The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[foxvalleyfarm]

Aww what is this cutie pie.

 

[jbenson]

I feel sorry for the poor 4H kid. Make sure you disclose his attributes. You could be responsible for an eye

Oh I will. I would imagine anyone buying them for 4H in the summer or fall would be breeding and using the offspring for showing, not these ones - they generally want chicks that are hatched between Jan 1 and March 1 for 4H around here. Esp since they want them to be 6-8 months when they hit the State Fair 4H competition at the end of August.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I'm off to a somewhat disappointing start to my Easter hatch. Today is day 10, and I recandled. I removed 7 eggs, 6 with no development, and 1 with a definite blood ring. Of the 11 eggs left in the bator, there are 3 that look questionable. There are 2 that are just difficult to see, and 1 that I'm still pretty sure has a blood ring. The other veins haven't disappeared yet though, so I'm leaving it in just in case the blood ring turns out to be a large blood vessel.

Sadly, the eggs I removed were my all of my BLRW and Blue Orp. I guess they just didn't survive the shipping as well as the other breeds.

 

[Marthab1953]

I'm off to a somewhat disappointing start to my Easter hatch. Today is day 10, and I recandled. I removed 7 eggs, 6 with no development, and 1 with a definite blood ring. Of the 11 eggs left in the bator, there are 3 that look questionable. There are 2 that are just difficult to see, and 1 that I'm still pretty sure has a blood ring. The other veins haven't disappeared yet though, so I'm leaving it in just in case the blood ring turns out to be a large blood vessel.

Sadly, the eggs I removed were my all of my BLRW and Blue Orp. I guess they just didn't survive the shipping as well as the other breeds.

That sucks I am soo sorry, I have had that happen so many times with shipped eggs that it is very disappointing, but I still buy them because the ones that do hatch are soo worth it. Good luck with the ones still in your incubator.

 

[Junibutt]

Ok, its my day 5 but I could not resist candling. It is my first hatch so I decided to check on the mini Brinsea which has 7 eggs. I could only see dark shadows about 1 inch in diameter in all 7 but no veins. 6 of these are dark brown eggs and 1 light blue. Do I need to worry or its just my inexperience or bad LED light? I wasn't able to identify any air sac either.

 

[jinks12333]

I have 4 chicks hatched... technically 5. one is still in the incubator drying/fluffing... however its dragging around a piece of the membrane (maybe?) It looks to be attached to where the belly button is.... but there is No yolk to be seen anywhere. Is this normal? Will it fall off? help!! Happy Chooks... Sally Sunshine?! AnyOne!? I need my saviors! haha

 

[ronott1]

Ok, its my day 5 but I could not resist candling. It is my first hatch so I decided to check on the mini Brinsea which has 7 eggs. I could only see dark shadows about 1 inch in diameter in all 7 but no veins. 6 of these are dark brown eggs and 1 light blue. Do I need to worry or its just my inexperience or bad LED light? I wasn't able to identify any air sac either.

Get the brightest light you can find ad one that has white to yellow colored light. Blue does not go into the eggs well.

A good one should be in the $25 to 35 range.

If candling Marans or Penedesenca eggs, consider investing(or asking for as a present) a Brinsea high intensity Ova View. Make sure it is the High intensity version and use fresh or freshly charged batteries. The thing uses so much juice that it goes through batteries fast!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: Chad brought an marans egg to check out my candler!

It works!!! YAY!!





oh doh here are the eggs! one Marans is that candle above


WoW!!!! You candled a dark brown egg!! Fantastic.
Finally I have! If anyone purchases this man lumes, please be careful of your eyes! I have been using it for a few weeks now, but I didnt have a really good marans to check it out, he stopped by with egg trays so I asked him if I could check some of his eggs! awesomeness!!

 

[LadyCluck77]

My in between clutch are on day 20 and I think I have a pip! I can't see a beak yet though. Just a cracked surface in the egg, right near my x from lockdown.

 

[Pozees]

Sorry if this has been asked.. But has anyone had good hatches by continuing turning up to hatch day or the day before? I've heard hatching out chicks with the eggs still in the turner.

