How to raise Backyard Chickens: [CHICKENS-101] Pictures Of First Hatch

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

[CHICKENS-101] Pictures Of First Hatch - So Far [6 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from DBauer7998@aol.com included below]

My first chick hatched last Wednesday (or overnight Tuesday to Wednesday), and was followed quickly by another one. Two more hatched last Thursday, then nothing. But the hens were still sitting on the eggs, so I left them. I did remove any that they rolled out of the nest and "egopsied" them. Several had partially developed chicks in them that were dead. Several were rotten, and one was obviously infertile. None stank.

Then this morning - surprise! - a 5th chick. It's a teenie weenie little bugger. You'll see in the pictures. The battery is a C and the coin is a nickel (didn't have any quarters. All the littlest chick wanted to do was burrow under its siblings, which rather disconcerted them. They kept giving it looks that said, "What on God's green earth do you think you're going?!?" But they didn't peck at it; they just looked affronted.

So I'm going to wait a few more days and see if any Johnny-come-even-later hatches. I have a dozen or so eggs in the homemade incubator. They should begin hatching around June 9th.

Di
Central Florida Zone 9a/b

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Attachment(s) from DBauer7998@aol.com

6 of 6 Photo(s)