2013’s First Chicks

3 weeks ago I set 6 eggs in the incubator, they r second row up from the bottom in the picture below.

Two dozen eggs in the incubator.

They started hatching last night and as of now I have 5 cute little fluffy-butts.

Newbs

The 5 newest members of The Fruity Chicken flock

One egg still hasn’t pipped but I’ll give it a couple more days just to be sure. So far it appears that I have two Golden Cuckoo Marans (the light colored ones) one Black Copper Marans (on the left in the upper picture) one F1 Olive Egger (came out of the one green egg) and a mutt (BCM daddy and Red Sex Link momma).

These next 6 are due Friday

Pictured above are the next batch of eggs that went in the hatcher tonite and should Friday. From left to right is a Golden Cuckoo Marans, then Two Easter Egger X BCM crosses (should yield F1 Olive Eggers). Bottom row is Olive Egger X BCM( should yield F2 Olive Egger) on either end with another EE x BCM in the middle.

That leaves the outer two rows in the incubator that go into the hatcher on Sunday. Maybe next week my sweety Karen will make a run to Utah to pick up those Cream Legbars and Basque hatching eggs she’s been promising me.

Check out the latest Critter to be caught in the act of egg thievery!

 

It’s Lexi!

 

 

Look what I found!

Digging around in the barn for something I decided to see what was in the loft and lo & behold look what I found!

What is this thingy?

It’s a brooder!

And it works!!

I had been using my Sweety, Karen’s, bird hospital cubicles as both hatcher and brooder. This practice had led me to rush my chicks into the juvenile pen after 2 or 3 weeks in order to avoid complaints about the odor. Now I can set up this brooder in the office of the new house for this season and then find it a permanent location when we move up the hill. I do need to figure out exactly how to set it up properly, temperature I get but this has a curtain that I ain’t quite sure what purpose it serves.

Two dozen eggs in the incubator.

This find couldn’t have come at a better time. The half dozen eggs in the second row up from the bottom go into lockdown this friday, the next half dozen just above go into lockdown 3 days later, and finally the outer two rows go in a 4 days later. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks I’ll have a brooder full of fluffy butts and an empty incubator ready for the Cream Legbar’s and Basque hatching eggs Karen is teasing me with AGAIN.

First Fall Hatch Update

Lexi & Cammie

Ain’t that a great shot? Hasn’t got a darn thing to do with my first hatch of the season but it makes me smile!

Three weeks ago I set my first batch of hatching eggs for the fall in my incubator. Three got tossed at 9 days due to candling clear, leaving nine to go into my hatcher this past friday. These 4 cute little fluffy butts hatched out today. The other 5 eggs are still in the hatcher and haven’t pipped yet, if they don’t by tomorrow night they are probably duds.

Can you help me figure out who my momma is?

How about me?

I’m so cute my momma’s gotta be a Golden Cuckoo Marans!

What do you think? Pure BCM?

My hatch consisted of two green eggs from my Easter Eggers, one from my Black Copper Marans hen, and the last from a Golden Cuckoo Marans egg. Of course I have absolutely no idea which chick came from which egg so if you have an opinion please feel free to help figuring out who’s who.

 

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