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Thanks, whoever stickied the thread!  Hey, it’s Chickam time again, and this is our 14th year, yay! You can watch the hatch, with sound and chat, here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr7ICWyIMhWSp0UUJpAeTCw/live What The Hell Is *Chickam* You Ask? Why it’s a live webcam feed of baby chicks hatching in my ReptiPro incubator, in my dining room! After the hatch, we’ll move the cam to the brooder box for the next 8 weeks, it will run 24/7, with sound, so you can watch the chicks grow up! You will also hear our family, since the chicks are taking over my dining room for the next 8 weeks. If you have a question, fire away! Hope everyone is ready for some hot chick action, ‘cause we’ve got eggs pipped and chicks on the way… How Many? This year, we started with 29 in the incubator, a variety of standard and bantam sizes. All of the bantam eggs are from our flock, but this year we bought some mixed-breed eggs from a neighbor in our valley.They run a mixed flock of Dark & Light Brahmas, Salmon Faverolles, Australorp, and Barred Rocks. So out of the 29 eggs, 17 eggs were from from our flock, the remaining 12 were from our neighbor’s hens.  After ten days I candled the eggs, 11 eggs were duds and were removed. That left us with 18 eggs that have embryos! 10 of ours, 8 of the neighbors. So a possible hatch of 18, though it will likely be less than that. Mother Nature ultimately makes the call and sometimes pulls the plug at the last minute. Bantam eggs like to hatch a day or so earlier then the usual incubation period of 21 days, though! Here they are in lockdown, all ready to hatch!  By the way, after last year’s disaster we finally got the materials for a permanant brooder box and made one of a PVC framework with corrugated plastic sidewalls. We’ll be able to break it down from year to year and reuse it—no more whacking together a brooder out of cardboard, which makes me *very* happy.  So Club Flamingo is ‘Go!’  Will There Be A Mama Hen This Year? MAYBE. Right now only 3 banty (small) hens in our flock have gone broody (gone over to the Dark Side and are in killer mama mode). Brick, Sophie and Bobo, all bantam Cochin mix hens. None of our big standard size hens are broody. Big hens can easily cover a bunch of chicks, but bantam hens cannot. Several mama hens would tend to fight over the chicks, so we’d only be able to use one hen for a foster mom. BUT--if all the eggs hatch, there will be too many chicks for one bantam hen, and when this happens mama gets pissy and can peck/hurt the chicks. So if roughly 7 or fewer chicks hatch, YES we can try to introduce a broody hen, if MORE than that hatch, no mama, sorry. Hopefully we can get the kids a foster mom, because watching a mama hen interact with her chicks is a blast. And no, broody hens don’t care if she laid those eggs or not, all she cares about is OMG CHICKS. What’s With The Missing Sequential Numbers Of Eggs? I candled (shined a bright light through each egg in a darkened room to see if there was an embryo inside) the eggs 10 days in and removed some duds, that’s why you’ll see a break in the numerical sequence of the eggs. In addition to being numbered, the neighbor’s eggs are marked with an ‘N’ at the large end of the egg. Also, each egg is marked with an X on one side and an O on the other, this is for us to keep track of which egg was turned every time we turned the eggs—5 times a day for three weeks, by the way, because I wanted no life other that EGGS for the last three weeks. What’s Taking So Long?! And ICK! Patience, little one. When chicks hatch they pip first (peck a small airhole), then hours later (sometimes up to 24 hours later) start to ‘unzip’ their shell (peck in a line as they rotate in the shell) then finally kick free all at once. It’s hours of waiting with a sudden payoff at the end, but once they start to unzip they can be out of the shell anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour later—or anywhere in between. And YES, they are icky and slimy and lay around like wet noodles when they first hatch, don’t worry they get cute and fluffy as they dry and get stronger. Also, hatched chicks can be quite rough and step on each other, or flip over onto their backs and have trouble righting themselves—they’ll be okay, no damage is done; so don’t worry. We monitor them carefully and will lend a hand where needed. Ditto for any that require assistance hatching. Once dry and strong we move them and the cam to the brooder box, where mama will be installed overnight if we can use one this year. I’ll list the eggs that have pipped and hatched here, with their progress and names, mama hen if known is noted: 1 (Mom—Nyx): 2 (Mom—Nyx): 5 (Mom—Peanut): 6 (Mom—Peanut): 10 Bantam egg: 11 Lt. Blue: Neighbor’s Eggs also marked with ‘N’ on end: 18 Large Dark Brown: 22 Large Dark Pink-Brown: 23 Small Dark Brown: Pipped 4/15 7:45P, unzipped and hatched 4/16 9:15A. Named 'Arson' by Calvin on YouTube chat 24 Small Dark Brown: 25 Small Dark Brown: 27 Large Light Brown: 28 Large Light Brown: Two chicks from the feed store have been added: One is a Danish Brown Leghorn named 'Frittata' by Mr. Barnesworth The other is a Welsummer named 'Apricot' by kaom The four new chicks from the feed store: The buff Orpington (yellow/gold one) is 'Mjolnir', named by ChibiSheDevil The Jersey Giant (black one) is 'Bu Lu', named by my cat is norris The Smokey Pearl (white with black flecks) is 'Sesame', named by mustache ride The last Smokey Pearl (the one with the black heart on her left thigh) is 'Enkidu', named by Like Clockwork BTW—please keep the YouTube chat CLEAN. Lots of kids watch Chickam every year, likely moreso during the pandemic than ever. We have zero tolerance for over-the-top bad language, racism, hate or other things of that nature and will kick & ban anyone not being a decent human being. NOW FOR THE BEST PART: YOU GUYS GET TO NAME THE CHICKS! I continue to add names to the hat right up till the last chick hatches--so either post them here or in chat. Egg number has no bearing on what name they get, it’s just whoever hatches first gets named first. Post your name suggestions here, ONE per Goon, please--be advised we already have chickens named things like ‘Dinner’, ‘Burger’, etc.--so use your imagination and give us some good/weird/fun chicken names! If your name suggestion was chosen in the past and a chicken named, I’ll let you know and you can repost a new name. BUT--If your name wasn't chosen, feel free to use it again! These are CHICKENS after all, and should have silly names. As each chick hatches we will draw a name for it out of a hat! Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 06:36 on May 5, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 07:01
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#9 is sloooowly unzipping and *might* hatch by morning, so just in case, we're kicking things off now...'cause I gotta sleep. The YouTube channel will be up in a few minutes, hang in there!
