Too Early for Feb Hatch-A-Long Thread??

[CluckNDoodle]

Thank you, @CluckNDoodle, @LilyD, and @Mylied! I'm giving it another go right now!

I'm trying to keep my eyes open hoping for an update. Everything going ok?

 

[aliciaplus3]

lock down here all of these are due the 17th! The girls added another 33 eggs due 3.3 and 3.10? I think that will be our last duck run.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

Out of my four due "today" (day 21 started at about 5 pm) I have three definitely confirmed internal pips, one I'm pretty sure of, and two of the chicks are peeping at me from inside the shell! And the two eggs that are due "tomorrow" are doing the tarantella inside their shells! I'm still trying to find a way to stream from my weird cameras, but I think I'll just have to post a timelapse afterwards instead.

 

[LynnaePB]

I'm kicking myself right now. I just realized the turner was unplugged from day 7-9 on my 13 eggs from my flock. I've heard turning the first 7 days is most critical so I'm glad it happened starting day 7. I just hope it won't hurt them too much being unturned for a couple days mid incubation. I'm Hoping they'll end up hatching alright despite my mistake.

Thank you, @CluckNDoodle, @LilyD, and @Mylied! I'm giving it another go right now!

Oh my your little fighter was stuck for quite a while! Good luck, I hope everything goes well!

 

[abpatchy]

OMG!!!! I have a chick!!! Last night no sign of hatching! This morning I was greeted by this little fluff ball. All dry and fluffy already!

 

[FortCluck]

I think that was one of my roos! I got a Meyer Meal Maker pack last year because I didn't have any chickens since I had to take a break from having them due to an illness, so I'm starting all over again as of last year. The issue I'm finding is the hens lay well but they don't have any width and depth in their body compared to the show quality roo I have. I have 3 hens and a roo and that's it right now. But looking to grow out 25-50 roos and about the same amount of pullets this year to choose from for next years breeders.

I find that with Orps if you want until around 25-30 weeks they tend to do well. They aren't as meaty as a CornishX but they are better than an egg breed bird. I also raise mine free range on the full acreage of my property so they free range a lot for their own food. They averaged around 2.5 to 5lbs at processing which was respectable for hatchery birds. This year I have an English Roo over hatchery hens and I'll keep the best of the best from those babies for adding back to the flock. It will take 10+ years I'm sure but I'm hoping for a 5-6 lbs table bird consistently and still keeping the laying at as close to 150-180 eggs a year as I can.

This was the pic of the orp I posted last fall.
View attachment 2026593

He was very respectable size around 5lbs. The orps in general averaged 3-5lbs. I was very pleased with them.

We bred all our dual purpose hens/pullets with our jersey giant. We have 3 of his chicks left since all the others sold. I'm going to process one of them since I think it's a cockerel. The chick is HUGE! I need to get pics and I'll post it on here. It's just a massive bird and so tall. My husband said the Jersey giant roo was trying to mate with it so maybe it's a Pullet. I haven't been able to take a real close look at it yet, but maybe if I get pics y'all can help me.

If it's a Pullet I'll keep it, if not it'll be processed. It's huge! You definitely can tell it's part jersey giant.

 

[FortCluck]

I'm kicking myself right now. I just realized the turner was unplugged from day 7-9 on my 13 eggs from my flock. I've heard turning the first 7 days is most critical so I'm glad it happened starting day 7. I just hope it won't hurt them too much being unturned for a couple days mid incubation. I'm Hoping they'll end up hatching alright despite my mistake.



Oh my your little fighter was stuck for quite a while! Good luck, I hope everything goes well!

Just turn the turner back on because I know someone who's turner was not working at all for the first week and when she noticed the embryos were stuck to one side of the egg. She started hand turning them and the embryos became unstuck after about two days. All of them hatched as well and are very healthy.

 

[FortCluck]

OMG!!!! I have a chick!!! Last night no sign of hatching! This morning I was greeted by this little fluff ball. All dry and fluffy already! View attachment 2026699

It looks like it's giving you the stink eye so cute!

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I was candling these guys to make sure they are still moving, and this one pipped while I was holding it!

 

[Mylied]

I moved the 3 dry ones into the brooder. The other 3 are pipped and hopefully working on getting out.