Hatching Chickens

We got a batch of chicken eggs we got from our friends that we hatched. We started them about a month ago, they take three weeks to hatch. We had a very good hatch rate, 30 out of 36 eggs hatched. We each chose a couple chicks to look after and play with, but it sometimes got hard to tell them apart when they all were hatched.

The chicks in the brooder

We built a box for them and took them outside a bit when they were old enough, plus, it was much better for pictures than in the brooder.

The chick I chose, it has characteristic black feet and beak, so I can tell it apart from the others.

My chick! 

Here's another chick

We didn't take all of them outside, just a bunch.

There is a bare-necked chicken in the pile with a stripe on his head that we called Trouble, because it was always trying to get out, or running through the sleeping chicks waking them all up, and he would barely ever let you pick him up.

"Chicken pileup!"

We gave them back to our friends a couple days ago, we might hatch another batch next year and keep them.

Here is a video I got of a chick hatching to end the blog post.

Feathers on Friday

For fun and maybe for eggs, our family is hatching chickens. It is also very educational. We got eggs from our friends and have had them in an incubator for a couple weeks. For the last few days we have seen them wiggling and heard them chirping, but just this morning a few broke through the shell. Two have fully hatched so far!

Here is an egg that is just starting to hatch. It usually takes about 10 hours for them to fully hatch

An egg starting to hatch.

 The two that have hatched are Bareneck chickens. It's a breed where the necks are featherless.

Two chicks!

Thanks to Prairie Birder for the Feathers on Friday prompt.

Stay tuned! I'll be making a post about them when they all hatch!