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

[BantyChooks]

  I have chicks out now..lots of pips.  Wonder what's up with a lot of us having early hatches.  Oh well, they look good. 

Cool! One more egg just pipped....

 

[Cynthia12]

A chick chick here...

A chick chick there....

Everywhere a chick chick.....

 

[chickendreams24]

I just want to rip my hair out right now! I woke up to my son looking into an OPEN incubator. He didn't mess with the chicks, but he may have compromised my entire hatch. That boy is a ninja. I don't hear him when he gets out of bed in the morning and I didn't hear him go in the other room. Now I have a fully zipped chick that's stuck. It can't push the top of the shell off. The membrane is stuck to it all the way around! I added more water before I closed it. The chick that pipped the wrong end died sometime last night. I figured it would go one way or the other. In other news from the incubator. Panda Chick! IT has spots over both eyes, but it moved before I could get a pic.

You can use a q-tip to moisten the membrane with water or cooking oil. If that doesn't release it, you can also take the small part of the shell off the check and just let it kick its way out of the larger part of the shell.

[COLOR=008080]If the membrane is really dried on that zipped egg you will have to help it. I would take the egg out and wrap it in a warm wet paper towel to help re-moisten the membrane, then carefully try to unstick/loosen the edges of the membrane around the zipped part. Then put the egg back in the incubator and see if the chick can get out by itself. You may have to assist more if it is really stuck. Good luck![/COLOR] [COLOR=008080] [/COLOR]

Morning Sally! You will have to help the zipped egg. That chick is stuck. Use a warm, damp wash rag and very carefully peel the membrane away. Once you free the chicks head, it should be able to get all of the way out on it's own.

I'm sorry about the chick that died. I hope the rest of your little guys do well. I want to see pictures of little Spitzhaubens. I love the sussex, especially the speckled version. They are so cool as teens when the white starts leaking among the brown. Congrats! Some chicks are just so ready to get out. Don't worry about the others, they'll listen to the sound of the hatching chick and get to work. That's so awesome. Keep us updated. I feel the same way about mine! I lost so many during my test hatch and I'm almost afraid to even think about my eggs now. But don't give up yet, they're just getting ready. The quiet before the storm. I've never had that sort of incubator, but congratulations on the chicks that hatch! I hope the rest make it out well. Yeah, they don't need to rush it. I'm sorry about the chick you lost, but wow that little chick in the last picture is SOOO cute! I love the black on the eyes. Sometimes I wish the adult chickens kept their chick pattern more.

Thank you both for reminding me that it IS ok to help in an emergency. Turns out it was worse than just stuck. It was glued in. No blood (obviously since it had fully zipped) and yolk was completely absorbed. It's back, neck, and head were glued to the membrane and in places the shell was glued to the membrane. I went ahead and helped it out completely. It's now back in the incubator. There's still a strip of membrane on its head and in a few other places and it has some crazy hard bits of 'fluff'.

I hope it does keep its pattern. That one is just too cute to let go.

Love this chickie! Lost all my thoughts on the quotes lol. Have at least one internal pip as I heard cheaping earlier when I added water to the sponges quickly. No visible pips yet but they're not due until tomorrow

 

[ChickenLady2014]

@sally sunshine Up to 6 pips, only 9 more to go e

 

[ShrekDawg]

Coming up on the Day 20 mark... still no pips. I did pop the incubator open a couple hours ago to take out a sponge since the humidity was getting a little too high and I might have stuck the candler on the couple eggs in the front. At least two of the six I checked had internal pips and there was movement in the others so I know they're coming and someone was peeping at me when I checked just an hour ago. Come on tiny peeps, you can do this!


In other news, I updated the Ebay seller I bought my first two dozen EE from. I told her about how USPS had scrambled the air cells and that only two hatched in the end. She was so thrilled about the update and pictures I sent that she offered me another two dozen eggs for the cost of shipping only. Oh gosh, now I don't know what to tell her XD DH2B already thinks I'm crazy, I already hatched 2, I have another 30 that could possibly hatch... And I only really wanted 10 or so hens from the whole ordeal! I'm struggling to think of a single reason as to why I should say yes and get more eggs... but I'm not sure I can say no to that deal either! So when does this become an addiction?

Well, that is a VERY nice offer. Would be rude not to accept

If you've got some old closet doors, pallets, exterior paint, and hardware cloth sitting around, you can do it yourself. Each level took about 3 days to complete, including the drying time for the paint. Simple and practically free.

What's the closet door for? Floor? We have a few pallets laying around from when I was gonna build the coop out of pallets that i was gonna take back but maybe next chicks I could build one of these ha

 

[TJordan]

[COLOR=008080]I just took a chance and quickly opened the door to help the little guy (ahem, GIRL)[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]since it was still having trouble getting totally out of its shell. The main problem was that it had managed to wedge its top shell partly down inside the bottom one, keeping it from easily climbing out due to the eggs on either side of it! A quick tug, and it was free! Splashed a little more warm water on the papertowels to get the humidity back up (which worked nicely). I think it looks much happier now, don't you?[/COLOR]

Very much more so.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Day nineteen here and no action. Of course, I've been outside most of the day. I know there's no pips, but there could be some peeping. 21 eggs doing great at lockdown yesterday!

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Quote:
Local!!! Good to see ya man!

to you too!!

Quote: Really?? Doh on my part!

Sometimes I really just have to laugh at myself!!!

Thanks for the heads up Ravyn!!

 

[Susieq2015]

A little off topic but my secondary EE roo was found dead No sign of injury or illness. I'm down to one EE roo for 15 hens, as my CL roo has his own pen now. He was the only bird I had from my moms flock

So.. I want to see if any of the chicks that hatch for this HAL might be his. He was black barred with tons of red & gold leakage, full on beard / fluffy face. The kids called him the pretty one, so much flashier than the rest of our chickens. Is barring dominant? Can barring be identified at hatch? I think the barring would be the 1st clue if he fathered any. Any tips on identifying any of his chicks? Thanks

 

[junebuggena]

Well, that is a VERY nice offer. Would be rude not to accept

What's the closet door for? Floor? We have a few pallets laying around from when I was gonna build the coop out of pallets that i was gonna take back but maybe next chicks I could build one of these ha

Yes. The closet doors are the flooring. They provide a sturdy base, rigid enough to not need support. I'll be posting details of the build in the coops section, later.