March 13th 2016 Hatch-A-long

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Looks like I need to set up my new brooder today! We awoke at 3am to a very loud peeping EE chick! One other egg had pipped. Right now (8am) we have 6 pips & 1 chick. I wasn't expecting any to hatch until tonight & then thought tomorrow would be the "popcorn" hatch day. Oh well! THEY'RE COMING! That's what really matters.
 
So far we have 1 black (& very loud) EE, 2 lav orps, & 1 black orp.......7 pips & plenty of time for more to start. Guess I won't be sleeping much tonight.

It seems appropriate that the 1st to hatch was Tyrion's offspring. She's a nosy, busy-body, & fearless hen. Guess I know who will be the leader within this batch of chicks!
 
The chicks are still hatching but I moved some into the Peck N Play brooder last night. I must say they are a very quiet & content bunch. Because eggs are still hatching, I can't say that we slept well, but I can say that loud chick peeping didn't keep anyone awake. The heating pad warmer is also working well. It will take a little for me to get used to, though. When I walk by, the brooder is quiet & I don't see chicks. (They're all snuggled inside the cave like in the pic below.) However, when I put my hand into the brooder, they all come running out to greet me.



 
The chicks are still hatching but I moved some into the Peck N Play brooder last night. I must say they are a very quiet & content bunch. Because eggs are still hatching, I can't say that we slept well, but I can say that loud chick peeping didn't keep anyone awake. The heating pad warmer is also working well. It will take a little for me to get used to, though. When I walk by, the brooder is quiet & I don't see chicks. (They're all snuggled inside the cave like in the pic below.) However, when I put my hand into the brooder, they all come running out to greet me.



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My newest hatch! Double silver laced barnevelder bantam chicks!! Sweetest things ever! Keep your fingers crossed they're both girls. :)
 
Well, we had a small catastrophe with our hatch. On hatch day, one of my more persistent hens managed to make her way through my barricade to her "favorite" nest box (i.e. where broody mama was) and succeeded in crushing 3 hatchlings.
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I reinforced the barricade and hoped for the best as there was one good egg and one questionable egg still, possibly in play. The barricade held today and when I checked mama this afternoon I found a fresh egg from the invasion yesterday, one no-hatcher and one fluffy black banty cochin chick!
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YAY! As long as mama has one baby I am happy. The hatch was more for her than for me. If there wasn't a live chick, I would be making a run to the feed store to see if I could slip some of their chicks under her. She worked too hard to be chickless!
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