Hatching a plan
on Feb 11 in General by DanThe past week or so have seen a steady succession of rather exciting parcels arriving at our house. One of the most recent has been this:
No it’s not a bomb. Or at least I think it’s not a bomb. Come to think of it I keep catching Kerry thumbing through my life insurance policy lately. But that’s ridiculous; my life is worth more to her than the mortgage paying off and a series of Caribbean holidays surely?
Perhaps I should invest in a bomb disposal sniffer dog or two.
But until I know different I’ll assume it is what it was advertised on ebay as being: It is a home made egg incubator.
Yes I’m going to hatch my own chicks, and I’ve even got the eggs to prove it. Six Light Sussex eggs and six Cuckoo Maran eggs bought on Monday from a rather eccentric Chinese man in Lancashire who had about a hundred free range chickens sleeping in four or five caravans dotted around a field behind his house. Evan and I got to collect the eggs ourselves and some of them were still warm from the chickens bums. Bloody marvelous!
The breeder insisted that I put his telephone number in my diary labeled “Chicken Man” and to call him if I ever had any problems, which was very nice of him. He also told me all about when he used to breed ostriches for a living. I really hope he didn’t slip me an ostrich eggs by accident or I’ll get Jeff hanging around my house all the time.That man is obsessed I tell you.
Anyway here are the eggs:
They are due to hatch on the third of March, which is coincidentally the birthday of my friends Paul and Becky’s daughter Layla.
Whether they do hatch or not remains to be seen, as I’m a bit of a novice at all this poultry malarky. They’ve been in the incubator for two days now and I’ve already dropped about five of them. It wasn’t intentional, they slipped out of my hands while turning them over. They only fell from a height of about a centimeter or so, but it can’t be doing much good I imagine.
Perhaps I’m not really cut out to be a mother hen.
Once they are hatched I’m going to move the chicks to a brooder I’m planning to build in our coal cellar. I’m desperately hoping that they are all going to come out hens rather than cockerels, as I’m yet to work out how I’m going to deal with any males that arrive. I realize however that is extremely improbable. theoretically I don’t have a problem with dispatching the cockerels and sticking them in the pot, but in practice I’m not sure I have the stomach for it. Time will tell I suppose.
Anyhow, it’s all very exciting, Now if only this bloody snow would melt so I can get on with building my coop.
Related posts:
- 779 Chickentropolis
- Eggs
- In answer to Jeff’s question
- Change of plan.
- I love it when a plan comes together
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Wicked. (People still say, or type, that right?)
Some of my chums from the village bought some ‘hatchers’ off a very strange fellow, and ended up with a few chickens and a cockerel, the noisy bleeder. I think they are going to eat him.
And how about you breaking down all sorts of barriers, visiting the diverse inhabitants of Lancashire. Wow.
SingleParentDads last blog post..Softer Side
How cool! Hatching your own chickens is cooler than having your own chickens which I already thought was cool. So this is, in fact, cooler than cool. Wow.
topchamps last blog post..The Old Geezer
You should have asked earlier, one of my clients is a hatchery near Scunthorpe where they hatch billions of eggs every day – they employ someone to “neck” the male chicks at one or two days old which are then sold to zoos and suchlike for birds of prey to eat, see, theres a market for everything.
Anyway, I’m not bothered about eggs but when you’re ready to neck your grown birds can I have a couple of chicken breasts ? Skinned boned and de-feathered of course, I don’t like my meat to look like its been alive.
Garys last blog post..Its about the bathroom…
I’m actually jealous. By the way, have you read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? I highly recommend it. She talks about her adventures in chicken raising (and…butchering). Good luck!
Erins last blog post..He has my heart in a stranglehold
you can always throw the males in a blender..
Arjans last blog post..Rite of passage
Cool. Very self-sufficient. You’re living the Good Life!
Phils last blog post..Battle of Who Could Care Less
SingleParentDad – I think the word currently in vogue with the young people is “Ace”
TopChamp – It’ll only be cool if any of them actually hatch! I can “candle” them after ten days so I’ll see if any are fertile.
