Preparing myself emotionallY?

[elizabethbinary]

Awww man you guys make me feel like a hard ___. Hahaha I think it's a great learning process, even the death bit. I was ultra sad when my Original Fanny passed away (egg yolk perindisdngfkjsdshdf word I can't spell)... but I buried her and got on with my life... I have a feather and a picture someone made for me of her in my hall. But the eggs? Just eggs. They fail/thrive in such stupefying numbers that you kinda just get used to it.... and I'm pretty new to it... so maybe you'll feel better after a hatch or two?

 

[Diamond Wire Farms]

My nieces are 4 and when eggs don't hatch I tell them that the Rooster didn't do his job right. (Better than the chick died, I guess.) They don't seem to question it. But this could lead into the birds'n'bees with you 5 year old!

 

[PhilErvin]

Heckel's Hens :

Am I obssessing too much before even starting to incubate? (Major nail biting...)

AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I don't want to appear rude or a smart a** but you need to put this whole "Chicken thing" into perspective. As long as you are taking care of them they will thrive. When something goes wrong (and it will) you will have to suck it up and respond appropriatly. That may mean you will have to put a hurt chicken down or treat an injury. But you can't pay a vet every time a bird needs help.
I am kind of like you and I am a man. I have a dog whom I love dearly and I just found out that he has diabetes. I am now having to give him a shot every morning. I would have never thought that I could do this but under the circumstances I just started doing it. And I am ok with it. Good Luck and Welcome to this addiction!

 

[Heckel's Hens]

Thanks everyone. It means a lot!

 

[gryeyes]

~Cat, I was absolutely, positively convinced I would somehow screw up incubating eggs. My very first hatch was 6 out of 7 eggs. So was my second hatch, and yet I was still sure I would somehow "kill" the eggs.

I didn't even candle eggs at all, because I wasn't sure what would be evidence of development or failure. Not only that, but what if I saw development, proof of a living chick, and then something happened and I didn't do something right and that egg didn't hatch, which would mean *I* would have killed it.

I have hatched quite a few chicks now, sometimes only 10% hatch rate in some clutches, sometimes 90%, but I am always happy if even one chick survives. And thrilled if two or more hatch and survive. As long as I have low expectations, I am always surprised and pleased.

It works for me. And keeps me addicted to trying again. And again.

Good luck! They're just eggs until a chick hatches. That's the miracle.

 

[madamwlf]

I'm right there with you. Receiving my first set of eggs in the mail tomorrow. Got the incubator set up and running but we're in the middle of a snow storm. I sure hope they make it okay. Good luck with your eggs. Think positive thoughts.

 

[magicpigeon]

Your hatch should go fine! I was absolutely convinced one set of eggs I had under a (hatchery

) broody would not hatch but I candled them 2 days ago - for the first time, mind you. I didn't want them to explode on her so was planning on chucking them out - I was surprised to only find ONE dud out of 13! Goes to show we should all have some faith in our chickens and hence ourselves

 

[Heckel's Hens]

Sigh.

Maybe now I can get some sleep! Prayer and positivity!

Thanks, chicken gurus!