Had to share this! An absolute miracle. GOD was and is always great.
Recently, the local feed store got in a shipment of Lavender Orpingtons. However, they were all spoken for..... but seeing them sent me into a tailspin of having to have one!!
So, I ordered some hatching eggs off eBay, and an incubator and decided to give it a shot. I have owned and raised chickens for years now, but never hatched and thought this was a good of time as any to try.
We are at super high elevation, and very dry climate, and the only place to order (that I could find) isn’t, so I knew that was one negative. These are also coming off eBay, so I was half expecting a duck to hatch out of one of the eggs - but my need for a lavander Orpington was overpowering all doubt.
At the 7 day candle, we weren’t sure because we had a crummy flashlight, so we kept all 7 eggs in there.
Day 15 - ordered a new candler off amazon, which worked way better, but found there was only two little guys who had any development at all. So we removed the duds and continued on to lockdown in a few days.
Day 21 - both eggs were Wiggling and chirping. We figured that we were doing something right. Note: we are using a cheap, off brand incubator. Noticed the humidity level was a little too low 55%, so I closed the vent up a little bit. When we came back a few minutes later, we had two pips!!
We stayed up as long as we could, then fell asleep. When we woke up the next morning, the humidity had rose to 90%
One egg, pipped and haven’t made any progress in the last 6 hours, and was no longer moving. The chicks beak was also visibly stuck outside the hole. The assumption is she drown due to the humidity.... heartbreaking. We couldn’t open the bator, so we pressed on. However, the one trooper was still working, but had just made a large, quarter size hole in the side of the egg and wasn’t zipping.... she was flipped upside down
It was at this point, I got on eBay and ordered another batch of eggs, assuming the worst. We prayed and prayed, not leaving that incubator for the next 4 hours.
The chick didn’t stop, the entire time. Using every drop she had to push, not rotating at all, beak still right where she had pipped. We started to see hairline cracks working their way up and down the egg lengthwise. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went outside and worked while my wife stood guard. What happened next was incredible!
I turned around and saw my wife sprinting toward me, flailing her arms and screaming. It was inaudible, as she was experiencing Extreme joy after hours of hopelessness. Instinctively, I started sprinting across the property after her. When I got in, I COULD SEE A LEF STICKING OUT! Without zipping, this little warrior forced her way out, splitting the egg every which way and basically rolled out of an obliterated shell
What a day. We have 4 children, but I don’t know if any of those births (all natural as well, my wife is a champion) ever prepared me for hatching this one little chick! It has been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least!! Here are some shots of her!!
P.s. we did extract the poor unsuccessful egg out once the Hatcher was ready to come out. We held a small service for it, it only felt right. Lost quite a few chickens in the past, some being my o.g. Best layers, but this one was the toughest.
Recently, the local feed store got in a shipment of Lavender Orpingtons. However, they were all spoken for..... but seeing them sent me into a tailspin of having to have one!!
So, I ordered some hatching eggs off eBay, and an incubator and decided to give it a shot. I have owned and raised chickens for years now, but never hatched and thought this was a good of time as any to try.
We are at super high elevation, and very dry climate, and the only place to order (that I could find) isn’t, so I knew that was one negative. These are also coming off eBay, so I was half expecting a duck to hatch out of one of the eggs - but my need for a lavander Orpington was overpowering all doubt.
At the 7 day candle, we weren’t sure because we had a crummy flashlight, so we kept all 7 eggs in there.
Day 15 - ordered a new candler off amazon, which worked way better, but found there was only two little guys who had any development at all. So we removed the duds and continued on to lockdown in a few days.
Day 21 - both eggs were Wiggling and chirping. We figured that we were doing something right. Note: we are using a cheap, off brand incubator. Noticed the humidity level was a little too low 55%, so I closed the vent up a little bit. When we came back a few minutes later, we had two pips!!
We stayed up as long as we could, then fell asleep. When we woke up the next morning, the humidity had rose to 90%
One egg, pipped and haven’t made any progress in the last 6 hours, and was no longer moving. The chicks beak was also visibly stuck outside the hole. The assumption is she drown due to the humidity.... heartbreaking. We couldn’t open the bator, so we pressed on. However, the one trooper was still working, but had just made a large, quarter size hole in the side of the egg and wasn’t zipping.... she was flipped upside down
It was at this point, I got on eBay and ordered another batch of eggs, assuming the worst. We prayed and prayed, not leaving that incubator for the next 4 hours.
The chick didn’t stop, the entire time. Using every drop she had to push, not rotating at all, beak still right where she had pipped. We started to see hairline cracks working their way up and down the egg lengthwise. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went outside and worked while my wife stood guard. What happened next was incredible!
I turned around and saw my wife sprinting toward me, flailing her arms and screaming. It was inaudible, as she was experiencing Extreme joy after hours of hopelessness. Instinctively, I started sprinting across the property after her. When I got in, I COULD SEE A LEF STICKING OUT! Without zipping, this little warrior forced her way out, splitting the egg every which way and basically rolled out of an obliterated shell
What a day. We have 4 children, but I don’t know if any of those births (all natural as well, my wife is a champion) ever prepared me for hatching this one little chick! It has been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least!! Here are some shots of her!!
P.s. we did extract the poor unsuccessful egg out once the Hatcher was ready to come out. We held a small service for it, it only felt right. Lost quite a few chickens in the past, some being my o.g. Best layers, but this one was the toughest.
