaving for an appointment but I'll be back in about an hour and a half. Hope all goes well for the hatch.

Thanks so much!

 

[billiejw89]

okay so my hatch went far better than any of my others, this time I had all 8 hatch out! All are doing great, set another 11 bantam/silkie eggs

Nice!

 

[mlm Mike]

good morning everyone!
I finally got a group pic of my April Fool's Day Marans and the power outage babies hatched 4/5.



And a couple more just because they're cute

I'm happy to update a happy outcome for the blue chick on the right that was an assist. This chick endured a very long hatch being a wrong end pip, and got stuck zipping during a power outage in an 84 degree bator. It took a couple days to perk up but it's really active and doing great now

And being the hatching addict I am, I'm planning on setting more eggs next week!

Cute chick pics. I'm glad you are setting more eggs!

I go into lock down tomorrow

Hi everyone! Day 15 Candling - DONE! Out of 27 eggs set, 20 healthy looking eggs remain. Yay! How do you think my air cells look? See pics.

I hear a little bit of chirping coming from my incubator today (due date is tomorrow)

Wonderful!

After my first hatch in my incubator, I have a Silkie that went broody. She is currently sitting in 7 Wyandotte eggs. And due to hatch the 19th.. First broody too!!! Lol been a exciting month.

Awesome, I love broody hens.

Weird news from the emu front... Unfortunately one of our chicks did not survive the night. It was pretty weak. It might have lived if I was providing around the clock care but I was just so tired I had to get a good nights sleep.

The weird part is that the 4th chick is still alive and has actually absorbed most all of its yolk... four days later! Everyday I was surprised that it was still alive. It was kind of gasping for air so I opened up the top of the egg so it could move its neck a bit and it is no longer gasping. Just chillin in the egg. I covered it with damp paper towels and gave it a good pep talk.

I wish I had left the chick that died in the incubator now, but I really didn't think this last egg was going to do much. I don't know if it will live but I am amazed by it so far, so I am going to hope for the best!

Sorry you lost one.

Hi everyone!! I just had a broody hatch out some mixes last weekend--- this weekend I finished hatching Chocolate Cuckoo Orpington and Crested Cream Legbars... Sunday I have more Cream Legbars to hatch as well as some of my Welsummer over CCL Roo mixes Also have a broody in the coop due in about another week and a half

3 out of 4 viable eggs have hatched under Azura! I am so excited. I think I put one or 2 FBCM eggs under her and one of them hatched! One chick is still working on hatching, but Azura is off the nest with her 3 babies right now. I'll get pics up when I can.

Great news Raz!!!

hatching 8 eggs each has a name on them (shanique,ralph,lofty,dizzy,pilchard,bird,travis and spud) under rico (a booted bantam) and they should hatch on the 24th and she is such a good mum last time she hatched all her eggs. so eggcited

Wonderful, good luck.

Got back from town and check the 'bator. Still sitting at 69% RH. Had a second pip. First one had not started zipping as far as I could tell.

 

[mlm Mike]

Getting eggs for incubator next week!!!!!

Welcome, great news on the eggs!

Hello.

Alright if I join? I put in 7 eggs 4 days ago. I put in 2 EE's, 2 Salmon Favorelle's, 1 blue Cochin and 2 Black copper maroons. All are very round eggs so i'm hoping for females.

Welcome! Good luck with your hatch.

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i can hear chirping! The 3 pips have gotten a bit bigger

Great!

 

[mlm Mike]

okay so my hatch went far better than any of my others, this time I had all 8 hatch out! All are doing great, set another 11 bantam/silkie eggs

Awesome hatch. Glad you were abel to set more!

Ok, here it is. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

It doesn't necessarily mean they could have problems but this is the article that diagnosis's the problem of one was to occur. I'm leaving for an appointment but I'll be back in about an hour and a half. Hope all goes well for the hatch.

Thank you! I had lost that link.