Chicky, It’s Cold Outside

Chicky, It’s Cold Outside

I went on a blind journey. I’ve had grown chickens before but hatching is a real learning experience. My husband wants to raise quail but he wasn’t ready for those yet. We purchased an Brinsea incubator, heating lamp and a brooder box. The incubator has a great customer service and will answer any questions during the hatching process. We ordered 17 chicken eggs to incubate them for 21 days.

We started our journey after we learned as much as possible about this incubator and how to hatch chickens. Re: Living Traditions on YouTube was very educational and helped in many ways. We did find the automatic one for regulating the humidity would have been best. But we were using the one we bought and went forward. Setting the temperature and the humidity , it was on. We didn’t have a clue how many chicks we might get or if we would get any. We chose the American Brees breed of chicken. They are white with blue legs at maturity. First we had to hatch them. I just thought once they got to their hatch date we just had to wait. Nope, two of them needed help out of their shells. Have you ever peeled hard boiled eggs? Some don’t peel well. There were two little chicks stuck like glue. They were pitiful but we got the one out. No feathers and in need of warm heat. This was a way to learn about God’s grace. Next the second one was peeled out too. Overall, out of 17 eggs we ended up with five healthy chicks, Four hens and one rooster. The interesting thing is the incubator began on top of a sewing machine in the spare bedroom, then into the brooder box. They couldn’t stay in that bedroom my daughter was coming for Thanksgiving. The chicks moved to our bedroom closet. These chicks are now on their sixth week. They have now moved again into a larger grow out box into my kitchen. Why, did you ask were they inside the house? These chicks grow quickly and in a few weeks we will be rewarded with fresh eggs. Right now they require heat and it would not be worth all our efforts to lose them now and baby, it’s too cold outside.

Hope you enjoyed this little journey.