Hi Kittymomma and anyone else interested:
My hatch is going good. One little guy/gal made it out this afternoon and is doing just fine. Five others are pipped and look like they will probably crash the scene sometime before morning. (I'm in Eastern Canada and at the moment it is 10:30 p.m. Alantic Time) Two or three others have chicks pecking at the inside. I also have one very pecular looking bantie egg. It is a very oblong, odd looking shape. Very stretched out and long looking. It has not pipped yet. But there is a live chick in it. I candled it this afternoon and the chick is jumping all over the place. But it looks like it would probably need another two or three days. Which is fine with me. I am really curious to see what it produces, if it produces anything living. Hope the chick is not deformed or something if it comes out alive.
Three other large eggs are in the batch. Two of those eggs are green. The farmer who gave me all of the bantie eggs gave me them also and suggested I try them. I have no idea what kind of chick they will produce, if they produce. Still they have or had live chicks in them the last time I checked. The actual hatch date for those is not until Saturday or Sunday coming.
So all in all things are going real well. I am a chick lover and when I was growing up we had our own chickens and always had a broody hen hatching some chicks, all of which was my responsibility to look after. My only problem here though is that I live in an area where( I think ) it is not according to the by-lay to keep backyard chickens. Our twon was originally all farmland which has now been developed and is one of the fastes grown towns in Eastern Canada. Still there are farms around us here. One just up the road from us with sheep, cows etc. So I haven't publicized it, not until the bantie rooster starts crowing, that is. The little fellow that hatched today is undoubtedly a rooster. I saw the parents when I was given the eggs and he looks just like the father. In fact I'm so sure he is a rooster I named him 'Richard the 1st." He is as cute as a button and right now all black and fluffy. My wife and I watched the hatching and photographed its various stages. What a struggle that little guy had to get out of the shell. He was and is totally exhausted after the ordeal. He fell so instantly asleep that we thought he had died. But one touch with a finger proved that wrong. And he is still sleeping soundly. The grandchildren came over to see him and of course fell right in love with him.
A few weeks ago I had another attempted hatch. I had fourteen large eggs from egg laying hens. Only one chick hatched. Why the others did not hatch is a mystery because they all had full grown chicks dead in the shall. A cute little red one hatched which I promptly named Henrietta/Henry. She/he thought I was the momma and followed me everywhere. Even tried to fly up to my hands. I would take him/her out in the back yard and with a little stick dig in the ground. Wow! did she ever eat the big worms and made the very happy chick sounds. But sadly a chipmunk got into her coop and killed her a few days ago. I was so angry and upset, of course. I will make sure these are well able to protect themselves before they go into the little coop. Which by the way is hidden amongst the trees in our back yard. For how long? Maybe I will get arrested. And I am a retired policeman.
Talk later.
Roary
