[UPDATED] CHICK PEEPING AT DAY 13 (yes, really!)

[Crazy_with_kidz_and_chicz]

The two birds from last night died almost immediately, apparently both were mushy. I'm super sad and progressively more irritated with the woman who sold me these eggs, especially for a first hatch. We have definitely learned that in terms of the local poultry world, cash is king and people will sell you anything for $5 around here. I've reached out to her to ask questions about the eggs, the dates they were set, if she's had successful hatches. No response. I'm going to write off the last 4 eggs entirely for the sake of my sanity. If any of them hatch I won't hold my breath for chicks as robust as Lotus. I imagine the reason she went first and came out with very little help is she was the healthiest of the bunch. Mushy chick is the worst IMO because you can't do anything and you think all's good but bam, dead bird so fast. Definitely took the wind out of my sails a bit but I'm just hoping the remainder of my hatch has not been hindered by all this drama. I also haven't slept in aboutttt 55 hours, so my level of doneness is probably maxed out. Lol off to work now, wish me luck that I get at least one more living, healthy hatchling out of this please!!!! At least we got Lotus the Very Early Bird...right? :/

sorry to hear this. really. and good luck getting through the day. stay strong. I don't know how to put any emojis but I would put a hug one

 

[shanadienne]

The two birds from last night died almost immediately, apparently both were mushy. I'm super sad and progressively more irritated with the woman who sold me these eggs, especially for a first hatch. We have definitely learned that in terms of the local poultry world, cash is king and people will sell you anything for $5 around here. I've reached out to her to ask questions about the eggs, the dates they were set, if she's had successful hatches. No response. I'm going to write off the last 4 eggs entirely for the sake of my sanity. If any of them hatch I won't hold my breath for chicks as robust as Lotus. I imagine the reason she went first and came out with very little help is she was the healthiest of the bunch. Mushy chick is the worst IMO because you can't do anything and you think all's good but bam, dead bird so fast. Definitely took the wind out of my sails a bit but I'm just hoping the remainder of my hatch has not been hindered by all this drama. I also haven't slept in aboutttt 55 hours, so my level of doneness is probably maxed out. Lol off to work now, wish me luck that I get at least one more living, healthy hatchling out of this please!!!! At least we got Lotus the Very Early Bird...right? :/

That sucks, I'm so sorry. I try not to count my chicks before they've been running around for three to four days, but I think Lotus will make it.

I'd be furious at that woman. In summertime when it's really hot, I don't like to sell eggs that sat in the coop over four hours, let alone days. Like I said, if you have chickens, you have to be paying more attention to your flock. Broody hens are hard to miss when they go on break, plus I can usually tell them apart on the nest from a hen laying an egg. Eggs don't just start developing accidentally; there had to have been a broody. There are things that chicken keepers have to decide for themselves, like whether to cull or whether to assist in hatching (I likely wouldn't have helped these chicks at all) and then there are things that are just irresponsible if you fail to do them.
Were the eggs clean when you got them?

 

[CajunFeatherz]

Thank you guys so much, it's been really nice to have some support all the way thru.

The eggs were pretty clean, some with a bit of poo but they do come out of a butt, after all I bought several different eggs from several different people and they didn't seem any dirtier than usual? I agree with you completely that I would never sell a questionable egg, and I have no idea how someone could miss a broody hen if they were being properly vigilant with care. I check my hens at least 3 times a day especially in the heat, which I know isn't entirely possible for some people but like any activity with live animals, you need to devote appropriate time to caring for them. This was irresponsible on her part. No question.

I went back and forth on whether or not I shouldn't or should have assisted and I think I probably would have done an eggtopsy and gotten the same news, so either way I learned some lessons. It sucks to have all this on the first go round of hatching because we were so excited and wanted to do absolutely everything right, and now I'm afraid for the rest of the hatch. But I'm already collecting (MY OWN) eggs for hatching next week. And hopefully I will never have this happen again! Unless you have multiple incubators I would never ever recommend a stacked hatch after this experience. Not that it was intentional, but still will never try it on purpose tho I've seen some people do it.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Thank you guys so much, it's been really nice to have some support all the way thru.

The eggs were pretty clean, some with a bit of poo but they do come out of a butt, after all I bought several different eggs from several different people and they didn't seem any dirtier than usual? I agree with you completely that I would never sell a questionable egg, and I have no idea how someone could miss a broody hen if they were being properly vigilant with care. I check my hens at least 3 times a day especially in the heat, which I know isn't entirely possible for some people but like any activity with live animals, you need to devote appropriate time to caring for them. This was irresponsible on her part. No question.