I have had chicks hatch in the turner still turning with no added humidity, because someone didn't notice a hen was sitting on them a week or more before they were collected.

Chicks at my daughters school started hatching Tuesday a full 2 weeks ahead of schedule 3 of the 6 were out on Friday

See above - someone was sitting on those eggs and was not observed.

Side note, anyone have good luck treating wry neck? My favorite chick also turns out to be a stargazer. I have been giving Sav-A-chick since day one to make sure none of the chicks got dehydrated and had good vitamin load. Had one chick sold to a local family that also had this issue. I'm thinking it came from the flock being so cooped up with the long winter and not getting grass or bugs really yet. I'm going to add vitamins to the water of the flock to supplement and started vitamin E on my chick, but I'm a little worried about whether this will reverse or if it will become life threatening.

I treated a Silkie with wry neck last year. It developed at approximately 3-4 months of age, and took two weeks to clear up. I gave her 1 cc of Poly Vi Sol twice a day with a capsule of Vitamin E and a 1/2 tablet of Selenium crushed and mixed into 1/2 bottle of the liquid vitamins. I did have to hand feed her the first week, she could not eat or drink enough by herself. About 8 or 9 days in, her neck suddenly started to straighten, she began eating on her own, and recovery was pretty fast after that. She's been fine ever since.

Quote:

Ok, Ok I can't wait any longer I have to tell... My 7yr old hacked in to his teachers first in math account! 7 yes 7 yr old... What the crap am I going to do with him!? He is way to smart for his own good! Don't worry, I promptly told him to get off and not to do it again.. But now I am a little concerned... Should I warn Bill Gates that he has competition? Lmbo

Eek, a brilliant kid. Really. Is his nickname Sheldon?

Sorry, in chicken news.... I had moved my 23 chicks out to their new grow out pen the other day. Then yesterday I noticed that one of the chicks was missing its tail feathers... That chick got brought back in the house and had blu-kote sprayed on. I have left it inside and plan to instill the skin doesn't seem so tender. Other than that all chicks are doing great, eggs are looking good, and the family is healthy. Can't ask for much more.

Nice!

Okay, so again, this is my first hatch. For candling my eggs, I am just taking them to a dark place and shining a very bright LED headlamp through their sides.

Upon first look at day 7, I was looking for veins, I thought that's what I should see. I probably checked about a dozen eggs and saw none. I was a little puzzled, as my temp and humidity have been pretty spot on, and I have been very attentive. This morning I read a little more about candling, and then took another look at a random sampling of eggs. I have 41 in the incubator. I can't see into many of the green and blue eggs, their shells just don't let any light pass through.

HOWEVER, I do see that in many, if not all, of the brown and light brown eggs I can see in, there is a dark thing, about the size of the yolk, that moves as I roll the egg. I was assuming this was just the yolk, but when I look at a fresh egg I don't see this dark thing. Is this what I am looking for? Is this a chick? What if I see no veins?

EDIT: I decided my head lamp looked dim, and changed out the batteries. Now I can see veins everywhere. It startled me. Wow.

Whew!

Oh I will. I would imagine anyone buying them for 4H in the summer or fall would be breeding and using the offspring for showing, not these ones - they generally want chicks that are hatched between Jan 1 and March 1 for 4H around here. Esp since they want them to be 6-8 months when they hit the State Fair 4H competition at the end of August.

My personal opinion is that this is behavior that really should not be replicated by using him for breeding. I saw later that the next day he was fine, so it's possible something else happened that caused an unusual response. That's what I'm hoping for, for you!

I have 4 chicks hatched... technically 5. one is still in the incubator drying/fluffing... however its dragging around a piece of the membrane (maybe?) It looks to be attached to where the belly button is.... but there is No yolk to be seen anywhere. Is this normal? Will it fall off? help!! Happy Chooks... Sally Sunshine?! AnyOne!? I need my saviors! haha

It will be fine. DO NOT pull on it, it will fall off by itself.

ETA - if it is catching on the grate/liner of the incubator and you are worried it will catch on something in the brooder you can trim it back shorter