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Apr 15, 2022 07:02
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It isn't Easter without Chickam! My name for a chicken is Snyder.
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Apr 15, 2022 07:07
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Has there ever been a Darth Vader before? If not, that's my contribution.
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Apr 15, 2022 07:17
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Probably unoriginal but I think Beeker would be a fab name. Edit: there's a solid chance I suggested this in a previous year. So actually let's go T-rex Manning since it's so close to Rex manning day. silicone thrills fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 07:24
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I imagine all the good puns have been taken
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Apr 15, 2022 07:27
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For this year I want to suggest the name Tractor.
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Apr 15, 2022 07:49
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Such good news! I nominate Sherbert as a name for one of these floofballs-to-be.
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Apr 15, 2022 10:00
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Glad you've found a brooder box solution, the new one looks great!
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Apr 15, 2022 10:03
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Every year I submit Brock Samson and I hope this is the year. Although I can't remember if it was used in a previous year Beefed Owl fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 10:08
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It isn't spring without Chickam! I'd like to see one named Chunk after our cat.
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Apr 15, 2022 10:30
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So happy to see the traditional easter chickam again. I'd like to suggest the name Become Ungovernable
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Apr 15, 2022 11:16
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It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! Thank you for letting us peep into your peeps, it's the highlight of spring Name for consideration: Toast
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Apr 15, 2022 11:43
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Yay, Chickam!!
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Apr 15, 2022 12:11
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I was literally thinking about my childhood chickens the other day  I'm assuming Henrietta has already been used in the past so I'd like to throw in Sailor Mars for the pile!
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Apr 15, 2022 12:30
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Maxine von Chicksworth, just because. And yay! Chickam time yippeekiyaymf fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 13:04
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I love Chickam season, I'll throw Shindy into the hat.
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Apr 15, 2022 13:17
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Please consider - Margit, The Shell Open
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Apr 15, 2022 13:21
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Name a chick FLICKER in all caps. Very important.
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Apr 15, 2022 13:35
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Please name a chick Pumpernickel.
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Apr 15, 2022 13:38
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Chickam! May the God-Empress of Fowlkind bless us with their presence. If it's a rooster he can be an Emperor, if he wants.
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Apr 15, 2022 13:45
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Hell yes, ground floor!  I missed the hatch last year so I'm glad I caught the thread in time this year.Tossing the name Tortoise into the ring. Tortie for short 
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Apr 15, 2022 13:58
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Not sure if name ideas carry over from the backyard thread, so just in case I'm submitting Boop! Yay Chickam
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Apr 15, 2022 14:02
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Putting in my names: Kung Pao Parmesan Alfredo Sesame Mustache Ride fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 14:07
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Yay Chickam!! Because I’m a nerd I’d like to suggest Crow T. Chicken for one of them.
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Apr 15, 2022 14:13
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Sir Reginald Featherbottom III would make a great name for a chick edit: just wanted to bold the name for clarity. pixaal fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 14:18
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12 just started making an attempt at a break out. I think that's called pipping? I normally just watch them after they are hatched.
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Apr 15, 2022 14:51
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The pip is a little hole they open with their beaks so that they can start letting in air! 12 is unzipping, which is the process of actually hatching. Adexia on YouTube (former goon) is requesting Video Games be entered into the naming hat.
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Apr 15, 2022 14:56
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Hello yes i'd like to request the name Mr boombastic call me fantastic please and thank you
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Apr 15, 2022 15:00
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Name one goose or some other kinda bird. Give them an identity crisis later in chicken life
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Apr 15, 2022 16:06
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12 appears to be mostly out of the egg now and ready for life!
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Apr 15, 2022 16:08
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I request the name Patatas Bravas for one of these birdos
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Apr 15, 2022 16:26
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thunderdome winner
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#12 has hatched! No name as yet, I'm making the list now and a name will be chosed by the kid when she wakes up
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Apr 15, 2022 16:31
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yay chickam! please name one Willabirb
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Apr 15, 2022 16:31
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Baby chickens (:
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Apr 15, 2022 16:34
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Chickam! I suggest Fogleg Hornhorn as a name, preferably for a chick with a southern accent.
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Apr 15, 2022 16:35
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May I offer these contributions as names: Wheeljack Cliffjumper Perceptor Seaspray Powerglide
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Apr 15, 2022 16:37
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If the BYC thread names aren't carrying over, then I pick "the rubber one", otherwise I'll stick with Lulu, to go with lu bu and bu lu.
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Apr 15, 2022 16:42
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Obie
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Apr 15, 2022 16:43
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Fluffernutter
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Apr 15, 2022 16:57
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