This morning when I woke up there was a hatched chick in the incubator. Had to go out for awhile (got a flu shot) and just now got back home. There are four hatched chicks in there now. More eggs have pips. So seems that they are really early as 21st day is tomorrow.
Not all of them are dry yet but they look like they might all be the same color. Plus they have that chipmonk pattern that I have seen lots in pictures but never in person. From the auction description it said the females are a rusty red color and males are white with grey highlights. Didn't say anything about any pattern.
Red Sex Link Chicks
Wow, great beginning for your hatch. It sounds like you have all pullets so far!
No more new chicks yet. Not sure that they are the same color now that they are drier. I might have two and two. Its really hard to tell looking at them squished in there and not totally dry. Its not time to open the incubator so I will just have to be patient. I have two eggs with no pips yet and the other eggs have pips.
Great News Great News!!!!!! So how is the hatch going NOW!!!! I wanna seeee!!
No pictures. It looks to me to be two males and two females. I moved them to the brooder. One dead shrink wrapped chick. Pipped but not absorbed the yoke and looks like guts still out. Looks to be a male. Two pipps started but could not pip due to shrink wrapped so I am helping them out of the shell. Three more eggs not showing anything doing yet.
My first hatch I put water in the tray of the incubator like it said to do. It was summer and humid here. I drowned most of those chicks. Second hatch used almost no water. Went well, but it was still warm out. It is now colder here. All windows closed and heat on. Obviously too dry in the house for the dry incubation method.
I get so frustrated that its such a learning process. I figgure I now know use the dry incubation method in the warm weather and follow the incubator instructions and fill the tray for the winter. Our heat here causes the house to be very dry. Too much shrink wrapping trying to use a modified dry hatch to keep it at 20-30 percent. I do not care for this dry out the chicks and shrink wrap them at all.
Oh My! Shrink wrapped Chicks , sounds awful! Hope they all get " unshrunk",( my Palin word..Heehee) soon!
Looks like you will have a great crop of pullets yet!
Well, only have two. One of the ones I am helping looks to be a boy, not sure if the other is a girl or not or if it will make it or not. Then three more eggs and don't know if anything might still come of them.
None of this of course is the fault of the seller. Looks like I had a good bunch of eggs and could be chicks at lockdown. Good fertility. This seller keeps relisting this auction for the same thing I got and if I don't get another pullet I will most likely buy another batch. I really want these red sex link girls. I am all for egg laying machines LOL!
Will be doing pictures tomorrow. Plus I want to try and learn the thing about sexing by wing feathers now that I have already identifiable males and females. Plus I like good daylight for the chick IDs. The red heat lamp light really throws off colors and the lamps here are just not good enough for true color.
Oh, I forgot to say that I ground up some chick starter again this afternoon in the blender so it was fine enough for the babies.
Rita: It sounds to me like your really learning a lot. It's not that easy to understand all one needs to know for good results but your determination is great. Grinding up the feed is such a good thing especially for the sometimes weaker ones. Keep up the good work...Haystack
I only know things because I read alot. And here people help alot by sharing knowledge. Well, off to bed. Further reports tomorrow.
Haystack, isnt she just something! Rita you have learned so much and believe me Im hanging on every word you write! Funny too! I love reading your threads.
How's the hatch? Any newbies?
I opened the three remaining eggs this morning. Three dead chicks with the membrains very dried out. So they never would have pipped anyway. Not sure when they died exactly as they were not quite finished and had yolk still to be absorbed.
Of the two I helped yesterday, one is fine and I put it in the brooder. The other is near dead and will not last long :-(( Of course the one that is well is a male and the other a female. Frustrating.
Off to take pictures now and will be posting them later.
You guys here on this forum are going to be stuck with me and my yakking all winter LOL!. This kind of updates and news about what I am doing in my garden is what the people in the daylily and iris forums are used to from me. Now the chicken forum gets my attention ha-ha.
