The excitement is overwhelming! - Now with photos :)

[Boiled Octopus]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so very excited.

It is almost 2300 hrs here in the UK, and I live in the darkest depths of Wiltshire.

I put 7 Dutch bantam eggs under my broody cross-bred bantam, and having just checked inside the coop, I can hear small chirps and I clocked a little beak coming out of an egg.

A few questions: I have put a soft light in the coop so that my broody bantam can see what's going on and hopefully doesn't squash any of the babies (she is about twice the size of a Dutch bantam but has got considerably lighter due to her sitting on eggs for 21 days). Is that okay to do?

Does she stay on the eggs whilst they are hatching? I am afraid she will smother them...or is that natural for them to do?

I have had bantams for a couple of years but I am a novice when it comes to hatching eggs.

Advice, as always, greatly apprectiated.

Alister

 

[chickydee64]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so very excited.

It is almost 2300 hrs here in the UK, and I live in the darkest depths of Wiltshire.

I put 7 Dutch bantam eggs under my broody cross-bred bantam, and having just checked inside the coop, I can hear small chirps and I clocked a little beak coming out of an egg.

A few questions: I have put a soft light in the coop so that my broody bantam can see what's going on and hopefully doesn't squash any of the babies (she is about twice the size of a Dutch bantam but has got considerably lighter due to her sitting on eggs for 21 days). Is that okay to do?

Does she stay on the eggs whilst they are hatching? I am afraid she will smother them...or is that natural for them to do?

I have had bantams for a couple of years but I am a novice when it comes to hatching eggs.

Advice, as always, greatly apprectiated.

Alister

Congratulations...................

The light is fine..she will not smother them...........Hens are so smart

.Really, just trust her instincts and enjoy the results.......

 

[Boiled Octopus]

She's my favourite bantam. She's so chilled, always hops on my leg and says hello, doesn't peck me when I go near her when sitting on her eggs. I hope she will be a great mother and my hatch rate is good!

 

[Boiled Octopus]

Two Dutch bantams have hatched so far underneath my broody cross bantam. I had to move her as I caught her defecating near the eggs, so did a very quick clean-up, moved the eggs and popped her back on. Hopefully done the right thing...

Anyway, here is a photo of one of them that popped out to say "hello" momentarily!

 

[Boiled Octopus]

A few more, although I did pull one out where the membrane had dried out and the poor little chick didn't make it which was sad