Sunday, May 17, 2015

Hatch Day!

Woke up to this today!

Today was Hatch Day, day 21 of Ellen's incubation of some of our neighbor's fertile eggs.  Both eggs hatched, right on schedule, the buff colored one a few hours older than the little black bantam. Needless to say, it was very exciting, actually more exciting than incubating them artificially because it is such a joy to see mother and babies interacting.  Ellen is, as I predicted, an absolutely wonderful mother.
And came home to this later on!

 She still has four eggs under her, which are not due to hatch until Thursday or Friday, so I don't have much hope for them since she is off the nest quite a bit now, clucking and chasing after her already-hatched ones.  That is how it is with chickens (and humans as well).  Once the babies arrive it's hard to focus anything else. Its certainly hard for me to focus on much today; I keep sticking my head inside the coop to visit with mama and her small brood.
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2 comments:

  1. Stephen AndrewMay 25, 2015 at 4:57 AM

    So cute!!!! How great to have chickens hatched right on your property. I certainly would prefer that to having them arrive in the mail. Luckily/unluckily (as it means our animal laws are so weak), there are many huge hatcheries here within about an hour's driving distance. So when I can get chickens, I'll be able to drive to them.

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    1. HotFlashHomesteadMay 25, 2015 at 8:24 AM

      I think that's a much better way to go. They say they can live off the yolk they absorbed for the first two days, but these two were eating regular food almost as soon as they hatched, so the yolk was an extra boost for them, which helps. Yours will be healthier for it too, I am sure.

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