What's wrong with their feathers?

[ChooksChick]

Here's a cheesy video of my last hatch when I was transferring them to the brooder. The little guys were all standing still until they heard my voice, and it's hilarious to see them react!
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[LBKS]

whew, I think I earned my crazy chicken lady badge for that drive. CatKai, the chicks are settling in with my 2 weekers and the hens and the roo are chilling next to the brooder - gotta catch my breath before they can go outside. The rooster got out into the garage when I put the water in - good thing all doors were closed - he's fast but I knew the terrain!

All I know is that I don't want to see 69 highway ever again.

 

[CatKai]

Glad you are home! Yes he is fast, he had the whole trip to rest and plan that

Was nice to meet you today! I hate long drives like that... Keep me updated!

whew, I think I earned my crazy chicken lady badge for that drive. CatKai, the chicks are settling in with my 2 weekers and the hens and the roo are chilling next to the brooder - gotta catch my breath before they can go outside. The rooster got out into the garage when I put the water in - good thing all doors were closed - he's fast but I knew the terrain!

All I know is that I don't want to see 69 highway ever again.

 

[tessah33]

Hi
I have a silkie hen sitting on her eggs from my ee roo .
So --- I maybe able to post a few pics to help some of us out.
Maybe next week - They are set to hatch any day.

I got my silkie girl as a gift.
I have been pondering what I will get for over a year .
T

 

[EdenCamp]

Hi Tessah,
There are folks doing silky crosses - but these are pure Ameraucanas with a spontaneous feather mutation - silkied feather with no silkie breed in them.
Neat huh?

 

[EdenCamp]

Ok, dunno how reliable this is - generally I just let the broodies do thier thing and what makes it makes it. But these are SPECIAL Chookschicks babies so bought a hatcher and a high powered LED flashlight to try my hand and candling and being able to ID and band who came out of what color egg for AR retentive record keeping.

Broody kicked one frothy non starter out last week. Another hit the dust a couple days ago that looked behind. Candled on day 17 to set in hatcher. One has a bit smaller air cell than I think I should see, but it is a smaller egg too. Another has a decent sized air cell but it's on the side. Out of 18, 16 look like they are good to go! Mind you, this is uncharted territory for me. DARE I HOPE?

Went ahead and set all 18 in cardboard carton with the bottoms cut out. Steady 99 degrees, 70% humidity with eggs in several hours now. Hatcher has a fan. Silkied Hatcher Guru's....Should I try to drop the humidity a bit or let it ride?

 

[ChooksChick]

Ok, dunno how reliable this is - generally I just let the broodies do thier thing and what makes it makes it. But these are SPECIAL Chookschicks babies so bought a hatcher and a high powered LED flashlight to try my hand and candling and being able to ID and band who came out of what color egg for AR retentive record keeping.

Broody kicked one frothy non starter out last week. Another hit the dust a couple days ago that looked behind. Candled on day 17 to set in hatcher. One has a bit smaller air cell than I think I should see, but it is a smaller egg too. Another has a decent sized air cell but it's on the side. Out of 18, 16 look like they are good to go! Mind you, this is uncharted territory for me. DARE I HOPE?

Went ahead and set all 18 in cardboard carton with the bottoms cut out. Steady 99 degrees, 70% humidity with eggs in several hours now. Hatcher has a fan. Silkied Hatcher Guru's....Should I try to drop the humidity a bit or let it ride?

If your eggs look pretty close to where they should for the time frame, I'd let it ride. If they look small, I'd go ahead and make sure all the vent holes are open as wide as possible. I generally go by the size of the air cell, and if they are correct or close, I let it go. These seem to really do better if they are lower in humidity.

Best of luck!!

 

[EdenCamp]

I've had these under a scovie broody until now - scovies naturally do a drier hatch for themselves. With that one exception noted air cell size seem to be right where they should be.

This clear top jobber has two water wells on the bottom. Decided to drain the smaller one and try to drop it down closer to 65% H now so I can stay out of it later on closer to hatch. Cardboard cartons are going to hold humidity in thier own right. With this rig easier to add more than take out - VERY limited venting and with what little there is, everything is clear and open now. Once they start hatching humidity is going to raise up with fluids anyway isn't it?

Thanks!

 

[ChooksChick]

I've had these under a scovie broody until now - scovies naturally do a drier hatch for themselves. With that one exception noted air cell size seem to be right where they should be.

This clear top jobber has two water wells on the bottom. Decided to drain the smaller one and try to drop it down closer to 65% H now so I can stay out of it later on closer to hatch. Cardboard cartons are going to hold humidity in thier own right. With this rig easier to add more than take out - VERY limited venting and with what little there is, everything is clear and open now. Once they start hatching humidity is going to raise up with fluids anyway isn't it?

Thanks!

That's right, I totally forgot they were under a momma and that this is just for the hatch. Honestly, then, I would remove ALL of the water and the watch once the first one pips. If it gets out fine, the humidity should go up a lot...over the hatch, the first ones will provide humidity for the next several. I usually don't add any moisture until it seems like it's not hanging on in there, which is generally the second morning of hatching. Then I toss in a loosely wadded warm/wet handful of paper towels on a peanut butter lid of warm water. That will bump it up and give surface area to keep it so. This seems to work very well for me, and we're in roughly the same ambient humidity (I'm in the Kansas City area).

Just let the chicks dictate the show. Unless you get someone with a LARGE pipped hole for over 24 hours that starts to dry out, all should work fine. These don't really seem to have trouble hatching anymore for me, and I think my buyers of shipped eggs have done okay, too.

 

[EdenCamp]

When I let the unit run a couple days to check it out, the humidity got down to 20% and I noticed it had run dry.
At least 35-40% or Ok lower? Appreciate the guidence!