About 4 weeks ago I bought 4 dozen Trader Joe's fertile eggs and put them into an incubator. Now, I had read about another person doing this and getting one chick out of a dozen eggs. So I expected I may get 4-5 chicks out of the 42 that I set in the incubator.
Well...
I ended up with 32 hatching last Tuesday and Wednesday... I so did not expect that!!
Here is a picture I took today... I only put a few into the light tent :)
FWIW my grandfather used to be a chicken rancher -- as a little kid I remember going into a chickenhouse about 15x40 feet with the floor almost solidly covered with two-day old chicks.
These are poor eating because they are bred for egg production so very small body size. I am keeping two hens, giving a friend 10 hens and 3 roos but the rest of the roos... Not sure yet...
Kinda sad I can't keep them but that's the way it goes...
wow, so cute (for now). you might want to find homes for them soon though (while they're still cute). soon you'll need to be buying chicken feed by the 50 lb sacks, and need a pretty decent sized pen with a top, and some poop shovels. they will be laying eggs of their own in approx. 18-20 weeks. Lotsa fun and rewarding, if you have the space.
Love the Live Chick Cam. They remind me of people, running around earnestly with such determenation and purpose in there every action. I think you should get each one a cellphone, then they could truly be self important!
Enjoyed the live chick cam! Cool pics too! It's hard to believe people box those babies up and ship them through the US mail. They say it's OK to do that but I would think it could be a rough ride.
