Hey, now that was quick thinking....what a great idea!Tomorrow most of my chickies will be a day old. I did lose one on Saturday late evening but thus far that is the only one. I had a scare Tuesday morning when I woke around 4:30 to hear the chicks cheeping from the cold. Our power had gone out and the temps were dropping. So what did I do? I put them into a shoebox, sat it on my lap, wrapped the edges with a blanket. Then I fired up my laptop that is an excellent heater and set it on top of the box. Within about 10 minutes, the temp was up to 93* and they settled down to nap. 3 hours later as my battery was almost drained, the power was restored. May I just say I never thought I do something like that, but these babies are precious.
I couldn't resist and have another group in the incubator. We have 6 eggs from a Blue Orpinton over Splash Marans. If these babies are anything like their parents, they'll be huge! 7 Buff Orpington/RIR mixes, 2 Splash Aracuna, and 16 Blue/Black/Lavender/Splash Orpington eggs joined them. I also have 10 silkie eggs for a friend. I can't wait for this hatch to join my other babies! Due on October 12.![]()

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Not sure who the daddy was on this one... she appears orange. Most of my Marans crosses I think are with my lavender Ameraucana and come out black, a few have come out bright yellow - not sure if those belong to the cuckoo marans or what. This one is dark gold with an orange smudge down the back and two black dots on her head. Wondering if the RIR finally got some action, LOL! All the ladies hate him and run away, LOL! He is not gentle and is now penned up but he was out for a while.
Expected but sad none the less. And then this morning I found an older Crested Cream Legbar pullet chick had gotten her head trapped in the aviary netting last night and didn't make it into the coop. She is only a few weeks old so I am surprised she made it through the cold of night alone. But she was there chirping for help this morning. I just hope she didn't damage her self struggling. She sounds hoarse and seems very weak and sleepy. I have her back in the brooder this morning with all the little babies. I hope she makes it, she is one of my few crested girls *sigh* 

e Great job!
Chirp
