The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[Cynthia12]

Wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun. Besides the wife wants me to hatch some eggs for the grand kids to see timed a couple days before the HAL Saturday date so I'll be doing a staggered hatch of sorts.

 

[Pensmaster]

Any ideas on Trader Joes crossed with Legbars roo.
Three eggs from three TJ's hens today. They just started laying 1-27 already out laying my other hens.

 

[Gloryjasmine]

Hello folks! I will be setting Black Copper Marans and, hopefully if they start laying, silver laced wyandotte eggs to hatch!

Gorgeous pictures! Those are some amazing birds!

Newly hatched test on fertility went great. Taking orders on hatching eggs for Hatch a long.

So adorable! I love all the colors!

Im getting a little bit worried my 45 eggs wont come in on time to set , my fingers are so far beyond crossed they are blue lol , but if they dont come in ill gather my hens eggs and set those i guess

And then when they come you get to have extra chicks!

Bantam silkies and partridge

I love little baby silkies.

It was one year ago today that my first incubated chicks started hatching in my DIY styro coolerbator Stalking BYC is where i got most of the info i needed to make my own.

That's awesome. I'm learning so much all the time from all you guys.

Well, I'm getting roughly 2 dozen serama eggs shipped to me and they will be arriving early next week... I'm guessing I won't be eligible to participate anymore if I start hatching them this early? Maybe I'll just get some more eggs at the end of this month. I have a bad feeling about this chicken math thing...

Oh no.... the chicken math is spreading!! Lol. Best of luck with your seramas!

My first 4 babies are out on my VERY FIRST hatch ever. I have 7 more have pipped!! They are so cute! They are all mixed breeds from my own flock.

Congrats! That is so awesome!

My 10 survivors from eggs cooked at 105f for 2 weeks

I had some chicks survive cooking too. We were so sure they were dead but all four eggs were alive and three of the chicks made it past hatching.

Hi honey! Good to hear from you! Oh it's ok, sadly,I don't have any broodys setting. I know the eggs are fertile but I also don't have an incubator. Which I'm trying to talk my lovely husband into! We live in a tiny tiny home though with three cats. So idk how it would work out. But God will provide a way!!! Just glad to be here.

Broody hens can surprise you. I'll bet one will start sooner or later. My silkie just went broody today, actually! Princess's chicks just started perching away from her and she immediately started another family. She's such a good Momma.

Ohhhh I sure hope so!!! The eggs are most definitely being fertilized!!! Makes me feel bad when I take them! Maybe I shoul leave. More than 6 at a time?

 

[Gloryjasmine]

If you know where the posts are,FLAG THEM!!! I haven't seen them,but if I do,I'll report it too. Also you can send a pm to a moderator. In fact,you can send a pm to the actual owner!!! Let's work together to get this under control!

God bless,Glory

It was last night on a few different threads. They kinda blew up the site with spam about an online casino according to a personon here who was able to read the Korean. It was reported and as of today all the posts got removed as far as i have seen.

Thank you for the update. Also to EPS32. I appreciate it and am so glad it's been taken care of. Now,back to the family fun!

 

[Gloryjasmine]

Aplynn-When one of my girls goes broody, she lays about 10-12 eggs,then she stops laying and this is when she gets all committed to setting. She gets extremely defensive. She will puff up all her feathers,this is a defense mechanism they use to make themselves appear larger than they are. And will attack me if I try to mess with her. She'll peck at me. I've had a meanie momma who drew blood. Taught me a lesson real quick! She'll only usually get off her eggs to poo,eat or drink. And will make an awful squawking sound when any other bird comes near her or even a human. Like with my ,now passed on and in heaven,moms,they were not too mean to begin with. They trusted me. When they'd go broody,they still trusted me more than some of my others would have,but might still give me warning. Just to say,I'm ok mom ,I got this! Just back off a smidgeon and gimme my space. I hope something helps. Just let nature take its course and you'll get the broody thing down in no time! Remember also,like women,all hens are different. And like my goats,they all don't show the same birthing signs. They're individuals with individual personalities. You'll learn them.

God bless,Glory

 

[Gloryjasmine]

Mostly Importantly, you need to start with pullets/hens that tend toward going broody. Some hens will not go broody no matter what you do. Hens that have been broody in past are likely candidates but after they are older, they may not want to sit. My flock consists of a few New Hampshire hens, Icelandic hens and Icelandic roosters. I received 16 New Hampshires four years ago and only one went broody the first year. I still have her but she has not gone broody again. Most of the Icelandic pullets/hens I've had, over the last almost six years, have gone broody. I have had a few that never have so even among broody breeds, you will have those that don't want to sit. I don't usually have to promote broodiness in my flock. Usually I am trying to keep them from going broody    too soon, but in the case of this hatchalong, I will encourage them so I can be an "official" participant.

