Zinjifrah
Crowing
Let me preface this introduction by saying that I've never liked chickens. I got harassed by a very aggressive flock as a young child, and avoided them stringently since then. That said, I caved and decided it was time to get some when I discovered that this year is projected to be the worst cricket years for this area in the past decade. So I looked into chickens...
And I ordered some hatching Serama eggs off of eBay, '16+'. I keep pet snakes, and picked up an incubator a year or so ago in case I decided to breed them. It's never been used so... it got set up. 18 eggs arrived. A day to rest, and in to cook. I've never hatched eggs of any kind before. Hand turning every four hours, from the time I put them in. Then the local feed store had a clearance on chicks, so I picked up a black Silkie. Oof. Never one chick again. After two days of playing 'hen' I was exhausted and horribly glad to get more chicks, but I have a very friendly little Silkie. I'm hoping it's a hen. I also ordered six Silver Sebrights, the 'more chicks' that I got. They arrived less than optimally healthy, and I lost two... but the remaining four are doing well, and growing like weeds.
On day 10 of the eggs, I candled and pulled the clears, as well as one that just had a tiny black spot inside - in comparison to the others, it was distinctly less developed. Indeed, eight had no sign of any development at any point, and one had an eye spot that had clearly died right after starting. That left me nine, of which, I'm chagrined to admit, there was one that I was pretty sure was dead, probably because I'd miss-identified the air pocket and... had it upside down.
Day 14, I noticed a ding in the smallest egg. A tiny circular impact mark, about a millimeter across, that didn't look like it had broken the inner membrane. I've no idea how it happened, nothing in the handling or incubation should have caused it - no sharp edges! - but it's been suggested to me that it might have been covered with egg dust when it arrived and I didn't see it. There was movement inside, and the air pocket was enlarging faster than I liked, so I put a tiny piece of scotch tape over the ding.
Three more eggs failed. All three had embryos that stopped early in development, including the one I'd had upside down. That left me with six eggs. Last night, the tiniest egg, with the ding in it, pipped. Day 19. Well, 18 then. I pulled the little piece of tape off, just to be safe. This morning, two more eggs have pipped, and the 'ding' egg has hatched a healthy-seeming, strong little chick. Here's one hour after hatching, still in the incubator and starting to fluff well, no 'yolky' belly:
(Hey, I figured out how to post a photo!)
So glad I didn't see that ding at first, else I might have thrown the egg out before I ever started incubating it. I'd read never to bother with a damaged egg. No idea if the other three that haven't pipped yet will hatch, but I was never sure any of them would hatch at all, given my lack of experience, so just getting anything is marvelous!
So, let's see... looking at the question list;
First chicken: Two weeks ago. Pouf the black Silkie is now three weeks old, and looking scraggly. Apparently that's normal.
How many do I have now: Six hatched (1 x 3 weeks, 4 x 2 weeks, 1 x 2 hours), two pipped, three hopefuls.
Breeds: 1 x Silkie, 4 x Silver Sebright, 1 (+?) Serama.
How did I find out about the site: Google. I've been reading everything I could find to try and educate myself.
Other Hobbies: Ugh.... Let's just say people tease me about my zoo. Two BLM mustangs, four rescue dogs, two rescue cats, sixteen snakes that I use to help people see them as an animal, instead of evil incarnate... assorted fish and rodents... and now chickens. There may be two goats arriving in a couple weeks, too. Interactive writing, gardening...
Other pets: See above.
And I ordered some hatching Serama eggs off of eBay, '16+'. I keep pet snakes, and picked up an incubator a year or so ago in case I decided to breed them. It's never been used so... it got set up. 18 eggs arrived. A day to rest, and in to cook. I've never hatched eggs of any kind before. Hand turning every four hours, from the time I put them in. Then the local feed store had a clearance on chicks, so I picked up a black Silkie. Oof. Never one chick again. After two days of playing 'hen' I was exhausted and horribly glad to get more chicks, but I have a very friendly little Silkie. I'm hoping it's a hen. I also ordered six Silver Sebrights, the 'more chicks' that I got. They arrived less than optimally healthy, and I lost two... but the remaining four are doing well, and growing like weeds.
On day 10 of the eggs, I candled and pulled the clears, as well as one that just had a tiny black spot inside - in comparison to the others, it was distinctly less developed. Indeed, eight had no sign of any development at any point, and one had an eye spot that had clearly died right after starting. That left me nine, of which, I'm chagrined to admit, there was one that I was pretty sure was dead, probably because I'd miss-identified the air pocket and... had it upside down.
Day 14, I noticed a ding in the smallest egg. A tiny circular impact mark, about a millimeter across, that didn't look like it had broken the inner membrane. I've no idea how it happened, nothing in the handling or incubation should have caused it - no sharp edges! - but it's been suggested to me that it might have been covered with egg dust when it arrived and I didn't see it. There was movement inside, and the air pocket was enlarging faster than I liked, so I put a tiny piece of scotch tape over the ding.
Three more eggs failed. All three had embryos that stopped early in development, including the one I'd had upside down. That left me with six eggs. Last night, the tiniest egg, with the ding in it, pipped. Day 19. Well, 18 then. I pulled the little piece of tape off, just to be safe. This morning, two more eggs have pipped, and the 'ding' egg has hatched a healthy-seeming, strong little chick. Here's one hour after hatching, still in the incubator and starting to fluff well, no 'yolky' belly:
(Hey, I figured out how to post a photo!)
So glad I didn't see that ding at first, else I might have thrown the egg out before I ever started incubating it. I'd read never to bother with a damaged egg. No idea if the other three that haven't pipped yet will hatch, but I was never sure any of them would hatch at all, given my lack of experience, so just getting anything is marvelous!
So, let's see... looking at the question list;
First chicken: Two weeks ago. Pouf the black Silkie is now three weeks old, and looking scraggly. Apparently that's normal.
How many do I have now: Six hatched (1 x 3 weeks, 4 x 2 weeks, 1 x 2 hours), two pipped, three hopefuls.
Breeds: 1 x Silkie, 4 x Silver Sebright, 1 (+?) Serama.
How did I find out about the site: Google. I've been reading everything I could find to try and educate myself.
Other Hobbies: Ugh.... Let's just say people tease me about my zoo. Two BLM mustangs, four rescue dogs, two rescue cats, sixteen snakes that I use to help people see them as an animal, instead of evil incarnate... assorted fish and rodents... and now chickens. There may be two goats arriving in a couple weeks, too. Interactive writing, gardening...
Other pets: See above.
We are glad you joined our flock.
