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

[momseev]

I started with 15, got down to 11 for lock down (others may not have been fertile and one had the ring of death). 3 have hatched so far with another almost there. Going to candle the rest in a bit and see what's happening. I had a problem with my humidity going too high at lock down so I'm hoping the others are still ok.



Dawn
https://www.facebook.com/theacrehomestead

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Well, I think I can safely say that my final total for this HAL is 30 live chicks hatched!

Out of 31 eggs that made it to Lockdown, I think that is pretty good! The last chick is zipping and popping out as I type. My overall hatch was a bit later than last year, maybe the incubator was running cooler overall with the new digital thermostat, I don't know.

Last year I remember having pips on Thursday afternoon, and several chicks hatching on Friday, but this year there were no pips until Friday morning, which was technically the start of day 21 for me (I set them on Saturday morning around 8:00AM), and the first chicks made it out late in the evening on Friday. 8 chicks were out by Saturday morning, and then there was a big break, and then a bunch more hatched Saturday afternoon. Two more came out Saturday night, and two more Sunday morning (starting day 23).

The best thing though, is that FOUR of my shipped Wheaten Ameraucanas hatched on their own and are very healthy!!!

Here is a picture of one of them...


A Fifth Wheaten has hatched, but it had pipped the wrong end of the egg, and I may have helped it a bit too soon

, because I thought it was stuck like another chick who I helped a little bit who was Obviously stuck and very ready to hatch. The Wheaten though, took forever to push out of its shell after I helped it, and when it finally started to move around, I noticed that it had a large pea-sized yolk sack still unabsorbed. I put it back in the half of shell which it was still kind-of attached to, and set it upright in a cup, cushioned by papertowels around it and put it back in the incubator overnight. It protested a bit and tried to climb out of the cup, but finally went to sleep. This morning I checked it again, and was able to carefully detach the shell and extra membrane that was no longer connected to it, but the yolk bulge is not looking smaller, it actually looks bigger!

The chick has a good set of lungs and seems to be formed fine otherwise - is there any hope for it?

I have it back in a cup in the incubator for now. I took a picture of it this morning so you can see the size of the yolk bulge. Any advice or suggestions appreciated!

 

[AsterRetirement]

Good morning!
Easter was full of excitement at Aster Retirement. Our first chick hatched at 7:00am just as the residents were gathering for breakfast. and by 1:00pm we had 9 chicks. our total was 18 of 22 set. and we even had a special visitor watching the hatch...So many smiles and stories. Is it a wonder that I personally am addicted to hatching chicks!
Best Wishes. Phil

 

[swampducks]

Typical prices I see for straightrun barnyard mixes are $2-5. I usually charge $4per mixed breed some times with a buy 5 get one free or something like that, if it will lay a colored egg like blue, green or olive sometimes people might charge a little more.

It would also depend on where you live. I live in a poor county. Sold a neighbor a bunch at $1 a chick. Since I could never sell eggs for more than $1.50 a dozen it was about all I could expect.

 

[chicken pickin]

It would also depend on where you live. I live in a poor county. Sold a neighbor a bunch at $1 a chick. Since I could never sell eggs for more than $1.50 a dozen it was about all I could expect.

Very true. It does also depend on the area you live in.

 

[bantambury]

One of my seramas egg still looks like an egg. I have an internal pip on another. I have 2 blue eggs that internally piped on the 4th...still nothing. Should i be worried?!

 

[ellymayRans]

31 set, 27 lockdown

I'm not sure why but I'm having a few with hardened fluids. Membrane staying nice and white but inside is crusting on them. Then others are popping right out??? Recommendations? I just helped one that was dried on the inside and had only pipped late yesterday around 7pm. I had 2 other that had been pipped for much longer and hatched on their own overnight..confused. Because I helped it I went ahead and checked the remaining 7 **mind you only a few of these are from the last minute sets** After checking to see if others had pipped I found another that had pipped too far down. Who knows how long ago but the membrane was already dark, chick is still alive, I picked off some shell, wetting around the pip and got a bit of blood so stopped and put it back in.

