Photobucket

Monday, May 28, 2012

Another hatch!


The big day has come and gone and our second and last incubator run of the season brought us four  New Hampshire chicks. While the number of chicks weren't what we were hoping for, we're still quite happy and are fingers are crossed that at least a couple will be hens to add to our laying flock. We're now up to 23 chickens running around the old farmhouse and we're hoping from these we'll have enough hens to increase our number of layers to around ten. I'm hoping we'll be able to sell or trade some of the Chanteclers to other breeders as they are extremely endangered. All of the breeds we have chosen are dual-purpose, so those that we can't sell will provide for us this winter in other ways.

Enough of that though; for now, we're enjoying one week old chicks, five and six week old tweens, one rebellious 8 week old teenager and a return to three laying hens.

I had never witnessed a chicken hatch firsthand and was surprised when I could hear it peeping, quite loudly, while still in its shell. The first chick to make his way to freedom, took forever and a day to come out. I first noticed a pip in his shell Friday morning around 7AM. It remained like that for over 24 hours, at noon the next day his shell was cracked around half of the middle and I watched off and on while he struggled to get out. He finally completed his mission and broke free four hours later. It's hard work being born a chicken. See for yourself. Thanks to the girl twin for filming this, she did a great job!



Sunday morning I found three more chicks huddled in the corner of the
 incubator.  The one on the far right was the chick to hatch first in the video.

Is it just me or does one of these not look like the others? I'm not sure what a New Hampshire chick should look like...we either have a recessive gene or a completely different breed. Time will tell!

~Be well friends~

::::::::::


and
 then, she {snapped}

23 comments:

Rowen said...

They're adorable!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh They are so cute. Good luck with the balls of fuzz. B

Pieni Lintu said...

Oh, super cute!!!

4 Lettre Words said...

Goodness...they are so cute!

Clint Baker said...

That is an awesome blessing from God The Father!

Jackie said...

Cute! Cute! Cute!

--jackie

Anonymous said...

Oh how precious. Just so adorable. Love their soft yellow color!

Lynne said...

Amazing . . . thank "girl twin" for me, my first view of a chick birth. And they peep inside the shell, I learn something each day . . . did I say . . . AMAZING! Great video . . .

I think the chick babe in the middle may be ?

Unknown said...

The one on the far has the mark of a Tiger! Hmm.. ;)

Mary Ann said...

Oh my goodness.. I agree... the chick on the right looks like a Tiger!

Seeing Each Day said...

So cute - I laughed about the 8 week old who's rebellious!

Anonymous said...

Amazing footage! As noted above, you should call the far right one 'Tiger', I think it's going to be king of the flock!

Promise Jubilee said...

That spotted chick looks like a pheasant chicken cross. Got any pheasants around?

rachel said...

love that second shot! and the only thing I know about chickens is that they taste good with lemon and thyme. : )

Linda said...

such cute little chickies!!!

vintage grey said...

So cute!! I love their little bodies!! Have fun!! xo Heather

ann said...

I remember my mom incubating eggs and watching the little chicks hatch. Pretty cool.

Jocelyn said...

Nope, that last chick is definitely a different breed. It'll be cool to see what it is, though.

Congrats on your hatch. How many eggs did you put in the incubator? It looks like a lot more than 4. And yes, it is cool to hear the chicks talk from inside the egg. They are funny little people.

poppilinnstudios said...

Awwww, so cute!

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

And the names are?

Too sweet :) Thanks for the birth video! Love it.
LYLAS!
xo, misha

Katie said...

That video is fun! I'm going to show my young daughters. Also the chick capture...amazing. And yes one chick is not like the others!

Dan said...

I think the one with the 'highlights' knows he's a standout.

Cute!

Maggie said...

I stumbled across your blog when I saw the similarity to mine. Wow! We have a lot in common! :)