CHICK CHICK CHICK

WE HAVE A CHICK!!!


Can you see the little foot? And the cracked shell? It is fat and yellow and fluffy and making lots of noise. I heard them peeping about five pm, but not sure if they were in or out of the shell. Then looked through a little hole and saw a little ruffle and eventually a beak, followed by a head. Then it popped back under.

She is a very good mummy. All spread about on the nest with her wings all gathering. I think this is the first, i don't think there areany more yet but I will go and listen again in an hour or so.

ONE DAY TO GO ONE DAY TO GO ONE DAY TO GO

can you tell I am excited. I keep finding a reason to walk past the coop to see if I can hear any peeping.....

Day Nineteen

I have a slight worry that she will get off the eggs today. Nineteen days is the time it takes for a Bantam egg to hatch so I will hope that she just syays on for another two days.

Today is a mad day of work, party plans, band bractice, cake making etc etc and I have not even stuck my nose round that part of the garden, but it is all for the best to leave her to do her thing now.

Tomorrow is my youngest's birthday and I think he secretly hopes for a chick on the day. I do wonder if I got the date wrong and just possibly they might hatch a day early....

Day Eighteen

I confess to having let Hammond out today. I did not turn the eggs or candle them, but I had a quick look for broken ones. Thereweren't any so we are still on track for five babies.
Hammond did poo a LOT and ate and drank a lot again. She also chased the cat away most ferociously. It is lockdown now (for real) as the last three days gets underway - it must be mostly putting on fat and feathers now.

Day Seventeen

No change. Did not check her, or the eggs. Was a cooler day. I put some greens out for her but they were not touched.
We did fins a mouse going into a hole in the wall last night. This in the house - so we know they are very likely around the chickens too. Hope rats don't follow, and pose a threat to the chicks.

Day Sixteen

Wow we are getting close. Today was hammonds first day of lockdown. I did not let her out to poo, eat or drink and as far as I know she did not get out of her own accord. I hope she is still alive in there! She has a sunshade set up as it was again a monsterously hot day. I almost was tempted to hose her hutch but I didn't for fear of making her jump and crack another egg. If any more do crack, waiting another four days in this heat will stink out the whole garden!

Day Fifteen

h

Oh Noooo! Tragedy in the nest again. We have lost another baby :-(
I am gutted. It is very very sad especially that they are so much more developed now. They have nervous systems and hearts that stop beating.

So what happened? We decided that this last week would have to be spent as undisturbed as possible. I know that the eggs need to be in the same position from three days prior to hatching so I will not move hammond for those last days, or candle any eggs.

So to get ready for this final week, we decided to move the broody coop to a shadier spot (and less busy from peeping children) and to do a final lawn mow under the coop so that it can be left until after the crucial time. I have all kinds of worries about chicks with splayed legs, cats, foxes, too much cun, too little sun etc. And obviously the coop is so much smaller than the big shed that Hammond can do very little to regulate or manage her surroundings.

Anyway, I went to get hammond and the eggs out before moving the coop and one had a massive crack in. And the membrane was broken so there was not even any chance that the chick had survived. There was yolk on one of the other eggs - I have no idea what had happened. I removed the broken egg, but did not wash the yolk off for fear of interferring or spreading bacteria (because it is much more risky when they are wet).

The chick inside was so well developed compared to the last one. It had feathers, a beak, claws, and little wings. I am indeed, a very sad lady today.

Day Fourteen

A really hot day today. I am breaking all the rules andstill getting her out. Shedrank loads today so I think it is theright thing to do, andsheis usedto the routine. The sealed egg is fineI think, but does seem to have a different shape to the others with one slightly flattened side.

Day Thirteen

Admittedly I am writing this on day fourteen but I didn't get around to it yesterday. I am so excited. We are two thirds through now and it is more exciting than pregnancy! I did candle one egg yesterday and it has such a higly visible air pocket. The rest of the egg is weighted on one side and very dark. I couldn't see movement because it is do densenow. I have seen videos of eggs at this stage with the chick moving inside but they must have such a bright light to do it.

Day Twelve

I have it on good authority from Reg that I am not to let hammond out. He said she may go off the broodyness and get off the eggs with just five days to go. I am worried. But she is in at the moment. I will check her this evening to see if she is ok. It is hot outside today and sme must be thirsty. I am hoping that she will get off by herself and go for a drink - but I don't think it likely!!

Day Eleven

Hammond was in an incredibly bad mood today. She was pecking at May and Clarkson like anything for the smallest of reasons. I gave them a big bowl of water because it is hot, and she comandeered it staight away. Then she wouldn't let them touch any of the leftovers. I don't know if this is her trying to re-establish herself in the pecking order as she is not with them all the time, or if she is just really hungry and thirsty. Whatever it is, I did well not to get a viscious swipe from her hooky beak.

The eggs themselves are fine. The sealen one is not leaking, and has not bad smell. I did not candle it because it must be fragile, but I did candle two others. They have a vivid air sack, and are about three quarters full.

