Last summer, I bought a silkie hen and one of my friends wanted one too so I picked her out one as well and gave it to her. She and her children fell in love with the hen and named her "Sweetie". Sweetie layed 4 eggs within a week of them getting her, and since she had been with a silkie roo up until I bought her, my friend asked if I could incubate the eggs and give her a couple of chicks. So, I did as she wanted and gave her two of the 3 that ended up hatching. These and their mother were the only chickens she owned, and they really cared a lot about them. As time passed, it became apparent that she ended up with one pullet and one cockeral chick and she was happy with this and named the girl "Skippy" and the boy "Hippy". So, Sweetie Hippy and Skippy were all spoiled chickens.
Fast forward and Hippy and Skippy just turned a year old. All was well until a mean evil skunk managed to catch and kill the two hens out of the three chickens. Poor Hippy is lonesome and keeps hunting for his girls... that was last Thursday. So, this morning my friend showed up at work with a sheepish expression and handed me a covered cup. Inside were two silkie eggs. She doesn't know for sure when they were layed or by which hen before her demise, but she said "if they hatch they hatch, if they don't they don't" so I said "sure I will try to hatch your eggs again", and now the stress starts because I know how hurt she was when the hens got killed...I want so badly for her eggs to hatch. I candled them a few minutes ago, neither had cracks and both seemed very fresh, air cells where they should be, free moving yolks, etc. So, I had let them rest all day today and now they are labelled and in the incubator. Please keep your fingers crossed that Skippy and Sweetie's legacies should continue through the tiny embryos I hope to see in a few days when I candle...
Fast forward and Hippy and Skippy just turned a year old. All was well until a mean evil skunk managed to catch and kill the two hens out of the three chickens. Poor Hippy is lonesome and keeps hunting for his girls... that was last Thursday. So, this morning my friend showed up at work with a sheepish expression and handed me a covered cup. Inside were two silkie eggs. She doesn't know for sure when they were layed or by which hen before her demise, but she said "if they hatch they hatch, if they don't they don't" so I said "sure I will try to hatch your eggs again", and now the stress starts because I know how hurt she was when the hens got killed...I want so badly for her eggs to hatch. I candled them a few minutes ago, neither had cracks and both seemed very fresh, air cells where they should be, free moving yolks, etc. So, I had let them rest all day today and now they are labelled and in the incubator. Please keep your fingers crossed that Skippy and Sweetie's legacies should continue through the tiny embryos I hope to see in a few days when I candle...
