Chicks hatching now

[iona]

Thought people might want to watch along. They were due to hatch tomorrow but two are out already.

This is Fatty McNugget


It started sounding distressed and I'm pretty sure after helping out that it was too big to hatch unassisted. Then it started playing football with its siblings, so now it's in my pocket until it has someone else to huddle up with

 

[iona]

Second one is still in the inc drying off. Keeps getting up for a few seconds of frantic cheeping and lurching around, then falling flat on its face and out sparko from the effort

 

[a_chap]

Not wishing to display my ignorance, but I have to ask: why the lines drawn around the eggshells?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Not wishing to display my ignorance, but I have to ask: why the lines drawn around the eggshells?

yes, surely the lines ought to be drawn on the inside with 'peck along the dotted line'

 

[iona]

Not wishing to display my ignorance, but I have to ask: why the lines drawn around the eggshells?

To mark the air cells as they were when they went into "lockdown" a few days ago, so I could lie them what I was guessing would be the best way up for them to hatch. (Lockdown is when you stop turning the eggs, so the chick can get in position to hatch.) A few have other marks like ? for ones I wasn't sure about when I first candled them and arrows to mark where a couple had already "pipped" internally, through the inner membrane into the air cells, when I candled them the other day.

Just nipped out to the shop and came back to find another two hatched and two more on their way.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Ah yes, candling. I definitely know what that means.

 

[iona]

Ah yes, candling. I definitely know what that means.

Sorry - shining a bright light into the shell so you can see what's happening inside it. Like this (not my pic)

 

[Epona]

Ah yes, candling. I definitely know what that means.

(It's where you put an egg over a light and you can see a bit through the shell to check whether it is fertilised or not, or whether the chick inside is thriving or has died)
(For a while when I worked for Defra or MAFF as it was back then I used to do egg testing usually unfertilised eggs mind but we candled them as well)

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Ta. I have learned something.

 

[iona]

They're quite shit when they're this new

(Sorry, didn't realise it had decided to upload in portrait and my internet is too slow to bother redoing it)

 

[Epona]

They're quite shit when they're this new

(Sorry, didn't realise it had decided to upload in portrait and my internet is too slow to bother redoing it)

Ducklings and other water bird type chicks have it way way more together at that age

 

[iona]

Ducklings and other water bird type chicks have it way way more together at that age

If they were being hatched by mum they'd just stay there for a while tbf. Being under a hen (or my hand inside my pocket) calms them right down.

 

[Epona]

What are you hoping to do with these?
(I am not squeamish about any possible response btw!)

 

[iona]

What are you hoping to do with these?
(I am not squeamish about any possible response btw!)

I'll spoiler for anyone who is squeamish and/or doesn't eat meat

Spoiler

These are broilers so I'll be eating them. In an intensive commercial setting the heaviest birds would start being slaughtered about five or six weeks from now; for organic standards the minimum age iirc is 81 days. Mine will be raised outdoors on pasture (with access to shelter obvs) and encouraged to forage to supplement the limited amount of feed I give them, so they'll grow slightly slower but hopefully be happier and healthier while they're alive.

I basically wanted them because I have a new plot up at the local community garden, and sticking them on it will be easier than clearing it all myself. There's a big enclosed run up there that someone else stopped using a few years ago that I'm hoping to take over for layers or possibly a dual purpose flock in the future.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Ignorant questions ahoy!

Where did you get the eggs from? Do you buy them or do you have adults as well?

 

[iona]

Ignorant questions ahoy!

Where did you get the eggs from? Do you buy them or do you have adults as well?

I ordered the eggs online. It's also possible to buy day old chicks but being in Orkney makes that more complicated and wouldn't be worth it on this scale. Chicks absorb the yolk right before hatching and the energy from that means they don't need to eat or even drink anything for a day or two, so they're fairly easy to transport as long as you keep them warm enough.

These are one of the commercial broiler hybrids (Cobbs iirc) which means their exact breeding is a closely guarded secret. The companies that produce them keep four different grandparent flocks in order to produce these birds. I'm aware of a few people on chicken forums who've been experimenting with crossing these back to faster growing "dual purpose" breeds in the hope of developing something that's table-ready in a short amount of time but without the breeding and health issues - generally though you have to go to one of a few big global companies or someone who buys from them. I likely won't raise these in future but this time around they're partly a tool for clearing some ground.

 

[Ax^]

Ignorant questions ahoy!

Where did you get the eggs from? Do you buy them or do you have adults as well?

local offie just throw them under a low heat in the oven

 

[two sheds]

do you generally get 50/50 male/female?

 

[ska invita]

. I'm aware of a few people on chicken forums who've been experimenting...

anyone up for a board war ??

 

[iona]

do you generally get 50/50 male/female?

More or less, afaik.

Some breeds and crosses are autosexing or sex-linked respectively, which means males and females come out different colours and you can usually tell them apart as soon as they've dried off. These aren't.

I might see if I can sex them visually later today (google "vent sexing" if you want a how-to with pictures and stuff) but otherwise I probably won't find out if most of them are male or female until I slaughter and process them. I don't need to know for these ones anyway.

 

[iona]

Woke up this morning like

Spoiler: Alt text

comic of a bird sitting next to a nest.
First panel: the nest is empty. The bird is saying "I made this for some reason"
Second panel: the nest contained eggs. Bird says "these are my smooth round children"
Third panel: one of the eggs has hatched. Bird is saying "oh no now it's loud"
Fourth panel: all the eggs have hatched. Bird is saying "help"

 

[iona]

Meanwhile in the kitchen

 

[iona]

Another assist, foot was all tangled up around its head but I think it should manage from here.


Some of the older ones have found the food (Fatty McNugget was first) but mostly they want to eat each other's toes. And poo

 

[iona]

This one is in the process of "zipping" - the final stage before hatching.

First they "pip" internally, breaking through the inner membrane and into the air cell inside the egg. This can happen a few days before hatching.

Then they pip externally by punching the first little hole through the shell with their beaks.

After that they'll peck round in a circle to make a little escape hatch to push their way out through. If they're positioned well it will usually be roughly around the wide end of the egg and they sometimes come out wearing it like a hat

 

[weltweit]

I was going to ask about sexing them.

But, if you are keeping them together as broilers won't the females lay anyhow?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I was going to ask about sexing them.

But, if you are keeping them together as broilers won't the females lay anyhow?

Dead before then, I suspect.

 

[ddraig]

Are they going to be eaten?

 

[nogojones]

Are they going to be eaten?

I think this is the point where you shouldn't look at this thread anymore.

They're off to roam the fields and live long happy lives.

 

[maomao]

Are they going to be eaten?

The clue's in the word 'broiler'. And the fact they're already in the kitchen.

 

[iona]

I was going to ask about sexing them.

But, if you are keeping them together as broilers won't the females lay anyhow?

Chickens don't generally start to lay until 20ish weeks.