Hooked on chicks

Marliss51

In the Brooder
Sep 21, 2016
24
5
16
Before we moved to Oakhurst, CA 26 yrs ago, we had a chicken coop with a dozen Rhode Island Reds. I sold my surplus eggs at work. We didn't bring the chickens with us because our new property wasn't set up for chickens and I was afraid the chickens would draw coyotes which might eat my dogs.

Here we are years later. I was feeding my neighbors critters while they were away for the weekend and a broody hen in a rabbit hutch hatched out the cutest little chick. We named her God Chick, GC for short. She was so cute, I had to have chickens again.

The neighbor had an incubator and some fertile eggs and I also bought some Barred Rocks off eBay, as well as an egg turner. At the same time, the local feed store was selling Blue Lace Red Wyandotte chicks. So the neighbor & I each bought 2 (because that was the limit per family). I raised these 4 chicks plus GC in a large dog crate in my home while we spent 3 weekends building a chicken coop. They are 7 weeks at the time of this writing and doing fine.

My first experience with the Little Giant 10200 incubator didn't go so well. I guess I spent too much time playing with the temperature knob. Only 2 hatched out of 20. So we tried it again. So far 16 have hatched with 2 latecomers piping out of 23 viable eggs. Not bad, but I'm sure getting a lot of contradictory information on the internet. That's when I found this Forum and I am looking forward to all the great information and people I will meet here.

We live on 6 acres at the 2900' elevation. I'm a Home Health nurse working part time, almost 65. Hubby works out of town a couple days each week.
 
welcome-byc.gif
Very nice to have you join the flock! This is the best place to gain info, because most of the members here have a "been there, done that" experience. Newer chicken keepers learn from people who have actually experienced the many different aspects (sometimes challenges) of poultry-keeping. That's what makes this site great, and there are many nice people on here eager to help! Was your first hatch in the bator the eggs you got from ebay? I've had drastically mixed results with shipped eggs. Sometimes nearly all of them hatch for me, and other times only two to three hatch. Sounds like your other hatch is going pretty well. Good luck!
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join us here! What a great intro, I've really enjoyed reading all about you :D Congrats on your hatchers and good luck with your late comers. They sure can keep you biting your nails. Wishing you the very best of luck for the future and enjoy your time here on BYC :frow
 
welcome-byc.gif


How nice you were able to get back into chickens!

Thanks for joining us, make yourself at home.
 
In my first hatch, 12 eggs were collected from the neighbor over 6 day period and stored on a shelf @ around 70 degrees. They had to wait for the 8 eggs from eBay to arrive. One of the eBay eggs hatched and one of the very first neighbor eggs hatched. Candling showed a poor fertility rate for the neighbor's eggs. A couple of the eBay eggs were infertile, but a couple had shipping problems (scrambled?), but 2 might have been killed by temperature spikes during the last couple of days.
 
Welcome to Backyard chickens. You sound like a fast learner. You might like to follow some of the "Hatch-A-Thon," posts - lots of "oops," and advice rendered.
 
Welcome to Backyard chickens! I enjoyed reading your introduction, and I am sure you will be a joy to have around! I hope you like it here!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom