The View From Hidden Spring

...(story continued)

Setting up an incubator isn't as easy as just plugging the machine in. We had spent more than a week fine-tuning the temperature to fluctuate very little from the optimal 99.5°. The humidity is also an issue, as it should be above 50% and as high as 75% during the last few days to soften the shell. We ended up buying a hygrometer, which monitors both temperature and humidity at the same time. The incubator we own also automatically turns the eggs; otherwise you have to manually turn them three times a day, rotating them on the short axis so the chick doesn't develop unevenly. (Does this sound reptilian?)

We had also placed a number of Barnevelder eggs from Jethro (the Tennessee chicken) and his two hens in the incubator, and a few of the bantam Rhode Island Reds, just to fill the pie-shaped areas of the 'bator. If the whole pie isn't loosely filled the eggs don't turn sufficiently.

The Barnevelder eggs finally arrived on Saturday morning, and we put them into the 'bator too. Now it was a waiting game; three weeks from the first day they are in the incubator would be the first day they could hatch. Three days before that we stop the 'bator from turning the eggs. This is so the chicks can orient themselves towards the less pointed end, the one that has the air space. They pierce this membrane (the stuff you have to get off of hard boiled eggs is the same membrane) with a special "egg tooth" which they are born with. Then they score the inside of the egg end all the way around with the egg tooth, then "pip" or peck along this mark until they make a hole in the egg. The egg tooth "goes away" several days after birth.

A week after we placed the eggs, we candled them. You take a very bright light source, put it in a box, and cut a small hole in the box to concentrate the beam. Place the egg in the hole, and it illuminates the egg.

We weren't very secure in our decisions about which eggs appeared to have something growing, and which did not. Especially since we thought all the Barnevelder eggs were clear and not growing - and what's the chance of that!

Two weeks after we began incubating the eggs, we candled them again. Some of the Maran eggs were so dark they absorbed the light completely - the sign of a developing chick. Once again all the Barnevelder eggs were clear. Hmmmm....

On June 4th, in the evening, I heard a peep coming from the incubator. Yep, one of the Marans eggs was hatching. It can take some time for these guys to get out of their shells, so I just looked through the clear hood down at the eggs to see one egg with a hole and a little beak. I went out and did our regular evening chores. By the time I got back in the house, the chick was out of the shell and flopping around. Hurray, first Marans! Later that evening another chick started to pip its shell, and a small hole appeared. I went to bed expecting another chick by morning. Well imagine my surprise when I got up and the hole while bigger still wasn't enough for the chick to emerge. All the books, and experienced chicken people, say never help a chick out of the shell......so I went out and did morning chores, feeding sheep, cows, chickens and horses.

When I got back in the house, the only thing that had changed was that a different egg, one of the Rhodies, was pipping its shell. Okay, okay, so what do I know? I do know that if the chick doesn't get out of the shell it dies. Enough already, I decided, I paid a fortune for these hatching eggs and I'm not going to just watch a viable chick die. So I did the big "no-no": I helped the chick carefully and gently out of its shell. A portion of the shell interior was stuck to its rear end. Okay, now it will either live or die, I thought, and the Rhodie popped out of its shell.

By Saturday evening the chicks were dry enough to move to the aquarium with a heat lamp attached in the living room. We placed rocks in the waterer since it seems chicks are known to try to drown themselves in small amounts of water. The two Marans and one Rhodie thought the aquarium was huge, and started pecking on each other's feet rather than the food. We sprinkled some of the food on the paper towel serving as the floor. Aha! They pecked at that instead of the toes.

Later in the day another Marans and another Rhodie hatched. That evening one of the Barnevelder Bantam eggs hatched (the chick was really cute). We thought we were off to a great start, and the next morning another Marans egg hatched. We were up to four Marans, two Bantam Rhode Island Reds, and one Barnevelder.

We waited another three days, but no more eggs hatched. Boy was I glad I helped that one out of its shell!

Do you remember the scene in the first "Jurassic Park" movie where the raptors are chasing everybody? The Marans chicks grew more and more like the raptors. They moved the same way, they held their heads the same way, even the way they stretched and extended their necks looked the same. Either the Jurassic Park designers had chickens in mind for the way the raptors moved or these are direct descendents. If you don't believe me you are welcome to come watch them, its just eerie.

When I contacted the woman who I purchased the Marans eggs from she really felt bad about the low hatch rate of the eggs. Four out of fourteen seems low by most standards. She told me she would send me some more eggs at no additional cost if I would pay the shipping, and I took her up on it. Those eight eggs have been in the incubator for three weeks and three days, and only one Marans egg has hatched. My feeling is that I probably will locate some eggs closer to home, or wait until the chicks hatched will be old enough to lay eggs and incubate those, rather than try with eggs shipped across a continent again.

Then there's Jethro. You see it seems Jethro, the Tennessee chicken, is sterile. We have now proven this by placing the Rhode Island Red rooster "Chester" in with the Barnevelder hens, and hatching so far two Rhodevelder chicks. Poor Jethro, we sure are hoping the one Barnevelder chick is a rooster!! In the meantime, for those who are worried about Jethro's ultimate fate, he is not headed for the pot any time soon - we like him too well. If "Velder", as Kirk calls the chick, ends up being a rooster, then we'll just put Jethro in with the chicks. The roosters are amazingly kind to and protective of the chicks - any chicks.

Time will tell us what the genders and colors we end up with, but it was a fascinating experiment! And if any of the Marans lay, we'll have the most unusual-colored eggs in town!