raising chickens

I'm going to attempt to hatch my own eggs!! Blue cochins. Jim built this homemade incubator for me last weekend at a fraction of the cost of what the real things run. It has a hygrometer/thermometer to measure heat & humidity & a thermostat to control the 25 watt light bulb. Here it is---right now I have a dozen regular store eggs in it, as I have been running it for a week before I get the "real" eggs to get the temperature & humidity adjusted. I had to move it around the house to find the right spot--it is in the foyer by the front door. The hygrometer is registering the humidity a little bit low right now so I need to add more water into the pan. It should be around 40-45%, but the 100 degrees is just perfect!

I'll be setting the blue cochin eggs next weekend, and hopefully in 21 days we'll have a hatch!!

Friday, when the carton arrived (from a retired lady Dr in Florida who raises several unique breeds; these are Blue Cochins)

It also had stickers that said "Do Not X-ray" all around the sides; hopefully the US Post Office read that too. She took great care in packaging; I can tell she's done this more than once! each egg had it's own little hole cut into very thick foam, & it was placed, large side up, exactly as it will go into the incubator;

Also wrapped all around w/tin foil just in case it was sent through the X-ray machine by accident. This was the main layer of eggs: I ordered a dozen but she sent 18 eggs! usually breeders will send extras in case any are broken--but none--NOT ONE of these were!

Next step after carefully unpacking them was to put them into cartons, again, large end up, and let them rest on the kitchen counter overnight--this gives them a chance for the air sacs and embryos to settle back into place-

OK! they look 'dirty' for 2 reason; 1 being that they are--you do not wash eggs that you are going to incubate & try to hatch; because they have a protective coating that you are not supposed to remove; 2ndly, she writes on her eggs, the nest box & pen from which they came from - ours are from # 106. coincidentally, they were laid on the 107th day of this year-- also, these are all brown eggs. I will leave these eggs in their cartons throughout the duration of their incubation. You can see where I cut holes in the sides of the egg cartons for air circulation. This is a very popular method for home "chicken-raisers" - when the chicklets "pip" (break the air hole) into the eggshell & then emerge, they will be stable in one spot & not roll around & interfere w/one another's birth. If you think about it, a hen's nest is concave & the eggs are tilted & relatively stable so they don't roll around & crash into one another when they hatch, so this method makes sense to me. In the big hatcheries, there are so many crammed together that they can't move either. Since I set these to start hatching on a Saturday (May 10th) I will be here, so in case one pips at the bottom of the shell (breech birth) I'll be able to reverse it & help it hatch correctly. Theoretically anyway. We'll see how it goes. If I had not chosen this method, I would've had to raise the incubator hood & turn them by hand 3 times a day, & that makes the temperature & humidity spike, which is not good for them. This way, I have a 4-inch box which I stick underneat the entire incubator on one side to raise it to a 45 -degree angle & then I just switch it to the other side when it's time to do so, so I don't have to raise the lid.

Saturday morning at 9:00; into the bator they go!!! Today is Sunday, 4:45 as I type this. I had to adjust the humidity a little bit (by adding or removing water from the tupperware container in there) & I've rotated them every several hours -- You rotate them so the embryos will not settle & stick to one side of the shell. In the nest, the mother hen 'rotates' her eggs many times a day, every time she gets up she moves them around a bit, so this serves the same purpose. Hopefully, next year I will have a "broody" hen or two & won't have to do all of this work by myself!! There is always an odd number of rotations; average is 3 per day -- other than that, all is looking good so far.

Just a couple of group shots; they are tired from their long trip from Ohio & I don't want to stress them. Tomorrow I'll start getting some individual pics. They are doing very well, eating & chirping & happy; getting to know each other & the world about them. Hard to believe just a few days ago they were eggs! 2 of the dark ones are Cuckoo Marans (the chocolate egg layer) and 1 is a Black Australorp. One of the light yellowish ones (not sure which at this point) is an Americauna - the 'Easter Egg' chicken who lays the green & blue eggs--& the other one is an Andalusian--could be blue, black or splash (that's white w/blue & black spotting). The brown chipmunk looking one is an Americauna also & this one runs very true to type (most hatchery chicks are not bred to any breed standard so you might get almost anything)--it already has the "muffs" -- feathers sprouting from both tiny cheeks like whiskers! Coloring will change as they grow & moult into their adult feathering. Right now they are so small I can easily hold 3-4 of them in one hand. However, already they are exhibiting signs of developing personalities--the Australorp is trying to boss the others, one of the Marans & the bigger of the 2 yellowish ones are just fascinated by me & perch on my hand & cock their tiny heads at me. The chipmunk one is fearless and bold & comes right up to my giant hand in their brooder.

They quickly learned to drink & eat. They will grow very fast over the coming weeks.

Busy little things, the Marans probably hatched on Saturday as they already show signs of "real" feathers on their tiny wings; but the rest are definitely day olds. They run & play & then suddenly drop down like they fainted--like they ran out of gas, lol. Then they are up & going again.

Peanut is a blue Andalusian & I am regretful to think, may be a rooster-he's already showing signs of a comb in his forehead. But so far is a real hoot--I put some oatmeal in my hand & he jumps up as soon as I put it close & perches just like a little canary & blocks the rest from getting any. The smallest but definitely not a weakling! I might keep him anyway, unless he turns mean on me.

Chippie (short for Chipmunk) she's an Americauna; also very friendly & going to be an interesting & pretty hen I think, when she feathers out. They are all showing signs of 'real' feathers today.

This is Penguin--she is a Black Australorp. She looks awkward because she always runs towards me the second I put her down; her foot is NOT crooked like it looks in the pic! She's definitely the friendliest of the bunch. I like her beak colors!

This is Kitty; the other Americauna; she will have an interesting adult coloring too!

Myrtle, one of the Cuckoo Marans. You can see the 'barring' starting to appear on the 'real' feathers that are already sprouting. She is a curious little thing too.

Gertie. She's the other Maran. The shyest of the bunch but starting to come around. Overall, they're a great, healthy, happy flock of little chicks & growing like weeds! hard to believe they are a week old already.