Still Hatching!

Hatching continued through the night and into today. There are 13 Brahma/Easter Eggers and 1 Brahma, with another Brahma pipping right now. It's 1:30 pm.

 

Late last night, this poor little guy had his cord wrapped around him. He was a mess.

 

This little bugger woke me up around 2 am. Guess he didn't like being by himself in the incubator.

My camera or Google Photos ate the individual pic of the Brahma that hatched, but you can see him to the right in the group pic. Still a bit wet, there.

I spent the morning putting up the 2 pens I bought last month. Finally. I really need to get all the young roosters separated this week.

 

Some of the big chicks giving themselves a dust bath.

8pm - Still have that same Brahma trying to hatch. I've helped it all I can without hurting it (took a section of outer shell off, so it could breathe.) It's weak, so it may not make it through the night if it doesn't get the rest of the shell (and placenta) off itself. There are still too many active veins for me to mess with the placental lining; don't want it to bleed out. Humidity is still good, so it hasn't 'shrink-wrapped', luckily. We'll see, come morning, if it makes it. No other eggs have pipped. :(

Last Hatch of the Year!

Clutch #4 has started hatching! There are 3, so far, at noon. Seven more are pipped, so far. 

 

They are all Brahma/Easter Egger cross. None of the purebred Brahmas have pipped, yet. :(

The oldest chicks, from the first hatch in July, were let out to free-range with the adults today! Two of the Barred Rock/Easter Eggers are definitely roosters, along with a couple of the Brahma/Easter Eggers. I will be seperating the boys soon, into a pen of their own. Gotta fatten them up or sell them.

The second hatch chicks, from August, are staying in the old puppy playpen.

The third hatch chicks, from September, have moved out of the basement!

 

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Updates:

#4 at about 2pm.

#5 & 6 chicks hatched at the same time, at 3:45pm.

7 & 8 were hatched at dinner time, in quick succession. It's 5:30, now.

 

#9 at 6pm. 3 more are pipped. Hope they hatch before I go to bed. Not one purebred Brahma is pipped, though. Sad about that ...

 More pictures tomorrow! Waiting for 3 more to hatch.

Growing fast!

The fourth set of eggs for the year is in the incubator, as of two days ago. It's really amazing how quickly chickens grow. The first batch of the summer is now 2 months old; the second batch is now 6 weeks and the third batch is now 8 days old. The first 2 batches are outside, and the third batch has moved down to the basement! 

I haven't decided whether the batch in the incubator will be the last for the year or not. It's still hot during the day, but the nights have been dipping into the 50s. We'll see once these have hatched in 3 weeks.

I still haven't gotten the new chicken runs up ... or the rest of the goat shed. It's so hot during the day, that I am exhausted by the time I feed and water everyone ... :/ It's hard being the only caretaker, but it will get done, eventually.

I did not get any pictures of them all today before it got dark. Will have to remedy that tomorrow! :)

New homes

 A few days ago, I sold Tyrone, the American Blackbelly ram. I miss him. He was a sweetheart. He went to a local farm and has himself some lady friends. So, all's good. It's for the best, as the goats just did not like him and were beating him up too often.

Today, I finally got around to unboxing the 2 new chicken runs, but didn't put them up, yet. I spent most of the morning fighting with the chicken pen that got blown over and killed my hen last month. I hadn't touched it since then. I got the mangled tarp off of it (surprisingly, not really torn up ... so, I'll be using it for something eventually.) I had a heck of a time getting the pen upright. I couldn't get any of the bolts undone the way it had accordianed on itself. So, had to lift and pull the whole thing upright. Sucker was heavy!! Then, I was able to get to all the bolts & brackets, and straighten everything up and then tighten the bolts/brackets back where they all belonged. I'm amazed that only one of the panels has some slightly bent mesh. I raked up all the old hay that was in that area and put a couple bags of pine shavings. Then, it was moving day for the 11 big chicks!! They were having a blast digging in the clean shavings for the food I'd poured on there. There are some really pretty chicks. Still keeping the first 3 in the pics. Same ones I keep saying. They were 7 weeks old, yesterday. The 3 little chicks will be moved to the playpen that the big chicks moved out of sometime this week. Tomorrow, I'm going to get the floor done for the goat shed. Fun times. The chicken runs that I unboxed will get put up next week, most likely.

 

Water! Water!

Oh ... my goodness. These babies are getting so gorgeous. Five weeks old on Sunday. They grow so fast! They are doing really well outside with the cage separating them from the adults, who often come up and check on them and cluck at them. So cute. They always act like they have never had water in their lives! Every time I give them fresh water, several times a day!, they swarm the bowls! They have 2 bowls; one in each front corner.

I have added two more water stations today! I got these galvanized pans at the hardware store. They are actually oil pans! They are perfect. I will be getting many more! I just don't like the ones I got at Tractor Supply for the chickens and goats. They have too many seams that can fail and cause leaks. I like that these are molded in one piece. I can't wait to get rid of the little plastic ones, too. They were drawers from the old fridge! I don't like using plastic, as a rule, anyway. And, I finally got a stiff brush, so I can clean all the pans and buckets, etc. better. I wanted a wooden one with stiff bristles, but couldn't find one today. So, I was stuck getting a plastic one at Dollar General ... I'm still looking, though.

Outdoors is Better!

The older chicks have been moved outside! They were just too big for the cage they were in, inside the shed. I couldn't keep them clean and their pretty foot feathers were getting damaged. So, out they go! I set up the old puppy playpen (bought in 1988, when Quinn and Gemini - QuinGem - were puppies!) Much better set-up for them until they can free-range with the others. And, they will get to know the adults, safely. Sir Knight was really checking things out while I was setting it up. I think I got his approval. ;) There is a shade on top, now that I am done. And, I can see them from the kitchen window, to check when they need more water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was hard to get individual pics of all of them today. They were so excited to be outside. Running and trying to fly! The first 3 are still keepers and also the third picture up. That one is coloring out nicely.

The younger chicks still number only 4 ... :( The Brahma was the last to hatch. Pic taken on Thursday. He's still wet.

  

Just took this pic - pardon the messies. Haven't changed the bedding, yet.