Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

On last checl of pens before leaving for work i saw a papery thin white shell in the middle of the floor... i have a chick! Crramy colored w a vaulted skull! I am so anmoyed to leave now. Short day so pics asap

 

[Sallysec]

Wooohooo Can't wait Cheeka!

 

[cheeka]

I really thought they were duds... glad i left her alone to reject them...! I was so surprised! Today is day 26... and first thing this morning i sent a message to my local hatchaholic asking about chicks... mail is an hour and a half late today... figures!

 

[Sallysec]

With these lose temps we are getting, I am not surprised.

 

[Sallysec]

low*

 

[cheeka]

I did not even think of that Sally! I cant wait to get home to see... maybe more have hatched!

 

[Sallysec]

Yeah the low temperatures make it slower...and I am betting that since its 25 days that is exactly what happened.
My little ones survived the night without the heat packs

I checked on them twice in the evening.
Today I tried to lure them onto the grass a little, I got one out there but they didn't like it and ran to the other one. I swapped and same thing.

So I just finished cleaning out the townhouse coop. I ended up using a pitch fork rather than the rake...so much faster. I never will do a three level coop again ...it just doesn't make sense for the amount of bending and weird contorting I have to do. I waited for an empty house so no one would laugh at me. The baby took a nap and I hit the coops! I have all of the older girls free ranging the garden. Two are so shy its really hard for me to catch them. I just let them be. Anyways when I first opened up I swear I thought a bird had died.

FEATHER ATTACK!

These aren't the best of pictures. i had the camera, my phone, and a baby monitor and no pockets.

molting? Or should I be concerned?

mmm....Tomatoes...she saw them growing underneath the sunflowers and got excited.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Wow, Sally, it must have been unnerving to find all those feathers. And white is so noticeable! I've only seen a hard molt once (my BR) and she looked pretty bald for a while before the porcupine stage with all the pin feathers. She was very standoffish during the molt. Did not want to be touched or picked up and kept her distance, which was strange because she acts like a dog most of the time. Maybe the pin feathers feels weird to them.



If your girl is not molting, there is a type of mite that eats feathers (rather than sucking blood) and causes feather loss, but I don't know more than that.

I got my hatchery chicks from the feed store (wanted to see and choose what I was buying). They do not post the hatchery info but I did see boxes labeled Privett. It think they use more than one hatchery for better availability.


So excited for you cheeka!

I was thinking the cool weather might have slowed your hatch, but more importantly, it's proven that you can trust the instincts of your super broody mama Peach. She deserves a hatching award!

 

[cheeka]

I totally agree W4W, she is so awesome! she gave up the 3 other eggs, so I've just taken them away. two felt like they had chicks, one was sloshy.

the little one is so adorable...

wait, I blinked. take another one.


now get one with me and my Mama

the backup chicks... couldn't not take them even tho' I knew she had a hatchling. I will give Peachy's chick a few days to get sturdier before I add the slightly larger chicks, they are bantams, and are quite tiny, even tho' they are a few weeks old. they are very active, don't want baby trampled...

 

[cheeka]

I will be back later with pics of my molting girls. couldn't wait any longer to get pics of the new chick(s) up... my short day turned out to be quite long!