Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

Update: the girls are doing well, though at 30 weeks nobody is laying yet. We visit the rehomed cockerel occasionally, he’s doing well too and is huge and very fluffy.

Last weekend we pulled one of the other boys out of the freezer and rotisseried him. He turned out absolutely delicious! Somehow even the breast meat was tender (hadn’t been rested before freezing, but he was only 16 weeks old). I do appreciate the tiny breasts on homegrown heritage chickens. Those commercial mutants are scary, and I don’t like breast anyway.

In all his glory:

The kids asked for seconds and thirds.

He was my personal favorite... The sweetest, gentlest and cuddliest chicken I've ever met. I miss him.

 

[adirondak5]

Update: the girls are doing well, though at 30 weeks nobody is laying yet. We visit the rehomed cockerel occasionally, he’s doing well too and is huge and very fluffy.

Last weekend we pulled one of the other boys out of the freezer and rotisseried him. He turned out absolutely delicious! Somehow even the breast meat was tender (hadn’t been rested before freezing, but he was only 16 weeks old). I do appreciate the tiny breasts on homegrown heritage chickens. Those commercial mutants are scary, and I don’t like breast anyway.

In all his glory:
View attachment 2414432

The kids asked for seconds and thirds.

View attachment 2414433

He was my personal favorite... The sweetest, gentlest and cuddliest chicken I've ever met. I miss him.
View attachment 2414497

View attachment 2414508

Good to hear all the chickies are well . That chicken rotisserie looks like it was delicious . Hope you start getting eggs soon .

 

[K0k0shka]

Good to hear all the chickies are well . That chicken rotisserie looks like it was delicious . Hope you start getting eggs soon .

Thanks!

 

[K0k0shka]

Sad news. The family favorite and the coolest chicken ever, that Red Partridge Orpington cockerel we rehomed and visited after that, has died suddenly and unexpectedly last night, in a closed coop with no signs of trauma or anything else Up until that point he'd been healthy, happy and "very robust" as his new owner described him. We are very sad, and will have a family trip to the farm tomorrow to give him a funeral at the lady's "chicken graveyard" (where she buries favorite chickens).

This is the last in a series of disappointments with this breed variety. Only 1 out of the 6 eggs made it to hatch, he was always the runt and smaller than all the other Orps, including the pullets, and now he dies prematurely and for no reason, suggesting possibly something genetic. It was a project breed at Papa's Poultry and not officially listed for sale on the website, he just offered to send me some eggs to test. Maybe the gene pool was too small and the birds have issues. I'll send him some feedback.

I was really hoping to hatch some eggs from our cockerel next spring, and keep a daughter of his, just for sentimental reasons. Now that that's no longer an option, my friend (who adopted him) offered to give me eggs from his favorite girlfriend. She's a prolific layer, and he was prolific in his love for her and my friend says she has a whole bunch of eggs from the two of them. And now I have to decide whether I want to give it a try, as this is really my last chance. How far am I willing to go for sentimental reasons, hatching at the start of winter and then dealing with integration with older birds under cold conditions... Potentially keeping the chicks in the house longer... I'll really need to think about that.

 

[K0k0shka]

We had a family meeting and decided to hatch our fallen boy's progeny. Everybody loves him too much to let him go. Even my husband. He's not really into the chickens in general, but now he's not only on board with the plan, but even wants to keep more of the cockerel's descendants than I was planning on - just in case, because this is the end and if we only keep one (like I wanted) and something happens to her, we can't get more. I'll borrow that same incubator again and pick the eggs up tomorrow when we go for the funeral, and we'll start the whole ordeal all over again... I'll start a new hatch thread. I imagine I'll have lots of questions, particularly about transitioning the poor things to winter conditions outside and a coop already occupied by grown chickens...

 

[aart]

particularly about transitioning the poor things to winter conditions outside and a coop already occupied by grown chickens...

I would not recommend doing that.
Why not wait util spring and get the eggs from Papa's Poultry again?

 

[K0k0shka]

I would not recommend doing that.
Why not wait util spring and get the eggs from Papa's Poultry again?

That was another idea. But now I have doubts about the quality of his partridge orps, and if it's worth it to spend money on them again. I could order some other kind of orps - I really like my other ones that I got from him - but the whole point of this is for our friend to "live on" through his babies. So hatching eggs from him has significance for the family, not just hatching eggs in general (eggs from his line at Papa's is still better than any random eggs and the babies might still be related to him, so that's still plan B if this doesn't work out, but my friend's are guaranteed his eggs, so they're extra special) . And we have a limited window when these eggs will be viable.

I have another appliance box, about twice the size of the one I brooded my current chickens in, so I can keep them in it for a while. First in the upstairs hallway like the other chickens, then I can move it to the basement for a while as an in-between space that's colder than the upstairs, but warmer than the outside... Then partition the run and take them out there for limited amounts of time during the day, so the other chickens can see them and get used to them but not reach them, and the chicks can start getting used to the temperatures... and so on. It will be complicated and it's definitely not ideal, but I want to try it. Unless the odds are so bad and the chickens will be so miserable that it would be animal cruelty to do it... So, is there a way to pull this off humanely, or is it bad enough that I should just not do it? I've read about people brooding in the winter, outside even...

 

[aart]

but the whole point of this is for our friend to "live on" through his babies.

Well, you do have that nice 'coop' in your basement

 

[aart]

I've read about people brooding in the winter, outside even...

I had a broody hen one frigid winter, it worked out OK but I'd never do it again.
Gonna be harder with incubated chicks.

 

[K0k0shka]

Well, you do have that nice 'coop' in your basement

Too bad I took it apart already! But if need be... I can re-chicken the basement again...