The very same day that the bobcat took our rooster, I started collecting eggs that the hens were laying. A hen can remain fertile many days after a mating, so I figured (hoped) that the eggs they laid that same day or the next would be fertilized. By the next day, I had collected eleven eggs. A few of them, I wasn’t sure about. They might have cooled off too much before I collected them. The days were in the 30s at that time.
I put eleven eggs in our incubator and started the waiting process.
After two weeks, I candled the eggs to see how they were developing. Sadly, five of the eleven had no development whatsoever. They had either not been fertilized, for had gotten too cold to remain viable. Six of the eggs showed signs of development. Six wasn’t too bad, I thought. My idealized goal was one replacement rooster and a couple of hens. I could still get that out of six eggs.
But alas. On hatching day, Monday, April 25th, only one chick emerged.
I waited another day, in case one or more were just a bit slower about pipping out. But, after three days beyond Hatch Day, it looked like none of the others were going to hatch. I candled them again. Two of the three were no more developed than they were at two weeks. A couple looked farther along, but not alive. I got only one chick out of eleven eggs. A very dismal hatch.
Mono-chick seemed to do okay, getting stronger by the end of his/her second day. But, chickens are social creatures and don’t do well alone. So, I ordered chicks by mail from McMurray Hatchery. This was my first time ordering chicks by mail. I knew about such a thing, but had always bought my chicks locally — back when I had to buy chicks.
I settled on McMurray over the other hatcheries that did chicks by mail because they had only a six-chick minimum order where others had 10 or more minimums. I just wanted a rooster and two hens. McMurray had some available to ship that same week! Other hatcheries were saying they’d ship in June or August. Far too late for Mono-chick to have siblings. So, McMurray it was. On Tuesday night, I ordered six Barred Rock chicks — straight run (meaning they’d be a random mix of male and female).
To my surprise, the box of chicks arrived at a nearby post office before noon on Thursday. They called to let me know. (the box itself is pictured below)
All six of the barred rock chicks were alive and healthy. McMurray also tossed in a random bonus chick. No idea what breed or sex it is. It’s the yellow-ish one in the front.
Mono-chick is just a we bit bigger than the others, with maybe a day’s head start on growth. He/she is a little lighter shade of dark gray than the others. He/she is in the back, left, under the heat lamp. Maybe that means it’ll be a HE? That would the super cool, as it would make him the son of my best rooster ever. If not, the odds are at least one of the mail-order chicks will be a rooster. While his temperament will be an unknown, he’ll bring in some new genes to the pool, which is good.
These eight chicks will outgrow the brooder box pretty quickly. I spent yesterday getting the half-coop cleared out and appointed for being the Natal Ward. Once this bunch have their feathers, they can move outside. I’ll still have a heat-emitter over their nest box to help them through the cooler nights, but otherwise, they’ll be fine and have more room.
This wasn’t the way I figured this year’s new chicks to come about, but it worked out well thus far. I’m eager to see how they feather out in a few weeks. That’ll let me know the rooster-to-hen mix. I can make plans from there.
Stay tuned.