Sex

Always a tricky issue for the poultry keeper, not least when attempting to determine the gender of chicks.

Ben's research into the subject on Tuesday led us to a website which described how to sex 2-3 day old chicks on the basis of the outer wing feathers. According to the video we watched, if there are two rows of feathers, one long, one short, on the end of the wing, the bird is female. If there is only one row of feathers visible, it's a male. So off to the brooder we went to haul out some chicks for inspection...

First out: two rows of feathers. Second out: two rows of feathers. Third out: two rows of feathers. Fourth out: two rows of feathers. And so on. At this point we began to wonder just how reliable this method is. Being naturally inclined to pessimism, I was quite prepared to believe that we had seven cockerels in the brooder, but seven hens seemed a tad implausible. Several possibilities therefore occurred to us:

1. We had misunderstood the video and were doing it wrong. A quick check seemed to indicate that we had got it right, though.

2. We had left it too late to sex chicks by this method. The first chick hatched on Friday, the last ones on Saturday evening. So it could be that we were too late on Tuesday, but not by much. On the other hand, the wing feathers do come in at quite a rate. So a day could make a big difference.

3. We were picking up the same chicks every time. Erm... This is certainly a possibility as we weren't particularly methodical in terms of separating the chicks which had been checked. Well,  in truth we didn't do it at all. After a half hour of picking up random chicks, though, we couldn't find one with a single row of feathers on the wing tip.

So, it looks like it's either back to the interwebs to find alternative sexing methods, or sit back and let time do the work for us. In the meantime, a more pressing issue is sorting out some accommodation for them as they continue to grow at an alarming rate.

Pasty butt

... as the Americans call it. I've just spent a happy morning wiping chicks' bottoms to clean off caked muck. Thankfully the chicks don't object too much to handling at this stage and, though a rather long-winded and painstaking process, all of those affected are now cleaned up and their backside fluff trimmed to reduce further clogging.

All are now tucking into a mix of crumb and mashed hard-boiled egg, with the aim of promoting bacteria growth in their gut so as to improve their digestion, as advised here.

First out

I just discovered this movie on the camera, which I had forgotten amongst the hubbub of hatching.

This is the number 8 chick (first to hatch) just after breaking out on Friday afternoon and about to begin its brief reign of chaos in the incubator.

The Magnificent Seven

As predicted, the 100% record didn't hold up. Number 12 chick failed to absorb its yolk properly, as well as having what looked to be problems around the vent and with one foot. Despite this, it initially looked lively,  but soon weakened and died on Sunday having never made it out of the incubator.

The number 7, however, which looked like it had similarly failed to absorb the yolk at hatching, made good progress overnight and transferred to the brooder without a problem. While it looked tiny in comparison to the others when first moved over, it has caught up quickly and we are now hard put to tell it apart.

Thus, we now have seven chicks happily charging around in the guinea pig cage, all feeding and drinking without problem.

Update: Ben has just looked at this post and suggests that it is not a good idea to refer to them as the "Magnificent Seven", as only two of their namesakes survived in the film. I will be taking measures to ensure that this bunch don't attempt to ride to the rescue of any Mexican villages, however.

Day 23: hatching continues

2215: All eight fertile eggs have now hatched and, at the moment, we have eight live chicks. Whether this will still be the case in the morning remains to be seen.

2130: Number 4 hatched, looks in better shape than 12 and 7. Still attached to its shell by a string of yolk, which is causing it some grief. We'll see how it gets on before deciding whether to intervene.

1645: Number 7 hatched, also towing a good amount of bloody yolk. Again, doesn't look too good.

1628: Number 12 hatched at around 2pm, but has not properly absorbed the yolk. Doesn't look too good for this one.

A quick summary of the situation so far:

8 hatched 1515 yesterday: in brooder 0030
9 hatched 2330 yesterday: in brooder 0945 today
2 hatched 0020 day today: in brooder 0945 today
6 hatched 0100-0445 today: in brooder 0945 today
5 hatched 0930 today: drying out in incubator
7,12,4 all pipped and moving in shell

1125: Number 6 hatched at some time between 0100 and 0445 and has now moved to the brooder along with 9&2. Number 5 hatched at 0930 and is now merrily flopping about in the incubator. 7,4 and 12 have all pipped and their beaks can be seen moving through the holes in the shell.

0020: Number 2 has hatched and looks good. 9 has perked up a bit. 8 has been moved to the brooder because of the chaos he was causing.

Day 22: hatching live blog

It looks like things are starting to happen. We'll try to keep up to date with hatching as it happens (family visits and shed construction permitting).

2359: Confusion reigns due to the antics of number 8, which has turned over all the other eggs. Number 9 hatched at around 11pm, but looks weak. Number 2 looks more hopeful and should hatch very soon. Number 5 pipped at some stage earlier in the evening.

2049: Nothing new. Number 8 is till charging around the incubator knocking the other eggs flying and cheeping away. 2,6,7,9 & 12 have all pipped, but gone no further toward breaking out.

1559: Number eight is alternating between dozing and storming about in the incubator. Number 2 is sticking its beak out of the egg shell and chatting loudly to number 8.

We have a winner! Chick number 8 breaks out.

1515 Number 8 has broken out and started bumbling about in the incubator, revealing in the process that number 9 has also pipped on the underside of the shell.

1220: Number 2 has pipped. Number 6 rocking and cheeping.

1050: Number 6 has pipped, possibly in response to a  French accordion medley.

1024: Number 4 looking agitated. Movement from number7 also.

0957: Number 6 wobbling about a lot.

0935: Number 8 cheeping in response to "mother hen" noises. No signs of movement from any of the other eggs yet.

0800: Number 8 has pipped (made a hole in the shell). Cheeping from inside number 4, though it has yet to pip.

Day 21: still waiting

Still no sign of any of the eggs hatching. Some eggs have been seen twitching, indicating movement inside, but nothing more than that as yet.