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

[MonTXChickens]

Yaay...yes, shipped eggs can be a gamble. Or, did you get yours from a local area.  At any rate, shipped eggs..can be hard to hatch.   You are lucky to have your own, and, I do not ever ever use the plugs.   Oxygen.  They need it.     Good luck!

I actually got them local. I think it was bad directions not bad eggs. I'll know for sure if these that are pipping actually hatch.

Let's hope!

 

[MonTXChickens]

I actually got them local. I think it was bad directions not bad eggs. I'll know for sure if these that are pipping actually hatch.

Let's hope!

Okay! Some success! One chick has hatched. Not due til Tuesday but there's one hatched anyway... Still 5 more pipped and 2 more that haven't seen any activity. This chick was from a blue egg. It seems to be primarily black. So, I think this one may be a cross between a Black Jersey Giant over an Easter Egger... I could not be more pleased that I got one to hatch!!!

 

[capper2013]

Okay! Some success! One chick has hatched. Not due til Tuesday but there's one hatched anyway... Still 5 more pipped and 2 more that haven't seen any activity. This chick was from a blue egg. It seems to be primarily black. So, I think this one may be a cross between a Black Jersey Giant over an Easter Egger... I could not be more pleased that I got one to hatch!!!

congratulations on the birth of your baby, I hope you have many more (quite exciting isn't it!)

 

[MonTXChickens]

congratulations on the birth of your baby, I hope you have many more (quite exciting isn't it!)

Thank you! Now - how much cheeping and moving around should I be expecting in the short run? There was a lot at first but now its just laying down without much movement other than breathing. Even when I tap on the incubator, there's not a ton of activity. I hope its okay.

 

[capper2013]

Thank you! Now - how much cheeping and moving around should I be expecting in the short run? There was a lot at first but now its just laying down without much movement other than breathing. Even when I tap on the incubator, there's not a ton of activity. I hope its okay.

I think you will find that quite normal. cartoons have a lot to answer for, I always thought chicks came out bouncing and running around. they appear like they are narcoleptic drunks for a while. they stumble around crashing into everything with a wobbly head then spend much time sleeping.
the walking comes over the next couple of days but the seem to just fall asleep anywhere at any point.
this has been my experience anyway, I am new at this so the instability came as a bit of a shock.

 

[bamadude]

EVERYBODY GO HOME! LOL
Seriously I think there is a cinco de mayo hatch along.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I think you will find that quite normal. cartoons have a lot to answer for, I always thought chicks came out bouncing and running around. they appear like they are narcoleptic drunks for a while. they stumble around crashing into everything with a wobbly head then spend much time sleeping.
the walking comes over the next couple of days but the seem to just fall asleep anywhere at any point.
this has been my experience anyway, I am new at this so the instability came as a bit of a shock.

The chick face plant...That'll scare the beejeezes out of you the first time you see them laying face down...Heart attack city....lol I like the standing up falling asleep - as the head slowly bends to the ground...lol

 

[chattery41]

At the end of the Easter hatch along, I was pretty discouraged. I set 14 eggs for the HAL that I got from breeder because I wanted Wheaten Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas. That didn't work out and all of the chicks died either as they pipped or in the shell. I think this was because I got bad directions on how to incubate. The instructions I got said to put in one plug on day 18 (lockdown) and the other on the first pip. THAT WAS BAD ADVICE!!!

So I gathered some eggs from my backyard. They are barnyard mix because I currently have my chickens mixed together. I put them in the incubator on the Tuesday after Easter. I had to know if it was a bad incubator, bad advice, or something else all together. Using free eggs to test it out seemed like a better idea than buying eggs from the breeder again until I could work out the kinks in my system. I used the dry incubation instructions that I used before but this time I just set the plugs aside because I think they were the problem. The only other change I made was the direction of the turner. The previous time, I had the turner positioned front to back in the windows and this time I turned it right to left. This may seem insignificant but it seemed to align with the warming element on the lid of the incubator this way.

I put the eggs in lockdown last night. 8 (3 blue eggs and 5 brown eggs) of the 9 eggs I set developed. This morning, I woke up to one pip and in the hour that followed I got 5 more. 6 of the 8 have pipped so far. They aren't even due to hatch til Tuesday but I am very encouraged. This is more pips with fewer eggs than I got with the purchased eggs.

I am hoping to report some hatches soon! I hope you will hope with me and I will let you all know how it goes...

I wish u the best hatch ever. I know how it is to end up with a bunch of chicks dead in the shell.

 

[Cynthia12]

SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH!​

Scientist Irene Coin of the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Leipzig in Germany received an award on March 11, 2015 for her breakthrough discovery of a method to determine the gender of chickens within the eggshell as early as day 3 of incubation, at which point the embryo does not feel pain . With the use of laser technology, a microscopic hole is made in the eggshell, resulting light pattern is then examined and interpreted by scientists. The hole is sealed and the male eggs can then be used for other purposes such as in animal feeds. The technology is projected to be ready for use by 2017.

 

[Cynthia12]

EVERYBODY GO HOME! LOL
Seriously I think there is a cinco de mayo hatch along.

No turkeys at my house!