CatsCube Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 I just went out into the chicks room and heard that one being rather vocal, its hard to see when they are under the electric hen but I saw it looking rather pancaked as the other leg was also sliding out now. I took it out and tried to use some wool to tie them which proved rather impossible as it kept slipping its legs out so I just cut a plaster in half and used that which appears to have gone on well, I sat her down on a piece of kitchen paper and she stood looking normal enough although she tried to have a chew on it. Will see how she looks tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Well today I was met with a bit of a surprise. Firstly I popped two chicks under Matilda last night bringing her brood up to three. I also decided to take the other eggs away from her so she might look at getting off her nest and dealing with the little ones she has, I decided not to chuck the eggs but pop them in the incubator just in case. When I came home from work this afternoon I was doing some bits and pieces and tidying up and sat down on the sofa to have something to eat, when what did I see. A little lemon pekin chick staggering around in the incubator!!!! sure enough nearly 2 full days after the rest hatched another had come out! Plus I could hear cheeping from at least one more egg. I have popped the little lemon chick under Matilda so she now has 4 and Im waiting to see if anything else emerges from the incu eggs. The chicks in the brooder are doing pretty well. One thing I have learnt is that I wont use j cloths in the future for the brooder base. I now have to chicks with spradled legs taped up, and with both of them they were fine for the time they were staggering around in the incu which was upwards of 12 hours but as soon as they went in the brooder almost immediately both had problems, it doesn't seem like a very grippy surface to me. Next time I will use kitchen roll for the first few days instead. But other than that they are all bombing around all over the place and adorable, the kids are obsessed with handling them, I get them to sit on the floor with the chicks on their laps that way there is no risk of them falling from on top of a chair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Well it definitely looks like were having a second hatching wave. Two more eggs have pipped and another is cheeping in the incu, looks like I will be waking up to more chicks! Here are a couple of pics of the others having cuddles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Well we have three late arrivals, one hatched during the night and another this morning, the third one just now - although this one needed assistance, it pipped yesterday but we showing no signs of getting any further, as it was getting the 34 hour mark I decided to intervene, so in stages I used the prong bit on a pair of nail clippers, it didn't really bleed and its fully out the shell now, just waiting to see if it gets up and starts moving around, its just weebling on its side a bit at the moment. All these late hatch eggs have been from the eggs that had been under Matilda, so Im guessing hers just took that bit longer to develop. I decided to open up all the eggs that didn't hatch to get a better idea of what happened. So out of 28 eggs set, 17 have hatched live, 4 were infertile and 7 failed to hatch, out of those 7 only one had not fully developed, there was still yoke sloshing inside, the other 6 look to have reached full maturity but had not managed to break through the air sac and try to hatch, so not really sure why not, but Im still really happy at the hatch rate I had, so I think the next hatch I will try to do exactly the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Your sons are lovely and so are the chicks...so terribly cute! Thank you for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Well last night during clean out I decided to remove the plasters from the splayed chicks, as they had been on for 3 days. With silkie cross appears to be healed now is is trotting around like normal. The lemon chick however is still having problems, more with just one leg, they are not fully splayed but definatly some slipping, its like its feet are turing out the wrong way. I have applied a fresh plaster and will check again in another few days. Im still waiting for Matilda to take her new brood out into the run, they are staying put in the house still and using mummy as a climbing frame, she makes noises at me if I go near and Im still having to take her out to do a broody poo, but this time instead of her having a mooch around while she is out she hears her chicks calling and legs it back inside as soon as possible, good chicken mummy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 What a wonderful thread. Thanks for sharing. I didn't even know there was a hatching egg bit to this forum till mine got moved I had 7 eggs under a broody and now 5 chicks........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Well, the chicks are pretty much all a week old today, so some photo updates needed! Also Matilda ventured out into the run with her brood for the first time today and attempted to dustbath in the run. Heres a group shot of my indoor chicks This is the biggest of my chicks, my gold partridge you can see how well its feathering up in just one week Here is one of the late arrivals, no idea what sort of colour its going to be we call it the ginge! You can see from this one and the lavender one in the next pic, they are two days younger than the others and the feathers are only just starting to show. I have one that appears to be frizzle as well, as I have two identical, and this ones wings are definately sticking out, I have no idea what colouring they are going to be, they look a bit unusual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmastar Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 They are so stunning , that grey one is too cute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollie333 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Lovely, thanks for the photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well, I know its still early days buy Im starting to make speculations on sex based on feathering, as girls feather faster than boys. I have a couple of what Im guessing are blue pekins and you can see definate differences in feathering, one is developing more tail feathers and has longer and more feathered wings also, the same goes for two of my lemon chicks, see if you can spot the differences I have also built them their new big brooder, but Im trying to get the OH to video some footage of the chicks in it on his ipad, so hopefully chicks video to follow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atsw Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well last night during clean out I decided to remove the plasters from the splayed chicks, as they had been on for 3 days. With silkie cross appears to be healed now is is trotting around like normal. The lemon chick however is still having problems, more with just one leg, they are not fully splayed but definatly some slipping, its like its feet are turing out the wrong way. I have applied a fresh plaster and will check again in another few days. This is a great thread. Could I ask, how did the lemon chick that still showed signs of splayed legs after the initial plater session get on? Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Thats one of the chicks Im holding in the pic, second plaster came off on friday and legs were fine The new broody house is huge so they are all pegging it around loads, they are certainly fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer_chicken Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Great pics. Especially to see the difference in feather development- I didn't realise quite how obvious it was, so thank you Just set my own eggs under my broody, inspired by your wonderful diary. If I'm honest, I'm sort of using it as my guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Well a bit late but here are some 2 week old pics that were taken on friday, still waiting on the other half doing a video for me. My lovely lavender the last to arrive little millefleur (the runt of the group!) one of the silkie crosses, no idea on how I will sex these the frizzle, scruffy little "Ooops, word censored!"! I think my sexing from feathering is going to be very wrong, as some of the mot feathered are looking suspiciously like they are going to be boys, including two stunning looking lavenders which is a shame as they are so lovely although no combs reddening yet some of the combs graduate into the head where as others are sticking out more and look larger. I will get close up upto date pics on friday. Im also wondering what do do with the new chicks, I set 24 more eggs a week ago, I candled last night and found that 12 of them from one seller had a total of 7 duds, the other 12 had 3, so Im down to only 14 eggs, the rate the others have feathered is making me wonder if I can take away their eh and give it to the new chicks, they will be 4-5 weeks old and still indoors, it just seems a pain to have to buy another eh for just a week or two when I don't think Im getting many chicks this time. hmmmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 You will get away with it at this time of year, particularly as they're indoors. A lamp with a normal bulb should give out sufficient heat for any that still need a bit of warmth. I split my chicks into two groups at just over five weeks - four boys together in a run sheltered on all sides and three girls with mum in a normal ark. All are thriving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Ah good stuff, I will just pop a cardboard box with some straw in there that way they get a bit of privacy and can huddle together in there at night. I cant believe how much more feathered they are now compared to the pics above in less than a week. I thought they were the wrong photos at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) Well here we go 3 weeks old today, the sex of them is becoming quite clear now for most, see what you think. Here are Matilda's brood, I think they are all girls apart from the frizzle which has a larger comb than the others. I hope the lavender is a girl as the 3 in the brooder all look like boys. And here finely is a video of the others, fighting it out over grapes! I think all the lemons might be girls, and the gold partridge, millifleur, frizzle and one of the blues, not sure about the other black splash (the frizzles non frizzle twin) the 3 lavender and one blue all look like boys, and who knows with the silkie cross, although its comb is small too. Edited June 24, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Gah! can anyone tell me how to attach a you tube video? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atsw Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Gah! can anyone tell me how to attach a you tube video? Yep, you simply make the link 'clickable'. This is done by marking the link and pressing the little " http:// " button you'll see above the area where you type your message. This is your link with it's clickable tags -> Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollie333 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atsw Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 The little black frizzle chick is very cute! Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Thank you very much, amended now. The frizzle is going be very interesting, it has the odd white feather coming through now along with odd brown ones too. Im really hoping that one is a girl as one of my sons loves that one the most, and he knows whats going to happen to the boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Well 4 weeks old today and its been a good day. I have found a home for 2 of the boys. I had a second batch of eggs due to hatch yesterday however none arrived or chirped of pipped. This has been a bit of an ill fated hatch, first my incubator broke, then when I collected half the eggs a load were dirty, on candling at day 8 I found 10 were clear or early deaths (one was a double yoker and the dirty ones so no surprise) So that left me with 14 eggs and no signs of arrivals, I feared the worst. I checked them again this morning and although none has pipped one was chirping. So I decided to get in touch with some local pekin breeders to see if any had day olds so if I had one or two hatch I could give them some company. I casually asked if they wanted any males as I had some in most colours, one responded that they may be interested if I had a lav cuckoo (of which I do) I replied and asked if they might also be interested in a very lovely blue splash frizzle who I think is stunning and really wanted a home for. Well she bit my arm off saying she had been looking for a blue splash boy and frizzle would be a bonus! and asked for pics. . . . I heard back a couple of hours ago and she wants them both. So will look at doing a couple of swaps. Here are the fellas 4 weeks old today. And as for my hatch well, this early this evening several had pipped, I upped the humidity and checked my eggs and there were sounds coming from 9 of them, and two of them have hatched tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollie333 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 If you wasn't so far away i'd let you have some of my fertile Pekin eggs! I get *loads*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
