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

[Glaseria]

Ron your a cleaver guy teasing us with those yummy plum eggs! Good one!

Update: One Quail egg is tapping and the duck eggs are set to hatch tomorrow.


Question!
When the first egg hatched are you supposed to wait 3 days until you open the brooder?

 

[yotetrapper]

Well, maybe I waited too long, or not long enough....maybe I messed everything up but....

By 10 pm I had 3 turkey's hatched out of 3 of 4 eggs (one of which was questionable). I had 2 ducks pipped for 8+ hours, and other ducks pipped for less time. I opened the bator and pulled out one pipped duck egg I'd not seen move for awhile, and he was dead. Pulled out the other I knew was pipped a long time, and he was also dead. Waited a couple more hours with no more progress, pulled out a third duck egg. It was alive, and I peeled it, no blood, all was well, he's healthy duck #2. Pulled out another duck egg, peeled a bit, and saw some blood, put him back in there, might have killed him, not sure. Next duck egg, peeled most of it, and he's fixing to be healthy duck #3, even though I didn't completely remove him, he seems great.

THIS is why I HATE hatching eggs. My hatch rate sucks. 80%+ at lock down drops to 20% or less at hatch and I never know when to help, or not help. SOOOOO frustrating.

 

[chiknrangr]

My one and only duckling for the EHAL hatched this morning.

The little stinker was in the incubator all day with the chicken eggs that are set to hatch on Easter. When I took it out and put it in the brooder I noticed that there is a pip in one of the eggs and a lot of chirping. Ugh, my duckling was influencing them to hatch early. lol I imagine that I will have a new chick in the morning.

So tired from cheerleading and taking a snooze while I work on some homework. So cute and fuzzy. My heart just melted again.

 

[lilwildrabbit]

3:47 am 4 are out and 3 I can see piped one from yesterday morning I'm worried but patient! Not sure if it's still alive or not has been rocked from the 4 rebbe rousers

 

[feedman77]

Hatchers pretty full. Haven't done final count yet.

Still a few pipped and trying to zip

 

[chickenwuver]

Found two pips just now, when I went in to check on the hatcher!!! Really excited for this hatch, as my grandsons are here for the Easter weekend! Can't wait to share the thrill of the hatch with them! The youngest boy, 2 1/2 years old, absolutely loves chickens! He is having a blast playing with the chicks we already have, and is anxious to see the "ecks be borned"!!!

On a side note, my barn cat is due to deliver kittens at any minute! Easter babies are going to be everywhere on our farm! I love spring, and farm life, and little baby critters!

 

[ChickAsThieves]

No, either until the chicks are dry and fluffed up and all of them are hatched, or until you think all of them have hatched. I have 3 in there right now and I'm going to take them out when the most recent to hatch is fluffed. I don't think the other two eggs are going to hatch, but even if they are they haven't pipped yet so the temporary drop in humidity shouldn't harm them. I would NOT open the bator to take these ones out if I saw any pips as that could cause the hatch in progress to shrink wrap.

 

[ChickAsThieves]

Found two pips just now, when I went in to check on the hatcher!!! Really excited for this hatch, as my grandsons are here for the Easter weekend! Can't wait to share the thrill of the hatch with them! The youngest boy, 2 1/2 years old, absolutely loves chickens! He is having a blast playing with the chicks we already have, and is anxious to see the "ecks be borned"!!!

On a side note, my barn cat is due to deliver kittens at any minute! Easter babies are going to be everywhere on our farm! I love spring, and farm life, and little baby critters!

Yay babies!

 

[Chickens4lifee]

You didn't mention it, but if they're wild mallards, they're illegal for you to have (see section 2 here). Unless you know a wildlife rehabber you can hand them off to once they're hatched it's better if you don't hatch them, as sad as that sounds. You don't want to get into legal trouble.

If that's not the case, then you pretty much want to incubate them like chickens. They just take a week longer to hatch.

No they are from her ducks but her ducks never came to lay on them and so she wanted to make the most of them.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Today is the last day to enter the FLAPPER contest! Get those entries in!