Those are some cute chickies!
Pippie chicken, how goes the hatch?
Sorry to be MIA. Been a little crazy/busy around here.
Been shuffling birds at the neighbor's due to too much rain and not enough roof, sneaky snakes and belligerent birds. Then I fell out of the chicken house and bruised my dignity
but am OK.
My husband made me a step (I'm too short to be climbing up into this chicken coop - adult sized inside, but too high up for my short little legs
) and a hand-hold bar so I don't have a repeat Performance.
The neighbor's usually sweet chickens are becoming rebellious and less than cooperative when I go to put them up for the evening. they free range several acres during the day, and I have used as much bribery as I can think of.
My daughter's pet silkie was injured by one of our dogs who were playing chase, so I give chicken physical therapy several times each day, and carry her in and out to a safe crate according to weather/time of day trying to get her full use of her leg back. She likes having the company of pour flock, but I don't want them pecking at her. I had a vet wrap and cardboard shoe on her to straighten her toes, and they were fascinated by it.
As for the incubating, I'm afraid I've killed my biddies.
I have fallen asleep several nights before the last turn of the night; one night I left the incubator unplugged and temps dropped to low to mid 80s; The temps have jumped up to 102 several times while I was at work; several days I couldn't get the temps up past 90; 2 eggs were dropped onto the incubator tray and dented/cracked (one piece of shell stuck to another egg and pulled away but left the membrane intact). I don't have any wax, so I put a tab of scotch tape over the cracks/hole (waiting to see if that works). I added 3 small plastic juice bottles full of hot water to act as heat sinks. When the temps dropped, I refilled with hot water to speed up the reheating of the 'bator.
I originally candled the eggs on day 10 and could see embryos moving and the eye dots, veins, etc. It was exciting to share with my granddaughter. Then I caught her 'turning' the eggs one morning. I am surprised she didn't burn herself, but she cracked the one that lost a piece of shell (I cracked the other one). That solved the mystery of how some eggs were wrong side up when I went to turn them.
I candled all the eggs last night and about 14 of them were clear or had stopped growing. I put back the ones that are dark/look full and I hope the ones that feel heavier have chicks. I don't know about the ones that haven't gained much weight.
I can't really see through the quail egg shells, so don't even know if they were fertile to start. I also don't know if there was ever a cock with the hens or if there were 4 hens (one became dinner for a rat snake that somehow got into the quail pen. It wasn't very secure to start. I have moved them to a large snake proof cage.)
So, tomorrow is lock-down for me and by Tuesday, I should know how many chicks I have killed, or not.
I am using a borrowed still air incubator that I have to unplug and open to turn the eggs.
Any future hatches will go into my own Prissy-bator with the manual egg turner. That way I won't have to unplug or open it to turn eggs and the temps should stay steady once the eggs are set.
) When I checked yesterday on had the same little shape with no movement and one seemed to have grown huge and there was not much light penetration.
