Morning everyone! I’m Vonnie, Bob’s wife, and I’ve been charged with updating today.
When we decided to incubate eggs I undertook a good deal of reading in order to prepare us. I understood that our eggs would take 21 days to incubate, that the first day of incubation was counted as day 0 and that we could expect our chicks to first of all poke a wee hole in the egg (called pipping) then take up to twelve hours to escape from their shell.
Whilst the eggs were incubating, we periodically candled the eggs to see the development of the embryos. From that, we’re fairly certain that at least two of the eggs are infertile but we have kept them in the incubator just in case. A candler is quite an expensive piece of equipment so we sufficed with a lamp and some cardboard which wasn’t as reliable as a candler, so to err on the side of caution we removed only the faverolle egg which exploded around day 7.
This was all great and good until I discovered on Wednesday that bantam eggs can hatch from day 19, which was Thursday, and we didn’t have our brooder finished! We have four large fowl eggs (Salmon Faverolles), five Silkies and five pekin bantams incubating.
Our first egg had pipped when we got up yesterday morning and eventually hatched at 8pm last night, and at that time two other eggs had pipped. One of the other chicks had hatched by the time Bob got up with the baby at 4am but as yet the other eggs haven’t hatched. I think the other bantams possibly won’t make it as they haven’t pipped yet.
Today is day 21 so by tonight the majority of our hatch should be completed but for first timers I’m really proud that we have two healthy chicks. Hopefully when we get back from our day trip we’ll have a few more chicks although knowing our luck they’ll all be cockerels!
Here’s a photo of our son #2 looking at his new friends. He’s been very excited about them today.
The Good Life : Redux 
Crikey, this brings back memories. As a little boy, around 6 or 7, I’d go on the bus with my mother (now dead, sadly) to the market in Durham City to buy day-old chicks. They’d be sold in a big flattish box (think pizza box but bigger) and it was my job to hold this box on my lap, full of squeaking, scuttling, pecking day-old chicks all the way home on the bus. Then off they went into an incubator when we got home.
I loved it. Quite why we had to go 10 miles on the bus to get them never occurred to me. Perhaps it made a good shopping opportunity for my mother?! Best of luck with them.
By: Woody Wilbury on April 16, 2008
at 9:25 pm
As a kid I never had those experiences. I was limited to living in a bed and breakfast on a farm every couple of summers when my whole family went to the Isle of Arran for a holiday. I loved the chickens but the geese terrified be that bad that I’ll still turn and walk the other way if I see them about.
By: Bob on April 21, 2008
at 10:31 am