The Hatch!

I mentioned in This post three weeks ago that Benjamin wanted to put some of our hens' eggs into our little incubator and hatch out some baby chicks.  We like to do this each year to insert 'fresh hens' into our flock. As hens get older, they lay fewer eggs. We've also had a few hens die of old age that we wanted to replace. So on Monday August 4th, Benjamin gathered the eggs from the nesting spots we have in the barn, chicken tractor, and hen house and we put them in the incubator that evening, marking the calendar 21 days in advance.  On the evening of Monday, August 25th, we should have babies!

We checked the thermostat on the incubator each day, ensuring that we maintained a fairly constant 98 - 100 degree temperature range.  We also kept the center reservoir full of water to provide humidity. (Not that we need additional humidity in South Louisiana!!)  On Saturday morning I planned to remove the egg rotator and set the eggs down on the screen and fill the remaining reservoirs with water in addition to removing the two plugs in the top of the incubator to allow for fresh air circulation.

Saturday morning, lo and behold, Tricia was awakened by a "Cheep, Cheep, Cheep!" noise coming from the incubator.  One had already hatched, so I hurriedly did my work and prepared for more baby chicks.  No matter how many times you do this, it is always exciting.  New life is a blessing!  Benjamin excitedly came running to watch the process unfold.

You can see the chicks using their beaks to break tiny holes in the eggs.

The early bird...

They continue pecking and pecking until they finally break the egg in two:

Getting claustrophobic in there!

With a little more work, the little bird is able to stretch and get his head out.

Now you are supposed to leave the top on the incubator so that the heating coils dry off the little birds, only opening it once a day when they are dry to remove the baby chicks to the brooder.

Drying off

It seems when once hatches, they all start popping out of their eggs.  Once they are dry, I'll remove them and remove the broken egg shells to allow for more room for the other chicks that are on the way.  Benjamin repeatedly ran to the incubator, looked through the windows and shouted, "Another one's on the way!"

They are so ugly when they first come out of the egg...

Not a beauty contestant!

But in no time at all, they become pretty little birds!

When the babies are dried off, we open the incubator and put them in a bucket and carry them outside.  I have our brooder set up in the garage, and we'll leave them there under a heat lamp and allow them to grow for a while before moving them out to the pasture on grass.

A 'Bucket of Chicken'

The first thing we do is Benjamin dunks their little heads into the waterer to allow them to get their first drink of water.

Thirsty?

Then we put them under the heat lamp in the brooder that I've lined with hay.  They stay warm and continue to fully dry and gain their strength.  We have a little newspaper laid out with some Chick feed sprinkled on it. It is interesting how their instincts kick in and they start scratching and pecking at the feed almost immediately. Our brooder is a homemade contraption.  In true redneck form, we had an old sofa that I didn't feel like hauling to the dump, so I took it apart and used the lumber from the sofa frame to make a chicken brooder. The couch on which I used to lay, became a chick brooder where baby chicks play!

The Brooder

Since we have a number of different breeds of hens and roosters, the breeds will vary and there are many combinations of chicks of all colors/breeds.

Benjamin's favorite

In just a few hours the little puff balls are running around!  They are so healthy and playful.  It is hard to imagine that they were inside an egg just a short time ago.

The new babies

Out of 42 eggs we put in the incubator, we hatched out 29.  One died shortly after hatching, so we ended up with 28 chicks, resulting in a 67% hatch rate.  Not great, but not that bad.  I'm assuming that some of the eggs were not fertilized, but I'll confirm that later today.  

Cheep, Cheep, Cheep!

I'll take the eggs that didn't hatch and I'll dig a hole in the garden and throw them in the hole.  The contents of the egg will add to the soil.  Even though the eggs weren't fertile, they'll fertilize the garden soil and grow good crops.

Close up baby portraits

It'll be exciting to watch the chicks grow.  Generally, you can count on roughly 50% being females and 50% being males, meaning that we'll likely end up with 14 new hens. The 14 roosters will make a nice chicken fricassee!  The hens will generally start laying eggs in about 24 weeks.