Tag Archives: hatching
Hand-Hatchlings
A couple of our hens went broody a little over a month back. Because chicken eggs take three weeks to hatch, it isn’t uncommon for additional eggs to be added to the original clutch along the way. The sitting mama will … Continue reading
Chicks and Tractors
Chick hatching season is upon us and, so far, we’ve got 11 new chicks bopping around the farm. All the hens seem to go broody within weeks of one another, so we tend to see a sudden drop off in egg … Continue reading
The Trouble with Hatching
This was an extraordinarily broody year on applewood farm. At least nine of our hens went broody over the summer, resulting in a population explosion in the chicken coops. We went from having around 24 chickens in early spring to … Continue reading
These Chicks Have Two Mommies (or, It Takes a Village)
One by one, our hens have gone broody over the past two months. Fifteen new chicks have joined our flock in that time, hatched from four broody mamas. And now there are even more. These new chicks came from a clutch of … Continue reading
In the Mood to Brood
We’re seeing fewer and fewer eggs around the farm these days. A handful of hens are currrently molting and another little gang have gone broody. Both of these activities signal a break in egg laying for the hen in question. … Continue reading
Spraddle Leg Chick
While I’m sitting around waiting for Cindy to kid (aaaaaaaaaany minute now…), I thought I might mention that our Black Copper Marans eggs have started to hatch. Of the dozen eggs we put in the incubator 22 days ago, 10 … Continue reading
Hatching Chicks: An adorable, and slightly gross, photo essay
About a month ago, we started setting aside eggs to incubate. Since our original flock of Rhode Island Reds was starting to thin out, we felt it was time to start replacing those birds in order to maintain a good … Continue reading
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