My blue silkie hen, Gracey, went broody!
I couldn't decide- should I put some eggs underneath her? It seemed a shame not to, so I ended up putting one, single egg underneath her just to try it out- on May 1st!
The egg belonged to these two:
Sunflower, the partridge hen (from a breeder)!
Willow, the light splash rooster (from a hatchery)!
Because Sunflower's eggs are always fertilized (Willow adores her)!!
So, I didn't have any hopes per se, I knew hatch rates aren't that great and that it was likely the egg wouldn't hatch. We tried candling but didn't do it right apparently, and saw nothing,,, but we figured, no harm in leaving the egg until day 22 at least.
This morning at 4:00am I checked, saw nothing, and then this afternoon, Gracey had pushed the egg out from underneath her and there was a hole and a moving beak inside! (and blood on the hole??) I put the egg back underneath her and did research in case we'd have to help the baby,, but we gave her a lil while and when I went out next I HEARD PEEPING!
)) So we have a chick now! I regret not putting more eggs underneath her now,,
The egg shell! The egg was TINY!
Here's the baby right after she hatched!!! With "momma"
Just chillin' LOL (baby was a little disorientated but has since gained a sense of footing!)
Baby got stuck behind the nesting box so we had to fix it so that would not happen again!
Where they are now until the baby gets bigger!
Had to clean the bedding in the nesting box, the baby was falling asleep in my hands (Washed my hands beforehand)
Anyway, this has been so exciting!! Crossing my fingers that she's a girl!!!
I couldn't decide- should I put some eggs underneath her? It seemed a shame not to, so I ended up putting one, single egg underneath her just to try it out- on May 1st!
The egg belonged to these two:
Sunflower, the partridge hen (from a breeder)!
Willow, the light splash rooster (from a hatchery)!
Because Sunflower's eggs are always fertilized (Willow adores her)!!
So, I didn't have any hopes per se, I knew hatch rates aren't that great and that it was likely the egg wouldn't hatch. We tried candling but didn't do it right apparently, and saw nothing,,, but we figured, no harm in leaving the egg until day 22 at least.
This morning at 4:00am I checked, saw nothing, and then this afternoon, Gracey had pushed the egg out from underneath her and there was a hole and a moving beak inside! (and blood on the hole??) I put the egg back underneath her and did research in case we'd have to help the baby,, but we gave her a lil while and when I went out next I HEARD PEEPING!
)) So we have a chick now! I regret not putting more eggs underneath her now,,The egg shell! The egg was TINY!
Here's the baby right after she hatched!!! With "momma"
Just chillin' LOL (baby was a little disorientated but has since gained a sense of footing!)
Baby got stuck behind the nesting box so we had to fix it so that would not happen again!
Where they are now until the baby gets bigger!
Had to clean the bedding in the nesting box, the baby was falling asleep in my hands
(Washed my hands beforehand)Anyway, this has been so exciting!! Crossing my fingers that she's a girl!!!
