Charlottechicken Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 (edited) I've not been on the forum much of late, I've been a litle pre-occupied with some fertilised eggs I bought off eBay, and an incubator from Ascott. This is the result: Five beautiful and very healthy chicks all hatched yesterday, out of six eggs. I think the grey one at the back looks like an Arucana, the others all have different markings, so only time will tell what they are! The selection of eggs were sold as pot luck! They are now in their big yellow plastic egg shaped brooder where they spend most of their time sleeping, but I am amazed at how they are able to drink, eat, scratch, preen and chat, at such an early age. One has an unhealthy obsession with its own feet at the moment and keeps pulling its own toes and then cheeping in pain I'm now on a deadline to get my new chicken run set up with nursery accommodation Edited April 8, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scramble Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Aw, they are too cute! Adorable And araucanas? If you keep them you could be getting some blue eggs Congrats on the successful hatch! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 Aw, they are too cute!Adorable And araucanas? If you keep them you could be getting some blue eggs Congrats on the successful hatch! x Thanks, I can't take my eyes off them at the moment! Yes, I am hoping the grey one is a girl, it was the first one to hatch (out of the smallest egg) and is very mature already, compared to the others. I can't quite believe the success rate of the hatch either, didn't think it would be as high as five out of six Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Very cute...... and very brave too, I don't think I'd have the dedication for incubation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Lovely babies My first hatch was from a pot luck set of eggs from Ebay. It's fun trying to figure out who the parents are I've got one that looks like a Cuckoo Marans girl but she came from a dark olive green egg, so I can figure out who Dad was but Mum is a mystery. I hope my girl lays green eggs like her Mum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 They are lovely. Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 ahhhh little cuties! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susanbb Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Gorgeous and very cute indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poachedegg Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Aww they are sooooo cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 Chicks are now a week old, and growing fast! The tiny one at the back is grey with grey legs and horn beak, large black eyes and a hairdo plus fluffy cheeks. I am sure this is an Araucana. The large one to the right shows Welsummer traits, stripy face and yellow beak and legs, the other three are a right mix up, two have brown and black wing feathers, white markings around the eyes, but all three are slightly different and one has very feathered legs! They have been trying to dustbathe for a few days now and I am wondering if it is OK to let them have some soil to play in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiblick Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 cuteness! I want babies!!! Congrats What incubator did you go with from Ascott, I'm going to get their deluxe kit for Christmas, but I think I'm quite likely to get a broody hen from what I've chosen... (the voices in my head are telling me to buy a Rablu just in case... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I put some compost in an old biscuit tin for mine to dust bath in. After they'd decided it wasn't going to gobble them all up they started to eat it instead I showed them it a few times but it was a good few weeks before one had the intelligence to figure out what it really was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 What incubator did you go with from Ascott I bought the Novital Covatutto 7 incubator from their ebay shop, it was £30, and is manual, you have to turn the eggs by hand twice a day, their Covatutto 16 is not much more expensive though, so a good buy. They are plastic so really easy to clean. The brooder they are in now(which will hold a dozen chicks) was also from the Ascott ebay shop and cost £45, but p+p was an extra £12 for the two items which I didn't mind as they were such great value anyway. It is also by Novital, and called Caldo Cip, and made of plastic so it keeps warm and is easy to clean. I bought both the incubator and brooder in December, when prices were quite low. I also sourced and bought extra lightbulbs for both appliances before I even put eggs in the incubator, just in case.... So the whole lot came in at just under £87, added to that the hatching eggs cost 99p plus £5 p+p, off ebay, and I had an 83% hatch rate. I imagine if I had tried hatching pure breeds I might not have been so lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 I put some compost in an old biscuit tin for mine to dust bath in. After they'd decided it wasn't going to gobble them all up they started to eat it instead I showed them it a few times but it was a good few weeks before one had the intelligence to figure out what it really was. Ah, right I might leave it then They are happy writhing and moonwalking around on a bit of newspaper in the recycling box with the brooder lid over them at the moment. I showed them a grape today and they ran off in terror Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 My pot luck Ebay chicks are almost ten weeks old and still stupid I cleaned out their coop yesterday and when I chucked in the fresh Easibed they ran for their lives screaming their heads off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 My pot luck Ebay chicks are almost ten weeks old and still stupid I cleaned out their coop yesterday and when I chucked in the fresh Easibed they ran for their lives screaming their heads off Ahh Mine were pot luck, who did you buy off? I got mine from Dragonpoultry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Mine were from dawn6528. Brilliant eggs, would definitely recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Here are my chicks aged 2 weeks. They are now large enough to manage on the grille floor of the brooder, and are only using the brooder to sleep in and for warmth. I have a large lined cardboard box annexe for them to eat and drink in, covered over with a piece of net as they can happily leap and fly up the sides which are 20 inches high They also have a nice tray of fine soil to dustbathe in, which they have been doing for the past 5 or so days Possible parents are Marans, Welsummers, Araucanas, Light Sussex or Exchequer Leghorn. It looks like most of mine are Marans/Welsummer cross with an Araucana (right of pic with the top knot hairdo) thrown in for good measure If anyone has any opinions on parentage please let me know! Anyone know if Araucanas are small, as the grey chick is not as large as the others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 They are gorgeous!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Aww, they're adorable . How fast they grow . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Lovely chooks The brooder is very posh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 The brooder is very posh It was the cheapest one I could find Jules, it's from Ascott (their ebay shop ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraphine Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Awww, they are absolutely gorgeous! And I love your hens' names too, one of my daughters is a Francesca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
