This is day 5. I'm not fretting, staring at them or running every time it jingles to let me know they've turned. I do visit and talk to them, but I'm not going to be so obsessive this time around (I swear). Temp and humidity are set and I just count the days. There is enough yard work to keep me busy and the new coop be delivered. Handy man still a no show, I'm going to have to look for someone else or it'll never be ready. There are 10 babies in the garage that need to be in the coop in another week or so.
Hope you all have a WONDERFUL week!!!
more eggs incubating.
Were you able to candle them at all? This is cool.. another hatching thread!! I'm in!! :)
Couldn't see a thing LOL! I put them all in the incubator and will hope for the best. These eggs were not as well packaged as the last batch (really cool foam with egg cut outs) but none were broken. These will be my "eye candy" chickens, well, not that they're especially pretty to look at, but the eggs are beautiful. I hope to get 4 pullets out of this hatch. I purchased several of each breed - BCM, WM, and Blue Marans. They are, imo, the worst layers, one egg a week (going by what my WM's lay) but the egg color is soooo beautiful. The rest of the herd are real working girl's and should lay 4 to 5 eggs a week to make up for the slackers. I also ordered a few EE'ers, gotta have some blue/green eggs with all the brown ones. I'd like the total number of chickens (assuming all goes well) to be between 25 to 28. That would be enough to get a dozen eggs a day, hopefully even in the winter. My family has gotten really greedy and demanding about having fresh eggs! Lock down is on the 22nd, hoped for hatch is the 25th.
My internet connection is sooooo slow and keeps timing out, ugh, has been like that for over a week now.
I ordered some Speckled Sussex to go with my Sussex splits since they are broody. Tracking is showing nothing grrrrrrrrr. Really thought I would have them today since Montgomery,Ala is only 2 1/2 hrs away. Lost the one chick that hatched from one hen. The other 3 to 5 cramming themselves into one box broke most of the eggs. 2 had dead babies. Hubbie got me 2 more huge cat litter boxes so hopefully no more problems. One hen moved to a hamper like nest I made and one back into the litter box all cleaned. Haven't put the others out there yet.
Good luck Annie. I have my fingers and toes crossed for you
Donna, I'm starting to think that multiple brooding just doesn't work.. I haven't seen good results yet from more than one hen setting. I wish you good luck!
Oh, I hope there are exceptions. I have one little game hen brooding an a very mixed bag of eggs, and while I don't NEED any more chickens, I always like babies, especially those "I" don't have to care for. Anyway, lately she;s been off the eggs more than I'd like, but it has been very warm (I know, rationalizing). Two days ago, she was out running around, but when I checked the eggs, there was another hen filling in. Oddly, she's a Silver Sebright, and I didn't expect broodiness from her. Maybe she was just resting:). Still, I'm hoping that her babysitting is not a problem, they don't seem to fight, or be in the nest at the smae time, although there's certainly room for them both :)
Oh YAY, more babies for everyone! I'm wishing I had a broody too. It really is nice to have them do all the work and to teach the babies. I think mulitple broodies in the same coop would be confusing, for me anyway, so I don't know how they would keep it all straight. Heck I can't even find my own shoes some days.
I talked to some Marans people and it seems that my particular Marans are just not from a good laying line. Most had between 20 and 30 Marans and got 23 to 25 eggs a day! Today is day 7 in the incubator. The chicks in the garage will CROSSING FINGERS be in their new coop next week (handy man might come through afterall!). I need room for any chicks that might hatch plus the 15 EE'ers I ordered (splitting that order with a friend) that will be here next week. Then.... I'm done for a year.
Now off to do never ending yard work....
Off for a year, Seeing is believing...LOL...Wink, Wink...Hay
Catmad, there are always exceptions... always! This has just been what I've seen, especially recently. My friend had a broody, I gave her a dozen eggs, then when all the other hens started sharing the nest, not even one egg hatched..
If I had a broody, I'd just make sure she was alone, it's not hard to move them.. they will go where the eggs go. :)
May the force be with you Annie! ;)
I got 11 silkie eggs last night and put them under my silkie broody,some are sticking out will she be able to hatch all these?Will she move them around so they will all get warmth?This is a first time broody.
Just went out to let everyone out and she has them all covered.
This message was edited May 12, 2011 5:08 AM
I'm crushed, my friends here have no faith in me at all! So as not to let you all down, I'm going to order more hatching eggs. So there! (Thanks for the excuse LOL)
:-)
You got it all backward Annie, your friends have all the faith in the world in you. My how fast the years go by...Annie you truly have become the leader of the pack...Chuckle, Chuckle, Wink, Wink...Rock on Darling...Hay
Green is it not amazing how those little darlings can puff up to cover all those eggs. She should have a sign on her that says Gottcha covered Darling...Hay
ZZ's I got my first two eggs yesterday from my new Dutch Silkies and they along with some pheasant, and Serama eggs are in the bator. I think I like the Dutch Silkies, they are quite friendly. My wife and I had a great time with Debbie when we went down to pick them up and I got a pic of her and I with one of her min-pins that she raises. Very nice lady...Hay
This message was edited May 12, 2011 6:37 AM
This message was edited May 12, 2011 6:37 AM
Hay I`m still waiting for pictures of your silkies,the blues and the dutch.
