Ended 14th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along—Hatching Fowl Photo Contest

[ChickenTenderKesha]

It is an adorable picture. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to see that all your chicks have all hatched. Did you have anymore troubles? And what was your hatch rate?

They had finished hatching by Day 23 (April 04)!
15 eggs out of the original 30 I had set made it to lockdown, then 11 out of the 15 eggs had hatched!

Spoiler: A description of what had happened to the 3 eggs that did not make it to hatch, and the one egg that did

Chick #6 unfortunately did not make it after hatching, this is the one that ran out and back to the shell and was the one that had passed after drowning in the water reservoir. It had flipped on it back during the run around the incubator directly after hatching and I had to help it back over. I do believe something was not right with this chick due to how it was acting compared to all the other chicks I watched hatch.
I was unable to be there that final day as I had to return to work and had hoped they would all hatch on time or at least by Monday night. Unfortunately 1 of the final 3 that had made it to lock down could have been saved if my mother had known how and when to help them with zipping but you live and learn. She had never hatched eggs before and this was a very new and very real experience for her. Chick #12 had been trying all day and ended up suffocating as he was unable to break the membrane unfortunately as he turned in the egg to zip.
The second egg of those 3 (Chick #13) had been turned over onto the opposite side from where they were out in lockdown while it had externally pipped, by the hatched chicks in the incubator, and unfortunately was not caught so that chick had drowned due to the liquid in the egg.
The final egg of those 3 had been malpositioned and I was actually there for it as it was after I was done work and nothing had happened with it yet. I had actually removed the egg shell above the air cell as that chick had not internally pipped yet and I had a bad gut feeling as my mother told me it was wiggling earlier that day. What really surprised me with this one is that chick had also been unable to fully absorb the yolk, which had also been half black in colour at the base of the yolk where it is connected to the chick. I am unsure as to why that is but I do believe that, unless the yolk turning colour was due to the malpositioning, the chick would not have made it due to the colour of the yolk sac.

On a happier note!
10 hatched out as very healthy chicks (one is for sure a boy as he has the Barred Rock dot on his head and the eggs came from a flock that is covered by a BR roo and has a few BR hens ahaha) even though after the first hatched the rest were “late”
One of the chicks hatched out having two slipped tendons, as that chick was still very wet when I brought it down to the brooder I believe it did in fact hatch out with the slipped tendons. One of the tendons had been easily fixed but the other had been so severely contracted that my mother and I are still trying to correct it.. it’s come a long way as before it hadn’t been able to stand at all and now the little one can stand on its own and get around its personal brooder all on it’s own (with a few topples here and there due to balancing issues still)!!

I have had a very amazing hatching experience in my opinion. Especially for my first time as I got thrown a lot of different stuff that gave me great knowledge for future hatches and to also help others if they are in need with their chicks as I’m currently rehabilitating the one with the slipped tendons very well I’d say! Thank you for asking about how it went

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Am I able to post a photo from my previous flock as well of an egg hatching?
I completely forgot about these photos I got that I think one would fit the rules so long as it’s okay that it’s an older photo from a few years ago? I definitely took this photo though because my hand is in the ones around it holding the hatching egg so I know it is (I also know I can’t use those ones )

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

They had finished hatching by Day 23 (April 04)!
15 eggs out of the original 30 I had set made it to lockdown, then 11 out of the 15 eggs had hatched!

Spoiler: A description of what had happened to the 3 eggs that did not make it to hatch, and the one egg that did

Chick #6 unfortunately did not make it after hatching, this is the one that ran out and back to the shell and was the one that had passed after drowning in the water reservoir. It had flipped on it back during the run around the incubator directly after hatching and I had to help it back over. I do believe something was not right with this chick due to how it was acting compared to all the other chicks I watched hatch.
I was unable to be there that final day as I had to return to work and had hoped they would all hatch on time or at least by Monday night. Unfortunately 1 of the final 3 that had made it to lock down could have been saved if my mother had known how and when to help them with zipping but you live and learn. She had never hatched eggs before and this was a very new and very real experience for her. Chick #12 had been trying all day and ended up suffocating as he was unable to break the membrane unfortunately as he turned in the egg to zip.
The second egg of those 3 (Chick #13) had been turned over onto the opposite side from where they were out in lockdown while it had externally pipped, by the hatched chicks in the incubator, and unfortunately was not caught so that chick had drowned due to the liquid in the egg.
The final egg of those 3 had been malpositioned and I was actually there for it as it was after I was done work and nothing had happened with it yet. I had actually removed the egg shell above the air cell as that chick had not internally pipped yet and I had a bad gut feeling as my mother told me it was wiggling earlier that day. What really surprised me with this one is that chick had also been unable to fully absorb the yolk, which had also been half black in colour at the base of the yolk where it is connected to the chick. I am unsure as to why that is but I do believe that, unless the yolk turning colour was due to the malpositioning, the chick would not have made it due to the colour of the yolk sac.

