Not like Oprah – but like our favorite things in life! We love all things country these days.
But, right now, like as I type, in this moment – we love hatching chickens! We absolutely delight in having eggs in the incubator for 21 days and then, after that long wait, watching them peck their shells, start to pip at us, and then finally break free.
(MY favorite thing is that we, my kids and me, see God’s hand all over this process!)
LOVE IT!!
We incubated 22 eggs about 22 days ago. We found these eggs in the woods and were not sure how long they had been there. Since we could not eat them, and I refuse to throw just about anything away, we dug out the incubator and threw (well set) them in.
Over the 21 days, many times the thermometer hit 104 degrees (a big no no), and the humidity was all over the place. The books will tell you to keep the temp about 100 degrees (plus or min maybe, 1 degree), and the humidity needs to stay at about 55%.
Okay, but let’s apply some reality – when the hen lays on her eggs in Phoenix, I am sure she does not influence the humidity. And when the hen in NY lays on her eggs I am not sure she keeps the temps at 100 degrees the whole time. So I was sure hoping that God is bigger than the rules in the book. And low and behold!! He is!
Here is a video we took of the hatching last year, this year I have not been able to catch it quite as well, but with three more about to hatch, maybe I will still get one!
Here are some pics of this batch of hatchings:
Here they are in their temporary home – until we get their real one set up (we expected 1 or 2, not 8 or 9, so we need more space than we were planning 
Here is our first hatchling, about 14 hours after arriving, all dry & fluffy – and she loves to be held by me, she loves to listen to me talk or sing to her.
Here is a chick who just came out, trying to strengthen her legs to stand. They are quite spastic when they first hatch, takes about 12 hours to be able to stand up and walk without falling over.
To read more about our incubator and see how things went last time check out Eggs & Chicks.
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