Day Ten

We are almost halfway along our journey. Hammond has been fine today. She has eaten, drunk, relieved herself (!) and had a dust bath. She enjoyed grubbing in the compost heap. She did not enjoy me mowing the lawn. Her crop seems very full - I suppose because she eats a lot in those ten minutes, and possibly her digestion is slower than it is when she is not sitting.

I did not candle any eggs today, but I did check that the sealed one was not leaking. It was not, and it does not smell.

Day Nine

Another egg has a crack! I have sealed it again - I think that I caught it sooner this time, and also.... when candling the egg, I saw movement inside! I did not candle any of the others today because I didn't have time.

Day Eight

Uneventful. Which is good. Fingers crossed :-)

Day Seven

An eventful day as far as waiting goes. The egg that was cracked and sealed was leaking and smelled bad. After candleing it and seeing that it was different from the others, I decided to remove it from the nest. The photo shows the embryo. I am guessing that it died on day five, which was the day that it cracked.
It is good to know that it had started developing, becuase it means there is a chance for the others, but we are sad to have lost one. I hope to goodness it will be the only one. Six chicks is a good number (providing they are not all cockerels).

Day Six

Candled the eggs agin this afternoon. They look the same still. A dark shadow that moves when you turn it. Did I write about the one with a hairline fracture in it? Well, I decided to seal it with wax today as it didn't have a blood ring so I hope that there may be a chance it will survive.
Hammond was happy to be out and happy to go in. She seems to have remembered the routine now. I put her in at the other end of her broody coop today just so she could see that water and corn are available should she want them. She's not too bright though so I don't expect to see her out there. I am certain she would sit until she withered away. She is a devoted mother!

Day Five

My computer has been infected with viruses so I could not go on and put any pics on yesterday. But no news is good news.

Day Four

Hammond had a really long drink today. She was not out so long, and I only candled two of the seven eggs because I am getting worried about disturbing the or handling them too much. I cannot see any veins but there is a big dark mass which there is not on a normal egg.
I am optimistic.
I do wonder if I need a brighter torch....

Day Three

Another uneventful day. Hammond was on the nest again all day today again except for the few minutes I took her off. She ate loads but again did not drink.

She did have a mildly exciting altercation with the cat (Whisky) who walked too close to her. She puffed up like a turkey and ran heraway from the chicken area. The cat (who is a wuss) was astonished and very quick to oblige.

I candeled the eggs again but with no results. I don't think my torch is bright enough to see any veins - if there are even any to see.
Looking it up online I get a mixed opinion.

All the eggs seem to look exactly the same:- porous shells and a large dark yolk. According to some this means they are old and unviable. According to others this is just as it should be for day three. I have no comparison, although I did candle a freshly laid one of Clarkson's and it was completely transparent.

I am worried that they are all bad and we will suddenly have a huge stinky mess of bad eggs.

Day Two

Monday the 10th. Not a lot to report. I took her off the eggs again at 2pm for 15 minutes. She had a poo that looked morelike a dog's than a chicken's, and she ate a lot. I did not see her drink. She also had a little dust bath, and then went to the main shed and got into a nest so I took her back to her broody run.

She settled straight back on and has not moved since. Although she has her own water there she does not even venture into the outside bit.

I did have a go and candeling the eggs. I noticed that two of them are very porous (spots showing up that the lights glows through because the shell is thinner) andI wonder if these will become viable or not.

Day One

Today is sunday the 9th of may.

Hammond has settled in nicely on her brood but has not been off the eggs for 24 hours. At 2pm I get her off to have a 15 minute break to eat and drink. I don't shut her eggs from her, but when it is time to get back on the nest she has forgotton the location of her new coop and follows May and Clarkson to the main shed. She jumps onto a nest in thhere but after turning round she flaps off. It takes me a minute to catch her and return her to the eggs but she seems relieved and sits right back on them.

It is now six pm and she again has not moved. I think I will lift her off every day a 2pm to eat and drink because I am nearvous that as bantams are such good sitters, she will neglect her own welfare. I have heard they can dehydrate after 21 days. Today as soon as she was off, she ate heaps and heaps and had a good poo. Hopefully she will start to come off herself for a few minutes each day because I don't like to think I would put her off sitting by removing her.

We candeled an unfertilised egg to get the practice, and to see if anything is visible. I will try to do this once or twice a week when she iss off the nest so we can watch the development of any chicks, and also to weed out any that are not developing.

I did think it might be possible to substitute any that don't have embryos in with others from the fertilised egg box, but I am undecided because or the time gap in incubation. I would not want her to come off the last few eggs once the first ones had hatched, especially if they were almost fully grown.

8th May 2010

The 8th of May and we are EXTRAORDINARILY excited. Ten o'clock and we are off to pick up a box of fertilised eggs.

We are amazed to find that we have been given no less than fifteen of them. All nestled in rows, a collection of varying sizes and colours line up, some speckled, some chalky and two are very large indeed.

In a state of suspended animation, they have rested for 24 hours and are ready to be put under our broody bantam (named Hammond) in her new broody run. She has been sitting on Clarkson and May's eggs for 48 hours and is well settled in.

We swap the infertile eggs for 7 of the 15 fertile ones at about 2 pm. Tomorrow, therefore, will count as day 1, being the full day of sitting.