Okay, this may be a bit twisted but...
I remember when I incubated my first clutch. We had a foster boy living with us and he and I put three eggs in.
When we candled them at 7 days, we were so mesmerized by the little spark in there that kept twitching and darting around that we kept them out for much longer than we should have.
When we candled them at 14 days, we were so excited to see how much they had developed in just a week! But this time, we were able to resist the temptation of just staring at them indefinitely.
They hatched at around 21 days and we were both so happy.
Then, he said "okay, we need to name them."
To which I replied, "these aren't pets. They're livestock. They will serve a purpose and that's it."
"Okay, but we still need to name them," he insisted.
"Fine, we'll name them Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner."
He did not like me for that.
Now, he's grown and back with his parents and I hope he's doing well. At least, the last I'd heard he was with them. As for our chicks, they killed by racoons or foxes or something. (This was many years ago.)
As for today, when I look at our flock and think back to our first three chicks, I can't imagine considering them as just livestock. They really are so much more than that.
What can I say? I'm a crack addict! As soon as that little shell cracks, I can't resist the temptation to just stare and talk the little one out!
ChickeyChicken's pictures for some reason reminded me of my first hatch. In fact, the reason I related this is because I almost posted under the pic "yummy!" lol
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