1st time hatching!

[joymac]

OMG, I am so excited! I bought three hens a few weeks ago to add to my lonely little flock of two. Since they'd been with roosters and the EE started laying, we thought we'd hatch some eggs, first time ever. I had nine eggs, discarded two after candling at 14 days, two of the seven will be hatching a couple of days later. So far I've got three little chicks, been filming them as they hatched. I realize that big flock/experienced folk probably think I'm silly, but it's just so cool!

Just had to share!

 

[Gardeningmama]

Congratulations!! I remember how excited I was during my first hatch. The wonderful part is that the excitement is new every time, so you can experience it over and over. Just be careful, it is highly addicting, and leads to a bad case of chicken math, and thus hatchoholics anonymous. LOL!!

 

[SarniaTricia]

I concure... congrats on the hatch... My first hatch was 11\12 eggs and spoiled me for the rest of time... I expect that kinda hatch every time...

I currently have 56 eggs in the bator... that will almost be half my chicken numbers if they all hatch..... hard to believe that it started with 7 little pullets.... then I got an incubator and it turned into 80.

Good luck and happy hatching...
patricia

 

[joymac]

I borrowed the incubator thinking this would be the ONLY time I ever hatch any eggs, I have a very small coop with a very small fenced off yard for the girls but I find myself thinking: Now, did we build it for six (my husband might say only four) chickens or eight? I have five hens now but one is a little silkie so that only counts for half a chicken, right?

 

[Gardeningmama]

Ohhh, it's happening...

. Chicken Math. In February I went to the local mill. They were having a Chicks-Night-Out eggstravaganza!! I came home with 4 Rhode Island Red Chicks. I had also placed an order for 8 more colorful chicks that night. My husband built the coop for my 12 chickens. By August I had 45 chickens, and 3 Coops, and no common sense. Chicken Math... In September, I put an ad on Craigslist, "Downsizing For Fall", (finally, some common sense). I now have 3 Coops, 30 Chickens, and can't wait 'till my Serama hen starts laying again, so I can hatch out some babies. Notice how quickly I re-lost my common sense? Chicken Math....

 

[joymac]

My dear husband must have a sense that I could easily succumb to any kind of animal math and has always put his foot down about the number of animals we have. We just added a third dog which is a major first in our 33 years of marriage! Two cats, two dogs, a few fish, and a few chickens are the prescribed numbers. We've always had the dogs, cats and fish but the chickens just began one year ago this month. I dream of living in the country and having more critters, but I think that might be his nightmare!

 

[SarniaTricia]

I feel your pain.... I bought the incubator!!!!
I also moved us to a farm....

I want to say my DH Peter is the most patient & understanding man I have ever met... did I mention patient?

2010 April the agreement was 3-4 hens... ended up with 13.. processed the older birds.. we were down to 7 over the winter... bought an incubator and hatched out 11 EEs/Ams.... moved to a farm... several hatchings later... we don't need to buy chicken from the grocery.. we eat the boys... if you do not count the food roos(somewere between 12 and 20 of those)... we have some were around 60 hens/roosters and babies growing... 5 turkeys, 3 goats (soon to be 4), a number of feral barn cats, 2 house cats (maybe a dog soon) and 56 eggs in the bator right now! I plan on hatching through the winter as long as the girls continue to give me eggs and Pete's patience remains...

Good luck and congrats on your chickens.
(don't worry, your silkie can help you with the incubation thing for free when she is all grown up, this way you can tell the husband it was her fault not yours!)
Patricia