I am a horrible, awful, very, very, sad mother. If anyone has followed this blog for any period of time, you know about our quest for silkies. If not, here's a quick recap:
Spring 2012: Cole saved up $18 and bought 3 silkie chicks. All three died within a week.
May 2012: I found an ad on Craigslist in Panama City Beach, FL for silkies. We picked three chicks up while we were at the beach and smuggled them into the condo while on vacation.
Fall 2012: All three turned out to be hens. I purchased a dozen silkie eggs for $30 on Ebay. None hatched.
December 2012: I found an ad on backyard chickens for a silkie rooster. The seller talked me into 2 roosters and I mailed him $35.
February 2013: The seller still had not shipped our roosters. I wrote requesting my check back. Have never heard from seller again.
March 2013: I found a Craigslist ad for 2 silkie roosters 45 minutes north of us. We packed up and made the trip, finally ending up with Mist and Oreo. They were 6 months old, but Mist and Oreo didn't seem to know what to do with the hens.
April 2013: The roosters figured it out, the hens went broody, and we set about 15 eggs to hatch, some in the bator, some under the broodies.
May 2013: Two of the eggs hatched! I candled a couple of the eggs under the hens and they were still viable. When I'd candled the eggs in the bator earlier in the hatch cycle, those two eggs were further along than the other eggs because they'd already started to develop under the hens when I moved them to the bator.
May 3, 2013: The two hatchlings had been in the bator about 24 hours. We moved them to a bin before heading out to a birthday party for the evening. Our plan was to sneak them under the hens last night. We got home from the party and found them dead. I'd cooked them. I feel HORRIBLE. Cole has been waiting so long for these birds. Pray that all these other eggs hatch for us.
The styrofoam incubators just don't work very good. They just don't comepare to the cabinet ones.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom used to have a pretty good chicken business going, but things fizzled out. She had a cabinet GQF incubator and hatcher pair. She had chicks hatching out like crazy. When business dwindled, she sold them and just sticks with the foam ones. But the hatch isn't very good. I know that she told me before, she keeps it dry and doesn't add water till so many days before they hatch. Adding the water before they hatch allows them to hatch, but adding the water to early causes them to drown in there shell.
Silkies are the best incubators around. You should try checking with some 4-H kids to see if they have any exra chicks. They usually have Silkie chicks coming out their ears, and sell them pretty cheap.
And everyone has chick accidents, so don't feel bad.
Kimberly
I'm so sorry. Sadly, this is the way it goes sometimes. Can you check Craigslist in your area to see if someone has silkies ? Take someone with you.
ReplyDeleteAww, I'm sorry things haven't been going so well with your silkie plans. At least you have some hens who can hatch your eggs, though. :) I love silkies and would be super excited to get one some day. Blessings, Lauren :)
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