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

[SilkieSensation]

[COLOR=0000FF]Oh Joy! Yet another chance to get 'chickens in snow' pics.[/COLOR] .

[COLOR=800080]Ha! Well, if you have to look at the upside! [/COLOR]

WOw! you guys are a posting crazy crew!! that was a lot to catch up on and i have to say.. thats the first baby emu i have ever seen! Adorable!! I have a question about eggs color. I want to set mainly my BLRW eggs in a week, (ok.. i was going to wait but I am setting these for my dad...) I didnt seperate them from the rest of the flock and I am thinking if I do now.. that they would stop laying for a bit while they adjusted. So, anyone out there know the difference in black astrolorp, buff orp and wyanotte egg colors!? Some are pretty tan, some are brown and some are light and have an almost pinkish tint. I want to set them all and keep the rest of the mutts for myself, but I am not quite ready for more chicks!! I was going to let a silkie sit on a few, but she seems to have stopped being broody...figures!

I cant speak for all Wyandottes, but mine lay a very light creamy tanninsh pink color. If that makes sense.

[COLOR=800080]That's the color my SLW's laid.[/COLOR]

DITTO! GO CHICKIES GO!!






We had an excellent hatch of mutt eggs and ccl

But most are BOYS!!! How does gender get chosen and when? should I replace my roos?

Unlike mammals, the hen determines the sex of her offspring. 17 degrees here now. Hopefully this is the last hard freeze. I found some interesting items for you hatchaholics. Here's a usb data logger for temp, humidity. The less expensive one is accurate to ±1F and 3% humidity The more expensive one is accurate to ±0.6F and humidity ±2% After your hatch you can track your temperature and humidity throughout incubation. http://www.thermoworks.com/products...perature_humidity_loggers.html#Specifications For those with a separate incubator and hatcher, this one is a two channel thermocouple with alarm. It's accurate to within 0.2% so I take that to mean at 100F, it's accurate to ± 0.2F http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/TW8060.html#Specifications

[COLOR=800080]I'm ashamed to admit I am still clueless about humidity. I don't have a scale to weigh them....Not sure what aircells should look like at different stages....Always went by what my Acurite said and now that I know they are wrong I'm even more lost. I sat down last night and read Brinsea's entire page on humidity and it lost me about half way through. I just don't understand. I am attempting to hatch duck eggs so I know humidity is very important, and I washed the eggs so have read I should up the humidity by 10% more. So, I put 2 pans of water in the bottom, and have slight condensation at the edge of the one door. My untrustworthy Acurites are reading 44% & 46%. I'm going to look up thermoworks and see if they have anything that can help me.[/COLOR]

About 24 eggs from my pre-HAL test hatch are on day 18 and moving into the hatcher tonight. (Clears out some more space in the incubator for the HAL. ) Salmon Faverolles, Barred Rocks and BYMs hatching this weekend. Eggs are looking good with lots of movement: In other news: One of my goats is showing signs of kidding today and another is imminent. Looking forward to a weekend of cute, fuzzy babies!

[COLOR=800080]How exciting...I love fuzzy babies...any kind will do![/COLOR]

Btw... Haha haha thought that one was funny. No seriously, going for coffee now...

[COLOR=800080] Love it! This does about sum it up.... Good Morning! My mom likes to call me early a lot of mornings, her first words "Have you had your coffee yet?". She once took my kids aside and had a talk with them, her advice "kids, don't bother your mom or try to talk to her until she's had her coffee". I love my mom..no one gets me better![/COLOR]

My brother & I learned LONG AGO not to even attempt to speak to my mother until she finished the first pot & had the 2nd brewing. She makes no sense what-so-ever before then...lmao

 

[SilkieSensation]

Are you cheeping to them? It really does help! Hatch little chicks!

I thought you were the smart one Ron, don't you know you have to cluck, not cheep.

Actually, you have to "purr" like a broody hen...lol

 

[Happy Chooks]

Happy Chooks, when I ave some cash I'd really like some of your Wellie eggs. Unless you have a nice extra boy around.

I do not have a spare male at the moment. Just PM me when you are ready.

