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

[ronott1]

Bad day, very bad day. We have had problems around our farm with packs of dogs. DH is up at least once or twice a night chasing them off. Today he had let the hens out to free range with our very good rooster Colonel. He went inside and heard commotion and found 5 dogs after the chickens. They killed 3 hens and our rooster flew off with a young roo. DH has been looking for him all day He hears him crowing but cannot locate him in the woods. He called animal control and they said if it happens again they will put live traps out. Apparently several people have reported problems in the area. One of the dogs try to go after DH. I am upset about loosing the chickens, but I am also sad for the dogs. People just letting lose and not taking care of them. I really loved those roos. Colonel - our Barred Rock was big and yet so approachable. I am so afraid we are not going to find him.

I some places it is legal to shoot dogs like that.

I am so sorry!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Happy Dance!

I went out to check on the bees this afternoon, and they were working the outermost frames now, so I added the Queen excluder and the Honey Super!

Now they can store honey for ME to take!

hidden cam on the Happy Chook Acres

 

[angelobutter]

Here is my day in a nutshell (at least the poultry side of it, the other side is a sick baby and the pediatricians office)

my "crazy hen" she lays eggs in the weirdest spots. this is NOT the weirdest one yet. (long story short, I have also found her making a secret nest in a bucket of dead squirrels, but it was not a pretty picture lol)





hatched some Norwegian Jaerhons. Males are lighter and females are darker- i love sexlink chicks!


and my lone Welsh harlequin duckling. started with 10 eggs but all except this one were clears.


Now I am off to candle my 118 eggs for the hatch along. they are mostly shipped eggs and it was still well below freezing here when they were shipping so fingers crossed I don't have a lot of clears.

 

[watership]

I candled over the weekend and 10 of 14 shipped eggs were developing! I have them upright in egg cartons and am tilting the incubator. Then yesterday, I was putting the kids to bed (the incubator is in their room because it has the most stable temp), and I realized that I didn't hear the fan. OH NO!!! The incubator got unplugged some time in the afternoon while the kids were playing. Eggs were cold, temp read 75, I almost started crying and the kids felt terrible that they'd lost their Easter chicks. So anyways, I plugged it back in and hoped for the best. And the best happened!! I candled again today, and all 10 were moving around! I'm so relieved!

 

[pickitfarm]

I some places it is legal to shoot dogs like that.

I am so sorry!

Thanks. It is legal in South Carolina on your own property.

 

[pickitfarm]

Here is my day in a nutshell (at least the poultry side of it, the other side is a sick baby and the pediatricians office)

my "crazy hen" she lays eggs in the weirdest spots. this is NOT the weirdest one yet. (long story short, I have also found her making a secret nest in a bucket of dead squirrels, but it was not a pretty picture lol)





hatched some Norwegian Jaerhons. Males are lighter and females are darker- i love sexlink chicks!


and my lone Welsh harlequin duckling. started with 10 eggs but all except this one were clears.


Now I am off to candle my 118 eggs for the hatch along. they are mostly shipped eggs and it was still well below freezing here when they were shipping so fingers crossed I don't have a lot of clears.

Hope your baby is doing better.

The bird babies are adorable. I am getting some Norwegian Jaerhons as a bonus with a recent auction I won. I did not know you could tell them apart at hatching.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Im having and issue... well... Im not.. she/he is. Im lost... i have a warm wet wash cloth around her now.... she has been like this for a few hours.. like 6 hours. I don't wanna lose her.. tips? suggestions?

you are jumping in and assisting them too soon is my best guess. Most external pips never even need assisted. Did this one not have an external pip? and today is day 21 or the extra you added a day later? sorry I cannot remember anything but you staggered and you have been fretting scared for them, this is bad because thats when ppl assist too soon. If they are over day 22 you need to re calibrate your thermos and hygros, and I am not sure your humidity and if you watched air cells or weighed? Let this guy alone until those veins recede to a shear membrane with very feight red lines, not filled with blood. Have you read and re-read the assist article and what those chicks are doing in there? its important you understand the process.

