Hatching eggs are due to arrive today!
Last year we set our own eggs, and did so very early in the season. We had a good hatch and were lucky with the weather so the chicks were able to have time outside from fairly early on. The downside was that the boys reached maturity ong before the cold weather settled in.
So, this year, we decided to hatch late. We'd done this a couple of years ago (we'd actually done two separate hatches, which is why the second one was late) and it worked really well. We also decided we wanted to introduce some new bloodlines, so opted to buy in eggs rather than hatching our own. We decided to get some more Welsh Blacks, and some Sassos.
First hitch was that Smart Chicks weren't supplying eggs this year. I looked around at other Sasso suppliers, but it seemed to be white birds and I wanted the Roo and Mrs type that we had previously. As our current cockerel was Roo and Mrs' son, we decided that we'd just go for Welsh Blacks this year, and maybe look at getting some Sasso eggs next year, with a view to replacing our cockerel the year after. All was ordered.
Time passed. In the meantime, our cockerel had become quite nasty - most unlike his dad and mum - and we decided he had to go.
A few days before the eggs were due, the incubators and paraphernalia were brought down from the loft, cleaned, disinfected, put on to test and adjusted. Then the WB supplier had a flood which meant that he had to delay sending out eggs (and deal with a whole load of associated issues, poor chap).
Well, today's the day we should be receiving our eggs. I'm looking forward to having chicks again, and I'm really curious to see what 100% WB chicks are like. Our last hatch was Sasso/Sasso, Sasso/WB, Australorp/Australorp, and one WB/WB - oneof the WB ladies laid an egg on the way home and, as we were just about to incubate our own eggs, we popped her egg in as well. Roobarb is beautiful to look at, but has no absolutely no patience for being held.
Normally when we raise dinner chicks, we try not to handle them too much. Enough so they don't panic, but not so much that they become tame (too easy to get attached to them). However, we're going to try handling this set quite a lot, as we may want to keep one of the boys and maybe one of the Girls.
We've been raising chicks for several years now, and it doesn't lose it's appeal.
Last year we set our own eggs, and did so very early in the season. We had a good hatch and were lucky with the weather so the chicks were able to have time outside from fairly early on. The downside was that the boys reached maturity ong before the cold weather settled in.
So, this year, we decided to hatch late. We'd done this a couple of years ago (we'd actually done two separate hatches, which is why the second one was late) and it worked really well. We also decided we wanted to introduce some new bloodlines, so opted to buy in eggs rather than hatching our own. We decided to get some more Welsh Blacks, and some Sassos.
First hitch was that Smart Chicks weren't supplying eggs this year. I looked around at other Sasso suppliers, but it seemed to be white birds and I wanted the Roo and Mrs type that we had previously. As our current cockerel was Roo and Mrs' son, we decided that we'd just go for Welsh Blacks this year, and maybe look at getting some Sasso eggs next year, with a view to replacing our cockerel the year after. All was ordered.
Time passed. In the meantime, our cockerel had become quite nasty - most unlike his dad and mum - and we decided he had to go.
A few days before the eggs were due, the incubators and paraphernalia were brought down from the loft, cleaned, disinfected, put on to test and adjusted. Then the WB supplier had a flood which meant that he had to delay sending out eggs (and deal with a whole load of associated issues, poor chap).
Well, today's the day we should be receiving our eggs. I'm looking forward to having chicks again, and I'm really curious to see what 100% WB chicks are like. Our last hatch was Sasso/Sasso, Sasso/WB, Australorp/Australorp, and one WB/WB - oneof the WB ladies laid an egg on the way home and, as we were just about to incubate our own eggs, we popped her egg in as well. Roobarb is beautiful to look at, but has no absolutely no patience for being held.
Normally when we raise dinner chicks, we try not to handle them too much. Enough so they don't panic, but not so much that they become tame (too easy to get attached to them). However, we're going to try handling this set quite a lot, as we may want to keep one of the boys and maybe one of the Girls.
We've been raising chicks for several years now, and it doesn't lose it's appeal.
