BirdaMay
In the Brooder
Hello everyone!
Today is day 15 of incubation of our first little brood of eggs!
My 20 year old umbrella cockatoo, Birda So-Cute, has been yearning all her life to hatch eggs, and for over a decade, I've wanted to try letting her hatch chicken eggs. Well, this year, we decided to do it!
I'd lost a pet parrot before due to egg binding, so I thought if I gave her fertile chicken eggs to hatch, she wouldn't lay her own but still be emotionally and hormonally satisfied, we could start a little laying flock, and she would be safe from the dangers of laying. Win-Win!
A sweet and generous local lady gave us a Milles Fleur d'Uccles egg, a buff cochin egg, and a blue Ameraucana egg. She'd never seen her rooster mate the d'Uccles hen, so that was a roll of the dice that turned up an empty egg, which I pulled, but the other two are looking right on schedule, though I can't see at all through the blue egg, so I'm ordering a candler soon, and an incubator and brooder are already en route in case of unforeseen events, but I figured it was a worthy investment, because I am now planning to let her set every year. I've never seen her so happy!
Birda and I live in northern Colorado with 3 cats. Because of space, we aren't planning on keeping these two chicks, but in the future we hope to end up with a Milles Fleur and a white silkie pullet who may be able to live with Birda in her cage. I am home all the time, so they will be out in the house mostly, but I'm also looking into building a coop and run big enough to also add a Polish bantam and Serama bantam to the mix. I've already got a great coop and tractor design in mind, and then there is always a great one I found online, but we'll have to save for that or sell a lot of cockatoo-incubated eggs!
If this works well for Birda and the word gets out, it could save hundreds of pet parrots' lives and get many more Americans and people everywhere re-connected with the joys and rewards of backyard chicken-keeping and egg-producing! This would, in turn, lead to a healthier America and a healthier world, not to mention a better quality of life for chickens worldwide and a decline in the abhorrent conditions of large-scale chicken farming. WIN-WIN!
Well, thanks for having this community resource available.
We are looking forward to learning a lot and sharing our dream come true with you!
Today is day 15 of incubation of our first little brood of eggs!
My 20 year old umbrella cockatoo, Birda So-Cute, has been yearning all her life to hatch eggs, and for over a decade, I've wanted to try letting her hatch chicken eggs. Well, this year, we decided to do it!
I'd lost a pet parrot before due to egg binding, so I thought if I gave her fertile chicken eggs to hatch, she wouldn't lay her own but still be emotionally and hormonally satisfied, we could start a little laying flock, and she would be safe from the dangers of laying. Win-Win!
A sweet and generous local lady gave us a Milles Fleur d'Uccles egg, a buff cochin egg, and a blue Ameraucana egg. She'd never seen her rooster mate the d'Uccles hen, so that was a roll of the dice that turned up an empty egg, which I pulled, but the other two are looking right on schedule, though I can't see at all through the blue egg, so I'm ordering a candler soon, and an incubator and brooder are already en route in case of unforeseen events, but I figured it was a worthy investment, because I am now planning to let her set every year. I've never seen her so happy!
Birda and I live in northern Colorado with 3 cats. Because of space, we aren't planning on keeping these two chicks, but in the future we hope to end up with a Milles Fleur and a white silkie pullet who may be able to live with Birda in her cage. I am home all the time, so they will be out in the house mostly, but I'm also looking into building a coop and run big enough to also add a Polish bantam and Serama bantam to the mix. I've already got a great coop and tractor design in mind, and then there is always a great one I found online, but we'll have to save for that or sell a lot of cockatoo-incubated eggs!
If this works well for Birda and the word gets out, it could save hundreds of pet parrots' lives and get many more Americans and people everywhere re-connected with the joys and rewards of backyard chicken-keeping and egg-producing! This would, in turn, lead to a healthier America and a healthier world, not to mention a better quality of life for chickens worldwide and a decline in the abhorrent conditions of large-scale chicken farming. WIN-WIN!
Well, thanks for having this community resource available.
We are looking forward to learning a lot and sharing our dream come true with you!
