Tis Time for a March 2020 Hatch-a-long!

[Jules929]

Here is the April HAL:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/april-2020-hatch-a-long-all-are-welcome.1352789/

 

[Spudsnsalsa]

I’m feeling really, really low at the moment. My little lone shipped baby that managed to hatch just died suddenly in the brooder. I feel like I must have done something wrong, it was doing fine.

I'll join you for a good cry. My last egg in the incubator had movement but no pip so I opened a bit of the air cell end to see it still moving. Oiled up the membrane and watched all day. It started to squawk horribly so I peeled back the membrane and it rolled right out and onto its feet where I saw it had no cranium and the brains were literally falling out. Just couldn't bear to watch it die slowly so euthanized it and still feel emotional. Trying to rejoice over the 5 in the brooder but the one lost is so hard.

 

[Phillyndilly]

I'll join you for a good cry. My last egg in the incubator had movement but no pip so I opened a bit of the air cell end to see it still moving. Oiled up the membrane and watched all day. It started to squawk horribly so I peeled back the membrane and it rolled right out and onto its feet where I saw it had no cranium and the brains were literally falling out. Just couldn't bear to watch it die slowly so euthanized it and still feel emotional. Trying to rejoice over the 5 in the brooder but the one lost is so hard.

Oh my gosh I am so so so sorry that is terrible and I don’t blame you for being sad . I’m sorry if this is too sensitive but may I ask how you did it I have a fear I will have to and I like to be prepared in case. Feel free to just not answer if it’s uncomfortable

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Oh my gosh I am so so so sorry that is terrible and I don’t blame you for being sad . I’m sorry if this is too sensitive but may I ask how you did it I have a fear I will have to and I like to be prepared in case. Feel free to just not answer if it’s uncomfortable

It sounds barbaric, but for a tiny chick I have to admit as terrible as it sounds I just pull the head off quickly with my bare hands. Some people use a very sharp knife. The only reason I don't stop at breaking the neck is because there is still nerve movement so I want to make absolutely sure that's all it is and that there no chance of me not doing it properly and causing pain, so I remove completely. Fortunately I've only done it a couple times.

 

[Spudsnsalsa]

Oh my gosh I am so so so sorry that is terrible and I don’t blame you for being sad . I’m sorry if this is too sensitive but may I ask how you did it I have a fear I will have to and I like to be prepared in case. Feel free to just not answer if it’s uncomfortable

Well I had been sewing masks all day and had my uber sharp Gingher shears out for that project so used them to sever the spinal cord but as it was so small it was actually a full decapitation. In the moment I was more in shock than anything and had it done before the full impact washed over me. Made even worse when my daughter looked at me afterward and pointed out I had a few cockerels to be dispatched to Freezer Camp in my future and she hoped I would do that on a day that she was gone....sigh.

 

[LilyD]

Just put the babies in the brooder and cleaned out and reset the hatcher. I have my rent-a-chick in the hatcher now. It's the one single egg that one of my neighbors didn't have room for in her incubator. It grew and did well and made it to day 18 today.

My replacement Chocolate Mottled eggs were unimpressive. I think she is also having fertility issues. Out of 8 eggs I have three that made it to lockdown and they are moving but not moving energetically like the other eggs.

My batch of eggs I put in as a control group and also because I had just clipped my roosters bum and wanted to see if it made a difference in fertility at all did so much better than previous batches. This batch of 5 eggs all were fertile. I had two that were blood rings maybe day 6 or 7 the other three are growing well and bouncing all over in the eggs.

The Chocolate Mottled and my eggs are due to hatch a day later than the rent-a-chick but since I wasn't sure if her eggs would hatch or not I figured if they didn't she would be able to take a few of the ones that I hatched out so it wouldn't be alone. She is very excited and can't wait to watch her baby hatch.

Her egg is the one all the way on the upper left. I liked how the egg carton worked for this batch. Much less egg soccer going on and I think the babies were able to hatch better since they weren't tossed around so much.

A few pictures of my babies that hatched today. I am in love with the black baby with the mask on. Soo cute

 

[Jules929]

Here are some of the chicks from my 3-17 and 3-24 hatches:

 

[LilyD]

Here are some of the chicks from my 3-17 and 3-24 hatches:
View attachment 2068923View attachment 2068924View attachment 2068925View attachment 2068926

Wow that comb on your little black baby is huge!! These guys are so adorable. I love all the colors.

 

[Jules929]

Wow that comb on your little black baby is huge!! These guys are so adorable. I love all the colors.

Yes, he is a camera hog, too, lol. He was curious and kept getting in front of my phone.
My blue frizzle OE is also sporting quite a comb.

 

[FortCluck]

View attachment 2068787
this little guy was worth the stress and heartbreak of the rest of it though! Welcome to the world Crumpet.

How'd you get that name