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

[Serenderpity]

21 chicks from 22 eggs. 18 were cockerels so we fed them to the snakes. Hopefully we'll get three decent laying hens.

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[capper2013]

Is 4:1 the best ratio for overall survival of the species or is that the best for our controlled raising and breeding purposes? It would make sense that more males would be produced in order for them to compete, ensuring only the strongest roosters would be breeding and taking care of the flocks. In the grand evolutionary scene of things, our manipulation of chickens has only a tiny blip of time.

hmmm, good point. I don't know if our controlled raising mirrors the natural behaviour of chickens in the wild and we just exploited what they did naturally or whether we have forced un-natural behaviour upon them.
are chickens only domesticated now or do they still appear in the wild?

 

[myfivegirls]

Easter Hatch-A-Long Summary:

Set 93 eggs on 4/12 before 3pm.

89 Eggs made it to Lockdown

72 Chicks Hatched

The first chick hatched 4/1 at 11pm, and last chicks hatched on 4/3.

2 chicks had to be culled due to leg issues.
2 more failed to thrive & were also culled

Sold 25 of the Catskill Homesteaders on 4/4.
Tomorrow another customer is coming for 3 Bielefelders and 4 of the Swedish Flower Hens.


The rest I'd like to grow out, but I don't know where I'll put them all once they get bigger! Especially since another batch of eggs is going into lockdown tomorrow, and the next batch of eggs due around the 21st! Yep, I caught the hatching bug!

 

[prizepete]

HELP!!! One of my chicks won't/can't walk properly... He can't seem to stand up strait, Like he is using his entire leg to walk, He seems to get around OK, Im a bit worried... What should I do, The other chicks seem alright, One is a bit sluggish but that one hatched about and hour or two ago

guys i need to know!

 

[chickenfarmgirl]

Zero Chicks out of Five... Still waiting on my last hope which is 24 days old, but I don't know if it is going to hatch or not...

 

[TLC chicken]

72/87

 

[chickenfarmgirl]

guys i need to know!

Does he have a club foot? If so, I fixed my baby chicks foot by helping it stand and forcing the toes to stretch out.. hope this helps.

 

[vandamma72]

Does he have a club foot? If so, I fixed my baby chicks foot by helping it stand and forcing the toes to stretch out.. hope this helps.

Make some little sandles out of thin cardboard and tape his toes stretched out and if he is walking with his legs out at all wrap some tape around his legs to keep them in. I had to do this with one of my chicks from this hatch. Was fixed within a day and a half.

 

[coop410silkies]

Hey, thanks. I'll look into that. This is my second SS hatch, and it was way better than the first, but still not very good. I think they're more picky than the others I have better luck with. It's good to know it's not just me.

yes, they have been more picky for me, too, and not so vigorous. Vigor is something I am breeding for with this breed (my hatchery SS don't have this problem, but those hens throw mean Roos and I don't intend to ever hatch any again). Until I saw the picture of your chick, I thought this problem was unique to my birds. How odd. Meanwhile, I'm redoing my incubators to reduce the temperature variations in it; they have been on the low side, and they vary from one spot to another. I wish you luck with yours.