Gary – Ahh, but these are special old purebed type birds, not your common and garden battery hens so I doubt they do them. I don’t think I’d really want to be a chicken dispatcher for a living, although apparently it’s quite a skilled job (sexing the chickens that is, not killing them)
Erin – I shall have to look it up. Thanks.
Arjan – Now why didn’t I think of that.
Phil – I’m not sure if I’m Tom or Barbara though.
Again with the ostriches, ducks and chickens. You make me sound so fowl.
Jeffs last blog post..Because it’s my blog and this is what I felt like doing today
Just how long have you been waiting to use that gag Jeff? :)
Oh Dan, please don’t turn into a chicken murderer.
Our relationship would never be the same again.
gails last blog post..Witches and Ghoulies
Gail – I didn’t know you were a vegetarian `
I’m not but like Gary, my meat doesn’t look like it was alive once.
gails last blog post..Witches and Ghoulies
Gail – I’m a firm believer in the if you want to eat it you should be prepared to kill it philosophy. Of course i’ve yet to put that to the test.
My husband is now barred from reading your blog. He keeps bugging me about getting chickens.
(Terribly cool though.)
Nats last blog post..The broken god-module
I raised chickens as a kid… took me a while to be able to eat chicken again after that but we sure did enjoy the fresh eggs.
Blimey you’re brave! I wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with chickens, although my Lil Sis is terribly jealous of yours and wants some.
Good luck!
Penelopes last blog post..The Swear String
Mrs. LIAYF want Chickens. I told her I am done with livestock. I am diverting her away from your site for a while.
Good luck though.
Jamess last blog post..Bits and Pieces
Nat -Go on, let him. It would be an ideal Valentines present (it’s what I’m getting Kerry)
CamiKaos – I’m virtually a veggie at the moment anyhow, but I think I could deal with a few chicken murders.
Penelope – There is a world full of frustratd chicken owners out there. Take the plunge my friends, Take the plunge!
James – What other livestock did you have? I’m guessing llamas.
Good luck with hatching, Dan – and don’t be too disappointed if the hatch is small (lots of things can go wrong – besides DROPPING – temperature, humidity,fertility) We’ve hatched chickens, pheasants, and guineas on our farm. We also have beef cows and milk goats and we know that the males of ANY species are only good for one thing – procreation! (well, human males are also good for lawn care and auto maintenance).
Why did you choose the heirloom breeds?
Hi Dan: Back in the great depression a man came to our door with a basket of eggs. My mother bought some that had baby chicks in them. The next time he showed up, my mother was still angry. He said, “Why are you mad? You bought eggs and got chicken for the same price”. Oh by the way Dan, if you do not have a rooster, eggs do not spoil. A friend with 350,000 chickens told me that.
this IS exciting! please consider a live web cam when they start hatching!
bon bons last blog post..schwaklakk 2009
Lise M – I’m hoping for three hens out of it, but realize that even this might be a little optimistic. If tis doesn’t work then the man who sold me the eggs said that he’d incubate the next batch for me with a guaranteed 80% hatch rate if I wanted him to. I’d like to see tem hatch myself really though.
Bill – 350,000 chickens? I’m guessing he didn’t get his coop for £150 on ebay.
bon bon – Now there is an idea. I might look into that.
You are absolutely right: It is the experiences and what we learn from them.
We have friends here in the city with a chicken coop. Savannah is sufficiently old school and not super-densely urban that you are allowed to keep chickens on your property, and they have 3 or 4.
They used to have more, but a red-tailed hawk has moved into their neighborhood and decided she likes chicken dinners (In most species, the females are the bigger, fiercer ones). We have one in our area too, and they definitely keep the rodent and pigeon population in check. Nature is red in tooth and claw, etc.
Any predators that you have to worry about? Foxes, maybe? Will we be seeing you join the local Hunt Club?
My friend had 350,000 chickens and no roosters. He said all he wanted was to make one dollar per chicken clear each year. Now his egg farm is a storage unit because he went broke when eggs went down to nineteen cents per dozen. In short, “Don’t give up your day job”.