The 8th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!!!!

[Happy Chooks]

Welcome to everyone joining us!

 

[Happy Chooks]

The two ducklings out were playing Godzilla and cracked an egg that was zipping. Now that duckling is out but it looks like the yolk sac hadn't fully absorbed. It also has some membrane and shell stuck to it so that it can't move one of it's legs. I don't want to open the incubator because that would lower the humidity too much and exposed the poor thing to even more bacteria.

How many more left to hatch? There are a lot of people here experienced in hatching ducks.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Glaseria - hatching is addictive! It never gets old! Good luck on your ducks!

 

[brucifer]

Man, has this thread gone to the DUCKS or what? However, it's not a bad thing...

Actually, this thread is so popular that it's hard to keep up, but I'm tryin'.

 

[maddysmamaw]

How many more left to hatch? There are a lot of people here experienced in hatching ducks.

Four out this morning. Seven more to hatch. Today is hatch day. Sticky made it through the night. Looks like the yolk has been absorbed, but it still has lots of gooey bits stuck to it. It's leg is unstuck, however and it's walking around. Once it's in the brooder I can work to get the ickies off it.

 

[KristenG]

I would like to participate! I am currently collecting eggs that I intended on setting March 24th or 25th anyway. Mine are Belgian Bearded d'Anvers and Watermaals.

 

[Happy Chooks]

How many more left to hatch? There are a lot of people here experienced in hatching ducks.

Four out this morning. Seven more to hatch. Today is hatch day. Sticky made it through the night. Looks like the yolk has been absorbed, but it still has lots of gooey bits stuck to it. It's leg is unstuck, however and it's walking around. Once it's in the brooder I can work to get the ickies off it.

I don't know about ducklings, but chicks will preen the gunk off in a couple of days.

I would like to participate!  I am currently collecting eggs that I intended on setting March 24th or 25th anyway.  Mine are Belgian Bearded d'Anvers and Watermaals. 

Welcome! What are watermaals?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Man, has this thread gone to the DUCKS or what? However, it's not a bad thing... 

Actually, this thread is so popular that it's hard to keep up, but I'm tryin'.   

You haven't seen nuthin' yet!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Kim - visions of ferrets attacking chickens is going through my head.

That is how I got chickens.......the husband wanted them for eggs. I told him I wasn't shoveling poop and no way on a rooster. Well, they became my hobby and it backfired on him. Then he decided we needed bees, and I take care of them. (Another hobby of mine now). See how this works?lau

Yes it has gone through my mind also :/ The ferrets will be well away from my chickens and they have both had the Scarborough warning about keeping them under control and in the ferret house. If they escape more than feathers will be flying!
I'm seeing how it works It was the same with the horse I've always ridden but was never able to have my own horse. Scott bought me Harry as a surprise birthday present 14 years ago. But what he didn't realise in his infinite wisdom was exactly how much time they take up and how expensive a horse is to keep or how long they actually live! That one has seriously backfired on him

I got a goose egg today! So I set it, just in time for the HAL. Now I'll set the next one I get right away and then hold a few back to set all at once.

Just waiting till Monday to get the Call eggs set.

That's opposite how it worked out at my house. I started raising chickens, and then the wife got interested, especially in silkies. Now she gets the new coop and run for her silkies, and she picks out the many of the LF chickens that I raise. In all fairness, she does put in her fair share of the work, and we both also like hanging out with the chickens together, so it's all good. 

Sounds like a well oiled machine with you and your wife and it's nice to hear you get to spend time together doing something you both enjoy

Well, it's day 17 (I thought it was day 18) on my test hatch and I'm not liking the size of the air cells. :/  They seem too small to me. Last week we had low temps and I didn't adjust the incubator (turned out to be a good thing since the embryos survived the 104 temps for who knows how long before I got home to check on it yesterday) to make up for the lower temps. It also rained, which never helps when the outside temps are low. We'll see how things go. They could still hatch just fine.

Goodness that's quite and incubation for you
They sure could still hatch fine

I plugged in the Bator today. IV never used this cabinet before so I want to figure it out and get the temp set. So far I have figured out it tilts the shelves suddenly not slowly. I have found where I'm getting the eggs I'll need to fill it up. I want to use as many of my own eggs as I can get but our weather has been wonky. Has my hens confused. I'm going to get then some kale tomorrow. They get let out everyday but we don't have much green grass yet.

I'm thinking this Bator holds 300 eggs. I'm gonna try my best to fill it up. I have a Hovobator and a Brinsea if I need them. I use the Brinsea for shipped eggs or small batches

Wow that's a lot of eggs!

Final count 16 chicks hatched out of 19 and now to clean up the bator to get ready for the HAL

Congratulations, that's a good hatch

here's my Esther loving her baby turkeys last summer.

Super pic

The two ducklings out were playing Godzilla and cracked an egg that was zipping. Now that duckling is out but it looks like the yolk sac hadn't fully absorbed. It also has some membrane and shell stuck to it so that it can't move one of it's legs. I don't want to open the incubator because that would lower the humidity too much and exposed the poor thing to even more bacteria.

How's the duckling doing?

Man, has this thread gone to the DUCKS or what? However, it's not a bad thing... 

Actually, this thread is so popular that it's hard to keep up, but I'm tryin'.   

 

[Cynthia12]

I would love to join the hatch-a-long. We have 11 chicks in our brooding box right now that are 1 week old tomorrow. It was our first time to hatch chicks. Hope we get a better turnout this time around.