They get into position day 17-18 then they can even internally pip, and sometimes the internal can be the external as well, then they rest, and rest and rest and rest and I think I posted the timeline of a silky hatching? well well over 24 hours for that one.... and then with one last frantic circling motion they zip out in 5 to 60 minutes. they will never zip before they are ready to and have done the absorbing!

Keep us updated on this one! I hope it makes it, its only chance is for you to sit on your hands and wait for it to do its thing. Sometimes these late hatchers have other issues you will have to watch for them as well after hatching.

Hatching 101​

~ ​

Guide to ASSISTED Hatching​

​

 

[Hayduke27]

If your eggs are locally laid, I would not get too stressed - hopefully you can evaluate air cell development.

If the eggs are from the low lands.....

I would try a channel in the floor. As its so dry, the water will evaporate fairly fast so distilled water wont form deposits in your bator. Throw a couple of pennies in the water to keep it free of algae. People say you need old pennies but the new ones still have the same amount of copper cladding and thus copper surface ares in contact with the water. You are a long way from hatch so if the water in the channel is over the top with its humidity effects, you still can dry it up.

I would also consider a small fish tank airator with a tube pumping air into the bator for the last week. Just a thought on how to ensure your eggs get the most oxxygen they can,

ozexpat, thanks for the reply! My eggs are all from my own hens, so they are used to the elevation and climate already. I put a sponge in the incubator and filled 2 channels. That brought the humidity up to 27%. Tonight I am going to tamper with it a bit more, maybe add another sponge. So far it doesn't seem like any amount of water is going to make the humidity "too high"

The amount of air flowing through the vents is pretty substantial, and this is why I'm having the humidity issues. I had to crank the heater up a bit too. Hopefully all this new airflow will be enough, but I do have a fish tank pump if I felt I needed it. The fish won't mind if I borrow it for a week, right?

BTW ozexpat- I just started reading your diary of a crazy chicken man, and am enjoying it very much!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Here is my day in a nutshell (at least the poultry side of it, the other side is a sick baby and the pediatricians office)

my "crazy hen" she lays eggs in the weirdest spots. this is NOT the weirdest one yet. (long story short, I have also found her making a secret nest in a bucket of dead squirrels, but it was not a pretty picture lol)



hatched some Norwegian Jaerhons. Males are lighter and females are darker- i love sexlink chicks!


and my lone Welsh harlequin duckling. started with 10 eggs but all except this one were clears.


Now I am off to candle my 118 eggs for the hatch along. they are mostly shipped eggs and it was still well below freezing here when they were shipping so fingers crossed I don't have a lot of clears.

I am in love with them!! is it me or do they look like little bunnies or something!! that color is amazing!! what do they look like as adults?

 

[Happy Chooks]

hidden cam on the Happy Chook Acres

Oh he-double-toothpicks NO! I go in prepared!

Here is my day in a nutshell (at least the poultry side of it, the other side is a sick baby and the pediatricians office)

my "crazy hen" she lays eggs in the weirdest spots. this is NOT the weirdest one yet. (long story short, I have also found her making a secret nest in a bucket of dead squirrels, but it was not a pretty picture lol)





hatched some Norwegian Jaerhons. Males are lighter and females are darker- i love sexlink chicks!


and my lone Welsh harlequin duckling. started with 10 eggs but all except this one were clears.


Now I am off to candle my 118 eggs for the hatch along. they are mostly shipped eggs and it was still well below freezing here when they were shipping so fingers crossed I don't have a lot of clears.

Hope your little one is okay. The shavings bag is always a good place to lay. And that duckling is too precious!

I candled over the weekend and 10 of 14 shipped eggs were developing! I have them upright in egg cartons and am tilting the incubator. Then yesterday, I was putting the kids to bed (the incubator is in their room because it has the most stable temp), and I realized that I didn't hear the fan. OH NO!!! The incubator got unplugged some time in the afternoon while the kids were playing. Eggs were cold, temp read 75, I almost started crying and the kids felt terrible that they'd lost their Easter chicks. So anyways, I plugged it back in and hoped for the best. And the best happened!! I candled again today, and all 10 were moving around! I'm so relieved!