Hallo, i'm Joing too, from Aruba

I will hatch
15 layers (hyline)hen x barred plymoth rock eggs
12 ameraucana pure breed eggs
12 easter egger x ameraucana eggs and 3 Arubian jungle fowl x ameraucana eggs
A total of 42 eggs but i have to start march 31 because normaly some eggs hatch on day 19 and some day 20 explly my ameraucana pure and cross breeds and it will be my first time hatching barred plymouth rock x hyline eggs and the Arubian jungle fowl x ameraucana

Greating from Aruba

Welcome! I too would love to see pictures of Arubian Jungle fowl.

WOw! you guys are a posting crazy crew!!

that was a lot to catch up on and i have to say.. thats the first baby emu i have ever seen! Adorable!!

I have a question about eggs color. I want to set mainly my BLRW eggs in a week, (ok.. i was going to wait but I am setting these for my dad...) I didnt seperate them from the rest of the flock and I am thinking if I do now.. that they would stop laying for a bit while they adjusted. So, anyone out there know the difference in black astrolorp, buff orp and wyanotte egg colors!? Some are pretty tan, some are brown and some are light and have an almost pinkish tint.

I want to set them all and keep the rest of the mutts for myself, but I am not quite ready for more chicks!! I was going to let a silkie sit on a few, but she seems to have stopped being broody...figures!

I see 2 people have answered your question, which is great because I don't have Wyandottes or Australorps.

Oh Joy! Yet another chance to get 'chickens in snow' pics. .

At least you're looking at the bright side.

Two dozen hatching eggs being handed off today! All the others will be used for my hatch! Yay!

Folks at work and friends and family have asked if I had eggs to sell, I keep telling them soon - good thing they can out lay my incubator capacity.

You clearly need more chickens!

We had an excellent hatch of mutt eggs and ccl

But most are BOYS!!! How does gender get chosen and when? should I replace my roos?

Gender is chosen by the hen.

About 24 eggs from my pre-HAL test hatch are on day 18 and moving into the hatcher tonight. (Clears out some more space in the incubator for the HAL.

) Salmon Faverolles, Barred Rocks and BYMs hatching this weekend. Eggs are looking good with lots of movement:


In other news: One of my goats is showing signs of kidding today and another is imminent. Looking forward to a weekend of cute, fuzzy babies!

Nice! Good luck with the hatch and the kidding! I look forward to pictures - in fact, I insist!

Btw...


Haha haha thought that one was funny.

No seriously, going for coffee now...

That is hilarious!

Before bed last night, I checked on my wrong end pipper. The membrane was getting very opaque. So I used a q-tip in warm water to soften it and push it away from the chick's beak. It was peeping at me and the veins appeared to have receeded. It was pretty tired after all day trying to figure out how to get out of the small end. I picked a couple small pieces of shell away from it's face and moistened the membrane as it was very white. No veining. So i pushed it away from the chicks face. Then I put it back in the 'bator. It immediately pushed it's head out of the shell and then took a nap. This morning it was fluffy and cheeping with two siblings of the same breed who hatched overnight. They are all taking naps in the brooder right now. My humidity was skyrocketing and all the chicks in there were dry, just not necessarily fluffy, so I quickly grabbed them all out and transferred to the brooder. Since the 'bator was so full for hatching, I figured this would also make for less soccer while the rest hatch. Total babies in the brooder = 12!

Here's the d'Uccles taking a nap. One more just hatched in the past 30 min and is in the 'bator until later.



And here are my backyard babies and one that hatched from one of the blue eggs. There are two more backyard babies hatching right now and one more blue egg that just hatched a short time ago all in the 'bator. Just looked and there are a bunch more pips, so there will hopefully be more fluffies when I get home from work today. Hatching in the middle of the week totally sucks.



I have to go check on the two zippers right now. I set up a camera to record their hatching and I want to see how far they've come. I hope they finish before I have to go to work or I'll have a lot of editing to do since the camera has at least a couple hours of space left on it.

