Hatching???...why don't we just buy chicks??

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I was thinking about this last night. I'm just beginning and have already spend almost $100 on just the eggs. Homemade Chic bator = $30 give or take. First hatch = 0%. I'm on day 8 of second hatch of 27 eggs. So if I get even 50% that will be 13 or so chicks. I can buy them from the hatchery for $2.00 - $3.00 each = $39 plus shipping

I WOULD ALREADY BE AHEAD!!!

Why do we put ourselves through this??? Why, why ??

 

[Julie08]

I hear ya!! but it's so dang rewarding when it goes right.

 

[SueNH]

I do both but there is nothing like the feeling of mothering an egg and having it turn into a chick. Then that chick lays an egg and on it goes.

I oooh and aaaah at the cute little hatchery birds and even get very attached to some. But an egg from start to finish has this special place. I don't even think it's the extra expense and worry of getting an egg through the mail and hatching it. Something else.

I am going to be practical. One more round of mailed eggs after this one is done. Then if I fire up the incubator again it will either be my own eggs or some bargain or special breed I can't get elsewhere.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I do it because alot of the breeds I want aren't commercially available through hatcheries and most breeders will not sell chicks.

I've had good hatches and I've had some bad ones, I've also had chick orders that were good and bad also, it's a gamble either way.

 

[ginasmarans]

I do it because I am trying to improve my breeding stock and like previously posted,alot of breeders(including me),don't ship chicks. I bought 6 chicks once and it cost me $40 for shipping,plus the price of the chicks. I can usually buy a dozen of eggs for less than that.

 

[Josie]

Your right, if it is just for a few birds one year, then it isn't a money saver. I know I do it though for the pure pleasure and experience of it, as well as to show my daughter some life (and sometimes death) stuff. Think of it as paying for an experience that not that many people get.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I put together an order for all the rare breed chicks I want and it was close to $300! So, I risk hatching eggs to get some of the rare breeds I want that aren't sold at the feed store. The more common ones I just go buy the chicks local at swap meets.

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

I can't get the rare breeds I want from a hatchery either and it's fun for me to mother the eggs. Plus I had 100% hatch last time. Hoping for close to that again. Just got showgirl eggs! Whoooo!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I was up last night at 1:00 am, 3:00 am and 5:00 am just to check the dang bator temp. It reminded me of when my daughter was a baby...getting up to check on her all times of the night.

I admit there is something in me that makes me keep going.

Do any of you kiss your eggs when you put them in the bator? How about praying over them? I do that too!! My daughter and I call them "the babies".

I must have a really bad case of "hatchitis" and I got it from this website!

 

[rebbetzin]

Quote:
Just maybe, you were influenced at an eary age by Dr. Seuss...

Did you read or have read to you "Horton Hatches the Egg"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton_Hatches_the_Egg