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

[Audio51]

@Sally Sunshine . I posted this question earlier but I think it got missed. I set 15 chicken eggs plus 41 duck eggs ans some guinea eggs for the HAL. The chicken eggs are done now with a total of 9 out 15 hatched. The duck/guinea eggs are due this coming weekend and were included in my original count for the # of eggs set (I cleared this before including them). Should I wait until the duck/guinea eggs are done to report my total?

 

[realtreegirl]

6 out of 13 silkies are out...one pipped...still waiting on the other 6

They are soooo darn cute! So So happy my shipped silkies did something I was so worried. Started with 27....2 quiters around day 5 or 6 and the others were scrambled or didn't even start. I have a nice variety of colors. The one shipper label the colors so that was awesome. Had to help one out I did as little as possible and let it work its way out. It did and is doing good

2 of my 15 own backyard eggs are out and all but 4 are pipped

So it has been an exciting day for me.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Got a question... Woke up to another chick out; watched her for a while & she seemed fine. This afternoon she was dry, lively & fluffed out so I scanned for pips and, seeing none, took her out, checked her sex & popped her in the brooder.  Five minutes later, chick is screaming - the other chicks are attacking her feet.  Picked her up & examined her feet... She has what look like small blood blisters on the bottoms of her feet.  Feet are normally shaped, toes straight, toenails correct, etc - just lots of red spots on the bottoms.  Definitely sub-dermal fluid, not skin discoloration.
Can't take a pic right now because when I popped her back in the incubator there were cheeping eggs & I can't open it again until they're out.  Has anybody had this before? Is this a result of the several temp drops? Incubator went as low as 86 three times, possibly up to four hours once, up to 2-3 hours the other two times.

I've never heard of anything like that. I'd like to see pictures when you can.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Gilly the Guinea died today

I don't know how or why...I found her dead under the ecoglow.

The one I was keeping in my bra is still kickin...literally. I got some poly-vi-sol this morning and gave her a drop, and have periodically given her a drop or two of molasses water. I have her legs hobbled, and I made a neck brace out of Vetrap. She looks pathetic, but I didn't know what else to do. She won't eat or drink on her own, because she can't. So I have to hand feed her and water her, and I don't know how much I should be giving her.





The Silkie/Polish chick that had a weird bony mass on its neck is on its way to Heaven. When I got back from the store with the poly-vi-sol, he was barely moving and breathing. I took his toe braces off, and his hobble, fed him some save a chick and vitamin, and put him back in the incubator to keep warm. That was 4 hours ago, and he's still breathing, but barely. I felt his neck, and realize its shaped like an "S". That was the bony growth I felt...part of the "S".








That's all the sad news. Now for the good news.
The rest of my chickies are doing great! Here's the pics I promised

Silkie/Polish mixes, EE's, Lav Orp x EE, Maran mixes, cochin mixes


Seramas, Mille Fleurs, Silkie, Silkie/Polish crosses



These are all from my own flock of Easter Egger roo over Barred Rock and/or Commercial Black hens (CB's are BR mixed with unknown breed from hatchery). How in the WORLD did they turn out looking so different from each other????? Some look like EE's, some look like BR's, some are solid yellow, one is yellow with black spots, some are brownish, one is solid black.

 

[Alwayswantchics]

Don't know what is wrong. Every time I set my eggs I never get more than 50% to hatch. Worse luck with quail. I use the dry method. Ps help.

 

[ronott1]

Don't know what is wrong. Every time I set my eggs I never get more than 50% to hatch. Worse luck with quail. I use the dry method. Ps help.

We need more information. How many were set, what breeds, shipped or local, If fertile when did they quit?

Also, what is your incubator, hygrometer and thermometer.

This might help:

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

I have not seen this before but It seems like an infection of some sort. Sterilize the incubator well with a light bleach solution or oxine.

Treat the feet with vetricyn but likely blue kote to keep the others from attacking the feet.

Poor thing!

Thanks for the suggestion; will use blue-kote on the feets. These are not open at all (they're subcutaneous haematomas) so I'm guessing protection from attack for a few days will give it time to right itself. The incubator is a LG on its maiden voyage, (destined to be hatcher only!) `and was rinsed with a 5% bleach solution before use, so there shouldn't be the possibility of infectious agents unless they were in/on the egg itself. Not impossible, but she's chick 147 for this year, about 40% of them from that pen, and I haven't had it happen before, so I assumed it was temp related. Guess seeing how the other 'slow kids' come out might give some indication...

 

[Happy Chooks]

The S shaped neck is wry neck. Try to get vitamins in that one too if you can. Once you start hearing clicking when they breathe, they are dying. I'm sorry for gilly, but you kept her comfortable.

 

[ddhyland]

Mammy lambed about an hour ago. A beautiful ewe lamb. Everyone meet Lily

congrats! Very cute!

 

[MontanaDolphin]

The S shaped neck is wry neck. Try to get vitamins in that one too if you can. Once you start hearing clicking when they breathe, they are dying. I'm sorry for gilly, but you kept her comfortable.

I hear it clicking when it breathes.