On a happier note!
10 hatched out as very healthy chicks (one is for sure a boy as he has the Barred Rock dot on his head and the eggs came from a flock that is covered by a BR roo and has a few BR hens ahaha) even though after the first hatched the rest were “late”
One of the chicks hatched out having two slipped tendons, as that chick was still very wet when I brought it down to the brooder I believe it did in fact hatch out with the slipped tendons. One of the tendons had been easily fixed but the other had been so severely contracted that my mother and I are still trying to correct it.. it’s come a long way as before it hadn’t been able to stand at all and now the little one can stand on its own and get around its personal brooder all on it’s own (with a few topples here and there due to balancing issues still)!!

I have had a very amazing hatching experience in my opinion. Especially for my first time as I got thrown a lot of different stuff that gave me great knowledge for future hatches and to also help others if they are in need with their chicks as I’m currently rehabilitating the one with the slipped tendons very well I’d say! Thank you for asking about how it went

Wow, thank you for your response! Reading through your spoiler, I think I figured out why one of my chicks died in my last hatch. She had piped, but somehow another chick's she'll got on hers, covering her hole. (This hatch was under a new broody.)

I can see that. I'm so glad that your chick with the slipped tendons is doing better, too. You're welcome. I enjoyed reading everything that you said.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Am I able to post a photo from my previous flock as well of an egg hatching?
I completely forgot about these photos I got that I think one would fit the rules so long as it’s okay that it’s an older photo from a few years ago? I definitely took this photo though because my hand is in the ones around it holding the hatching egg so I know it is (I also know I can’t use those ones )

It's no longer a part of the rules of how recent the picture was taken. No people in the pictures is still a rule on this contest though. You can still post those pictures if you want to. For those doing the spreadsheet work, it is helpful if you say "Not an Entry" with the pictures. (We often can tell what is entries or not, so it's more for when we're second guessing ourselves, lol.)

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Wow, thank you for your response! Reading through your spoiler, I think I figured out why one of my chicks died in my last hatch. She had piped, but somehow another chick's she'll got on hers, covering her hole. (This hatch was under a new broody.)

I can see that. I'm so glad that your chick with the slipped tendons is doing better, too. You're welcome. I enjoyed reading everything that you said.

That would honestly make sense because mine in the incubator were napping for 12-24 hours after external pipping, so she wouldn’t have even known it was in her way and passed gently I’m sure

The photo I want to use as my final entry is of my two hens when they hatched out their first chick of two! Unfortunately the second one to hatch under them did not make it as it hatched a full day and a half later than the other chick and so it had needed to be on the nest longer but both the hens wanted to be with the mobile chick.. I think that one got swept away and potentially picked off by the other hens as I had no way to separate them at the time and had been going to get them moved that evening after work after getting a separate crate built for them! They had also been very bad at stepping on eggs and that second one had been cracked by them previously before hatching so I do think that did not help.

It’s always a learning experience with chickens and hatching eggs!! No matter with a broody or an incubator! I can’t believe I had almost forgotten about Pearl and Juan until going through my camera roll looking for my old egg photo and photos of them all showed up first!

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Entry #4 - Pearl (left) and Pip (right) hatching Juan back in 2021 with my old flock

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

That would honestly make sense because mine in the incubator were napping for 12-24 hours after external pipping, so she wouldn’t have even known it was in her way and passed gently I’m sure

The photo I want to use as my final entry is of my two hens when they hatched out their first chick of two! Unfortunately the second one to hatch under them did not make it as it hatched a full day and a half later than the other chick and so it had needed to be on the nest longer but both the hens wanted to be with the mobile chick.. I think that one got swept away and potentially picked off by the other hens as I had no way to separate them at the time and had been going to get them moved that evening after work after getting a separate crate built for them! They had also been very bad at stepping on eggs and that second one had been cracked by them previously before hatching so I do think that did not help.

It’s always a learning experience with chickens and hatching eggs!! No matter with a broody or an incubator! I can’t believe I had almost forgotten about Pearl and Juan until going through my camera roll looking for my old egg photo and photos of them all showed up first!

Ok! I can't wait to see your picture then.

Aw, that's sad. I've had that happen plenty of times. One of the times I nearly lost a chick that was too late, my Mom was able to save it. She finished hatching it, then I put it back with it's hatching mother. With that last chick, the hatch ended up being a 100% hatch rate. I put five TSC Silkie eggs under my bantam and all hatched out with the hen hatching four of them. With my bantam though, I separated her flock from her while she was hatching until the chicks were much older. I've never been brave enough to let other chickens near my hatching broodies. I have been hearing of plenty of people doing that successfully though!

I agree! And every hatch is different too! I've had five out of five hatch before and have only four out of twelve hatch in another hatch. Then I've had such different things happen between the hatches, too.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Entry #4 - Pearl (left) and Pip (right) hatching Juan back in 2021 with my old flock
View attachment 3460737

Oh, how precious!

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Oh, how precious!

Pearl was the most devoted mom ever !! She loved her little baby Juan so much once he hatched and she protected him at all costs from the other hens

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Pearl was the most devoted mom ever !! She loved her little baby Juan so much once he hatched and she protected him at all costs from the other hens

Wow, what an awesome hen! Do you still have her? If she's a faithful broody (I'm meaning that she'll go broody year after year), I'd keep hatching chicks under her.