The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[wolftracks]

I am now remembering that during last years Easter hatch I had decided that the next time I did the hatch a long I was going to set a few days early so when everyone else is getting pips, peeps, and chicks, I would worry sitting here with mada movement or pips. So if one of you kind fellows would remind me next next year I would be much obliged.

And the winner of the Short Story Contest is..............



Pele


Congratulations! You have won $65 worth of feed coupons courtesy of Nutrena!​

Oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!! HELP PLEASE!!!!

I got to work today and I have an early pip in one of the three eggs that actually made it to lockdown! My problem is, I am attempting a staggered hatch for the first time and I had intended to use my other bator as a hatcher, but I just can't seem to get my s*!t together enough to get the bator into town and get it set up... So I took 2 rails out of my turner and set the eggs on the floor of the bator and jacked up my humidity... Anyway... this morning, I find that one pip, but the turner has gone nuts and tipped the eggs too far, so now I have eggs falling out of the turner and the turner seems to be stuck because eggs are jammed up against rails not allowing it to turn back the other way....

What to do?? What to do?? What to do???

PLEASE HELP!

Have a rir chick with his head bent back and laying on the brooder floor He was the one that I had been watching because he was so unresponsive like the other chicks, I made sure to give him some water and show him food/water etc,.. but all he wanted to do was lay against the container and not really even peep.
What should I do? I picked him up and tried to get him to respond but he is just breathing and I believe barely alive.

Noahsmom, Sparkle is a newish addidtion to my flock. A family in the East Bay area posted the need to rehome a year old silkie hen which had been bullied and picked at so much by their flock and another who tried to integrate her into theirs with the same result. I responded because I had a special needs, thrice rescued from being picked upon, WCB Polish rooster in the house. I guess I passed the test, because they gave her to me. We met in Sacramento for the exchange.

I bought a diaper for her because I wasn't going to put her into my flock after she'd suffered feather picking twice, already.

Sparkle resumed laying within a few days, then went broody in the brooder bin I set up for her safe haven in my second bedroom used as my office, plus incubator room & chick nursery last year. I tucked some of my flock eggs under her. (Her eggs weren't fertile; no rooster access.) She hatched four chicks and did not take them out of the brooder bin for two weeks. So, she's been in the house seven weeks, but only the first two of those weeks were "free access" to the whole house. She mostly stayed in the office, which has been a chick brooding room before. Every day the weather was nice, she would go outside to be a regular chicken in the garden, but her coop is the whole house.

She has, and will have, access outside onto the deck and into the fenced garden right off that deck. Sparkle just isn't a flock chicken.

Chicken diapers are a fantastic solution to the problem most folks have with the concept of a House Chicken. Had she not gone broody, she would have worn it daily.

And now she's being spoiled by Linda, which is normal for her birds. Anyone who places a bird with her knows they'll have an amazing life.

 

[chirpingcricket]

Hey, see post 6842.

 

[myfivegirls]

Here's the pic of the incubator when it went into lockdown yesterday.
I have since removed the sponge due to the too high humidity.



I took out the digital hydrometer, and am doing the salt test on them.
I'll put them back in tonight. No external pipping yet, so I think it'll be fine to open it for a few seconds.

When I went to check on the broodies this AM, Lydia was already out and about. But, the sheet covering the front of the crate was still down, so she couldn't get back inside the crate.
I don't know how long she'd been off the nest. I felt the eggs and they weren't as warm as usual, but they weren't too cold. Once I lifted the sheet up, she went back and sat on the eggs.
Hopefully, the eggs didn't get too chilled with it being around 32 degrees!

 

[Gardeningmama]

One of my Barnie eggs is rocking!!!!

 

[wolftracks]

Winners of the Photo Caption Contest


1st Place Winner of Hatching Eggs from debs_flock

AccidentalFarm

2nd Place Winner of Chicken Health for Dummies

Je33ieg

I swear you guys, this is how humans hatch their eggs.


3rd Place Winner of a 1 year GFM

wolftracks

OK another 5 minutes and then flip for Buff, Any longer you'll look like a Rhode Island Red.



Congratulations to all of you! We hope you enjoyed this contest as much as we did!​

Congrats to AccidentalFarm and Je33ieg!!!!



As for me.............................I WON!!!!! YAY!! LOL I'm very happy with 3rd!


I want to thank the people who voted for me. I didn't even think I'd make the cut. LOL

So for now

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I am going to post this ONE LAST TIME in hopes to save a chick or two.
It is meant to keep newbies nerves calm and help UNDERSTAND the process.
So many people ask for help, and most times its when the hatcher intervenes by picking at those pips
& wonder why their chicks hatched too soon with unabsorbed yolks, weakness or open NAVELS!
PLEASE LET THEM DO THEIR THING!

