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

[suebgbr]

I had a disappointing candle last night. Out of 139 eggs in there are 81 left. The rest were either clear or a handfull of death in shell.
I will have to have a quiet word with 2 of my boys. They must have upset their girls. Maybe divorce is on the cards!

 

[chicken pickin]

I am usually more of a forum dweller, but i am set to hatch some cream legbar chicks on april 4th, so i will be hatching along with everyone... So exciting! My hatch rates had been lower than i wanted, and I tried many things before, i have a sportsman incubator with a separate hatcher with a plexiglass door... So i started supplementing my breeders with sea kelp. the first week there wasn't a huge difference in viability, as that batch (due next week) only had 4 viable fetuses out of 20 eggs, but the second week saw 16 out of 21 viable cream legbar chicks! WOO! so far my april 4th hatch is looking a heck of a lot better, and the biggest variable seems to be the sea kelp supplements! Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

Nice. What kind of nutrients or benefits do you believe the sea kelp added?

I was curious also...

 

[Bantambird]

I tried the kelp on a suggestion, but it does have a whole host of micronutrients and B vitamins. It can be hard to get superior quality feed in montana for reasonable prices and I havent the time to formulate my own. It seemed like a reasonable add-on, only a half cup dried sea kelp per 20 lbs chicken feed. If it works, it will certainly become part of my regular feed rotation.

 

[RedIII]

Uh oh I think I lost my last egg. Day 12, and this is what it looks like. Veins are dissolving and there's no movement at all. I checked it a couple of days ago and could see healthy veins and a little bobbing action from the embryo. If it's dead, that's 3 clears and 16 quitters for me, and I'm out.

 

[gevshiba]

I tried the kelp on a suggestion, but it does have a whole host of micronutrients and B vitamins. It can be hard to get superior quality feed in montana for reasonable prices and I havent the time to formulate my own. It seemed like a reasonable add-on, only a half cup dried sea kelp per 20 lbs chicken feed. If it works, it will certainly become part of my regular feed rotation.

I toss some kelp in my ferment bucket off and on. Kelp is full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

 

[chicken pickin]

Not hatch a long related but since you are all my "chicken family and friends" I thought I would post this to see if anyone wants to help my Daughter in a contest. She is 9 years old and entered a why I love my home contest, hand drawn drawing of her home and then a short story. Friends and family are encouraged to vote and each person can vote once everyday until April12th if they feel willing. She can use all the votes she can get The winner gets a trip to Disney and she REALLY wants to go to Disney!

Here is the the link to the voting http://www.cocoearly.com/pages/cocoearly-content/SpecialEvents/SpecialEvents
Her house is the ORANGE house titled THE ONE SPECIAL HOME. Her name is Elora.

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

Okey Dokey!!!!!:yiipchick
I REALLY appreciate all the feedback on how to peel fresh eggs. Actually, SO MUCH SO that I am going to try all 3 methods that were suggested to me. Which will be the BEST method (for me)? I homeschool so this should be a Fantastic project for my kiddos to learn today! Thank you all so much for the ideas.

For those who do not know, in light of the wonderful picture of pickled eggs, questions came to mind on how to peel fresh eggs, especially 6 DOZEN of them. Summer is coming and sometimes we can feel over run with eggs.

Here are the 3 testing ideas that will happen. The question is, "Which will be the best method for me to peel fresh eggs"?

1. Steam fresh eggs for 20 minutes. They should peel like store bought eggs.

2. Boil eggs as normal but add baking soda. After cool down, they should peel like store bought eggs.

3. Boil eggs as normal. Do NOT use the plastic container shakable method (epic fail) but, use a glass jar with a little water. The shells should come off very easy.

DISCLAIMER!!!! In no way do I think any of these ways are better than another. I am simply trying to find which way is the best for me and, I thought it might be a fun thing for all of us to enjoy what I find...while we are all waiting patiently for our chicks to hatch. Pictures will follow my results! Happy peeling!

 

[Mama Bay]

Started with 30 now down to 26. 1 got stuck in the egg turner and thanks to all the great advice I got that out without making a mess! 3 were clear. Now I have 1 that looks like it's turning into a blood ring... it kind of goes halfway around and I don't see any movement inside. Should I just toss that one?

Also I have 2 EE that I really can't see inside. Is that normal? I see the air sac really well and that's it...

 

[Happy Chooks]

Seeing as I am only just about a month along and am already getting headaches, temperature spikes, and nausea...and based off of my two previous pregnancies I am gonna guess it is another girl. I was never as sick when I was pregnant with my son as I was when pregnant with my daughter.

My pregnancy was so different with my 2nd son, I was convinced he was a girl.

I need to order a new replacement battery or 2 for my Brinsea spot check. I must have left it on for too long of an extended time by accident and it died

I was going to order through Brinsea but shipping is $10

anyone have any other suggestions? Can the batteries be bought in regular stores?

As others have said, Target has them.

Hello, My Chickening Friends,

I have a weird question. Ok...so, I took a look at my eggs 2 days ago and all were bouncing babies. Tonight I looked again because I had a problem with my bator earlier this morning. My incubator dropped temperature and I had it alll they way up to keep it at 90 degrees. Dunno how long it was that way. However I was able to resolve the situation by plugging in a space heater to warm things up more around it....although it wasn't really that cold. Anyway I was concerned about my bouncing babies quite a bit and wanted to check them. I have one that has clearly formed a blood ring but the baby is still bouncing. I have others that are still have veins but around the middle it looks like blood rings are forming...it looks like they have spikes and will be settling soon , but the babies are very much alive. Do they make it through this or are they headed out ( they just haven't died yet)? I am really hoping someone tells me what I am seeing can be normal and the chicks live.

Veining can look like a blood ring sometimes.

I am usually more of a forum dweller, but i am set to hatch some cream legbar chicks on april 4th, so i will be hatching along with everyone... So exciting! My hatch rates had been lower than i wanted, and I tried many things before, i have a sportsman incubator with a separate hatcher with a plexiglass door... So i started supplementing my breeders with sea kelp. the first week there wasn't a huge difference in viability, as that batch (due next week) only had 4 viable fetuses out of 20 eggs, but the second week saw 16 out of 21 viable cream legbar chicks! WOO! so far my april 4th hatch is looking a heck of a lot better, and the biggest variable seems to be the sea kelp supplements! Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

Welcome!

Hmm, it's only day 5 but I tried to look inside my brown chicken eggs and every single one looks clear... I'm going to wait until day 10 to check again but I was wondering if anyone can suggest ways to see inside the dark eggs? I am using a plain LED flashlight and also what do I look for in dark eggs? My duck eggs are white and easy to see inside and this is barely my second hatch so I don't understand what to do for dark eggs?

With dark eggs, you just look for the "dark area" inside the egg to get larger. By Day 18, it should be all dark, except for the air sac.

I'm curious about early embryo death?
Will they lose their veins when they die?
My eggs look alive but kinda odd, they have nice thick veins, but the dark spot is towards the pointy end of the egg not floating in the middle? I think I saw them move but I don't know for sure because this incubator loses heat fast and I noticed that they don't like to move when they are cooler

Yes, the blood will recede from the veins if it dies. Embryos sleep sometimes too, so don't be worried if you candle and don't see movement.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Last chance to get your egg set numbers in! We'll be closing it off soon!