Ohhhh Man! so Sorry Rita! We are just NOT having any luck are we!
I looked at the supposed wing feathers. There are no feathers. At least not that I can see. Little stubblies there look the same to me on all the five chicks. I am frustrated. Took pictures anyway as they are so cute at this age.
I will go take pictures of the other chicks now while I am in camera mode.
Keep looking, you should see a difference in a couple of days.
Pictures that I took today-
Girls-
Girls again.
Boys-
Boys again.
So what they said in the description of the auction was that girls are a rusty red color and boys are white with some silver grey.
That leaves me with this funny one that is not quite fitting into either.
It is white on the head but has lots of rust on the body. Probably a boy.
Opps. Forgot this group shot.
Hermaphrodite perhaps? I'll be optimistic and guess that it is a pullet.
This is why I want to figgure out the feather sexing. I will be trying again tomorrow to look at the wing feathers.
The last little guy in the incubator expired so this 5 chicks is it for this hatch.
Give me a few more days.. those pictures are perfect! See how the girl has what looks to be a > shape to her developing feathers while she is at rest? The other one looks like the bottom 3 feathers are coming out straight.. not in a > shape but rather square? It is waaay early to see, but once I can explain this.. and you see it, it will be clear.
The pictures are great cause they are natural position.. which for me is important. It will be fun to see what that lil 1/2 and 1/2 baby turns out to be..
congratulations on your hatch Rita! Darling babiez there!!
They are really cute. I just love how adorable they look as they come out of the incubator once they are totally dry.
I just tried to get shots were you could see them side view and see their wings. There aren't supposed to be any were you can't tell right away by color, that is the point of the sex link stuff. Of course it is probably obvious to someone who has lots of experience looking at their color. Somehow I just expected rustier looking for rusty girls and no doubt on the boys.
I will try pics everyday while they are this small so maybe I can catch on LOL!
my guess is roo for the 1/2 & 1/2
I think roo on that mixed up one just because it has a white head. I looked and looked at everyones wing feathers today. This is rediclious. I can't see anything that means anything. Just some feather stubs. I took pictures again anyway.
The Girls today.
Girls again. I do find them increabably cute :-))
Still girls.
Boys now.
Those same boy chicks.
And the boys again.
Here is the funny doesn't fit into either catagory little guy.
And here he is again.
I think I might be seeing what ZZ was describing about the wings. The pullets' wings taper to a point (slightly) and the roosters' are blunter. Based on what I imagine that I see, I still think Pinky is a pullet..
I think you are right Porkpal.. Pinky is getting pullet feathers!
Imagine a backwards L the bottom part of the L is the emerging wing feathers.. on a roo, it's like 2 or 3 grow straight out forming the bottom of the L
A pullet's emerging wing feathers come out not like an L but like > a v shape.
Zz thanks so much for helping us all understand, though I am still in the dark. Are you talking about the wing that connects to the shoulder, or the ends of the wings? I am starting to see an inverted L shape on the boys, the < is less obvious to me.
On the boys it comes straight down from the shoulder and straight out.
Rita, they are so precious. Looks like you have them standing up like little soldiers. :) I don't know how you are doing that.
My daughter had a kitten one time when she was two years old. She also had a wagon. She put a towel in the wagon and put the kitten in the wagon. Every time she would pull, of course, the kitten would jump out. Over and over she would pick him up, cuddle him and put him back on his towel. The kitten finally gave up and stayed in the wagon. So funny. She could pull that kitten anywhere she wanted to.
In a similar fashion, I can imagine you making those chicks stand in line for their picture taking.
Me too, still in the dark too. I just don't see anything in the wing feathers.
I get them to stand like that because I have the camera ready to take pictures. I pick them both up from the brooder at the same time and bring them and set them down in the picture area and quickly move them into position I want them to be in. They usually hold that way for afew pictures as they are confused by the change of location.