My first hatch

[SabongStuff]

I just wanted to share my first hatch. I was very excited to add these little ones to my flock.

I have two Easter Eggers with the blue egg trait and a Belgian D’uccle roo. After one of my Easter eggers laid her first six eggs, she decided to go broody! I gave her a total of 10 eggs; 5 pinkish eggs and 5 blue eggs to sit on. I candled at day 7 and found out there was no growth from 3 pink eggs and 2 blues.

3/5 hatched today and I am hearing chirping in the fourth egg. I need to do a little bit more reading and waiting to see if I’ll need to intervene. The fifth egg is no where to be found on hatch day.

I took a very hands off approach to this first go round after reading that some hens don’t have a successful first hatch and it being winter time and all.. but nature works it’s magic!

Here are some pics of the parents and babies:

 

[sourland]

Congratulations, and good luck with them.

 

[Callender Girl]

Congratulations!!! Good-looking group, for sure!

 

[SabongStuff]

Thank you. Fingers crossed they make it through this winter!

 

[FlightyChicken]

Congratulations!

 

[SabongStuff]

 

[SabongStuff]

I can hear chirping in the last egg so I am thinking it has internally pipped. I will check tomorrow morning to follow up and see if the fourth chick will make it through. Fingers crossed.

 

[FlightyChicken]

Wow, you have a surprisingly chill broody! When we hatched chicks, our broody would NOT let us come close to her & the chicks

 

[SabongStuff]

Wow, you have a surprisingly chill broody! When we hatched chicks, our broody would NOT let us come close to her & the chicks

Shes been handled by humans her entire life and along with her sister are extremely tame. The are only flighty when the need to be and love the company of larger hens. They hold their own with my other girls standard and other bantam.

Very excited to see what these chicks will become. I’ve see the three so far look very much like their father the D’uccle. The three so far have booted feathers on their legs.

 

[Callender Girl]

When my Iowa Blue hatched chicks, I was fortunate if I could even get my hand into the coop. She was fiercely protective of her babies. You have a wonderful hen!