Here we go again!

The final egg in the incubator was not showing any sign of hatching so I removed it today and gave the incubator a thorough cleaning before setting 7 more eggs. These are Rhode Island Red pure breed eggs I obtained from Emma on the NIPoultry forum. So the cycle of hatching starts again!

The three chicks that hatched on Monday are all doing well. They are all eating and drinking and are starting to show the first signs of feather growth.

Blondie (photo above) is just a little ball of fluff and is starting to grow some white wing feathers. Sooty (photo below) is a very attractive little chick and is starting to grow some black feathers. I note that his black colouring even extends to his feet.

Sweep (photo below) is just as fluffy as Blondie and is also showing some white feather growth. It's actually quite difficult to tell her apart from Blondie from some angles.

Finally, we must not forget about about Chirpy (photo below) who is now two and a half weeks old and is two or three times the size of the other little chicks. He is sprouting feathers all over and some of the new feathers have a more reddish colouring. He is extremely friendly and loves to get out of the brooder for a bit of fun. He is a bit of a dare-devil when it comes to flying and is fast as lightning!

The photo doesn't really show you just how much he has grown, but he certainly is looking much less chick-like now and much more like an adult hen. I have since read the line behind his eye indicates that he is male, and I've noticed that he has the beginnings of spurs on his legs. I hope he is still as friendly when he is a fully grown cockerel!