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

[junebuggena]

Congratulations! Any idea on the DIS? Nice brooder setup.

I had some problems with consistent humidity from days 4 to 7, so that might have been a contributing factor.

 

[chickendreams24]

Update on my "April" hatch.... Still no idea what is going on. We lost all of the dozen but three eggs that are still in the bator. They all have open air cells as we thought they were dis. We are waiting for them to absorb their blood and yolk before continuing with the assists. Been a rough couple of days at one point we had 8 in the bator and all have been dieing one by one. Idk why when they're not killing and their blood isn't absorbed. He had one that tried to pip through a blood vessel and one broke it's yolk sac. We did have one pip but it turned in the night and suffocated. All of the eggs are very gooey and wet despite having incubated dry. The humidity never got over 36 and was usually about 26-28. With the temp spikes I am not sure why they are so sticky.

Candled last night for the rest of the stagger. Days 8 and 15. Had to pull 18 of 40-42 some inferts and a bunch if blood rings. I'm very disappointed in this go around. Some of our ladies are molting so I'm not surprised about the inferts but I'm very bummed about all the blood rings. I can only attribute it to another temp spike, this one only got to 102 and I don't believe it was there very long.

I am trying to save some of these chicks but I don't really think at this point that we will be getting any chicks. I'm just not ready to give up on them yet.

Still thinking I'm seeing something in the huge egg we think is a double yolker, but it's very hard. The shell is thicker in the middle making it very hard to candle. The air cell has been growing nicely and the egg does look different than at first.

The Easter hatch chicks are doing great and today have the run of both sides of the "cooler" coop to play in. We are working on the transition of introducing all the chicks to the flock but it is complicated by our two broodies with chicks, as they are a bit over-protective. Have been bouncing back and forth on the gender of my little blue EE from the Easter hatch. I am so very much hoping for a pullet.

This is the huge egg with one of our largest eggs(buff Orpington) next to and slightly above it.

ETA: anyone have any ideas on the gender of the slw/EE mix?

 

[Chaos18]

Update on my "April" hatch.... Still no idea what is going on. We lost all of the dozen but three eggs that are still in the bator. They all have open air cells as we thought they were dis. We are waiting for them to absorb their blood and yolk before continuing with the assists. Been a rough couple of days at one point we had 8 in the bator and all have been dieing one by one. Idk why when they're not killing and their blood isn't absorbed. He had one that tried to pip through a blood vessel and one broke it's yolk sac. We did have one pip but it turned in the night and suffocated. All of the eggs are very gooey and wet despite having incubated dry. The humidity never got over 36 and was usually about 26-28. With the temp spikes I am not sure why they are so sticky.

Candled last night for the rest of the stagger. Days 8 and 15. Had to pull 18 of 40-42 some inferts and a bunch if blood rings. I'm very disappointed in this go around. Some of our ladies are molting so I'm not surprised about the inferts but I'm very bummed about all the blood rings. I can only attribute it to another temp spike, this one only got to 102 and I don't believe it was there very long.

I am trying to save some of these chicks but I don't really think at this point that we will be getting any chicks. I'm just not ready to give up on them yet.

Still thinking I'm seeing something in the huge egg we think is a double yolker, but it's very hard. The shell is thicker in the middle making it very hard to candle. The air cell has been growing nicely and the egg does look different than at first.

The Easter hatch chicks are doing great and today have the run of both sides of the "cooler" coop to play in. We are working on the transition of introducing all the chicks to the flock but it is complicated by our two broodies with chicks, as they are a bit over-protective. Have been bouncing back and forth on the gender of my little blue EE from the Easter hatch. I am so very much hoping for a pullet.







This is the huge egg with one of our largest eggs(buff Orpington) next to and slightly above it.

Sorry to hear about the poor results.

 

[cree57i]

I agree. It depends on the breed... and their training capability. I have a pair of Dobermans that loved to give chase to my young birds when I first got chickens. I never allowed them to be around the chickens without close supervision, and when I first noticed their desire to chase the birds, they had to remain at my side at all times when we we among the chickens. It took a couple of weeks, but all I had to do was tell them "NO!", and they stopped. They now lay in the yard with chickens grazing all around them, and haven't attempted another chase. I can leave them out all day long, confident that nothing will happen. Small chicks on the other hand make my male drool and lick his chops... so they'll have to grow a lot larger before being exposed to Max.

Maybe. I have had way too much experience with this. I say it depends on the breed, the dog and the age of the dog. My 2 LGD's also were chicken chasers when they were young, but now (2 yrs old) they are part of the flock. The Jack Russell terrorist on the other hand was terrible for at least 7 years. She and the chickens had to be separated at all times. She is 14 now and for the last several years has been as trustworthy as a Jack Russell can be (never total). She was out yesterday with 2 month olds and didn't even look their way. The lab/rottweiller mix was a chicken hunter in his younger years. Now he is a very good watch dog and wants to please me so much that he is totally trustworthy. He is out with the free ranging grow outs and has done an excellent job the last few years. He is 7, so he has calmed down. The male dachshund could care less about chickens. The female is fine as long as it is at least 1/2 grown. Chicks make her lose her mind totally. Roosters make her run the other way. I had a german shepherd that was a chicken killing machine. He no longer lives here.

 

[wingedshade]

"The Jack Russell terrorist"

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

Out of 17 that made it to lockdown, 9 hatched. 8 where DIS.

 

[BantyChooks]

LOCKDOWNNNN is tomorrow!!! Yeah!!


The three musketeers:

 

[trailrider330]

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!

 

[mlm Mike]

LOCKDOWNNNN is tomorrow!!! Yeah!!

The three musketeers:

Awwwwww

 

[SunnysideFowl]