I went back and forth on whether or not I shouldn't or should have assisted and I think I probably would have done an eggtopsy and gotten the same news, so either way I learned some lessons. It sucks to have all this on the first go round of hatching because we were so excited and wanted to do absolutely everything right, and now I'm afraid for the rest of the hatch. But I'm already collecting (MY OWN) eggs for hatching next week. And hopefully I will never have this happen again! Unless you have multiple incubators I would never ever recommend a stacked hatch after this experience. Not that it was intentional, but still will never try it on purpose tho I've seen some people do it.

I'm sorry, I hope at least one more chick hatches so your Lotus has a friend.

I have purposefully started staggered hatching where I set eggs once a week. I have a trio of Cornish and I want to hatch every egg of their's I can. So it is either have 3 incubators or stagger hatch with 2. I have a starter incubator and a lockdown incubator. It is working very well at the moment. I am getting my first batch of chicks from this method yesterday and today. 9 out of 21 eggs have hatched so far and at least 7-8 more have pipped. I had trouble with my staggered hatches earlier on because I had the eggs in a cheap incubator that I couldn't keep the humidity low enough for starting. I now use that incubator as my hatcher and my expensive Brinsea Ovation 28 EX as the starter incubator.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Sorry for your losses, that sucks. Lotus is sooooo cute btw

 

[CajunFeatherz]

Thank you puffypoo!! She is adorable and #4 is chirping a bunch, so here's hoping for her (but trying not to set myself up for disappointment).

Redhead Rae I would looooooove to have multiple incubators because then heck yes I'd be stacking!! But I currently just use one Hova Bator Genesis and it's great for a first timer but it's certainly no cabinet incubator or decent setup for a stacked hatch. I've had to pop trays out of my auto turner, use saltiness boxes as braces to stop the birds from getting caught in the turner, plus I'm worried a little about the amount of birthing bacteria the rest of the eggs is being exposed to since the two chicks were mushy.

Overall, our eventual goal is to gradually build up a repertoire of healthy adult birds and start small batch hatching as a side accompaniment to our existing farm and animal nutrition business. The lavender orpingtons were such a score, few people in our area have them as we are pretty rural and keeping exotic-ish breeds is uncommon. I can get a RIR, an Australarp, a Brahman or a Leghorn anywhere but the nearest breeder for unusual breeds is frequently sold out as he's also just a very streamlined hobbyist.

Crossing my fingers for one more lavender chick to hatch and be healthy! And then I'll be crossing them that I have a roo and a hen because I'm never satisfied

 

[Redhead Rae]

Thank you puffypoo!! She is adorable and #4 is chirping a bunch, so here's hoping for her (but trying not to set myself up for disappointment).

Redhead Rae I would looooooove to have multiple incubators because then heck yes I'd be stacking!! But I currently just use one Hova Bator Genesis and it's great for a first timer but it's certainly no cabinet incubator or decent setup for a stacked hatch. I've had to pop trays out of my auto turner, use saltiness boxes as braces to stop the birds from getting caught in the turner, plus I'm worried a little about the amount of birthing bacteria the rest of the eggs is being exposed to since the two chicks were mushy.

Overall, our eventual goal is to gradually build up a repertoire of healthy adult birds and start small batch hatching as a side accompaniment to our existing farm and animal nutrition business. The lavender orpingtons were such a score, few people in our area have them as we are pretty rural and keeping exotic-ish breeds is uncommon. I can get a RIR, an Australarp, a Brahman or a Leghorn anywhere but the nearest breeder for unusual breeds is frequently sold out as he's also just a very streamlined hobbyist.

Crossing my fingers for one more lavender chick to hatch and be healthy! And then I'll be crossing them that I have a roo and a hen because I'm never satisfied

Sounds fun. I have three Chocolate English Orp hens that I'm trying to get a rooster for and I have Blue/Black/Splash Cochins. I'm considering getting chocolate Cochins as well since Chocolate works with Black. I think the blues and Chocolates would sell well around here since most places only have the standard breeds.

 

[CajunFeatherz]

Cochins are so amazing, I have my eye on some bantam cochins but the farm is actually responsible and not selling their eggs until they can assure fertility. Splash cochins are a super fav and cochins in general seem to have a lot of attitude / personality! Which I love

 

[Redhead Rae]

Cochins are so amazing, I have my eye on some bantam cochins but the farm is actually responsible and not selling their eggs until they can assure fertility. Splash cochins are a super fav and cochins in general seem to have a lot of attitude / personality! Which I love

I'm mainly dealing with Standard Cochins, like my Avatar. But most of the eggs I'm hatching today are Bantam Cochin/Chocolate Orp. The previous owner gave me 2 dozen eggs with the Chocolate orp hens I bought.

 

[CajunFeatherz]

Oh man I'd love to score a deal like that!!!!