It is time again to hatch new chicks! I love doing this and usually hatch at least one batch each year. I have never gotten tired of the anticipation of the little peepers, watching the hatching and playing with the cute and fluffy chicks.
I have a lot of hens that also are good setting hens and go broody and raise a few chicks of there own. The picture at the top of the blog is one of those hens and her little chick from a couple of years ago. I don't keep them all; I sell most of them or give them away. I do keep some to replace the older hens in my flock.
This year I thought I would keep track of the process with photos and then try to video the hatching and post updates as I go along.
I have a new Little Giant incubator this year because when I got my old ones out to clean off and fire up they were all chewed up my mice. It was no big loss, the old incubators had lasted a long, long time and I welcomed the excuse to get a new on. The Little Giant styrofoam incubators work just fine for the hobbyist and are easy to use. This time I splurged and got one with a circulation fan to keep a more even temperature over the eggs.
I am so looking forward to these chicks! I got a new rooster a few months ago in preperation for this Spring. He is an Araucana. I named him Tiny (he is huge!). He is a very beautiful rooster but has been getting an attitude lately. I will post a small picture of him. I hope he has been getting along well with the hens.
After about 10 days into the incubation I can candle the eggs and see how many are fertile and throw out the bad ones. I have set 40 eggs and today Feb.10th is the first full day of incubation. The hatch date should be March 2nd.
I will keep you posted!
Blessings!
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