The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[noahsmom]

Anyone else tempted by the chicks and ducklings at tsc? We went in today to grab a couple things and I could hear the chicks and ducklings in the back from the front of the store. I was SO tempted to snatch up some lol so cute I just felt bad that the bins were so full the chicks had really no room to even move.

 

[Razadia]

Anyone else tempted by the chicks and ducklings at tsc? We went in today to grab a couple things and I could hear the chicks and ducklings in the back from the front of the store. I was SO tempted to snatch up some lol so cute I just felt bad that the bins were so full the chicks had really no room to even move.

I would have been, but my fiance knows me too well and won't take me. And my dad leaves for the feed store before I wake up to keep me from looking.

 

[BackYardChknLvr]

any idea what variety polish that grey one is in the middle?

I think it is a Buff cause that is what my Buff polish's looked like or it may be a white.. is it more of a gray or yellow color??? cause the Buff's are Yellow/white at first

 

[Cynthia12]

Poor kid..check out his face, too cute. It almost looks as though that chicken is trying to stand as tall as the child. Small chicken. Looking to get a Serama tomorrow! And some Serama eggs..never have hatched them. I can try!

Poor baby. :/

 

[nightowl223]

Okay, sorry it took me so long to get back on here - trying to get a series of breeding coops/pens built, lol!

I only set 26 eggs, rather than 41, so, whoever is in charge of that, sorry for the change.

Do I need to post a pic of the eggs in the bator?

I hope they survive - there was a spike in the temps when my fan got unplugged, and I don't know how long they were overheated. Depending on which thermometer I go by, they were anywhere from 105 to 109,

so, I'll be a bit nervous come first candling!

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote: Heh. Yeah, after fawning over my hubby for 20 years, 4 months, 13 days, my Christmas present to him was to stop hatching for awhile after the Christmas hatch. This ended my little break (had been going for nearly 3 years) and a couple of days ago he shows up with not ONE, but TWO brooders. One is a big stand-alone pantry with space for 3 levels and a drawer for storing stuff, and the other is a 4' x 4' crate I'm going to divide into two levels on its side, so two 2' x 4' levels. I'll need to order a couple more brooder heaters...but otherwise this is instant capacity!!!

I'm soooooooooo luck to have this fellow...

I went to chick days today.
The lady asked me how many I wanted, I said 4 of each (polish and bantam asst.).

she went to write it down and said, 'wait, how many of each?' 6 of each!
she wrote that down for polish. Then she said, how many for the bantams? 8! I only meant to get 8 in all, but i walked out with 14.

everytime she asked.. i raised my answer. HAHA!!
at the end it was like, you know what? Let me just take them all home

Good luck...you're destined to end up a chicken physicist like me! I can bend space and time and end up with more chickens!

update on my broody - she did great - 5 out of 7 hatched! i did the float test on the last two. Not sure what happened to them... they looked fully developed, but didnt make it all the way to the end for some reasoon... Anyway - here are the 5 that hatched... super cute!







OHHHH and BTW - In all of the posts I have read about broodies sitting on eggs and them not moving and such NO ONE NO WHERE posted how after they finally hatch - they do thier "business" that they have been holding onto for (what looks like ) 21 days!!

HAHA - i took the biggest poop out of her box I have ever seen.

I thought it was another chick at first!!!!!

Today's hint:

Broodies will generally get up off of the nest once or twice daily to eliminate away from the nest so they don't soil their eggs. Not all hens do this, so if your girl is too focused, it's a good idea to pick her up, go at least 30' away from the nest and then put her down. She'll usually eliminate before she gets back there. This is also when they eat and drink. It's usually a race to pound the feed and water and get back to the nest.

What we call lockdown is the same time that the hen tends to stop getting up and going about her business. She sits patiently listening and feeling the little shells beneath her as they tap and chip away from inside. If you listen, she talks to them and encourages their progress, even tapping a bit to cheer them on. All the while, she's holding IT in...waiting until they all hatch, when she can finally make the grossest deposit of all...

So: lesson is not to leave a broody alone in your mudroom in a covered litter box with her chicks while you go grocery shopping.

 

[ChooksChick]

Poor kid..check out his face, too cute. It almost looks as though that chicken is trying to stand as tall as the child. Small chicken. Looking to get a Serama tomorrow! And some Serama eggs..never have hatched them. I can try!

Poor baby. :/

I think he's a grown man- isn't he the world's smallest fellow?

Yep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junrey_Balawing

 

[TnT Poultry]

Just candled and all 19 of the bator eggs are fertile. Hopefully, the 4 chicken eggs under the ducks are doing as well. My count is 23.

 

[JulieNKC]

All my eggs are looking good except for my one d'uccle egg I put in there. It was her first egg, so that doesn't surprise me too much, I'm ok with it.
I've had the first 2 serama chicks from my birds hatch out in the last few days. The older one likes to sleep on his back or side with his legs straight out. It scares me, I think it's dead everytime I look in there. I had a poult and another serama hatch today, so I'm hoping now that he has company he'll knock off the playing possum.

 

[OffGridMAMA]

I've been sucking up to the DW for 18 years 9 months and 12 days  (but who's counting)

Classic!!!! love it.