Hatching our second batch of baby chicks!

We had no intentions of hatching anymore chicks at this time as we had just gotten 11 new pullets in March. I just wanted to buy the pullets instead of hatching due to what happen the last time we hatched. Let me explain, we had ordered a dozen eggs, we hatched 8 out of the 12. Unfortunately 7/8 were roosters. So I figure with my luck anymore what we hatch will be male. That doesn't give me eggs.

This lovely adventure started out with the one hen we hatched from those 8. A black copper marans named Charlotte. Yes, we named all our chickens...lol. She decided to go broody and steal all the eggs when we went out to collect them. She would peck at our hands and got super mean.

We got eggs from our cousin's chickens since they have all fertile eggs. Thought we would put some under her and let her hatch them. Of course she decided not to sit on them, so we put the eggs in the incubator so we didn't lose them. So far, out of 13 eggs, we have 4 completely hatched, and 5 more pips. One that pipped first died , we think.

This is our second time hatching a clutch. We have discovered little tips along the way. One thing that is huge is to put the eggs into a berry carton or something along those lines. When they break the shells apart it helps contain all the mess, at the end you just have to remove the berry boxes and you are good to go to clean the incubator. We have found to use a heating pad in the brooder to keep them warm. We have just invested in a warmer that adjusts to the level based on the chicks' height. They come in different sizes.

(Update: August 26, 2018)

Out of our 13 eggs we hatched out 10. They were 7 weeks old yesterday. After they hatched I put them in a cardboard box with a layer of shavings. I used my food mill base and a heating pad to create a heated tent for them to stay warm. It didn't take long for them to grow out of it. The little buggars figured out how to get on top and try to fly. They were 2 weeks old at this point.

We moved them to the brooder pen my husband built. My husband will be writing a blog post on that subject soon with what he did. This is where the warmer with the adjustable legs height came in handy. They were growing so fast. The water, food, and grit dispensers were put up on bricks so they can reach it all but they couldn't scratch at it out and waste it. Chickens are very wasteful. By week 7, the babies have grown enough that they are fully feathered and can be taken outside into the adolecent run. Yes we have different runs for the different stages. The bigger girls are mean when adding new to their run.