The Omega Rocks: The Last & Ultimate Barred Plymouth Rock Flock

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Oh, no! I influenced you! LOL. I'm sorry. We're stuck at two pips. They're torturing me, those heartless children.

And it was warm for a week. I fell for it. Now we are back to cooler weather. The hen is experienced at least. Should hopefully be a quick hatch and move to a pen.

 

[speckledhen]

I always loved the experienced broodies. The first-timers are a real gamble.

 

[speckledhen]

We have a 3rd pip at last and the first one to pip is beginning to make a move after resting for 12 hours. The 3rd pip is right next to the first pipped egg.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Keeping my fingers crossed! Come on little ones! Time to get cracking!

 

[speckledhen]

One chick heard you and there is a 4th pip!

 

[speckledhen]

As of 5 a.m. there are two vigorous chicks out and five or six more pipped, one of those is zipping now. I guess they decided that today was hatch day instead of yesterday. I hope the others don't draw this out too long. With all this hatch activity, the humidity is now 62% which surprised me. It usually goes up, not down. The vent is fully open for oxygen, of course. Pictures to follow when the sun comes up.

 

[21hens-incharge]

 

[speckledhen]

I'm going to break down the action by dividing it into the three breeding groups by Jamie's numbered system.
Pen #7 Six eggs sent. At 6:30 a.m., there is one hatched, and four more pipped. The last egg is in a position so that i can only see one side, can't tell if it's pipped. So, if all hatch that are pipped or out, at least five of the six eggs will hatch, hopefully all six. All six were bouncing at 10 day candling.
Pen #1 Three eggs sent (these were my extras). One chick out, one nicely pipped, but I can't see one side of the 3rd egg well enough to tell if there is a pip. Both were active on Day 10.
Pen #3 Six eggs were sent. At 10 day candling, four of the six were clears, infertiles. Two went into lockdown. One is pipped and, again, the other is against the back wall so I can't tell if it's pipped or not. The two eggs were active on Day 10.
Seems like I'll get a decent number of chicks and the next hurdle will be having a good amount of pullets, actually enough pullets, to cockerels. I'm hoping and praying that this won't be one of those male heavy hatches.

I was chuckling a bit about the egg shape theory that I had to correct on an educational video. How does one even determine a "pointy" egg? Egg-shaped naturally has a more narrow end. Some are more rounded so that would mean that, out of Pen #1, by the theory, I should get all pullets because those are the most rounded eggs of the entire batch. Let's see how that plays out, if I can keep track well enough, just for kicks. Truly, I expect a mix, no matter the egg shape myth. I will be banding them, of course. It's just a coin flip. Since the hen determines the sex of the chick by which chromosome she contributes, it's all up to what hens normally produce what. A few of those eggs are humongous, especially the one zipping now. It's turned with the halfway zip on the bottom, which always makes me nervous, thanks to its sibling that is all over the place, trying to communicate with me through the clear side wall of the incubator. If Ladyhawk was here, she'd say that is a cockerel, for sure, because if one comes right up to her as a chick, it's always male. She'd say she was a rooster magnet, LOL.

 

[speckledhen]

Now, all except two of the eleven are visibly pipped or hatched, just can't see those well enough to tell if they are or aren't. Of the 9 eggs I can see, all are hatched or pipped. The zipping chick is completely face down to the surface and I've lost chicks in the past that just seemed to wear themselves out trying to escape the shell from that position, making me really nervous. In the past, I'd make sure that humidity was way up by using soaked sponges then reach in and flip over an egg to zipped side up rather than risk losing the chick, a complete no-no, but I've done it more than once in the past. I have not added any sponges to the empty section, which I could do, I suppose, but the humidity is okay now at 64% so opening it up is a calculated risk. Have you ever done that? Trying to sit on my hands.

UPDATE: Three chicks out, two from that strong Pen #7. The upside down zipper is still upside down, but occasionally rocking and cracking the shell more. So, only two eggs are completely in question regarding if they're pipped or not. I'm thinking, though not actually counting my chicks before they hatch as the saying goes, that this is a great result from shipped eggs! They're hatching clean, too, no real messy stuff.

 

[speckledhen]