Pandemic Hatch-a-Thon

It seems as though whilst the world shuts down and we ride out the pandemic that is COVID-19, nature and, more precisely, my chickens, have decided that now is the time to have a population explosion. With an early heat wave sending all the hens into broodiness, combined with a new Brinsea incubator, I seem to have more chicks than I’ve ever had. And I was supposed to NOT be hatching this year!

We’ve all heard of Chicken Math but it’s happened here in a BIG way. I have Ixworth and Silkie chicks. There are Khaki Campbell ducklings and my rare breed Silver Appleyard ducklings are just beginning to pip. And then there are those ‘couple’ of eggs I left under the Barbu d’Anvers. Turns out there was more like 29 eggs and 27 hatched! Oops. Oh, and I nearly forgot, I bought in some fresh quail hatching eggs to add some genetic diversity to my flock.

A handful of teeny, tiny Barbu d’Anver chicks

A curious quail chick says hello

The Brinsea has been a bit of a saviour. As I discussed in the broody silkie video, I made stupid mistakes this year. Working full-time, the stress of COVID etc, meant I didn’t separate out my broodies and I didn’t note down the sitting times. So chicks began hatching, hens began squabbling, and it became a blood bath. Chickens are dinosaurs - once they see blood, they kill. I lost quite a few chicks. Rather than allowing the mothers to keep them, as soon as I saw eggs begin to pip, I removed them and they went into the incubator. The Brinsea did excellently at keeping the heat and humidity whilst I opened it up to add eggs and remove chicks. Perhaps, too well … I’ve so many babies now.

A trio of rare-breed Ixworth. These dual purpose birds are great for eggs and the table.

Upgraded quarters - Ixworth and two Silkie colour lines I’m breeding.

It’s pretty special to be surrounded by chicks again. Especially during a time when there’s a huge strain on mental health. I love watching these tiny babies grow and seeing them develop their adult plumage. It means that I’ll have a tonne of begium bantams for sale in a few months. I’m also developing my silkie colour lines and any excess hens will be available towards the end of summer too. There are getting so many I decided to try and become a little more organised and bought these reusable leg rings off Amazon - you know, I’m running out of names and visual ID’s for all these girls!

I’ll keep you updated on these chicks progress and when they’re ready for sale.

Stay safe,

Geoff :)