Second chick

CHICKS

Oh My Goodness... that was so fun. My sweet little chicks came a day early. I had friends here from Kelowna and her 2 little girls got to eggs hatching for the first time. as well as my friend Adrianna. We were standing over the incubator from the first pip! And then it took forever for the little guy to do anything else. So we waited and checked back every 1/2 hour... lol and then the little one stared it's little pecking and in about 15 minutes was out of his shell! Amazing. He is little black chick and very cute. The other little chick was a whole different story. He pipped about an hour after the first guy then nothing.. all day. So we lifted a piece of the shell to see if we could see anything. All we could see was a tiny beak and some tiny chirping. We left it for another 4 hours. finally at midnight I decided he couldn't get out on his own.... After way to much wine and hot tubbing we made the decision to hatch this chick. *sigh* so tiny piece of shell at a time very carefully I picked it's shell of it's head. well the membrane had stuck to the chick and it was dry. Very dry. He was very much in trouble. So my darling hubby to the rescue came with some warm water and i stare to rub tiny drops of water onto to membrane. the little guy stared to struggle then quit. So I got his membrane very wet and tried to help him tear it. I was so scared I was doing something very wrong. I was so upset that there was a tiny bit of blood when i tried to tear the membrane. but it was all good. I got his/her? head out and then I put him downt o work the rest of the way out himself. And he did!!!!! and then just slept forever. I almost didn't go to bed I was so worried. Int he morning we had one very fluffy chick!!! The other guy who got out on his own was not fluffy... I guess he had some yolk or something on him and he dried all crusty. Yuck. So I gave him a warm water bath and left him in the incubator to dry! And now we have to very cute black fluffy chicks!!!! lol So now I will post some pictures for you guys!

2 babies....

So we candled again and it looks like we on;y have 2 little baby chicks growing! But I will say it again 2 Babies growing it is still exciting! Better than no babies! So out of 36 eggs I have 2. Not a very good hatch rate. hummm. But then I found out we have mostly white eggs and they are a rare heritage breed call Dutch Leg Horns. And their hatch rate is not good for the chickens. Let alone me. LOL Oh well I will keep you updated on the 2 little peepers!

OMG so cool

OK So i have been a little off these days I haven't made nay posts this time around or even shared any pictures... but I really haven't done anything with eggs. I candles them at 3 days and saw pretty much nothing and was kind of disappointed again. Then i decided to give it another go last night at what 7 days i guess... and wow, we actually saw 2 babies!!! They were swimming around the egg! It was the coolest thing ever! I am going to have to try and get a video for you guys. it was really neat. But 2 eggs out of 36????? I think that may be the worst hatch rate ever... I don't think I know enough about eggs to toss any yet. I did take 2 out last night they were cracked. So sad one had a little chick in it... but it had died with a definite blood ring. and one was nothing. So I will keep you all posted! I also still have 10 baby chicks in my basement.... lol they are getting lots of feathers and starting to look a little awkward... but still so darn cute! <3 talk to you all soon!

Trying Again

Ok, Ok, so we are trying again! lol we have 36 eggs! We bought them from the coolest farm! Soul Shine ranch. http://www.soulshineranch.com/
So we have an assortment of different eggs. I can't wait to see what hatches. I also have 12 baby chicks in my basement. lol they are messy and smelly, and getting louder. But the kids think they are pretty cool. It is going to be a blast for them to see the babies pop out of their shells. We have a different incubator. Our friend Tracy needed to hatch some eggs of her own. But we were so grateful for the chance to use it to begin with! THANK YOU Tracy!!! xoxox
So the incubator we are borrowing now is the same one Promise's class used. I am trying a new system too. I have placed the eggs in egg cartons (cardboard) and I loaded up the bottom with sponges. Then I put the lid on and I am using a 2x4 under the whole incubator and moving it 3 times a day.... I really hope this helps to maybe keep the heat and humidity more consistent. So HOPEFULLY a better hatch. Can't do much worse then none? I think think I may have had a faulty thermometer. This time I have 3 in there!!! Today is Day one... so I will take some pictures and keep you all posted! Fun Fun!
Karen