You can't get more cute than this!

Here's our little chick today, barely 24 hours after hatching, looking very cute. I lifted him out of the brooder for just a few seconds so that I could take the photo. Isn't he gorgeous!

We've decided to refer to the chick as "he" until we know for sure if "he" is male or female. It will be some time before we know for sure - possibly not until he starts to crow or lays an egg! He does not have any siblings we can compare him to, so it won't be easy, but whether male or female he is likely to become a real pet.

We're not really sure about his parentage or what he is likely to look like when he grows up. His mother is most likely to be a rescued ex-battery hen - your classic brown hybrid laying hen. We never actually saw his father - just heard him crowing, so we're not sure what he looks like.

He was still not showing much interest in the chick crumbs today so I sprinkled a few crumbs on his blanket near the heater to encourage him to eat. I put a small amount of chick crumbs in a separate tiny bowl and added a few drops of tepid water to soften them. This seemed to do the trick and he ate a few of them and then started pecking around in the larger bowl of dry crumbs.

I've spent quite a while watching him today and he has been exploring the limits of the brooder, at one point it looked as if he was going to jump up on top of the heater. He has been quite active, coming out for a wander around and then going back in under the heater for a sit down and a quick nap. I've also seen him preening and flapping his tiny wings. He seems to like the company so we've left a radio on in the room with him quietly tuned to Radio 4 so he can listen to the Archers...

Say hello to the newest member of our flock

Yesterday evening the display on my little incubator counted down to "1". Only one day to go, but still no sign of any activity when I checked last night before I went to bed.

This morning when I woke up I thought I could hear a faint chirping sound coming from the spare bedroom..When I checked I saw that the egg shell was chipped and broken and I saw a tiny beak poking out from inside!

Within an hour or so the little chick was out of the egg and trying to stand up.

For the next few hours the chick clambered around inside the incubator, chirping away. I had the brooder at the ready and put in on to warm up After a few hours when he (or she?) had dried off and fluffed up I transferred him (or her?) to the brooder.

The brooder consisted of a large plastic storage box with a piece of wood in the bottom to make a solid flat base. I cut a few air holes in the sides and the lid, and lined the base with a piece of fleece blanket. My little EcoGlow heater fitted perfectly across the storage box and I cut a slot in the side of the box for the power lead to go through.

Since I only had the one chick to put in the brooder I decided to close off one side of the EcoGlow heater with a piece of foam insulation. This would provide a snug "nest" for the little chick to go into. I also provided water and food (chick crumbs) even though the little chick willl probably not start to eat or drink for at least 24 hours. Finally, I decided the little chick needed some company, so I put a little toy chick that my wife Maddy had made in under the heater with the chick.



So maybe it's not the most anatomically correct toy chick in the world, but at least it's something for our little chick to cuddle up to! Since putting the chick into the brooder he (or she?) has been very quiet (and camera shy), but I have heard some contented little chirping noises from time to time.

I also took the opportunity to have a quick look at the other eggs in the incubator, and the good news is that all six appear to be fertile. I added a seventh egg (to replace the one that hatched) and turned the automatic turning feature back on. Now I have six eggs due to hatch in 16 days, and another one due to hatch in 21 days. Let's hope thay all manage to hatch as easily as today's little chick!



The story so far...

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I was lucky enough to grow up on a farm, and I kept a few bantams as a boy. As an adult, I've had hens now for over 10 years, and I'm still learning! I love my hens - they give me so much pleasure, and lovely fresh eggs as well - what more could you ask for?

At the moment I have 8 hens: 5 Barnevelders, 2 Rhode Island Reds (Ruby and Rosemary) and a Black Rock (JD). Here's a photo of Ruby, Rosemary and JD taking it easy on the perch in their run.

I'm looking to add to my flock this year, and instead of buying point of lay pullets (young hens just starting to lay, usually 16-22 weeks old depending on the breed), I thought I'd try hatching some chicks. I don't have a rooster (cockerel) with my hens so the eggs they lay aren't fertile. Since this is my first attempt at hatching eggs, I did not want to spend a lot on eggs from a breeder, so I bought some eggs from a local garden centre that keeps hens (with a rooster of course!). They sell the eggs for eating, so they only cost me about £2 for a dozen. I filled my little incubator and switched it on.

That was nearly 3 weeks ago. After a couple of weeks, I checked the eggs by candling them (shining a light through the egg to see what's inside). Unfortunately, out of the seven eggs in the incubator, only one was fertile. This is why you should always buy eggs for hatching - the eggs I bought had very poor fertility probably because there were too many hens for only one rooster (even though the person who sold the eggs to me assured me the rooster was very active!).

Anyway, I managed to obtain some more (hopefully more fertile) eggs and replaced the infertile eggs in the incubator with them. So now I have one egg in the incubator due to hatch within the next day or two, and another six due to hatch in just over 2 weeks. This has complicated things slightly for me because I've had to turn the auto turning feature on the incubator off because of the egg that's nearly ready to hatch and this means I'll have to turn the other six eggs manually until this first egg hatches.