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

[naightengale]

Final count 71 hatched...84 went to lockdown. .96 sat..

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Silkies are the same way. If you get too high of a vault on the head it can actually be a bad thing because it leaves the birds very susceptible to head injury. The vault is a soft or open spot in the skull that puffs the skin up. In ducks, it's actually an open spot in the skull that causes the crest. Crested chickens are not quite as vulnerable as the crested ducks, but still a risk.

Polish & silkies both tend to be slow to mature, so you may not see the full crest until 8-12 months old. Give them time, they will likely turn out much better than you think.

OK thank you. How long do they take to reach sexual maturity normally? Also when they fluff up I'm going to need help with colors.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Quote:
My polish didn't lay until they were about a year old, but we had a really nasty winter so they may have started sooner if it hadn't been so bad. My roo was a couple months younger than the pullets, but he started trying to breed around 9 months. I never heard him crow until right before he tried to breed either, but that may not be typical. Depending on the quality of the silkies, they can take 6-12 months to mature. Hatchery will mature quicker than breeder/heritage stock.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Here are just a few pictures of the 4 newest ones.

Here is a close up of the one missing a middle toenail.

If you look the nail is kind of there but it's very short and seems different. Any ideas?

 

[thowe]

22 hatched out of 32

 

[SilkieSensation]

Here are just a few pictures of the 4 newest ones.

Here is a close up of the one missing a middle toenail.

If you look the nail is kind of there but it's very short and seems different. Any ideas?

For some reason, your pix aren't showing up for me.

 

[chicken pickin]

22 hatched out of 32

Congrats!

Did my eggs hatch ok for you?

 

[getaclue]

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

For some reason, your pix aren't showing up for me.

Strange. http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/foxvalleyfarm11/library/Chickens here is the link for the album.


On other notes my hatch is over... 5/10. The last 3 weren't behind rather malpositioned and I didn't get to them in time. One I had almost found it's face but had put it back in the bator to warm up and it died as I was grabbing it back... *sigh* technically this is my worst hatch rate ever... I put 9 into lockdown and 5 hatched.

Final count: 5 Polish chicks.

 

[Hurley]

The votes are in! The winners of the Photo Caption #2 Contest are.......


1st Place:

Hurley

2nd Place:

Hurley

Congratulations!​

Hurley wishes to defer the 2nd Place Prize in the Photo Caption #2 Contest to the next winner. There was a tie for 3rd, so by judges choice, the 2nd place winner is..............

CGinJCMO

Congratulations!​

Thanks, such a fun contest! Hated to take both prizes, so enjoy. Loved the entries.

Here are a couple of pics of my 1st chic born at 9:30 this morning. She is a CCL and we have named her Hope. CCL experts can comment if we have sexed her correctly.







2 more CCL eggs have pips (Yeah!!!)

Looks female to me. I had a smashed shipped egg dozen set, 4 hatched, not a single one looked like that, darn it. All 4 light brownish to grayish boys with the spots on the head. Congrats on a little pullet!