Congrats on the chicks!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I think I forgot to announce this Monday.

call duck: 26 days to hatch; set March 24th

So hopefully you got them in! If not, get them in now so they still count towards the hatch-a-long!​

 

[Happy Chooks]

Tomorrow is set day for Bobwhite Quail!

bobwhite quail: 23 days to hatch; set March 27th​

 

[mollybuck]

Ha! Well, if you have to look at the upside!

That's the color my SLW's laid.


I'm ashamed to admit I am still clueless about humidity. I don't have a scale to weigh them....Not sure what aircells should look like at different stages....Always went by what my Acurite said and now that I know they are wrong I'm even more lost. I sat down last night and read Brinsea's entire page on humidity and it lost me about half way through. I just don't understand. I am attempting to hatch duck eggs so I know humidity is very important, and I washed the eggs so have read I should up the humidity by 10% more. So, I put 2 pans of water in the bottom, and have slight condensation at the edge of the one door. My untrustworthy Acurites are reading 44% & 46%. I'm going to look up thermoworks and see if they have anything that can help me.

How exciting...I love fuzzy babies...any kind will do!

Love it! This does about sum it up.... Good Morning! My mom likes to call me early a lot of mornings, her first words "Have you had your coffee yet?". She once took my kids aside and had a talk with them, her advice "kids, don't bother your mom or try to talk to her until she's had her coffee". I love my mom..no one gets me better!

thanks! i was thinking that the pinkish eggs were theirs!!! So how long can I save eggs to put in the bator? the eggs we hatched last year were purchased or given to us...i was thinking 5 days, which should give us around 10 eggs... (but I would like to put more in, of course!! )

I wanted to set on the first, so they would hatch after we get back from vacation... but I will have to transfer them to the hatching bator at day 18 and will need to have that up and stable before then.. if i set them at 5:00 pm on the first... then day 18 is??? 5:00 on the 19th? thats about when we are expected to get back...dangit

Anyone else ever set a leave for a week? I think it would be best, curb my looking in on them every hour or so...and I have my neighbor feeding my cat, so she will do it for me and report the readings... I dont want to wait until the end of april!!

 

[LBKS]

You clearly need more chickens!

Or more incubators AND more chickens!

 

[Happy Chooks]

thanks! i was thinking that the pinkish eggs were theirs!!! So how long can I save eggs to put in the bator? the eggs we hatched last year were purchased or given to us...i was thinking 5 days, which should give us around 10 eggs... (but I would like to put more in, of course!! )

I wanted to set on the first, so they would hatch after we get back from vacation... but I will have to transfer them to the hatching bator at day 18 and will need to have that up and stable before then.. if i set them at 5:00 pm on the first... then day 18 is??? 5:00 on the 19th? thats about when we are expected to get back...dangit

Anyone else ever set a leave for a week? I think it would be best, curb my looking in on them every hour or so...and I have my neighbor feeding my cat, so she will do it for me and report the readings... I dont want to wait until the end of april!!

You can easily collect for a week, even up to 2 weeks for your own eggs. Store them at room temperature with the wide end up, and put something under one side of the carton. Switch the propped up end a few times a day.

As for leaving for a week, it really depends on your incubator. I can leave my Brinsea easy, because it keeps a very steady temperature. But incubators like my Hovabator, require more tweeking to maintain temperature, so I wouldn't leave those.

 

[jbher]

I have eggs!!!!!!

got the call at 6:30am this morning from the post office!!! YAY!!! 14 Beautiful English Orpington eggs!! I have never driven so slowly in my life!! Well, except for when I had my first born and drove with her for the first time. Eh I think I even drove faster then lol!! I have THREE more boxes coming in the next two days! EEEEEEK!!

So they are now in my basement. I am also checking the temp in my closet upstairs to compare the basement to the closet and see which would be better for "storing" them until Saturday's set time!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have eggs!!!!!!

got the call at 6:30am this morning from the post office!!! YAY!!! 14 Beautiful English Orpington eggs!! I have never driven so slowly in my life!! Well, except for when I had my first born and drove with her for the first time. Eh I think I even drove faster then lol!! I have THREE more boxes coming in the next two days! EEEEEEK!!

So they are now in my basement. I am also checking the temp in my closet upstairs to compare the basement to the closet and see which would be better for "storing" them until Saturday's set time!!