Well today is hatch day here at Eagleburra…well technically 21 days was up at 7.30pm last night, but after a power outage one night at the end of week one, plus the colder temperature only one chick (a Rhode Island Red) hatched yesterday at 4.30pm.
After a very nerve wracking wait, two more chicks hatched in the early hours of the morning, a second RIR, one of ours and a second one of ours hatched just after we got up this morning – these four are now happily in their new nursery. One of ours I am pretty sure is Corn Chips , the other has dark legs and beak so I am hoping it’s not a Silkie cross – or if it is then it’s a girl. The other slight possibility is that the young Australorp is the father although he looks very immature and has shown no interest in the girls (he’s also such a clutz I’m not sure he could successfully complete rooster duties!)
Three more have hatched and are drying in the incubator – one more RIR and two of ours. Four more eggs have pipped, so fingers crossed they all make it.
Of the 22 eggs set, 11 were Rhode Island Red eggs that I purchased and 11 were from our flock, mostly Corn Chip (the Gold Lace Wyandotte) and the DotteX hens eggs, when I candled them earlier in the week, 7 quitters were removed and a couple more looked either way behind in development or late quitters. So there is a maximum of 15 eggs that could hatch from this lot with a couple of those possibly being late quitters.
When I candled this week, I pulled out one of the second lot due to hatch next week (one of ours that was clear) and unfortunately it looks like the six Auracana eggs that I bought were either infertile or *very* early quitters, I’ll have to check some candling photos to confirm that, but have left them to incubate in the possibly vain hope that they are a late developing breed.
