H-Day tomorrow

[elhuerto]

We have 24 hatching eggs in the incubator and tomorrow is day 21. We've had hatching eggs before but just in small quantities from hybrids we have. This is the first time we've bought hatching eggs from a recognised breed. I was wondering what success ratio others would be happy with - obviously you want 100% but realistically I'm thinking anything over 16 from 24 is a decent return - does that seem under / over optimistic?

[Old bird]

I don't have any experience of this - I just remember my disaster last year when I had 24 eggs in a borrowed incubator which I had to turn off every time I turned the eggs as I got an electric shock some times! Horror of horrors on day 20 did that in the evening topped up the water and forgot to put the blasted thing back on.  Only 3 hours and I lost the lot - I put it straight back on when I noticed but only one brave little soul made a tiny hole to get out and none of the others did.  Put me off for life doing that.  I felt so guilty because it was just such a stupid thing to do - but there I have to accept that my memory is appalling nowadays and do things when I think of them and not put off anything or else I will have forgotten in five seconds.


good luck with yours - sounds exciting!

O B

[elhuerto]

Thanks OB.

Sorry to hear about your experience but I wouldn't beat yourself up about it - happens to us all. A couple of times we must have left the door unlocked on the coop after feeding, first time the chickens got lucky, got out and feasted on young lettuces, the second time a fox came and killed 6 of the eight chickens we had then. Felt terrible about it afterwards but onwards upwards and now always double check the door after feeding. Stuff like that happens to us all.

[goodlife]

I would expect one or two from dozen to fail..but being living thing these things are so unpredictable.
Oh..lets hope everything goes well..waiting game is so exciting..I bet you check them one morning..nip to shops and come back and there is chirping going on ..all of the sudden it all happens in same time
Are you carrying on under lamps?..or have you go a broody that is sitting on eggs as well..you could sneakily pop few underneath for aftercare..
Let us know how things go on tomorrow...

[GRACELAND]

Let us know ??

[elhuerto]

Well... a decent start, 4 are showing signs of pipping - my son is glued to the incubator and shouting up updates.

We have an "electric hen" - basically a perspex box with a bulb on the top.

Cheers!

[mat]

  Wow, I'll be glued to this posting now!  You must post some photos of their progress :-)

mat

[GRACELAND]

Well... a decent start, 4 are showing signs of pipping - my son is glued to the incubator and shouting up updates.

We have an "electric hen" - basically a perspex box with a bulb on the top.

Cheers!

Great News

[elhuerto]

Well, it's all gone very quiet. Will take some photos as soon as there's some action.

[elhuerto]

Just when it looked nothing would happen, the first popped out. I have uploaded some photos to Flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/granyanella/sets/72157626114274499/detail/ - 23 to go 

[mat]

Wow; what a Bigfoot fluff ball 

thanks for posting, I'll keep an eye out for updated photos.

[goodlife]

Aww..scruffy little blondie ..I bet is all nice and fluffy now

[GRACELAND]

great news well done

[elhuerto]

There's now 3 hatched and one pipping. That leaves 20 eggs showing no action. Maybe I'm being impatient but am getting concerned that the success rate is going to be quite low.

[goodlife]

Hmm..only 3 out of 24 .....did you say your bought them? ..well..give it until tomorrow and maybe you could/should break one or two open to see what's inside..Do you know if the hens that supplied the eggs were having correct diet..if they are fed with breeders food then that would incease the chances for good  fertility and hatchability..
Sometimes it may take 2 days chicks to hatch and if lucky they do it all in once..
Fingers crossed that you get few more...
It not necessary anybody's fault...sometimes these things happen..

[RW]

I bought 12 hatching eggs from e-bay last year and got zero chicks.

Hope you have much better luck with the these eggs.

[elhuerto]

Sorry to hear that RW, must have been a real bummer.

Number 4 has just hatched and it seems that might be it for today.

[elhuerto]

A fifth has suddenly hatched but a totally different colour, almost black, does anyone know if this is normal as in theory they're all the same breed?

[goodlife]

It all depends of breed..but I know that with some breeds parents colour heritage can 'break out' so that the whole off spring comes out in different colour variations. Mine came from flock just like that..there were different shades of black, white, patterned grey...
But normally with pure breeds there should not be that kind of diversity..other than sometimes between males and females.
What sort are yours supposed to be?

[saddad]

When we kept chickens semi-commercially in the late 60's to mid 70's there would often be off colour chicks (not fluffy yellow) but they came right with true feathers... they where Rhode Island Reds I think..