More new chicks!

So Saturday saw the hatch of more new chicks. These ones are Dominique chickens and will grow to be black & white striped. Currently they are wee black blobs with stubbies for wings. They seem to be more fragile & less feisty than the Americana chicks that are now over 3 weeks old, but then that is how the adults seem to be too. Thay are a lot less flighty - if you can use that about chickens - than the Americanas.
So we had a hatch of 7 chicks, making our chick family up to 24, which increases our fowl family by 200%. We have another hatch planned. Bobbins, the big black rooster whom we think is a Black Jersey Giant and got into our pile in error last year, and Batwoman are together, so we'll see if we get more black chicks. We will put down more Dominique eggs too; so that hatch is planned to start on Saturday. That will be the end of the new chicks for this year. It continues to be very exciting. There is something to be said watching the chicks hatch, it's pretty special. We had friends over & they had brought some young kids to see the chicks & they got to see one emerge from the egg. I have to wonder what that sight has done for the children ever wanting to eat a boiled egg again?
And Conch? well, it's hard to find him now in the chicken family, he has grown to be the same size as the others and just as loud!

The chicks are 2 weeks old tomorrow. All are doing well, Conch is now part of the chick family having lost all special privileges assigned to the infirm! In fact it's a case now of 'Where is Conch (Waldo)?' I'm hoping to have some more chicks hatch in less than 10 days, that hatch won't have so many, I hope to have at least some. They are the Dominiques and some of their eggs can be a little small, so we will see. All I want to do is perpetuate the breed as they are supposed to be fairly rare.
Bronzo - the father of the new chicks and Barry the nest-shitter of the Dominiques are both very aggressive and are currently on death row being fattened up for the pot. That will be a whole new thing, and interestingly a full circle! We'll have brought new life in and taken life too. The sad thing is if these bad boys were not aggressive we would let them stay for a while, but they won't even let me feed them without special attention - like making a hole in the wire so they can't get at me!
When it comes time, they will all probably make the pot, but our feeling is they should be given a life first. They get to be out in the sunshine (or snow - which ever season it is) they breathe fresh air, they get good food & they love dandelions, which we have an abundance of, and when the day comes they will leave the happy place for the chicken coop in the sky, or on our table. That's what it is about. But currently, the eggs are good!
This picture is of the chickens - spot Conch. (He's the one in the corner with his back to you leaning over another - the one on the right of the 2)

Conch update

Conch is doing well. he jumped out of his shoe box home on Tuesday morning. he was looking for companionship, but landed on the floor instead. Phil put him in with the other 16 chicks, but as I thought, some of them started to pick on him, so we have moved most of them into another box and put Conch in with 3 more placid chicks, so now he has company. He can see the others through the box sides, but it would be to his detriment at this time to put him with them. He is beginning to fluff up a bit, but all of them are beginning to sprout the feathers at the wing tips, I expect once Conch is feathered he may reach almost the same size as the others. He is feisty though! He has made it this far, I expect he will be with us for a while now!

So, our first hatch is over. We got 16 and a half! The half is a little runt that I had to help out of the shell this morning. It had been trying to get out since last night and I think was pretty close to giving up. I call it Conch, because 'he' is still wearing some of his shell and it's pretty stuck. He hasn't been able to fluff up as he was in the shell so long and his fluff is fairly encased. I tried bathing him a wee bit with a Q tip & it has helped. Anyway, he isn't joining the other 16 yet as they are very rambunctious & may just finish him off. Probably any other chicken breeder would say I'm nuts trying to help Conch, but he's managed to survive thus far, so as far as I'm concerned each day makes him a wee bit stronger. So he has his own shoe box digs, and closer to the warm light to keep him warm as his fluff isn't there to insulate him - being careful of course not to cook him either! The picture makes him look a bit frail, but he isn't as frail as that suggests - least I hope not!

More Chicks.

It's been very exciting today.
Last night when I went to bed we had 2 chicks with a couple more trying to get out of the shell, this morning we had 6! It was hard leaving the excitement to go to work.
Now we have 12 chicks which is 200% increase on our current flock of Americauna chickens.
There are still a few more eggs that look as if they may hatch - it takes hours for them to come out of the shell! I saw one this morning just before leaving for work actually come out of the shell,I was thrilled!
Once they have dried & become fluffy we put them in a box with a heat light over them to keep them warm. That's why the picture you see has a red glow.
I hope you can feel my excitement as you read this! It may just be chickens to some but to me & Phil it is new life and whether you are a chicken, lion or human it remains special!

It's a momentous day

Happy Birthday Hannah!
You now share your birthday with some chickens. I don't know how many, as I have to get to bed before midnight as I am working tomorrow, and it takes these poor chicks so long to break through the egg, it's agonizing watching them!
I was sitting at the computer this morning & I could hear chirping. My first thought was we had starlings nesting in the eaves, but reality told me this wasn't possible as we had made the eaves secure. Guinness heard the chirping too, so I wasn't making it up. I Googled to see if it was possible to hear chicks from inside the egg & apparently one can - And I did! 10 hours later, there we have it!
I don't know when these 2 little guys broke free but they are beginning to dry & fluff a little, they stumble around for a bit, then seem to nap & then stumble more.
I have to get to bed, will see them early tomorrow - you can bet on that
This is new life - it's amazing!