Wednesday was a busy day for Stephanie, our marketing and product manager. She was hovering over an incubator like a mother hen over a clutch of eggs. Why? She was hatching some baby chicks for our farm flock.
The process started a little over 3 weeks ago when we received an order of eggs from a local hatchery. They were immediately put in the incubator. Between then and hatching, we candled the eggs to see which eggs were viable and which weren't.
On Wednesday the eggs finally began hatching. This one is just about ready to pop.
Fresh out of the egg. This chick has almost finished its first job in life, hatching!
The hatching process is fairly exhausting so this chick is taking a breather.
While this chick is drying off, a few of its compatriots have decided to come out of their shells as well.
Our chick is soon joined by a few friends. When they are totally dried off we move them to the brooder.
The brooder is conveniently in Stephanie's office. Traffic to and from Stephanie's office has increased significantly since the brooder was installed. We're using a heat lamp and heat lamp stand to provide warmth to the chicks. The brooder is one of our shipping boxes for netting.
The chicks are putting a few of our .25 gal Classic Drinkers and 2.2 lb Classic Feeders to work.
Here's to an exciting chick raising season!
