4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[pipsqueak]

 

My husband gave me 2 ducks and 2 chickens for my wedding present (we had a duck themed wedding!) got bitten by the bug so for christmas I got an incubator. We put three eggs in it, only one was fertile and its hatched! Very exciting to watch! Its now in a cage under an electric hen in our sitting room having lots of cuddles! Its a light sussex. Now trying to decide on what breed to hatch next they are all so lovely its an impossible decision. Any suggestions?

[Chillicat]

Congratulations!

Isn't it wonderful?

I hatched two Buff Sussex, last Sept.............under a broody hen

Next one round has to be a Cream Legbar for me or a Light Sussex.

I was so lucky to have a broody hen and if I get another one, I'm going for a real menagarie.

Keep going, get the lot!

[moomin]

Your chick is so sweet!

 

I would love to hatch but don't know whether I would be able to part with them if they are cockerals. Is it easy dealing with the humidity and temperature and stuff? I've been reading up on it and it looks a bit complicated, I guess having a good quality incy helps.

 

What will you do if it's a little boy, or can you sex buff sussex as chicks?

[Groovychook]

That's such a cute photo!

[Ygerna]

What a lovely little photo, its very heartwarming I would love to hatch my own, but that is going to have to wait till we move back to the countryside, should be sometime in the next 20 or so years

[Seagazer]

What a cute chick.

[Griffin]

Gorgeous chick. I'd hatch some more pretty quickly so it has a friend or two. I'm hatching eggs for the first time too, put eighteen in my incubator two weeks ago, six cream legbars and twelve mixed from goodness knows what. Only two of the legbars are fertile and nine or ten of the others. All due to hatch next weekend if all goes well. I chose to hatch eggs that weren't too expensive to buy just incase I stuffed it all up. If I do manage to hatch well then next time I'll try Orpingtons and Wyandottes. I'm deliberately chosing Wyandottes because they're a very broody breed and hatching under a broody has to be a million times easier

 

Hens will stay here, cockerels will be dinner eventually. A friend used to live on a farm with chickens and he's offered to help me despatch & dress them. I'm looking forward to tasting our own birds and I knew if I wanted to hatch eggs then part of that was being prepared to deal with the cockerels.

[ruth1]

What a lovely chick.

 

We've just hatched out our first chick yesterday and unfortunately its the only one to hatch. How are you coping with just having the one chick as its not ideal for them is it?

[Haltonshappyhens]

I would love to hatch an egg or two..but what do you do with the little boys?? I Would be happy to keep them for the table.. but not sure exactly what that would involve.. presumably fattening up and a strong stomach? Can they go to a birds of prey place or is that a big no no??

[BeckyBoo]

Just to stick my two penneth in, I've had two hatches under a broody hen and like Griffin I decidd I could only do it if I was prepared to deal with the boys. Which is just as well as I had 3 boys out of 5 chicks with the first lot I gave one away to someone who's cockerel had died, the second we ate. I had someone give me a hand killing it and a friend used to be a butcher so showed me how to prepare and dress it. I didn't fatten him up as I didn't have seperate accomodation for him but he (and the others) did get a fair few greens and porridge with a dollop of full cream milk in for the last couple of weeks And let me tell you, free-range from the supermarket doesn't even come close. He was delicious! Really meaty, not sure if that was because he was a boy or because he was so properly free range, he was a light Sussex and was over 8lb at 26 weeks then 5lb 8oz plucked and dressed. I'm a bit hard hearted and to be honest, although I didn't enjoy the killing, I wasn't disturbed by it and next time I will dispatch on my own although I will still need a hand to dress him.

 

I'd say to anyone thinking of it, go for it, you won't regret it. I've had Fred soup for lunch!

 

BeckyBoo