Do these look like buff silkies to you guys?They look red to me.
What is your usual hatch rate? 4 weeks ago, I had 22 eggs---only 5 hatched. Currently with an additional batch that started as 30.....down to about perhaps 10 that will hatch today, based on candling. Is this typical? Hatch percentage seems very low, or is 25-30% the norm? Using a Hovabator.
Oh my please have good hatches Annie! I got only one little guy out of 3 different settings this year. Im watching and cheering with all the rest of the guys for ya!
I don't hatch eggs, but from what I've read here, the hatch rate is highly variable. It seems to depend on the source of the eggs: shipping decreases your chances, the breed: Seramas seem to be difficult, fertility of course, and the reliability of the incubator to hold temperature and humidity. I hope someone with actual experience will answer; I'm just re-capping what I've learned.
Green, I'm not sure of the correct color but they are the same color as my "buff" Silkie.
LOL Hay, you know chickens are like potato chips.... There are just so many breeds of chickens that I love!
Kosk, are the ones that didn't hatch developing but stopping? Or are they just not fertile...? Are they shipped eggs?
If you are hatching shipped eggs, with a styrofoam Hovabator, your hatch rate is pretty close to average.. As long as your temperature is right, and the humidity is right, you should get better numbers if they are home grown eggs not shipped.
It is very hard to get a TRUE temperature. Thermometers vary so much, I got to the point I believed I never really knew what the true temp was! I have had 3 thermometers at once and one probe thermometer and they were all different..
Porkpal is right and covered it quite well. There are so many variables, it's impossible to predict.. (including counting before they hatch, which is just about sure to jinx the hatch!)
Oh yeah, Green, I had a bantam on 13 eggs and although the poor thing had to morph into a pancake, she got em all covered! :)
Annie, I just love you. I can't wait to hear what you get next! A box a week, that's all I ask. LOL (Like the almond farmers for Blue Diamond) LOL I told that to my postman when I was so addicted to hatching!
Hay, when you post those pictures of your silkies, blues, and Dutch, how about putting in the pic of you with Debbie and her min-pin?,
Thanks, zz. And yes, shipped eggs. Some were infertile. Some stop developing part way through. Today I started with 11 eggs (out of 30 shipped) that are completely solid-opaque when candled, so theoretically have/had full-grown chicks inside of them. So far 2 have hatched, 4 more have pipped, and waiting on the other 5. Assuming these all hatch, that will be about a 25-30% hatch rate, similar to last time. The first one who hatched tonight was easy to identify: a "white crested black polish". Very cute. Other is a bantam---unable to identify which type yet--hatched from a white egg, so there is a small chance it could be a silky.
Last hatch 4 weeks ago provided me with: a golden polish, Egyptian fayoumis, partridge rock, light brahma, and a black colored turken. Quite a variety! Hoping for even more variety to add to it.
It's a puzzle as to why I ordered eggs instead of live chicks (cost twice as much as a live chick--about $4 per egg b/c of the overnight shipping), and then you only get 30% of them. Add in the incubator, and it's a much more costly endeavor. I guess we went this route because I was fascinated by the biology, and it has been a wonderful experience for my boys. Watching them hatch has been a breathtaking experience. Just wish I had a 100% hatch rate! But sounds like this is as good as it gets with mail order. I wasn't going to be able to get these rare breeds locally.
ZZ the pancake thing cracked me up.
Miscounted. Started yesterday with 13 with chicks inside. The count so far: 5 hatched (2 with feathered feet, 1 bantam, one white crested black polish, one rhode island vs new Hampshire red). 4 with pips. 2 other eggs have moved. Leaves 2 that haven't done anything. One current pip is at the wrong end of the egg, so may end up needing assistance.
Good luck Kosk with your hatching eggs.
Kosh0025, good luck on your hatch, it's pretty exciting isn't it?
ZZ's I have no idea what to get next! One of the chicks I have now, a buff brahma (?) is such a doll, she loves to sit on my arm and look at me and make the cutest noises. The BO is already my garage girlfriend, she follows me every where and helped me sort plants today. I'm seriously considering RIR's for their egg laying, but I wouldn't hatch them (roo factor, would order day old pullets). So really, the RIR's wouldn't even count, right? We're talking hatching eggs...
I'm having fun looking!
My final tally is 10 chicks. Got one silky in the bunch, so that's cool.
Congrats, kosk! Silkies are the cutest babies, have fun!