This is the continuing tale of Amelia Pond and Nugget, the chicks I managed to hatch with the help of some truly amazing people. I accepted the suggestion of making a member page, but honestly,this is my first time making one. So,please forgive me if I do some things wrong. I'm going with this is just like the normal post, but...well,how much different is it,really? Oh,I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. Anyways,I think I should at least give the backstory of my two girls. In the beginning...lol I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Okay,okay, here we go. I had decided to attempt hatching chicks (again). My first time was a complete failure, only two had developed out of the six (sadly neither of them made it past day 17). But what's the saying? If at first you don't succeed,try try again. So,with another half dozen fertile eggs and one broody hen, I was set to go. I gave all six to my serama, but quickly realized she would never be able to keep all those fullsize eggs warm. Out came the old 'bator. Once I had it up and running, with temps and humidity all set, I stole back three of her eggs and set them in. Then came the wait. A few days into the incubating, I had a few hearts and veins developing. I was candling almost every day,watching as these little birds grew inside. On day 18, I noticed the eggs seemed to be a little less developed than they should've been. 21 days after the eggs were set, I had nothing. No pips,no chirps,just 6 (what seemed like) duds. I decided to give them a few days, 'cuz hey,maybe they were just late bloomers,right? A few days after the no hatch hatch day, I tried the float test. Three of my (er,Sams [my broody] ) eggs were jumping around! After a thorough eggtopsy on the others, I decided that the humidity had been all wrong in the incubator. I felt horrible of course, since they had all been so close to hatching. I also began to panic. What if Sam's eggs ended up in trouble too? What if they pipped but got stuck? What if they just gave up inside as well? I gave them a few more days (now approaching the 26th day) just to see if anything would happen. Nothing did. No pips,no movement. Disappointed, I opened one of the eggs. As I chiseled a hole in the top, I noticed the membrane was very,very dry. All hope was lost. And then,something moved! I wet down the membrane and noticed a ton of veins, and the little buddy just kept moving around. I was so excited, and yet fearful, because what had I done?? My impatience had gotten the better of me, and now it seemed like this little chick would never make it. Half it's egg was gone, and I had no idea what to do. That's when I posted a very frantic cry for help here, and thankfully, my questions were answered. I set the egg back in the bator,wrapped in a damp towel, and kept a spray bottle ready to mist down the membrane when it got looking a little too dry. That night I didn't sleep a wink. Every hour I would dutifully open the bator and spray down the egg. The next day, my broody decided she had had enough of waiting on the two remaining eggs. With her calling quits, I had no choice but to bring in the two. I chipped away again, thinking I could keep a better eye on them with a little "peephole". They had both pipped! Of course, that made me thankful I had broken a bit, because neither of them had even begun to break out, and what if they had suffocated?? One of the previous three had done just that. With three opened eggs in my bator, I went to sleep that night. Every hour, on the dot, my alarm went off. Each time Egg 3 and 2 were peeping away. Egg 1, who I had by then dubbed Amelia Pond, the chick who waited (doctor who reference, whoot whoot!), was still inside her shell. She had finally twisted herself around so that I could see her beak. It was the cutest,most reassuring thing I have ever seen. And then,tragedy. For some reason, two of my alarms didn't go off in the early morning. For two hours I slept, while egg 3 began to get hot. Morning came, and I only heard chirps coming from 1 and 2. Frantically, I pulled out 3. Her shell was hot. Too hot. Knowing what I would find,I began peeling away shell. She had been, forgive me for saying this,cooked quite literally. I was so mad at myself. If only I hadn't slept through, she would still be here. With renewed vigor to hatch the last two, I kept a steady watch on them all day. I only left the bator to use the bathroom and eat. By that night, egg 1 had pipped. But egg 2 beat her to the hatching part. Poor baby had her head in the wrong angle, and as she tried to push out, she got crammed in. With just her little wings flapping out the top of the egg, I knew I had to help. I pulled away just enough of the shell for her to pop her head out. I guess after hearing her sisters frantic chirps, egg 1 decided it was time to come out as well. With one big push, she popped right out of her topless shell. It was love at first sight. I watched in awe as the two of them ran around and then plopped down on top of eachother, exhausted. The bator was then transformed into a brooder, and then eventually the brooder was transformed into a dollhouse. The two of them are now happily living in a two story mansion, with plenty of room to play in. Oh, and at the suggestion of some of my meateating friends (I'm vegetarian,and proud of it) I've named egg 2 Nugget. She's just such an odd little fluffball, and Nugget seems to fit perfectly. Amelia's been nicknamed Insomnia, and we call her Nia for short. Oh my, I just realized this was supposed to be a short summary of what happened. Whoops, guess the writer side of me came out. How bout I find some pictures to share instead, so that I don't get carried away talking again? I'll post some of their new home soon. So..I guess if anyone wants to follow along on this journey of raising these two survivors, they can do so here. I do tend to write a lot, just as a warning.
