Might make you chuckle
Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 1:16 pm
I just typed this up to enter a contest on a different poultry site. Thought you might get a laugh. True story!
I will do my best to keep this story PG.
I went to a chicken swap with my niece Lily a couple of years ago and unexpectedly came home with a pair of Old English Banties-Sherman and Weezie. I had never had a rooster before and it didn't take long for the hatching bug to hit me. I borrowed a friend's incubator and collected 7 of Weezie's eggs. 10 days in I discarded 3 eggs that were not developing. Lockdown day I discarded a fourth that had the dreaded red ring. 3 eggs left. I had timed set date for hatch to happen during a weekend and my niece begged to be there when they hatched so we arranged a sleepover. Friday night I saw my first pip! We woke up excited Saturday morning but still no chicks. We had a long list of activities to keep us busy in hopes to not be glued to the incubator all day and finally discovered our first chick Saturday afternoon. He was clearly a little roo and was busily pecking at the other two eggs. Lily reminded me that I had promised she could name them and "Pecker" was what she came up with for chick #1. I was a bit concerned that he was not the first egg that had pipped. That one was stalled with 1/4 inch zipped and hadn't progressed since the morning.
Sunday morning we woke up and found a second fluffy little chick in the incubator. Pecker was now playing soccer with the last egg which still had not progressed. Now I was really worried. 36 hours since pipping. I had read soooooo much about incubating -never assist/assist after 24 hours/never open the incubator while hatching. With Lily begging to hold two fuzzy little chicks and me worrying that the third had died we set up the brooder and I quickly googled and collected supplies to assist the last chick. When the lid came off Lily scooped up both chicks and took off to the brooder. I tentatively tapped the egg and thought I heard the faintest little peep. Upon examination the membrane seemed very dry. I began chipping egg shell and wetting membrane when I realized this little one was glued inside her shell. She couldn't continue zipping because she couldnt move. During this process Lily excitedly ran back and announced that she had named chick #2 "Little" because she was so much tinier than her brother. Worried I was in the middle of killing a chick I nodded agreement and sent her back to teach the chicks to eat. What seemed like hours later I had chick #3 out of her shell-no blood, no injuries but a very tired and weak chick. I put her back in the incubator to dry and hopefully recover.
That evening before Lily went home we introduced chick #3 to her hatch mates in the brooder. I asked Lily what we should call her. "Hmmm well, she was stuck so we should call her Sticky!"
Really? Oh geez...ok. I had promised she could name them.
Did you catch it? Because I hadn't. Not until I was relating this story to my boss 2 weeks later did i realized what I would be saying when I called the chicks to come to me.
Meet (in order from finger tips to wrist) Sticky, Little and Pecker!
I will do my best to keep this story PG.
I went to a chicken swap with my niece Lily a couple of years ago and unexpectedly came home with a pair of Old English Banties-Sherman and Weezie. I had never had a rooster before and it didn't take long for the hatching bug to hit me. I borrowed a friend's incubator and collected 7 of Weezie's eggs. 10 days in I discarded 3 eggs that were not developing. Lockdown day I discarded a fourth that had the dreaded red ring. 3 eggs left. I had timed set date for hatch to happen during a weekend and my niece begged to be there when they hatched so we arranged a sleepover. Friday night I saw my first pip! We woke up excited Saturday morning but still no chicks. We had a long list of activities to keep us busy in hopes to not be glued to the incubator all day and finally discovered our first chick Saturday afternoon. He was clearly a little roo and was busily pecking at the other two eggs. Lily reminded me that I had promised she could name them and "Pecker" was what she came up with for chick #1. I was a bit concerned that he was not the first egg that had pipped. That one was stalled with 1/4 inch zipped and hadn't progressed since the morning.
Sunday morning we woke up and found a second fluffy little chick in the incubator. Pecker was now playing soccer with the last egg which still had not progressed. Now I was really worried. 36 hours since pipping. I had read soooooo much about incubating -never assist/assist after 24 hours/never open the incubator while hatching. With Lily begging to hold two fuzzy little chicks and me worrying that the third had died we set up the brooder and I quickly googled and collected supplies to assist the last chick. When the lid came off Lily scooped up both chicks and took off to the brooder. I tentatively tapped the egg and thought I heard the faintest little peep. Upon examination the membrane seemed very dry. I began chipping egg shell and wetting membrane when I realized this little one was glued inside her shell. She couldn't continue zipping because she couldnt move. During this process Lily excitedly ran back and announced that she had named chick #2 "Little" because she was so much tinier than her brother. Worried I was in the middle of killing a chick I nodded agreement and sent her back to teach the chicks to eat. What seemed like hours later I had chick #3 out of her shell-no blood, no injuries but a very tired and weak chick. I put her back in the incubator to dry and hopefully recover.
That evening before Lily went home we introduced chick #3 to her hatch mates in the brooder. I asked Lily what we should call her. "Hmmm well, she was stuck so we should call her Sticky!"
Really? Oh geez...ok. I had promised she could name them.
Did you catch it? Because I hadn't. Not until I was relating this story to my boss 2 weeks later did i realized what I would be saying when I called the chicks to come to me.
Meet (in order from finger tips to wrist) Sticky, Little and Pecker!
