Hatch Video

Here is video of one of the chicks hatching. If you make it close to the end you can see the white egg in the background has just pipped. My apologies for the music but I just grabbed what was readily available. :) I hope no one is too grossed out. It was kind of tricky to catch these guys because some would work for a long time so while you were watching them then one that wasn't even on the "hatch radar" would pop open. While the experience was not without trauma it was still fun to see it happen and see what kind of chicken would pop out next. Sorry I was only able to really catch this yolky one and left out the cute fuzzy shots. They do fluff up and then they are cute. It was a little like when we were trying to watch the caterpillars turn into chrysalises. They would just hang there for days and then you would turn you back and it was done. Nature runs on its own time. I am so glad that I have been able to take a few moments with the kids to slow down and watch nature happen. By moments I mean days and days with these chickens!

Egg Candling

I was told you can candle around days ten and fourteen. I maybe took a bit more liberty with those recommendations. Candling is basically when you shine a light through the egg to see what is going on. You may see a blob (the yolk) floating around, the size of the airsac, the ring of death or veins. Lots and lots of veins connecting to a little embryo. Several of my eggs were very dark shelled so it was hard to tell if the egg was viable or not. It is important to get rid of any eggs that aren't going to make it to term because then you have to worry about the air pressurizing and a stinky rotten egg exploding disgusting bacteria all over your incubator and contaminating all of your eggs.
I loved candling. Once I started I couldn't stop. I had friends over to see this amazing web of veins I would see in the viable eggs. Some were impressed others were good actors and told me what I wanted to hear but the experience for me was grand any time I could do it. I tried to take pictures. I even tried a little video with 3 assistants so everyone could see how you can see the little chicken moving around maybe even see a little foot. Those didn't work out all that great so I am going to have to pull better examples off of the internet. I tell you though there is something so fascinating with being able to have life contained in a shell held in your hands. Before lockdown we had candled the eggs and of the 24 I ordered 18 looked good. I figured I had beat the 50% odds given to me for mail ordered eggs. Well for the rest you will have to wait for my hatch day post.