Hello from Louisiana

Howdy all,

What a wonderful and resourceful "coop" we have here.  I have been visiting off and on for the past 6 months or so.  I've wanted chickens for a few (o'k, several) years now and have finally "shouldered" my way forward.

I was raised on a farm and we had a flock of over 200 birds.  I remember going to the "country store" and bringing two eggs and we could get a piece of candy out of the big glass jar on the counter.  My mom would bring in live birds and barter for groceries.  Anyways, I got a little 'bator when my older two (18 & 17yo) were just babies.  They were fascinated by the hatching eggs and would sit on the counter-top watching the chicks slowly emerge from the shells.  Fast forward through a couple of moves and other life events and here we are.  I found the little 'bator about a month ago while digging through the shed and it brought back memories.  Well, for the past couple of years I've been trying to convince my wife of why we NEED to get a couple of chickens.  I never seem to make any headway until I brought in the little 'bator.  We started reflecting back on the previous experiences with the kids and how much it meant to us.  I memtioned that the younger two (12 & 8yo) should have a similar experience (not as WOW as when they or 2yo).  I never got a yes but I didn't get a no either so I got a couple eggs from my buddy that has a flock.  Well the first two didn't hatch.  We opened the eggs a week later and the chicks were fully formed and had black feathers and all.  Not sure what happened.  Got two more and we are now 4 days in.  Here's keeping our fingers crossed.  (as a side note -- we have had several successful hatches.  When it is a success, both eggs have hatched each time.)