After selling the last batch, I put another 29 eggs in the incubator. Despite some temperature fluctuations this month, 17 chicks have hatched so far.
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| Chicks just hatched |
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| Chicks moved into box with heat lamp |
Most are happy, healthy, energetic balls of fluff.
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| The first black chick (barred rock cross) |
We even have one black chick- bigger than most of the yellow chicks. This should be a barred rock cross.
But then, there are a couple of chicks with issues, that are unlikely to survive.
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| Issues- this chick hatched with a dark goopy string across it's back. It's smaller than the rest. The goop is drying up, but I think it might be intestine or something not properly developed. |
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| Issue #2- this chick has it's head stuck to a chunk of shell. It's not walking and the others are picking at it. |
Again, I will leave the incubator on today, but I think they're probably done. 59% hatch rate.
I hope those two make it! Can you soak off the shell? It is amazing that they would be picking at another when they are so young! What was the hatch rate last time?
ReplyDeleteThis one is more than a little stuck. Pulling it off would definitely remove skin, possibly brain matter.
DeleteSoaking would likely cause hypothermia.
Last time hatch rate was 61%. Another chick hatched last night, making it 64% this time. Two have died, and not the two I expected to die- they're still struggling.
So really, what does hatch rate even matter? It looks like I have 14 healthy chicks this round, and two more that will likely die. 48% success rate.