Hatched!

The chicks have hatched! Half of them decided to hatch on day 20 and half on day 21. All 6 of the eggs that were developing hatched. Though... I opened the incubator more than I should have.. like five or six times. I kept panicking thinking they were stuck or that I had to take the egg shells out that they were tripping over. I guess that's normal for a first time hatcher like myself, lol. Though NEXT TIME I will sit on my hands and not open the lid!!

Three had hatched at this point.

I'm waiting until tonight to put them in the brooder so they'll be nice and fluffed out since I don't have a lamp, just a Brinsea Ecoglow which they huddle under to stay warm.

Also, my Ameraucana eggs arrived today! Going to let them sit a day while I clean up the incubator and start all over again, lol!

Egg Update

The D'uccle eggs should hatch between Monday and Wednesday next week! I am excited. (: Hope I get at least one blue mottled bird!

I checked on the eggs my Silkies are sitting on yesterday and all five of their own eggs (Faverolles x Silkie) are developing. The leftover D'uccle egg, however, was not and I tossed it. Oh well, it was worth a try. Hopefully them hatching their own eggs will cement their broodiness so I can use them to hatch shipped eggs I purchase in the future.

Will update with pictures when the hatch begins!

Sooooooo I just bid on some Blue Wheaten Ameraucana eggs... if I win the auction, they'll be the last chicks I hatch this year. I am trying to get my stock established for next year so I can start selling hatching eggs. Im planning on having a Blue/Black Mottled D'uccle pen, Faverolles and Ameraucana pen (Faverolles x Ameraucana = Easter Egger), and a Mille Fleur bantam Cochin pen. I guess I'll have to hatch out the Faverolles and Cochins next year but that's all right. I'm getting there lol.

Also, I found this while looking up Silkie color genetics. Mottled Silkies! There are very, very few of these in development right now. They're made by crossing a mottled Cochin with a black Silkie for several generations. This would be a cool project but I would hate to end up with tons of culls from each generation and have to try to find homes for them all. Never the less, they still look cool!

Black Mottled Silkie

Update- 7 Days to Lockdown!

There are officially 7 more days until lockdown! I suspect some of the eggs might try to hatch a little early just because they were transported in the summer heat, but we'll see what happens.

Took this yesterday. Now it is on Day 9.

The two silkies, Brenda and Phyllis, are still brooding. I took some of the eggs that were underneath Brenda and put them in a separate nestbox and moved Phyllis over to it. (Phyllis has been nesting ON TOP of Brenda) The next morning I went out to the coop, Brenda and Phyllis had switched nestboxes..but at least they weren't on top of each other again. They are sitting on 4 of their own Faverolles/Silkie cross eggs and one D'uccle egg I snuck in. I haven't tried to candle these eggs yet even though they've been sitting on them for around 5 days now. I'll candle them tonight and see what is going on.

Brenda on the left, Phyllis on the right.

 

 

The eggs that Phyllis is sitting on. One of these is the spare D'uccle egg.

Egg Update

I candled the eggs on Wednesday, approximately six days since I put them in the incubator. Six out of seven of the eggs appear to be developing! One looks like it was never fertilized. Oh well. 6/7 is still a good rate for eggs that were shipped in the middle of summer from several states away.

In other news, both of my silkies have gone broody. In the same nestbox. Phyllis is literally sitting on top of Brenda, lol. I felt around and they had two eggs underneath them. I received an additional egg in my egg shipment that wouldn't fit into my incubator so it has been sitting on our kitchen table since last Wednesday. THIS Wednesday I put it underneath Brenda and Phyllis to see if they will hatch it. The egg would be at least 8 days old, so I doubt it will develop but it is worth a try. Will candle it here in a few days if I manage to push them out of the nestbox and update!

Sorry, no pictures this time. ): 13 Days left to hatch!

The Eggs have Arrived!

The eggs have arrived, all the way from Connecticut. I have no idea how this hatch is going to turn out, being that the eggs were shipped that far and that it is currently mid-summer. The eggs were packed well, but a couple of them had completely detached air sacs. I let them rest for about 19 hours and put them into the incubator before I left for work in the morning.

Seven eggs in the incubator!

21 Days until hatch

So what breed did I end up getting? D'uccles! The parent birds are black mottled, but carry the blue gene, so I could end up with some blue mottled chicks as well.

Random picture of a blue mottled D'uccle.

 I will post another update when I candle in 7 days from now.