Chicks In Lockdown!

So we ended up with four chicks...so far 2020 has the dubious distinction of being our worst hatch year, ever. We went around to our local feed stores, thinking to pick up a chick or two...but they were all sold out--people seem to be hoarding chickens, now, I dunno...
We may end up running another hatch in a month, we'll see.

But--! The chicks we DID get are all healthy and happy. In order of hatch, here they are.

First up is Carrie, a chick from our flock who has one of our black bantam Cochin mixes for a mom, dad is likely Milton, our bantam Belgian d'Uccle/Cochin mix roo. She earned her name when she caught a wingtip on the corner of the rack, started bleeding...and before we noticed it ten minutes later, had absolutely painted blood on the inside of the incubator...the other eggs...herself...the hygrometer...everything.
So when someone suggested we name her 'Carrie', it really couldn't be avoided. I applied some chicken leak-stop to her and she was fine, but left me a gruesome clean-up job and we apologize to everyone for that.

Next is Bobbie, a chick from one of our neighbor's eggs. Bobbie looks to be a full buff Brahma or a Brahma/white Leghorn mix, she is very tall and something of a chunk. Time will tell. Hard to see, but Bobbie has a bit of a malformed outer toe on her left foot--it's a bit shorter. She gets around just dandy, tho.

Rapunzel, a very pretty chick from our flock who likely has Cheese, our Americaunas hen for a mom. Daddy *might* by Rafiki, our Russian Orloff roo.

 ^^^ Stubby lil' tail alert! ^^^

Last is Boombox, from another one of our neighbor's eggs. Boombox was somewhat a surprise, hatching a full 24 hours after Rapunzel--very unusual! Boombox required a little help in unzipping, but seems healthy. She is likely a full white Leghorn...but is very chunky for a Leghorn, so *may* be 1/2 buff Brahma...but she doesn't have feathered feet, which is a VERY strong Brahma trait. Boombox closely resembles a meatball on stilts.

Boombox was confusing right out of the gate, and continues to be. She YELLS when the people are out of her sight, and right after I took this one, poor-quality pic of her, my camera died.

Hmmm...

Lockdown!

Because *all* the cool kids are doing it!

We ended up with 7 eggs with chicks inside, with another 4 I'm not sure about but *may* have chicks. I removed 5 other eggs that had quit.

So our hatch this year should be between 7 and 11 chicks!
I've stopped turning the eggs in the incubator and moved them to the bottom of the ReptiPro, and upped the humidity to 65%--all of this signals to the eggs that it's hatchin' time!

Two eggs have pipped already, #32 (you can see the crack across the number in the picture) and #10--but haven't started unzipping yet. Right now they are in the 'venting and drawing down' stage, where the chick is getting fresh air through the pip it made in it's shell, and the blood supply to the veins lining the inside of the eggshell are drying out as the chick draws the blood into it's body.

Since our high-altitude chicks always hatch a day or two early, I'd guess that the hatch will begin sometime around 11PM (PST) tonight and into tomorrow, April 10th.

Hit me up in the YouTube chat during the hatch with your chicken name suggestions, the goofier the better! If your name suggestion has been used already I'll let you know ('Dinner' and such are taken). I'll make a list and as each chick hatches, we'll draw a name out of a hat--one name to a person, use your imagination and make it a good one!

More Eggs!

Today's egg donation to our local food closet, 14 dozen!

Hey, it's spring and the hens are going NUTS.