The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[wornoutmomto3]

Oh, duh!! Sorry, I think my brain just fell out for a min, lol... Just remembered what I did the last time with the bantams, since doubled loops ALWAYS fell off... stretch them out as far as you can and put a knot in it to the loop size you need, just replace those more often as they grow and that works perfect!

Thanks. I will try that.
One more question. What about feather footed breeds. I have a few feather footed breeds in this hatch. Do I have to worry about the bands pulling on the leg/feet feather fluff?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Thanks. I will try that.
One more question. What about feather footed breeds. I have a few feather footed breeds in this hatch. Do I have to worry about the bands pulling on the leg/feet feather fluff?

If the bands stay loose on the actual leg and the fuzz/feathers aren't really thick then should be ok... I've used them on BCM's, but not heavily fluffed ones... if you try it, just watch them and if it seems to be a prob, clip it off with nail clippers...

 

[farmhand]

Is it okay if my incubator continuously varies from 92 degrees to 100 degrees. Should I still get any hatches? How can I make my incubators temp more stable? Thanks!

@vandamma72
I'm not an expert about incubators. But here's what I did. I had an old still air incubator that got lousy results because I could not keep the temp stable. I purchase this kit;
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html
Cut out the top and replaced with plexglas so I could see everything and BAM! My first two hatches were a success. Your mileage may vary.

 

[dretd]

Good Morning! Yesterday was crazy-busy so I didn't get a chance to post. I set 21 Cream Legbar eggs at 1220 PM then made the mistake if checking on the girls at 3PM and 3 more pretty, very clean eggs were in the nest box so if course...I set a total of 24 cream legbar eggs

Good luck to everyone!

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I have some mixed eggs included with this hatch and I was wondering some odds. I had three roosters. The dominant one sired ALL the chicks in my last batch. Not what I expected so he went to a new home to be the only rooster. Monday will mark the end of week three with Mr. Dominant gone. I have caught one of the other roosters "getting the job done,"

but not the other. Not that he isn't working, I just haven't caught him "in the act" yet.


This is Marbles. He was king of the flock just over two weeks before he disappeared while defending his girls from a predator. All I found of him was a few of his gorgeous tail feathers. I am really hoping for the chicks to be his and bear some resemblance to him. (The hens look nothing like him.) What are the odds of at least a few of the chicks being his with Mr. (former) Dominant's genes still being around?

This is Squeakers a bantam rooster. He is the current king of the flock, but I haven't caught him "in the act" yet. Is there a possibility that some of the chicks could be his also?

I am just so eggcited

I can't wait for these chicks to start hatching

and they aren't even in the incubator yet. They are going in tomorrow. LOL!

No takers in helping me figure out the odds? Oh well, I would love to run a contest on it. I can usually tell which rooster did the work by two weeks of age. Unfortunately, I have nothing to offer as a prize. So sad.

 

[Ravynscroft]

No takers in helping me figure out the odds? Oh well, I would love to run a contest on it. I can usually tell which rooster did the work by two weeks of age. Unfortunately, I have nothing to offer as a prize. So sad.

Just too many variables to even try to guess, lol... But Squeakers is adorable!! I love his colors!

 

[KYTinpusher]

I have a question for everyone.  On what day do you candle your eggs?

I candle quite often - probably 5 or 6 times a week. There is research that a daily cooling period imitating the break the hen takes to eat, drink and poo, is actually beneficial. It helps the egg lose more weight. I have a Brinsea that will do a cooling period, but I prefer to do it manually and use the opportunity to candle. I had a bad hatch rate once and thinking back, realized that I hadn't had time to candle nearly as much as I usually do.

 

[chicken pickin]

Here are my eggs thus far. At this point I don't know if I'll be hatching quail or not. My Cot hens are nearing the end of their laying and this is probably going to be my last chance to hatch from them.

Why do they have to have such a short lay cycle? At this point all the eggs will be just shy of 2 weeks old. Mom requested that I hatch them (no idea why) and I'll probably end up finding some way to order eggs if this doesn't work out. I don't like quail sometimes.

What is the laying cycle of quail like?

Is it true that if an air cell is detatched theres no chance of the chick developing? People on my instagram have all told me most of my serama eggs may be at loss

There is still a chance as others have said. You do want to keep the eggs upright, maybe in an egg carton. Since the eggs air cells are so bad I would also suggest you DO NOT turn those eggs for 5-7days, some might suggest even longer. Keeping them upright in a carton with out moving them might allow them more time to stabilize and better the chances of development. Also hatch them upright in the egg carton. You might want to consider cutting holes in the bottom of each egg cup in the carton just to allow more air flow. There is a thread on not turning shipped eggs, not sure where it is though, I will look around.

Me too! I just hate it when they're broken

it has happened to me also, a few times.

I have a question for everyone. On what day do you candle your eggs?

I don't really have a schedule, I just candle when I get the urge. But I try to keep it around days 7, 14 and 18.

 

[chicken pickin]

Okay, question for those of you who candle your eggs frequently:

How soon can you tell if your eggs are developing? I just candled five of mine at random, and of those five, I could see one starting to "sprout" veins

I set these two days ago. I hope it's not an omen of the hatch. I think I will refrain from candling for the rest of the hatch. I can't stand finding a bunch of clears like that, or quitters later on.

The earliest people candle is usually day 3 or day 4.

Candling at about day 7 is best because you will see which are definitely growing and which are not. You candled quite early so don't think you have bad eggs. Check again in a few days.

 

[ocap]

I know I am counting my chicks too early but wondering what you guys do to tag the newly hatched chicks. I have done a good job of marking the eggs and at lock down will put them in tomato baskets or gauze bags to keep breeds and even sometimes eggs from specific hens separate. However, I don't intend to have 10 separate brooders running. I will probably have a single or at the most 2 brooders depending on the number of chicks hatching.

Last time I had 21 chicks and it was nightmare. I used small colored rubber bands of 4 different colors and then each chick will get 1. 2 or 3 different color bands to differentiate but as the bands got dirty, it was harder to differentiate between red and purple. Same thing between blue and green. Anyways, what is best practice?

here is the tag I purchased for this spring:

https://nationalband.com/products/zip-890/

no idea if I can apply them correctly
Orange with black paint numbers