Here they are . . growing little baby chicks I hope.
Eggs in the Incubator
The dark brown ones are Black Copper Marans. There are 7 of those. Next are the lavender marans. They lay dark eggs too but not as dark as the black coppers. Next are speckled sussex and the green eggs will be olive eggers. I never know what to expect with those colored egg laying chickens. We had some in MO . . some call them Ameraucanas. Some call them Easter Eggers and some call them Olive Eggers. I’m not sure if they’re the same or similar and the more I read, the more I realize even the “experts” are confused about it.
The one thing of which I am certain: If a decent percentage of these eggs hatch . . we are going to have a whole lot of chickens!
Angie says
The dark ones look like Chocolate Easter Eggs! Pretty collection of colors….my goodness what are you going to do with all those chickens and eggs? My friend Rose has 40 chickens, and she sells dozens of eggs every day but tells me she is cutting back because of cost of feed, constant cleaning of the coop (she has one large hen “house”) and washing eggs, etc. I think you are now in the Egg business! BTW I live in wine country, but about a 10 mile drive I’m in the Chicken/Egg capitol of Calif. Petaluma, CA. No chickens here on Timberhill, but I love reading about your chickens!
JudyL says
Does she have 40 hens or 40 chickens? Some of ours are roosters, some are bantams and some only lay a few eggs per week. As of now, I have 11 pullets that will be good laying hens, 2 older hens that lay a few eggs per week and 2 Dominique hens that lay a few eggs per week.. I have 19 bantams which are a mix of roosters/pullets.
The 50 or so eggs that I will try to hatch, probably only half of those will hatch and at least half of those will be roosters so I’ll be doing good to get 12 hens out of the batch.
I give eggs to friends, the mail lady, folks down the street. Speck eats eggs and any that I can’t find a home for, I scramble and give back to the chickens . . great source of protein.
Carolyn says
OH how awesome!!! I still remember getting baby chicks at Easter… one of my fav memories… they all turned into mean roosters that eventually became dinner! but that was a great memory of the chicks. Hoping you get 50%!
Kathy says
Your new venture is bringing back memories for me. We used to try to hatch duck eggs when I was a kid. One year, after the proper amount of time had lapsed and the eggs hadn’t hatched, my Mom and I were looking at them. For whatever reason, she decided to shake one. Seriously, Mom?? It EXPLODED – right onto the front of my shirt. There are no words in the English language (or probably any language) to describe the stench contained in that egg. Of course, since it was a t-shirt, I had to drag it past my nose to get it off (really quickly, as I recall). This is a very vivid memory, and it happened 45 years ago! Some things you just never forget.
Our success rate with the incubator was very low – one year we only had one duck hatch, so I got to keep it as a pet. It was a great pet and followed me everywhere on the farm, and even got along great with my dogs and cats. Then winter came, and we had to put him in the chicken coop with the chickens. He fell in love with a chicken, and transferred all his affection to his new lady love. By spring, he wanted nothing to do with me. Who knew ducks were so fickle! LOL
I wish you great success with your new venture. Just don’t shake the unhatched ones, unless you need ammo when Vince is crabbing about your yarn purchases.
JudyL says
There will almost always be some eggs that go bad. I’ve read that it’s important to stick your nose in the incubator at least once a day and sniff for the scent of a bad egg and gently and carefully and quickly remove it because they will explode without being shaken. Gross! I can only imagine the stinch.
Sherrill says
Any idea about how long it’ll be before they’re supposed to hatch? My uncle did quail eggs or something like that but I was just a kid and don’t recall anything about them.
JudyL says
Chickens take 21 days . . almost down to the minute. It’s pretty exact with them.
sherryl says
I’m really curious what your plan is… I mean, what are you going to do with all of those chickens and all of the eggs they will eventually lay? Inquiring minds want to know!!
JudyL says
There won’t be that many hens. With 50 eggs, if half o them hatch, that’s 25 chickens. If all of them live, and they don’t always, half of them will be roosters so that’s 12 hens. By the time I give eggs to friends, we eat eggs, Speck eats eggs and I give scrambled eggs back to the chickens, I doubt we have many extras.
sherryl says
That’s amazing! All those chickens and you won’t have too many eggs (which would always be my fear, since I hate waste). Some day I plan to live your life. Well, parts of it anyway.. Hope you don’t mind. … um… how do you “get rid” of the extra roosters?
Dottie N. says
Looking forward to hearing more about this new adventure. I’m not sure why, but the older I get, the more I like eggs. Deviled, scrambled, fried, boiled (soft or hard), omelettes, custard, bring them on, LOL.
Mary says
Good luck! My babies hatched yesterday, what a nerve-racking day! All 12 pipped, but only 10 hatched. They are now all in the brooder, stumbling around and over each other. They are so funny, they all fall asleep and wake up at the same time! LOL
Paua L says
Oh Judy I love your blog. All of your adventures help me relive the most wonderful, vivid memories of growing up on my grandparents farm. I remember so well my grandfather “preparing” the garden with a horse and plow, helping my grandmother prepare all the fruits and vegetables for canning, watching the incubator as the quail my grandfather raised hatch, and of course the quilting my grandmother taught me. The only thing missing from your blog is the honey bee but way back then, the killer bees had not made their appearance. You and Vince are so lucky to have each other and to find joy in living on your farm.
Sharon in Michigan says
We have 3 Ameraucanans which are about 12 weeks old now. I’m looking forward to the day they can be put in the coop with my older chickens. So tell me, Judy, what do you do with all those roosters? We no longer have any because they ripped up the backs of the hens so badly. I miss hearing the crows but I no longer have to look at my hens with half their bad feathers gone. Enjoy your brood 🙂
Diana from SC says
I look forward to your blog each day. Since I live in the city I think I could have four laying birds and no rooster but I think I will just enjoy your adventures. Temp to get down in the 30’s tonite need to cover potted up plants.
Nancy says
Wow, I didn’t know eggs came in so many different colors. Good luck with your venture. Love reading all about them.
Dar in MO says
I loved reading all about your new eggs and the incubator experience. You mentioned several time that half of the eggs will be roosters. How do you know ahead of time that this is the percentage. Is this the year for more male babies?? lol
Judy L. says
50/50 hens/roosters is pretty much the odds for everyone but our personal odds have been about 40/60 hens/roosters. When Mean Chicken hatched 4 eggs, all 4 were roosters. The last 6 Silky babies that hatched, we had 3 hens and 3 roosters.