We have just set up an incubator in the spare room with fourteen hens eggs. That means we ought to have some of the cutest ever fluffy little chicks hatching out just after Easter (1st April to be exact) ... another lifelong wish granted!
Our Light Sussex hen began laying just over a week ago (every day so far) and we have been collecting her lovely pale eggs, along with a few of the red hens eggs too. Our beautiful red, but lightweight, farmyard rooster has flown the coop to pastures new so now our mature Light Sussex rooster is the only contender for fatherhood in the flock. I bet you were thinking that last sentence was a polite way of saying 'he went in the pot'! But no, joy, the old rooster has gone to a friends farm where a suspected fox attack resulted in all but one of their sixteen hens being taken. He is to be new husband of the single remaining hen, but in a few weeks we will send over some of our incubated chicks to join his new hareem. And thus reveals the source of our incubator, on loan from our friends, in return for some of our hatched eggs to replenish their flock. The perfect barter ... well maybe we have a slighter better deal in that we get to watch chicks hatching from their eggs.
As the twenty one day countdown commences to hatch day, the children are ecstatic and I am just uncontrollably excited! Fingers crossed, as this is far from a failsafe plan and success is not guaranteed*. We need to turn the eggs several times a day, monitor and keep constant at certain levels the temperature and the humidity for 21 days. I have to say the whole thing is probably more exciting than when we watched our cat give birth to her kittens. Tune in again on day seven when we 'candle' the eggs to see which ones are developing normally. This involves shining a light through the egg to view the developing embryo inside. I promise to give updates along the way over the next three weeks and, if successful, will post far too many images for you of fluffy chicks emerging from their shells ... and maybe even a U-Tube video clip of the new arrivals.
* nitty gritty info ; For the first 18 days keep eggs at 37.5C, then reduce to 37C until hatching at day 21. Humidity levels at 52% until day 18, then increased to 75% until hatching. Turn eggs several times a day.
This is exciting! I can't wait to see what "we" get at the end. I know, I know, they're chickens and we'll get peeps, but I get to watch them grow!
Posted by: Theresa | March 11, 2008 at 03:38 PM
how incredibly cool! Looking forward to updates. . . . (and pictures. Please post pictures! grin)
Posted by: queenie | March 11, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Oh, this cheered me up--we lost all our hens to a mink last month, and I've been too heartbroken over them to start again. When I'm ready, I'll know where to find more...as soon as we build a stronger, higher, unminkable chicken house!
Thanks! Glad to find you.
:-)
Posted by: Susan | March 11, 2008 at 07:49 PM
Alot of work and alot of fun!
We plan to get chicks in the next week or two. We have to import as we don't have a rooster. Your way is more fun.
Posted by: Lizz | March 12, 2008 at 08:10 AM
Oh how cool! I've always wanted to do this too! Dumb question... how come the hen can't incubate them herself? Other than the fact that their's 14 of them! ;-)
Posted by: Deborah | March 12, 2008 at 09:17 AM
Hi Deborah, not a dumb question at all. Hens don't 'go broody' till the weather gets warmer ie they don't get the urge to sit on eggs for the required 3 weeks, and they get up and go as soon as one is laid. Most of the hens bred for laying never go broody, the instinct has been bred out of them. Breeds like bantoms are well known for 'going broody' and reliably sitting till hatching, rather than walking off on day 18 or whenever they get bored! We are getting in two broody hens (silky cross breeds) in a couple of weeks time, so hopefully future egg batches will be looked after by mother nature.
Hi Susan, mink in this area are a problem, and foxes, and pine martin too. Good luck with your next flock. We have been lucky, I think having children shouting around the gardens and a dog, and a few cats, helps keep the lurking predators at bay!
Posted by: Rebecca (author of Sallygardens) | March 12, 2008 at 10:09 AM
ah thats funny we just started some eggs going too - only we slipped ours under our broody hen. dunno if she will stay sitting, she has been broody for a couple of weeks already, but she seemed so determined it seemed mean not to let her have a go.
Luckily she has not read that it's too early to be broody. hope she knows all about those temperatures too!
Posted by: colour it green | March 13, 2008 at 08:40 PM
I can't wait to see those cute little chicks, how exciting for you all. Your children must be so excited.
Posted by: Maddy | March 15, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Hi Becky,
Good luck with your incubator! I tried hatching ducks eggs in one, but I wasn't as thorough as you and had no information to go by. The poor little blighters took so long to come out I couldn't resist 'helping' by opening their shells up a bit for them. They all died. I'm sure you will have better luck than me. I seem to remember all our hens used to go broody, even the Warrens - brown egg layers, but the Marrans were the preferred mums as they were big and fluffy and covered more eggs.
Happy Eggster, Tessa
Posted by: Tessa | March 17, 2008 at 05:45 AM