The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[audrey02026]

I'm curious do you know when the ducking first piped? I have never hatched ducks before and I know they say it can take a long time from pip to zip. I had one pip last night and wondering when I should expect to see more progress??

I was awoken this am to a baby!! One of my duck eggs hatched!!

and (s)he has encouraged 3 more duck eggs to pip! nothing yet on my chicken eggs but it is a little early, hopefully something happens with those tonight.

 

[EPetrilli]

Happy Good Friday everyone!! And thank you all for the well wishes!! I have had several mishaps with horses but this was one of the scariest in a very very long time and I am lucky it wasn't much worse! Best part is after the ordeal was over the owner says to me-yep seems about right for him won't be the first fence we have replaced thanks to him- ahhhh nothing like a little forwarning on a patient lol!! But never the less I am alive and doing well so thank you all for your thoughts and Chooks I LOVE leafy greens so thanks for the tip!!!

We have some activity in the hatcher and the kids are very anxious! Cams are up and rolling
Thanks to their IT teacher and they can all log into the school site and watch over the weekend! How cool is that!!!??? Wow I love the technology they are using at school these days!!
Happy Hatching Everyone!!!

 

[18Peeps]

First time hatcher here! One a chick has cracked the eggshell of one egg in the incubator (not a hole all the way through that it could breath through, just cracked) and began to peep last night. It peeped several times. This morning, 7 hours later, no peeping and no progress. Is this normal? I keep saying to myself, don't open the box...give him 12 hours. Should I see consistent progress in the hatch or is it normal for them to sit there with a sort of cracked shell and nothing for 24 hours? I posted a picture of the egg last night...it's an Americana. Any advice from the seasoned hatchers would be greatly appreciated! I'm Sitting on my hands right now!
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/28359817_rjzpm9#!i=2431000902&k=zzG6mJm
Here it is again.

 

[animalsroc4evr]

I'm curious do you know when the ducking first piped? I have never hatched ducks before and I know they say it can take a long time from pip to zip. I had one pip last night and wondering when I should expect to see more progress??

I noticed this little guy's pip on wed "night" at around 1 am. When I went to bed last night (11:30) he/she had no progress other than a slightly larger pip hole it could stick it's beak out of. This morning my moms like "you have a baby" and boom there he/she is I've never hatched duck eggs before, and I too read they can take a long time to hatch, but this little thing was sneaky. SO while it looks like little to no progress is there, under the shell they are working their ducky tails off

I hope your baby hatches soon for you! I've got two or three pips on my duck eggs, so I'm in the same boat waiting~

 

[rarebear]

I read that if a chick in the egg hears chirping it will prompt the others to get moving. I found a continuous loop of a baby chick chirping and put it next to the bator where I thought I saw a pip. Sure enough, the egg started rocking and rolling and making loud chirps. So I should have a funny little Polish soon. This Polish was from a friend that was originally put under my broody but she was is flaky and kept getting out of the nest leaving it for long periods so I stuck it in with my shipped eggs. So far this is the only one doing anything. If any of you want this peeping go to
pond5.com and type in 'baby chicks chirping'. It will play over and over. One caveat is that a woman's voice says "pond5" every 10 seconds, which is their way to protect their copyright but I figured it is good for the baby to hear a human voice too...it may drive you crazy but it is working for me. Now hoping the $200. worth of shipped eggs gets the hint.

 

[audrey02026]

I noticed this little guy's pip on wed "night" at around 1 am. When I went to bed last night (11:30) he/she had no progress other than a slightly larger pip hole it could stick it's beak out of. This morning my moms like "you have a baby" and boom there he/she is I've never hatched duck eggs before, and I too read they can take a long time to hatch, but this little thing was sneaky. SO while it looks like little to no progress is there, under the shell they are working their ducky tails off

I hope your baby hatches soon for you! I've got two or three pips on my duck eggs, so I'm in the same boat waiting~

Thank you for the reply. That makes me feel much better. Good luck with the rest of your hatch!!!

 

[TMNfarm]

I got to work this morning and my humidity was only 40%!!! That was despite making sure before I left last night I had water in the cells under the wire, water in cups, which I had to cover with plastic wrap and poke holes in so the one chick that has hatched already didn't drown overnight, and two wet paper towels... I really don't like the fan during lockdown/hatching!!!

I got it up now, but is it going to be too late for the 2 eggs still left to hatch?? I did set up my still air this morning, so as soon as I can get it regulated, I'm putting them in there!

 

[chickenpooplady]

Morning everyone! Congrats to everyone getting activity in their bators!

For those of you asking about humidity - 80% is too high OR any condensation on the window. Make sure you pull any vent plugs to help lower your humidity. I had a bunch hatch at once yesterday and I got condensation on my glass a couple of times. I popped open the bator to let some humidity out, then closed it back up.

As for my hatch, my cracked egg has hatched (a black sex link pullet). So I now have 17 chicks out. 4 eggs left in the bator (though one is marked as a quitter, but left it in to be sure) 2 of those eggs are pipped.

My one chick in the tupperware container escaped in with the other chicks last night, so much for marking it.

There is a lot of condensation on the window of the incubator but the humidity is only at 60%. I haven't had any pips, chirps, or rolling.

 

[rarebear]

Here's my little miracle chick - my first assist. I didn't take photos while she was being assisted or hatching cause i was too concerned about her making it. She was too tired she just snuggled down in my palm for a couple of quick photos once she was partially dry.





And here she isthe next morning after drying off completely and getting a nap.

SO CUTE

 

[loves2hatch]

My first pip for the hatchalong! snapped this while adding water to raise humidity.
I waited unitl the first pip to add any water since my aircells were on the smaller side and the weight loss is not even close to what is expected.

so things to do while I wait.
1. read all the post so I get caught up since last night reading =)
2. get my other computer running to ustream this so my great nieces and nephews can see them hatch. They live in a different state.
3. get the brooder ready.
This should be enough to keep me busy for awhile. Happy Hatching eveyone!