Introducing the Fab Four, at 2 1/2 weeks old.
Blondie. I'm pretty sure that Blondie is a pullet--and a diva.
Number Two. Well, the name just says it all, doesn't it. :-)
Kenny. John the dog ran around the room with Kenny in his mouth for several minutes but surprisingly his scars are only psychological.
Rudolph. Named for the little dot on the end of his beak, I'm pretty sure that Rudy is a boy. He's already the biggest and boldest among our little flock.
These are the "culls" that didn't make the breeder's cut--but they look adorable to me. :-) There are seven little black chicks. I think we're going to keep two or three and find homes for the rest.
In a technical feat of truly astounding proportions, I have built and installed my own fan for our Little Giant incubator. These things are $40 in the store. I built this one out of a $1.99 computer fan and an old cell phone charger I found under my desk. It was, of course, amazingly simple. I cut the wires and attached them in various configurations until it worked. ;-)
Well, our first chick didn't make it. His legs were small and deformed and he seemed to have respiratory problems as well. He had a great personality, though, and was the friendliest of the three by far. We dubbed him Forrest, after Forrest Gump and the little splints I tried unsuccessfully to attach to his little legs. We didn't know him for very long but we will definitely remember him.
We do, however, have an overwhelming amount of cuteness to console ourselves with. The yellow chick (right) is now officially Blondie. The blue and yellow chick (left), who was born second, has become Number Two a la Austin Powers.
So, 14 LF Araucana eggs made it to lockdown in cartons. On Saturday (Day 20) I had three little pips.
Yesterday (Day 21) the first egg zipped very quickly and popped his top. Then he just sat there in the bottom of the egg all day. When I finally intervened and pulled the egg out, he rolled right out and his little legs and feet were all curled up under him. The legs are a little less curled today but his toes are very small and curled up like little fists.
Yesterday afternoon the second egg zipped and the chick popped out very quickly. I went to the bathroom as he was zipping and came back and he was sitting next to his egg. That little guy seems fine.
This morning (Day 22) the third little guy zipped his egg very quickly . . . and then nothing. All day I watched him. Eventually I realized he'd worked his head down under the zip line and was stuck, so I popped his top for him. He still couldn't get his head out and I realized his membrane had started to dry and he was stuck to it, so I put a wet towel next to him. After an hour or so I gave up and de-shelled him--but left the membrane intact and just wet it gently with water. He was able to shake it off pretty quickly and now seems to be doing well.
No sign of movement yet from the remaining eggs, but I started to notice an odor when I checked on the eggs (the incubator is in one of my kitchen cabinets for extra insulation). So I had to open the incubator and check the eggs. One of the egg cartons was soaked through from the towel, so I had to move the eggs anyway. One was obviously bad so I tossed it. Now I'm just waiting to hear more little peeps.
Even worse . . . there's a chicken on my neighbor's roof. I may have to disavow all knowledge. I certainly have no authority. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow Amelia, Pat, and Bertha heard a rumor about my free-ranging plans and decided to take matters into their own hands a little sooner than I had intended. I came home to find they had--quite literally--flown the coop and were grazing in the yard. When I approached, Amelia took flight. And wow, can she fly. Over the fence, over the house, and now seems to have taken up permanent residence in the front yard. Or rather, my neighbor's front yard and the roof of her house . . .
Luckily she's taking it very well. The nieghbor, that is--although Amelia also seems quite happy with the status quo. :-\
It seemed like we went from 0 to 60 in a couple of seconds. We had three birds in the playhouse coop, new eggs in the incubator, and one lone little egg still kicking from the last batch. After much debate (which involved at one point considering the "bra incubator" option) I moved the last egg to the old-fashioned Chick-bator for the final days of chickie "lockdown" and we crossed our fingers.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. I think the Chick-bator was just too unstable for the little guy and he didn't make it. We have not given up hope, though. Bertha, Amelia, and Pat are hanging out in the coop and our LG incubator is still full of eggs. ;-)
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