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

[Pensmaster]

How long do you keep the broodies separate from the rest of the flock? Could multiple broodies be separated together or not?

I kept them separate until hen got tired of them. But it was an experiment and I had the room to keep them away. They were kept in a garden with only a piece of plywood leaned against a wall for a coop. This area was not protected from the hawks. Lots of vegetative cover and momma hen was quick to teach them to get under cover. My first broody was doing well with hers most of the morning but she couldn't keep them close and my other hens were not as obliging to keep away from them. I'm not sure if that's normal reaction to other hens chicks but they definitely went for the chicks. Was able to save a few. Maybe some one else has better ideas of ages to bring back together

 

[mallory2013]

Sooooo my younger sister looked after my eggs for 2 days while my mom and I were on vacation. I came home and the ten that were in my old faithful homemade incubator were at 119 degrees. They were dead, dead, dead. I candled my 30 in my Brinsea Eco today and 20 are definitely developing and 1 im not so sure about. 20 out of 40 originally set are still kicking haha

 

[flocktastic]

Hey all! Finally home, all kids in bed and sat down for a minute!! Long day - haven't caught up on posts but wanted to update on my daughter. So I feel like we got decent news but still aren't out of the woods just yet. (Which is making me a nervous wreck!!) The enlarged node hasn't grown anymore according to the doctor BUT it hasn't gotten any smaller either. And she has some other odd symptoms that have been ongoing throughout this.
The oncologist wants to see her again in 2 months to see if the node is still this swollen or if it's gotten larger - if either are the case, then she'll have to have an excisional biopsy of the entire node. We're hoping it shrinks back down before her May appt. He also told me if her symptoms worsen or it grows noticeably larger BEFORE May, then we need to come in sooner.

So...kind of left not feeling super great because it's so open ended still but we're optimistic!
Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers...her oncologist is 2 hours away so we had a long day.
Time to play catch up, read some posts and candle my day 10 air cells!!!

 

[harrellkd]

Anyone have any tips on sexing polish frizzles?

 

[slrose24]

28

 

[jrc85]

I am incredibly angry right now.  I almost killed Saint a bit ago and I'm honestly still thinking about it. I went to feed the chickens and I always start with Saint's pen. I stepped over Henpool to get in and right in front of Saint and he attacked my left leg! I would have been fine, but I just cut a pair of pants to make shorts. He got me 3 times and those suckers are deep. Thankfully not as deep as they would have been if Blizzard would have attacked me. I can not even express on this site just how mad I am.     

Sounds like Saints name needs to change to dumplings or BBQ

 

[Razadia]

Quote: That it does. He'll be dinner soon enough.

 

[chickendreams24]

DH2B and I talk about making Twitch strips, Twitch being the cockeral's name that we have problems with. How spurs aren't sharp yet but he's come at me a few times, and my mother rallied for his survival but now my mother is moving out and next time he tries anything he's toast. We live two blocks for Twin cities packing plant lol it'll be a very short trip for him.

 

[TheChickenQueen]

So it's day 10 over here and I just candled, from the looks of it out of 42 I've got 2 early quitters, everyone else is still kicking!

I love watching them move, and my two white eggs are amazing to see with their clarity

Does anyone have any tips for candling olive eggs? I could hardly see the veining through those dark shells. But what I did see looked pretty good!

 

[junebuggena]

So day 10 candling. Air cell growth isn't where I would like it for all my eggs, so I'll be keeping it a bit lower for the next few days. On my day 7 candle, I pulled 3 clears and 3 bloodring eggs, leaving 21. One questionable egg has now turned out to be an obvious quitter. Down to 20.