MAY 2016 "Land of the Free Because of the brave!" Hatch-a-Long Hosted by, Mike & Sally

[cabinchicky]

Day 14 candling is Sunday. Fingers crossed I still have 11 out of 18.

 

[Chaos18]

Day 14 candling is Sunday. Fingers crossed I still have 11 out of 18.

 

[Chaos18]

Got a total of 3 babies out. Had a temperature spike today, hot day caused house to warm up. No signs of the other 5 eggs hatching so far, might've been baked from the heat wave

. On the bright side, I have a lovely trio of ameraucanas- one each blue, black, and splash

Hopefully you get something out of the remaining eggs. Congrats on the trio of Ams

I know I am late to the party but I wanted to share good news!!! My guineas are starting to get really upset about their eggs in their nest meaning they are going to go broody soon!! So excited! So far there are 30 eggs which were laid from May 13 through May 19! I'm hoping one of the five guinea hens will go broody and start sitting on the eggs!!

 

[wabbit1964]

Morning

I have a question for you pro's... How do you know when opening an egg that didn't hatch if it is a case of 'shrink wrap' or if the membranes have just drawn down around the chick due to death in shell??

 

[Chaos18]

Morning

I have a question for you pro's... How do you know when opening an egg that didn't hatch if it is a case of 'shrink wrap' or if the membranes have just drawn down around the chick due to death in shell??

I'm far from a pro but I'll take a whack at it. When a chick is shrink wrapped the membrane will be pulled tightly down around the chick allowing for no movement by the chick. When shrink wrapped you should be able to see definition of the chick without removing the membrane. If the membrane is just drawn down and the chick is DIS there will probably be more fluid therefore the membrane won't be as tight. Also if it's a late DIS the fluid might not be there but the membrane shouldn't be pulled down tight around the chick.

 

[wabbit1964]

I'm far from a pro but I'll take a whack at it. When a chick is shrink wrapped the membrane will be pulled tightly down around the chick allowing for no movement by the chick. When shrink wrapped you should be able to see definition of the chick without removing the membrane. If the membrane is just drawn down and the chick is DIS there will probably be more fluid therefore the membrane won't be as tight. Also if it's a late DIS the fluid might not be there but the membrane shouldn't be pulled down tight around the chick.

Gotcha thanks. That is about what I thought but wasn't sure.

 

[Chaos18]

Gotcha thanks. That is about what I thought but wasn't sure.

That's my take on it at least. No clue if it right or not but it makes sense

 

[jnr005]

As of this morning, 3 chicks out of the shell, 2 more Dorkings piped and one silkie piped! Very happy about that. Not so happy that the 3 week old chicks piled on top of the "momma brooding pad" and crushed a flock mate last night. Poor Amerucana didn't stand a chance. I thought we had it reinforced enough, but when my daughter cleaned she must have re-arranged the sides. It is what it is, but sad. I told her to lay the pads flat for the day and then I will rig up some better 2x4 sides with cross bracing today for the last week or two that they need the heat. Need to finish the coop doors so I can kick them off my back porch.

Yesterday I came home and my contractor working on the shed pointed to a 3 week old olive egger chick running around on the ground. (Their brooder is 16+ feet in the air on a deck with no stairs and only house access). Luckily the chick wasn't harmed from the fall. Catching it was a comedy in itself. 2 workers, myself and my 13 year old daughter running in circles and in and out of materials trying to corner it. Took over 10 minutes to catch the rascal. The chick got out through the wire I used on the outdoor part of the brooder, so I had my daughter take yarn and string it through the wire to discourage more adventures. For their coop I used 1/4" welded wire, but for the temp pen on the brooder I used 1x4 garden fence since they are 16 feet up in the air. I lock them in the brooder at night so I wasn't so worried about predators accessing them in the day...but I didn't realize they were escape artists themselves!


I added the pen on the left to the brooder/coop on the right and put them on my secured back porch. Note to self, smaller fencing next time to keep chicks in!!!

 

[Chaos18]

As of this morning, 3 chicks out of the shell, 2 more Dorkings piped and one silkie piped! Very happy about that. Not so happy that the 3 week old chicks piled on top of the "momma brooding pad" and crushed a flock mate last night. Poor Amerucana didn't stand a chance. I thought we had it reinforced enough, but when my daughter cleaned she must have re-arranged the sides. It is what it is, but sad. I told her to lay the pads flat for the day and then I will rig up some better 2x4 sides with cross bracing today for the last week or two that they need the heat. Need to finish the coop doors so I can kick them off my back porch.

Yesterday I came home and my contractor working on the shed pointed to a 3 week old olive egger chick running around on the ground. (Their brooder is 16+ feet in the air on a deck with no stairs and only house access). Luckily the chick wasn't harmed from the fall. Catching it was a comedy in itself. 2 workers, myself and my 13 year old daughter running in circles and in and out of materials trying to corner it. Took over 10 minutes to catch the rascal. The chick got out through the wire I used on the outdoor part of the brooder, so I had my daughter take yarn and string it through the wire to discourage more adventures. For their coop I used 1/4" welded wire, but for the temp pen on the brooder I used 1x4 garden fence since they are 16 feet up in the air. I lock them in the brooder at night so I wasn't so worried about predators accessing them in the day...but I didn't realize they were escape artists themselves!


I added the pen on the left to the brooder/coop on the right and put them on my secured back porch. Note to self, smaller fencing next time to keep chicks in!!!

Sorry to hear about the one that got squished.

Hope the others hatch out well. It's always humorous trying to catch a chicken.

 

[Chaos18]

@mlm Mike Haven't heard from you in a couple days. Hope everything's alright.