My new chicks! They hatched the 25th and 26th, here are some pics!!!

[chicken_china_mom]

I am so proud of this bunch, I hatched them myself! This is the best hatch I've ever had! I have 15 beautiful little fluffy butts, and they are sooooo sweet! I am in love!

I just wanted to share with everyone. I have EE's in here plus Bantams from my own flock. The Bantams are pure and mixed Cochins, and it looks like I have a Silkie x Cochin mix in there too! It's the beautiful little steel gray one. Here are my babies:

An overhead view:

Testing the water, lol:

And I just love this picture. That's my older daughter Katie peering in from the background:

I'll be taking a 1000 more pictures between now and like, tomorrow, lol, so I'll have more as they develop. We are still waiting on one little guy to hatch. He's taking his sweet time though. That's ok, if it's God's will, he will hatch. I peeled back a bit of shell, cut a little bit more hole in his membrane (it's thick, feels like it's double thick actually), moistened it, and then wrapped the whole egg in a warm washcloth, so hopefully he hatches. I'll be rooting for him!

 

[Kelly G]

I think that is SOOOOOO cool to hatch your own chicks! I'm dying to try it, but haven't been able to muster up the courage/$$$ to do it yet!

Your chicks are just too cute!!! Love 'em!!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Trust me, these chicks were NOT easy to hatch out. I seem to have a hard time with hatches. I lost abour 4 to 5 dozen eggs before these hatched, but seeing these precious little fuzzbutts makes it all worth it. I think my problem is that I need to stay out of the incubator! I didn't have a whole lot of money to work with but I am glad I invested in some eggs. And I won one of my incubators last year right here on BYC in an auction. I invested this year in a turner and a digital thermostat/hygrometer, and I bought another incubator, same model, with the same turner and another of the same thermostat/hygrometers. The other incubator has Speckled Sussex, Welsummers, French Black Copper Marans, Cuckoo Marans, and mixed bantams that I got from another BYC'er. I am hoping and praying that those hatch too! For now though, I am enjoying these little babies!

 

[Kelly G]

Wow...that's a lot of diligence! How much did you spend on one complete set-up....if you don't mind my asking? I really want to take the plunge - there is one girl here, Halo, who always has nice eggs for sale...I just need more MONEY!!!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Well Kelly, if I break it down, the incubator with turner I got on E-bay brand new for $41, and I got the digital thermometer/hygrometer for about $10. That doesn't include shipping, but shipping was like $16.99 for the bator and turner, and like $3 for the thermostat. So it wasn't a terribly large expense. If I can get some of these chicks sold, I'll be investing in more eggs later so I can continue hatching! Hatching does become addicting, and if I can get it done right, I'll be doing it all year long, right through the winter!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I wanted to add, I got my EE babies from Atlchick, and I am sooooooo glad I did. She packaged them so nicely and the chicks and birds on her website were gorgeous. These chicks are just as gorgeous and I hope they grow up to be as lovely as her birds.

 

[chickerdoodle]

They are adorable!!!

I can't wait for mine (buying, not hatching as I am no where near that experienced yet)!

It may just be me as I am a chronic worry wart

but you might consider adding a few marbles or rocks in the water dish to prevent them from falling in or getting too wet--I see one chick already testing the "pool" with her foot, LOL.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
Oh yeah, we already added the marbles. My daughter was washing them as I took these pics. I am a worrier too!

 

[lizzy06019]

Oh how cute are they? They're just so precious! Congrats on your hatch

... enjoy your fuzzy butts

 

[feathered fannies farm]

The chick babies are so darling. And congrats on hatching them out yourself. I have done it a couple times in past years.
Tammy