After the fox got 7 of my 8 chickens I was pretty upset. The one remaining bantam was pretty upset too so we didn't waste too much time in buying 3 more Isa Brown hens to put back into the hen house.
In the meanwhile, one of the Playgroup Mum's heard of my plight and lent me her incubator and some eggs that should be Silkie Bantams when they hatch. I have to turn the eggs twice a day for 18 days, then leave them for two days and I should have chickens about then. The incubator is set at 37 degrees and you have to make sure water is always in the bottom. It is also important to try to sit the eggs with the fatter end slightly elevated.
I have labelled the eggs with a 1 on one side, and a 2 on the other to help keep track of which side is which.
The photo below was taken on day 5. You can see spider veins forming which is the start of the chicken growing. Since day three I have been candling my eggs every night to watch the change in the egg development. It is all a little bit fun. I was given 12 eggs and I think 9 are good at this point.
Last night was a bit of a worry with a big storm going over and a 6 hour blackout. I sent the Mr out into the rain to grab the fluffy bantam and I put her in a box with the eggs to try to keep them warm so they would be ok. Fingers are crossed!
1 comment:
Sorry to hear about the loss of the chooks - there is nothing sadder than a mostly empty chook house. Fingers crossed the eggs will be okay. Storms can be a nightmare!
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