My first shipped eggs! An incubation adventure

[PrairieChickens]

Well, I have named the chick Xiao Yongshi--Xiao for short. According to Google it's Chinese for "little warrior", though I don't know what specific Chinese language it is.

Like a madwoman, I ordered more shipped eggs--I had a chance to get three legbar eggs for a very good price and figured it was worth another try.

Also, I have discovered that the chickens I have in quarantine have fertilized eggs. Since the only rooster in the pen with them is an old English game bantam, I know he has to be the father... I think I'm going to try to hatch out an OEGB and Jersey Giant mix just to say I did it! lol

 

[Aphrael]

Those should turn out to be some very interesting chicks! Can't wait to see how they do.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Well, I finally brought myself to put down the deformed chick. It wasn't easy, and I lost a lot of sleep last night because of it, but it was the right thing to do. My husband, seeing how upset I was about it, offered to handle any future cases of euthanasia we have to do. I thought that was very sweet of him.

I also lost sleep over my lone leghorn chick, Xiao. Despite starting off the day strong, its condition deteriorated over the course of the day, and I was quite certain it would pass away over night. Much to my surprise, however, it not only survived the night, but apparently regained its strength. Xiao is walking with greater strength and balance, and its feet no longer fold under it when it is standing. Its appetite also seems to be improving, and when I offer my hand, Xiao crawls into it for cuddles. Frequent feedings and long naps seem to be the key to nursing my little warrior back to health.

 

[Aphrael]

So sorry to hear about the deformed chick. I know it is very hard to do, but you did what was best for the chick.

Glad to hear that Xiao is felling better. I really hope this is the last rough patch and you have smooth sailing from here on out.

 

[Sustained]

I'm sorry to hear about the deformed chick too. I've been following your progress and was rooting for him/her to make it.

I'm crossing my fingers that Xiao keeps up the good work!

 

[Purpletie3]

Hello~
I loved reading through your progress with your hatch... I have just received an order of mailed eggs and will be my first run with an incubator...I can't get the temperature stabilized so I am reading through a lot of literature on here and ran onto your cool post!

I am nervous...I had some chickens purchased at Easter time...my girls, 14 of them, were taken out by a predator in July. So, I have beefed up security and am ready to try again...from the start...an egg!

Thanks for the great pics too~
Hoping for success; not scramble,
Christina

 

[PrairieChickens]

Hello~
I loved reading through your progress with your hatch... I have just received an order of mailed eggs and will be my first run with an incubator...I can't get the temperature stabilized so I am reading through a lot of literature on here and ran onto your cool post!

I am nervous...I had some chickens purchased at Easter time...my girls, 14 of them, were taken out by a predator in July. So, I have beefed up security and am ready to try again...from the start...an egg!

Thanks for the great pics too~
Hoping for success; not scramble,
Christina

Good luck!

 

[PrairieChickens]

For my convenience, I will be referring to Xiao as a girl from now on, until "she" demonstrates otherwise.

Xiao is now eating and drinking without any help from me, happily following her dark companion around the brooder and scratching up the chick starter I put down for them. It is safe to say at this point that she will start to develop as a normal chick from here on out, though it will take some catching up for her to get to the size she ought to be. As you can see from the photos, she is still the size of a newly-hatched chick. Since all of her energy has gone to healing and surviving, there hasn't been anything left over for growing. Past experience has shown that she'll start to catch up now that she's eating normally and able to move around.





I'm expecting my next batch of shipped eggs today. They will go into the incubator with a selection of eggs from my own flock, including (I hope) a Jersey Giant/Old English Game Bantam mix! Since I've never actually seen Zip mating with the big girls, I would never have suspected the eggs were fertilized if I hadn't cracked one open and seen the bulls-eye for myself! With any luck, the JG eggs will be fertile and I'll get to boast about perhaps the unlikeliest chicken cross ever!

 

[PrairieChickens]

My cream legbar eggs arrived. Not sure how I feel about them--they weren't padded as thoroughly as the last batch I got, and the aircells in all of them are completely detached. In addition, half the eggs are visibly soiled, which surprised me. I won't write them off yet, but I don't expect I will purchase eggs from that seller again, either. Then again, my last shipped eggs looked to be in good shape, and turned out to be almost useless, so who knows? Maybe a little dirt on the eggs will be my lucky charm

 

[Aphrael]

Little Xiao is just darling. So glad she is being a normal chick now.

Sorry to here your eggs got roughed up. If the air cells are just detached but the egg isn't totally scrambled, there is still hope for them. As for being a little soiled, maybe it was raining and muddy where they came from? They'll probably be fine as long as they aren't absolutely filthy.

I SO hope that JG/OEGB hatches out for you. I can't wait to see pics of it!!