Valentine's Day 1st Annual Hatch Along

[Alaskan]

if the incubator is running a bit hot, they will hatch sooner....


also sometimes bantams hatch a little sooner...

I find Leghorns are often precocious

 

[haTHOR]

I would try, but I would watch her. I have done this many times (given day olds to broodies) and actually have done it with first time broodies twice. In both those cases I stuck the babies under her in the dead of night, no lights, like at midnight. Then I sat and watched her for several minutes in the dark, just making sure she settled on them. Then I was out there early the next morning by dawn to check on them. You could give just one or two and test her; if she accepts those you can bring the others out at dawn and she will likely be fine with it. Good luck!

I have a broody sitting on some dud eggs. I was thinking of slipping some of the chicks from this hatch under her after they are all fluffed out. However, she is very skittish and I am afraid she might abandon them. This would be her first brood, so she is untried as a mama hen. Should I go for  it and hope for the best, or should I give her some fertile eggs and let her do her thing? Some of the eggs in the incubator for this hatch are hers.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Are 19 day hatches normal for y'all? I don't believe I've ever had a pip before about mid day 20!

I had an 18 day hatch once, but they aren't that common for me. My two that hatched out early may have bantam genes, and bantam eggs typically hatch day 18. One of my roosters is a bantam and the hen that these two came from is very small, as are her eggs. Which could contribute to the early hatch also. Standard size breeds generally hatch right around 21 days, give or take a little. Temp and humidity fluctuations in incubators can also cause early or late hatches as well.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I would try, but I would watch her. I have done this many times (given day olds to broodies) and actually have done it with first time broodies twice. In both those cases I stuck the babies under her in the dead of night, no lights, like at midnight. Then I sat and watched her for several minutes in the dark, just making sure she settled on them. Then I was out there early the next morning by dawn to check on them. You could give just one or two and test her; if she accepts those you can bring the others out at dawn and she will likely be fine with it. Good luck!

Thanks, I will try that. The chicks are still drying so it will definitely have to be tomorrow night. That will make them just over a day old.

 

[haTHOR]

Leave the dud eggs there in the night so she feels the same and lot like something is missing is my suggestion, at least until morning... Good luck

 

[Jessshan8]

Are 19 day hatches normal for y'all? I don't believe I've ever had a pip before about mid day 20!

Mine are seramas so they hatch around day 19. smaller breeds usually hatch a day early as compared to standard breeds at day 21. I have jersey giants as well and they usually hatch around day 22 for most some at day 21 though. I guess as with most birds the bigger the bird and egg the longer incubation period.

 

[Alaskan]

Quote:
I am always too scared to put the chicks out at night... even though that is what most recommend.

A bad broody will peck the chicks to death, and I almost never have a chick that I would be happy to sacrifice as a 'test chick'.

So, I tuck them in during daylight hours. Then sit down in the same area, and read a book.

I had one broody that would take any chick you gave her...

the broody I used last spring, I gav e her chicks about 1 week old, and she took to them, but was a bit surprised.. and not quite sure how to be a good mom.... so the first 4 days I would swap out her chicks every 4 hours or so (she was letting them get cold).

After the first 4 days, she got the hang of it, and I gave her all 17, or whatever it was.

The only problem with her, was that since she wasn't perfect at first, I rotated out my least important chicks... all of which were black. When she proved herself a good mother, she was already imprinted on the black chicks, and would NOT take any other color chick.

 

[Nedw3]

I just returned home from a very long day trip and I have two pips, I'm so excited!

 

[haTHOR]

This is my first hatch using a new bator and my first hatch in this old farmhouse with wood stove heat. MUCH harder to keep temps stable in these conditions, especially with the VERY cold weather we have had. Down to 12* outside tonight here in the mountains of Western NC, and I'm having my husband check the bator temps when he gets up to tend fire at 2am. If it's 100* at bedtime it'll drop a degree or a bit more by then as the fire dies down. Not sure I will do this again in high Winter unless I am in a push button heat, temperature-managed, situation.

 

[ochochicas]

I feel badly for all of you on the East Coast that have to deal with this ridiculous weather. We get a storm here once or twice a year. One year we had horrible cold and an ice storm that knocked the power out for a week. That was fun to do once, but if we kept getting slammed with cold and snow like the East Coast has had this year, I'd put the house up for sale and get out of Dodge.