Promoting broodiness:
Normally, I have a single golf ball or plastic egg (mine are white and contain some sand to give them weight) in each of my ten nest boxes and collect eggs each evening.
When I want to encourage a broody, I still take the fresh eggs out each evening but I replace each one with a golf ball/plastic egg.
As the days pass, the quantity of eggs in the nests (there are ten nests but the hens only use four or five of them) increases. This is how a hen without human interference would "build a clutch". 
A pullet or hen that is "thinking about sitting" will spend more time on the nest during the day (this is why I collect all eggs and only leave fake eggs, so that the eggs will be closer in development) but will return to the roost at night. During morning feeding time, she may puff-up and "grumble" when eating and run from the rooster "grumbling". My 6 year rooster will not even "approach" one "grumbling", he knows what is going on. He will "coax" her to the feed and encourage her to eat. The cockerel (will be a year old this spring) will learn that lesson soon, I hope!!
When one of mine shows an interest by staying on the nest at night, then I know she is serious. After dark, I will still remove the fresh egg(s) from under her and replace with a fake one. If she is back on the nest the next night, I will put together the eggs I want her to sit on.  At this point, she is "flattening down on the eggs" and refusing to let the other hens use the nest. If there are no new eggs in the nest the following evening, I will, after dark, remove the fakes and give her the eggs I want her to sit on. The eggs are marked so that if a different hen gets on the nest when she is off "doing her business" or/and eating and drinking, I can remove the unmarked, fresh egg. I check each evening for fresh eggs and if there is consistently an egg, I will consider moving the broody to her own separate place....which is another long post so I won't go into that here.

This is how I do it.....I hope others will chime in!

Thank you for that great information. I have austrolaups, barred and buff rocks, Wh leghorns, and an Easter egger. Any of those tend to go broody?

My best broody mom was our Black Austrolorp!!! Wilson was the best mother!!! Also our barred rock,Joey was a great mama too! We have two young barred rocks that I'm having high hopes for.

 

[nate1the1great1]

So I candled the eggs Twizzler is sitting on for me, and my fertility rate is 100% right now even though I am down to my NN roo and polish roo with 16 hens, they are doing there job... I think it's mainly the NN though, becuase the polish isn't in the mood Right now. So that means I should have atleast a few babies from Twizzler, and have 35 birds coming on the 18th and 19th.. Than set eggs on the 20th, 6th, and quail on 13th...

 

[aplynn]

Well today has been frustrating. One of my hens didn't return from free ranging today. She is in the middle of a hard molt and I worry that she will be cold tonight even if nothing got her.
I was wiring my incubator with the new thermostat and hooked it all up ...... and nothing happened

But I was getting tired so I called it quits for the night. I will try and figure out what is wrong tomorrow.

So sorry hope she wonders back in today

 

[aplynn]

Aplynn-When one of my girls goes broody, she lays about 10-12 eggs,then she stops laying and this is when she gets all committed to setting. She gets extremely defensive. She will puff up all her feathers,this is a defense mechanism they use to make themselves appear larger than they are. And will attack me if I try to mess with her. She'll peck at me. I've had a meanie momma who drew blood. Taught me a lesson real quick! She'll only usually get off her eggs to poo,eat or drink. And will make an awful squawking sound when any other bird comes near her or even a human. Like with my ,now passed on and in heaven,moms,they were not too mean to begin with. They trusted me. When they'd go broody,they still trusted me more than some of my others would have,but might still give me warning. Just to say,I'm ok mom ,I got this! Just back off a smidgeon and gimme my space. I hope something helps. Just let nature take its course and you'll get the broody thing down in no time! Remember also,like women,all hens are different. And like my goats,they all don't show the same birthing signs. They're individuals with individual personalities. You'll learn them.

God bless,Glory

I have a white leghorn hen who is going broody and she acts just like that. Unfortunately, she is one of my egg layers and I really didn't want her going broody, that is why I got the silkies. I do have a black silkie that seems to be collecting eggs. FINGERS CROSSED that she is catching on.

 

[NotAFarm]

Have a great day, Hatchalong Peeps!