The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[chicken pickin]

Thought I'd share this for those of you newer to the injury side of chickens.

I've always known that chickens hide their injuries/pain well, but I didn't realize how much pain they could hide until today. We had a cockerel limping - when I picked him up, I could move his hock joint sideways, and I could feel a popping feeling in the joint, so I assumed that's where the break was. I noticed his limping 2 days ago - and I'm out with my flock A LOT. (just ask my DH) We put him down this morning. I was going to process him for us to eat, until I plucked him.

His leg was broken up high on his thigh, the back leg bone and he was internally bleeding. This boy had to be in some serious pain, though he didn't show it. The only sign was he couldn't put weight on his leg.

I have cooked him and will feed him to my dog.

Warning: Graphic pictures, don't click if you don't want to see.

Oh my that is horrible. How do you know when a limp is bad enough to put him down or not?My rooster has had a limp for about 3 or so weeks. He seems to get around better but Im sure hes just learned to manage. I would feel horrible if he had a broken leg and I just let him suffer. He is still mating all the hens and pullets though. I candled tonight day 7 and 26 out of 30 eggs are fertile.

 

[Happy Chooks]

So sorry about your roo. Have you figured out what happened to him?

No idea. He somehow broke it.

So sorry. I have a D'Uccle roo that's been limping for a long time, and I can't figure out what's wrong with him. This is making me think I should find someone to cull him.

I have had chickens recover from a limp. It's different when they cannot put any weight on the leg and spend all their time laying down. You just know when it's bad and they are not going to heal from it.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:

So sorry. I have a D'Uccle roo that's been limping for a long time, and I can't figure out what's wrong with him. This is making me think I should find someone to cull him.

I have had chickens recover from a limp. It's different when they cannot put any weight on the leg and spend all their time laying down. You just know when it's bad and they are not going to heal from it.

No, mine is really bad. I have him in a coop in my basement to keep him comfortable, but...it's pretty bad.

 

[CherokeeFlats]

Ooo, look up the Welsh Harlequin! Not only are the males pretty, but the females are too. Usually just the males have the pretty colors, but these females have the real dark blue in their feathers too. I will see if I can find a picture. I hatched some babies once before. Darling.

Female Welsh Harlequin. I think they are pretty.

That is what we'll be getting in a few weeks. They are Silver Welsh Harlequins. I love them!!

I didn't see Muscovy on that list. Great ducks! I'll be getting more of those, but was disappointed in the Rouens I had previously. I'll be looking for Welsh Harlequins instead. So pretty!

I've heard they are great at laying eggs, are friendly and make good mothers. I'm looking forward to getting mine in April.

 

[Shellz]

So sorry about your roo, Happy Chooks! Glad you were able to end his suffering & make use of him anyhow.
Yes, Winddancer, I've heard great things about Welsh Harlequins too! I'm trying to find a local breeder right now.

 

[Cynthia12]

No idea. He somehow broke it.
I have had chickens recover from a limp. It's different when they cannot put any weight on the leg and spend all their time laying down. You just know when it's bad and they are not going to heal from it.

So true. I'm so sorry. That had to make you sad for him when you saw how bad it was.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Ok, so I candled the eggs tonight! But the results were not as conclusive as I had hoped...

First, the good news...

Out of 18 Easter Egger eggs, 17 were DEFINITELY alive! Also the two eggs from our Blue Copper Maran for Olive Eggers were both alive! I was amazed that we could actually see into the Marans eggs, just using a small (bright) flashlight with the foil tube on the end. Yay!!!

These are all just under 1 yr old pullets btw and the EE roo is also only 1 yr old.


On the other hand, we had a TERRIBLE time seeing into the 16 Delaware Eggs! They are the darkest brown of our mixed laying flock, and rather porous. We managed to see faint veining in 3 or 4, but honestly a lot of the others almost looked like clears, or MAYBE could have had a slightly darker blob near the top, it was so hard to tell!

I would be very surprised if they ended up being mostly infertile, our Delaware Rooster is just under 2 yrs old, but he IS in with 30 hens. I tried to check the eggs ahead of time from each of the 4 Delaware hens for fertility, and THOUGHT they were good, but now I am not sure. I am surprised that we had so much trouble with these but could see pretty clearly into the Marans eggs! Oh well, I left them in for now and we will see in a week or so.

I also had 10 Delaware mixes from our flock, and again, most of them were inconclusive, and possibly clears. Only one definite good one, and possibly two from our one BO who lays a surprisingly dark brown speckled egg.

So to recap...

Easter Eggers - 17 good, 1 possibly clear

Marans/EE - 2 good

Delawares - 4 good, 12 inconclusive

Delaware Crosses - 1 good, 9 inconclusive

Total out of 46 eggs - 24 good, 22 inconclusive

 

[Cynthia12]

Ok, so I candled the eggs tonight! But the results were not as conclusive as I had hoped...

First, the good news...

Out of 18 Easter Egger eggs, 17 were DEFINITELY alive! Also the two eggs from our Blue Copper Maran for Olive Eggers were both alive! I was amazed that we could actually see into the Marans eggs, just using a small (bright) flashlight with the foil tube on the end. Yay!!!

These are all just under 1 yr old pullets btw and the EE roo is also only 1 yr old.


On the other hand, we had a TERRIBLE time seeing into the 16 Delaware Eggs! They are the darkest brown of our mixed laying flock, and rather porous. We managed to see faint veining in 3 or 4, but honestly a lot of the others almost looked like clears, or MAYBE could have had a slightly darker blob near the top, it was so hard to tell!

I would be very surprised if they ended up being mostly infertile, our Delaware Rooster is just under 2 yrs old, but he IS in with 30 hens. I tried to check the eggs ahead of time from each of the 4 Delaware hens for fertility, and THOUGHT they were good, but now I am not sure. I am surprised that we had so much trouble with these but could see pretty clearly into the Marans eggs! Oh well, I left them in for now and we will see in a week or so.

I also had 10 Delaware mixes from our flock, and again, most of them were inconclusive, and possibly clears. Only one definite good one, and possibly two from our one BO who lays a surprisingly dark brown speckled egg.

So to recap...

Easter Eggers - 17 good, 1 possibly clear

Marans/EE - 2 good

Delawares - 4 good, 12 inconclusive

Delaware Crosses - 1 good, 9 inconclusive

Total out of 46 eggs - 24 good, 22 inconclusive

Watch those air sacs..they say a lot. Can't see the babies, but if the air sacs are coming along..they are good. I have some pretty dark Olive Eggs that I can't see into, but I know that they are good because I can see the air sac.

 

[jbenson]

Candled tonight. Looking good. First round hatch is right on track. Here's some photos of 7 days.





I'm doing a staggered hatch, so here's some at 14 days.






And here they are before I put the cover back on. 22 babies still doing great. I'm pretty excited seeing how this is our first try at hatching and a brand new incubator. And I tried the colleciton method where you collect eggs for a whole week before setting them. My husband was convinced none of those would be viable, but so far, they are right on track with only one non-fertile and one that failed to develop past the first week.

 

[Shellz]

I'm seeing a few blood rings & veining in my Dorking eggs. This happened in my first hatch in Jan. I'm not surprised, so I will candle again in 3 days. I have one speckled egg that's impossible to see thru! Oh well, I'm just going to sit tight on these 20 various eggs. I did enjoy seeing a couple of embryos 'bust a move' though! Lol!