A few months ago I managed to get an incubator at an auction. Yes, in small towns in the country we still have the real old-fashioned auctions, where you can buy anything from old cake tins, to second hand tractors. Well, I got an incubator. For eggs, you understand?
First I had to check that the temperature was correct - I still don't know if it's right - three different thermometers, three different temperatures! Then I had to get the humidity right - if you put the humog... humid... hygrometer! in water it should read 100% right? Still don't know if the humidity is right!
To cut a very long story short, when my black hen started sitting on a clutch of eggs, I decided to try with a clutch of my own in the incubator. Eggs need to be turned three times a day, which is what the hen would be doing on the nest, so when I had crisis after crisis which made it impossible to be at home to turn eggs, I kind of gave up on them, but left them in the incubator.
So when the black hen finally hatched a couple of yellow fluffy chicks, I decided it was time to throw the eggs out. I grabbed 3, and was about to go outside with them when I suddenly noticed a tiny piece of shell on the fabric in the incubator. Turned the egg over, and discovered it had a tiny hole in it, and WOW... it started cheeping at me!
I quickly placed it back in the incubator, along with the others, and watched hopefully for a few hours to see what would happen.
Nothing happened.
The next day I finally took the egg out again, the hole was a bit bigger, but no cheeping, and I decided to take a chance on helping it out. One of the problems is, I've read somewhere, that if the humidity isn't right in the last week of incubation, then when the chick tries to emerge from the shell, the head swells and it dies. (Short version) As the humidity had definitely not been right, I thought it was worth taking the chance. So... I chipped at shell, put it down, watched impatiently for 35 seconds, opened up and chipped some more, put it back, watched for 62 seconds, slapped my wrist and told myself to be patient, made a cup of coffee, drank the coffee, opened up, and chipped some more. Finally the whole of the chick was exposed, but still in the shell. No blood. (For anyone reading this blog looking for information about hatching eggs, PLEASE don't do what I did. I sound very blasè abut what I did, but it was after months of gathering information - rather email me to find out more.)
At this stage I HAD to leave the chick alone. It did cheep occasionally, and was breathing, so I knew it was alive, I just didn't know if it was going to survive. I kept returning to the incubator, panicking every time it had moved, and after another 48 hours, finally saw a chick that looked more like a chick, with its eyes open, and yellow fluff! The black hen was still trying to hatch eggs on the nest, so I took the new chick along and put it under her, anxiously watching to see if it was going to accepted or rejected. I didn't reckon on the chick being scared of this unfamiliar creature - it immediately tried to get away. It couldn't go far though, and after another 10 minutes or so, it finally decided that this large black creature offered warmth and was worth the risk!
My black hen now scratches around the garden with 5 yellow chicks. I can't tell which one was my surrogate baby, and she has turned into a fierce mother, even CHASING the dog away from her. And I now have another clutch of eggs in the incubator!
