The Commander told me to be on the lookout for a special delivery today, this package arrived from Our Flybabies. It seems the Commander had ordered me some fertilized chicken eggs!
Seems the Commander wanted to get some use out of the Brinsea mini incubator that he got me for Christmas last year. This little baby looks to be fantastic! It automatically turns the eggs, maintains the temperature and humidity with accompanying alarms, and even has a countdown timer for the 21 day (for chickens) incubation period.
The Commander ordered six eggs because the mini incubator only has slots for seven chicken eggs.
When I opened the package I found eight baby blue Americana chicken eggs! They are so cute, the color reminds me of Robin egg shells.
I set the incubator up in a corner on the counter, securing the plug with tape over the socket to prevent it from being accidentally unplugged (by humans or felines).
I next selected the seven best eggs, the one I decided against was the smallest. I hope to send that one to my daughters school to be incubated for a class project. The paperwork noted that the extra two eggs were included in case of damage during shipping or to make up for possible non-viable embryos.
Once the incubator was loaded all I had to do was complete the setting for chickens via a handy-dandy flow chart and they were ready to go.
This is the first time I have ever done something like this so it will be exciting to chronicle the progress - only 21 days to go!
That's awesome! And, that mini incubator is too cute!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the eggs! I'm hoping to try some maran/welsummer eggs once my goose eggs are done.
Really cool gizmo! I am looking forward to the results.
ReplyDeleteIt is exciting, I'm anxious to see how it all turns out :)
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about getting one of these, (when the hens decide to NOT do setting like they are supposed to), so I will have to follow and see what you think! Had to laugh, your title, I was expecting chicks through the mail! (Our mail carrier hates that time in spring...)
ReplyDeleteCat
Rae - The Commander figured that the more the incubator did for us the better chance the chicks would have to get born. It is so small and self contained that it really is convenient - if it works!
ReplyDeleteIan - They make amazing gadgets these days, I too can't wait to see how this turns out.
LuckyBunny - I'll keep you posted.
Cat - I was worried about the eggs surviving the trip through the mail but we had no issues. I'm curious to see how many hatch via this process.
I am curious to see how many hatch! Normlly when I incubate guinea eggs, only 50% hatch. I've learned to start off with alot more than I actually want! I hope you have better success than I do!
ReplyDelete~Lynn
Lynn - It is early in the season to hope for fertilized eggs so it is going to be interesting. The incubator has all the bells and whistles so my contributions are fortunately very limited.
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