THEY WILL PIP, THEY then REST REST REST REST! sometimes 12-24 hrs or more! Then finally they zip!
THEY DO NOT ZIP with the first PIP!

AGAIN they PIP, THEY REST, THEY ZIP don't confuse a pip with a zip!
​

21 DAYS is just a baseline for hatching eggs.
Many chicks can take 23 - 25 days!
Some pip internally and fully hatch in hours while others will be 24 hours or more.

Egg movement! Eggs can “Rock n Roll” days before they are due to hatch!

The initiation of hatch occurs partially from the increased carbon dioxide level in the egg. This process causes the embryo to begin twitching it's muscles allowing the inner shell membrane to be punctured by the egg tooth. The chick then begins breathing the air in the air cell. Using its egg tooth, it pecks at the shell thousands of times and after a few hours the chick pips a small hole through the shell and begins to breathe air directly from the outside. After the chick has made a hole in the shell, it stops pipping for 8+ hours sometimes up to 24 hours and rests.
During this time, it is acclimating its lungs.

After the resting stage is completed the second stage of pipping begins. The chick begins to turn slowly inside the egg. As the chick turns counter-clockwise it uses the cutting edge of the chick tooth to chip away. As the chick progresses in its movement around the shell, it begins pushing on the large air cell end of the egg. Squirming and struggling! YES STRUGGLING! The chick works feverishly pushing at the cap. Finally with a shove the chick breaks free from the shell wet and exhausted. When the chick is freed completely from the shell it lies still. Its energy has been virtually exhausted, and it is extremely tired. After resting the chick begins to gain more and more energy and coordination of its muscles. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching


GOOD LUCK HATCHERS!

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[wolftracks]

I am going to post this ONE LAST TIME in hopes to save a chick or two.
It is meant to keep newbies nerves calm and help UNDERSTAND the process.
So many people ask for help, and most times its when the hatcher intervenes by picking at those pips
& wonder why their chicks hatched too soon with unabsorbed yolks, weakness or open NAVELS!
PLEASE LET THEM DO THEIR THING!

THEY WILL PIP, THEY then REST REST REST REST! sometimes 12-24 hrs or more! Then finally they zip!
THEY DO NOT ZIP with the first PIP!

AGAIN they PIP, THEY REST, THEY ZIP don't confuse a pip with a zip!
​

21 DAYS is just a baseline for hatching eggs.
Many chicks can take 23 - 25 days!
Some pip internally and fully hatch in hours while others will be 24 hours or more.

Egg movement! Eggs can “Rock n Roll” days before they are due to hatch!

The initiation of hatch occurs partially from the increased carbon dioxide level in the egg. This process causes the embryo to begin twitching it's muscles allowing the inner shell membrane to be punctured by the egg tooth. The chick then begins breathing the air in the air cell. Using its egg tooth, it pecks at the shell thousands of times and after a few hours the chick pips a small hole through the shell and begins to breathe air directly from the outside. After the chick has made a hole in the shell, it stops pipping for 8+ hours sometimes up to 24 hours and rests.
During this time, it is acclimating its lungs.

After the resting stage is completed the second stage of pipping begins. The chick begins to turn slowly inside the egg. As the chick turns counter-clockwise it uses the cutting edge of the chick tooth to chip away. As the chick progresses in its movement around the shell, it begins pushing on the large air cell end of the egg. Squirming and struggling! YES STRUGGLING! The chick works feverishly pushing at the cap. Finally with a shove the chick breaks free from the shell wet and exhausted. When the chick is freed completely from the shell it lies still. Its energy has been virtually exhausted, and it is extremely tired. After resting the chick begins to gain more and more energy and coordination of its muscles. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching


GOOD LUCK HATCHERS!

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I've had several day 25 hatches and it breaks my heart when someone will think they didn't get a hatch and open the eggs, to find out they were still alive. I always say that chicks are like babies. They come when they're good and ready. Great post!

 

[JoyfulPromise]

One of my Barnie eggs is rocking!!!!

LOL, when I saw your post I immediately ran back to check my own incubator for movement......Nope, nothing yet...

Come on little chickies!! It is day 20 now! Somebody start wiggling into final position! Pleeeese!!!

 

[Shellz]

Congrats to all the winners!!! Loved the caption contest! Lots o laughs!
Sorry for those having troubles!
Love the pics!
Sitting here on day 19 & nothing happening yet. Making banana bread & texted hubby to buy ingredients for those scrummy, yummy looking nest treats! Thankfully, its cloudy here today, which means less fiddling with the incubator. Taking it easy, with my teen son who's missed last 3 days of school due to a bad cold going around. Only 2 students showed for one class yesterday. Now its Easter break, yay! Now hubby has to finish my mega brooder when he gets home. Can't wait for these eggs to get hatching!

 

[JDchicks]

Good Luck Everyone!!!

Fingers Crossed that everyone gets chicks this weekend!