7 eggs were set last minute 3/16. Of those I'm only waiting on 2 possibly 3. I can't see the date on one of them.

Totals for now are 19 hatched, 1 pipped and 6 still waiting on. Only 1 dead after pip, my darkest BCM egg of course! Of the 5 I set only 1 has hatched, 1 died and 3 I'm waiting for are the rest but 2 have 3/16 dates on them, the 3rd is the one I can't see the date. Pencil doesn't show up so well!

 

[chicken pickin]

One of my seramas egg still looks like an egg. I have an internal pip on another. I have 2 blue eggs that internally piped on the 4th...still nothing. Should i be worried?!

I still have tons of eggs that are just looking like eggs also, about 35 of them

But still have active hatchers and pips they are just being so slow this hatch...

Give it a little more time, maybe candle and look for movement in the blue eggs.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Incubator Wars!

Hatch Update
​

Disaster has struck again! At approximately 4am a bleary-eyed Contestant #1 poked her head in to check on the progress of the hatching chicks. At that time there were 7 happy peeping chicks stumbling around the incubator. Satisfied that all was going well she slipped back in bed for a little more sleep. A couple hours later a startling sound rang through the house. Chicks in distress were calling frantically! It would seem that the door to the room containing the incubator had not closed properly and one of the house cats snuck in and knocked over the incubator. Chicks and eggs spilled everywhere. Thankfully, only two of the already hatched chicks had minor injuries. The unhatched eggs did not fair so well. One of the eggs sustained so much damage 1/3 of the shell had been removed and the rest severally cracked. The poor chick inside did not survive the incident. Three other eggs had severe cracking from where they hit the ground, and most of the eggs badly chilled in the cool night air.

Wait a minute, folks! There is a bright spot in all this! One little chick is determined to survive this... The little one seems to have had an internal pip before the chaos began and is now working its way out of the shell. The only "damage" to the shell appears to be right at the exact spot of the internal pip! Come on little on, we are rooting for you. Just watch as this little one refuses to be held back. Come on, you can do it! The zipping has begun! Fight little one, fight! The chick has made the entire 360* zip and is kicking hard. You've got! Just a little more! Wow, folks! You have to hand it to this little one. Nothing is going to stop that will to survive! It's out! Yeah! The little tike has made it through this catastrophic ordeal. Welcome to the world, little one.

 

[chicken pickin]

Incubator Wars!

Hatch Update
​

Disaster has struck again! At approximately 4am a bleary-eyed Contestant #1 poked her head in to check on the progress of the hatching chicks. At that time there were 7 happy peeping chicks stumbling around the incubator. Satisfied that all was going well she slipped back in bed for a little more sleep. A couple hours later a startling sound rang through the house. Chicks in distress were calling frantically! It would seem that the door to the room containing the incubator had not closed properly and one of the house cats snuck in and knocked over the incubator. Chicks and eggs spilled everywhere. Thankfully, only two of the already hatched chicks had minor injuries. The unhatched eggs did not fair so well. One of the eggs sustained so much damage 1/3 of the shell had been removed and the rest severally cracked. The poor chick inside did not survive the incident. Three other eggs had severe cracking from where they hit the ground, and most of the eggs badly chilled in the cool night air.

Wait a minute, folks! There is a bright spot in all this! One little chick is determined to survive this... The little one seems to have had an internal pip before the chaos began and is now working its way out of the shell. The only "damage" to the shell appears to be right at the exact spot of the internal pip! Come on little on, we are rooting for you. Just watch as this little one refuses to be held back. Come on, you can do it! The zipping has begun! Fight little one, fight! The chick has made the entire 360* zip and is kicking hard. You've got! Just a little more! Wow, folks! You have to hand it to this little one. Nothing is going to stop that will to survive! It's out! Yeah! The little tike has made it through this catastrophic ordeal. Welcome to the world, little one.

Sorry to here about your naughty kitty knocking the incubator over. Its too bad you lost a few eggs. But I am very happy you have that cute little chick that made its way out!