Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

The yellow chicks in my pictures are Basque (or EO) and the other fluff balls are pure Ameraucanas. They are fresh from the incubator. I put them in the box to carry them downstairs.

Nope, no splash in there, just black and blue. Adorable, though!

Last nite I put the 9 chicks in a small box & put them beside my setting silkie.
I had already darkened the coop & had the water & chick food there.

I slipped them underneath her & crossed my fingers.
For the next 2 hours, I went out every 15 minutes.
Just to make sure I could rescue them if needed.

Today when I opened the door to check the water,
I heard this Banshea scream to get the heck out!!!!

My 9 little chicks have a new mama ~ life is great!

Gotta love those Silkie mamas: They are fearsome and awesome! I have one sitting on Brabanter hatching eggs ATM. Day 7 tomorrow, so will candle while she's out having breakfast, etc. I'm ever hopeful that her efforts pay off and she'll have some "brabies" hatching in the fullness of time.

Well I'm going to hatch a few more. Most of my breeding birds are 4 years old this year so I decided to hatch the eggs I collected from them, and not the ones from younger birds. In theory, I can hatch from the younger ones next year.

Group shots of the chickies. The pictures with a flash have a bit of a yellow tint for some reason. Wing feathers are coming in. One yellow one runs up and picks my hand when I put it in, and the blue one that hatched first came over and kicked me once. Boys of course. Everyone seems to be healthy. Lots of running around.

Cute looking hatch Shnookie! GOOD LUCK on the next one :smiley-char026:
Wish I could join you for round 2, but I have to stop.
We are thinking of putting the place up for sale.
( don't want to be in a panic trying to sell chicks )

The blue silkie is Not the best mom, but will do.
She doesn't cluck when she eats or drinks.
I heard the chicks chirping for a long time yesterday.
Mama was oblivious, but to be fair, she is veri young.

I decided to turn the wall heater on low.
Took 5 chicks & put their beak into the water.
Today there was chirping, but less than yesterday.
Still MUCH easier having them under mama
( now I can clean the sewing room before listing )

Todays pic of mama & some of the chicks.

I put 24 more eggs in the incubator yesterday - 16 EOs and 8 Ameraucanas. I will be surprised if they all make it to hatching.
I'm pretty sure that 4 of the 8 EOs from the first hatch are males (maybe 5). I'm sure there are several Ameraucana males, of course. I could end up with a bunch of extra chickens over the winter. I want to move too so these may be my last hatches for a while. I haven't figured out where to move to, but when I do it will be a big chore.

I had a few chicks that got dehydrated from being under the fan. When they were in the brooder they chirped a lot. I went and made them drink several times a day until they stopped chirping. Now they drink okay on their own.

UPDATE -
mama has figured out what to do.
She ate 1/3 of the watermelon before calling the chicks.
But she seems to be more caring of them.
There is a heat wave going on, so heat is not a big issue any more.

*** Are you actually looking to move, or like me t's on the "Wish List"
I'm willing move within 2 hours of Toronto, but it will depend on the $
IF hubby doesn't get hs price, h's NOT moving.
FINGERS CROSSED! I would LUV a barn ( critter Palace )

I hate moving but I need to find somewhere cheaper to live (if there is such a place).

I put 24 more eggs in the incubator. All but 9 were infertile. I have 2 Ameraucanas and 7 EOs just starting day 9. It seems harder to keep the temperature and humidity steady when the incubator is mostly empty. The other ones turned 2 weeks old yesterday. Time flies when you're having fun! :)