What, AGAIN?!

 Yup!

We decided to go ahead and do a second batch of eggs this year, so there will be another Chickam hatch!

I started 18 eggs in the ReptiPro this morning. Six of them are Calico bantam Cochin eggs that I got from a fellow poultry club member (the reason behind this hatch, as I have NO willpower when it comes to bantam Cochins), the other 12 are from our flock. The parent flock for the Cochins are a mix of smooth coat and frizzles, so we can rightly expect some frizzles from these eggs! Since our bantams weren't *quite* in lay for the first round of Chickam, but are in full swing now, this bunch is mostly banty eggs with a couple of large eggs. I also leaned more towards the blue and green egg layers.

So here are the candidates for Chickam Round 2!

#1-6 are the Calico bantam Cochins (top of the picture, the breeder marked them with either C15 or C16 on the large end), #7-18 are from our flock. I don't know any of the mama hens this time around.

And here they are in the ReptiPro, cookin' away! Pardon the artsy angle, I had to kinda lean in to take the pic. The tiniest of the Calico Cochin eggs (#6) is so small (top right in picture) I was worried at first that it might fall through the holes in the rack.

I'll candle them in 10 days to see what we have for embryos. If all goes well, I expect the hatch to be May 14-15th (normal incubation is 21 days, but our eggs consistently hatch at day 19 or 20--and bantam eggs tend to hatch a day or so before standard eggs...so I'd say start checking the cam on the 13th! When the hatch begins, we'll switch the cam over from the brooder box to the incubator, so if you tune in and see eggs, the hatch is on!

Morehen's Disease Flare-Up

 That's what everyone's calling it.

Because today the kid and I went to the first poultry swap of the season for our local chicken club. I took along some hatching eggs to sell.

And we came home with...

Triffid, a Polish mix chick approximately 4 weeks old. Triffid didn't really dig picture time and tried to sneak off. The green thing was a marker from her seller, she didn't get to keep her bling.

Wingding, a frizzle Silkie mix, approximately 3 weeks old. Wingding is a fiesty little stinker and wants to FIGHT YOU.

Last is Eggroll, a splash Blue Laced Red Wyandotte approximately 1 week old. A very pretty breed, kinda rare, that's been on my 'want' list for a long time!

But...that's not all. We also picked up Swiffer, a frizzle bantam Cochin hen. Swiffer has had a rough day, poor baby, and is really feeling it, so better pics in a day or so when she's stronger. But she was griping at me and giving me hell at the swap, very talkative. She has the bald head typical of a hen popular with the fellas, and her seller said the eggs she lays for the next week or so should be fertile!

Lastly...yeah. There are calico bantam Cochin eggs from both smooth coat and frizzle birds. We don't know what we'll get when they hatch!

So yep, there'll be another hatch in 3 weeks. I'll add a few of our eggs to these six when I set them. Since we have 4-5 broody hens now, there *might* be a broody mama for this batch! It all depends on how cool she'd be with sharing the brooder with a bunch of 5 week old chicks--I don't have room for a second brooder box, they'll have to share!

Chickam Chicks 2023!

We ended up with six healthy chicks this year!

Sadly, none of our local friend's eggs hatched. Out of ours, here's what we got:

Imminent Disaster, hatched from a medium-sized, olive green egg (#11). Clean-legged, meaning she has no foot/shank feathers. Quite a large chick! She decided to stop cooperating during picture time and have a bit of a lie-down.

 

Dubious Intentions, the only dark chick of the batch!

Hatched from a small/medium light pink/brown egg (#24), another large chick! And going by behavior, I'm calling 'rooster' on Doobs...

Next is Scraunch, a classic little yellow chick, hatched from a small/medium light tan egg (#23). Scraunch has feathered shanks, and in her pictures did that 'Leaning Chicken' thing.

Bort Grungus, hatched from a medium-sized light blue egg (#14)--who looks so similar to Scraunch that she got awarded a green food color spot on the back of her head to help ID her. 

Also, yes--she is wondering if you really intend to leave the house in that outfit.

 

Bort decided to flop during picture time and had to be propped up again.

Bort also decided to dust bathe on the towel...

...and gave me Grade A Stink Eye when I laughed.

Garibaldi, hatched from a small tan egg (#4) laid by Brick, a bantam Cochin/Belgian d'Uccle mix hen. Garibaldi also has feathered shanks, and a blue food color spot to ID her.

Lastly is Mooncake, hatched from a large, long, pointed olive green egg (#9). Mooncake is a big, reddish chick and has a purple food color spot. 

Grumpiness personified.

All of the chicks are VERY healthy and active, which is what I hoped for!

Lockdown!

 ...for eggs, that is.

Now we just wait three days...or less! I candled the eggs again and pulled 3 late quitters: #19, 20 & 26. Two others I'm not sure of, but left in: #17 & 27. That leaves us with 11 eggs with good, solid chicks inside! I tried to place the eggs so we can see the numbers, but they're uncooperative!

 

Spork's (#6) egg is in the center at the very back, Sesame's (#7) front right, Brick's (#4) in the middle.

#1 (front & center) and #3 (in back, far left) are the eggs we got from our local friend.

No pips, peeping or rocking yet! I'm still venting the incubator 5x a day, I talk to them and will watch for any developments. 

This will be our 15th year of doing Chickam--kinda funny, because the first time we did it, it was a spur of the moment, "We're gonna do this for a lark" thing that was supposed to be a one-time deal. We didn't really think it'd catch on.

We were wrong, LOL.

The hatch is due 4/8, you can watch it at the link below--as always, start checking the YouTube page a day early (banty eggs LOVE to hatch early, the little beggars), If you see EGGS, the hatch has begun! My money for 'First to pip' is on the two bantam eggs, #4 & 17.

Watch the hatch on YouTube here!

EDIT: 4/5 10:30PM, #11 and #24 have pipped!