The man shape finished the incubator and eggs transferred from the temporary one into it. Fingers crossed I’ll see some life when we candle them on Friday (day 7).
, from our black hen!
I’ve never kept chickens but a strange one(never did find out its race)adopted us about 10 years back.
First seen and heard by a commotion in garden;the cat was trying to chase it but it ended up chasing the cat.
As it was so big and agressive we thought this has to be a cockeral and it seemed to want to stay chez nous,managing to roost every night in the fir tree,getting a leg up from the compost heap and then flying up to the higher branches layer by layer(in time all the layers underneath became quite a chickenpoo depository) but it did provide us and our neighbour with a lot of amusement every evening ,quite a kerfuffle,noise and effort went into getting to near top of tree.
In the end she stayed with us for about two years and when we discovered a few frozen eggs lying around(February time)we named her Dorothy:Dot and from time to time she would disappear to sit on eggs which would never hatch.
We reckon she may have been a female of the race of chicken that was used for fighting and had managed to escape.
They are funny to watch! You would have known if she was a rooster as they make such a racket!
I managed to get everything cut today, so the hens are in the north paddock as well as their winter one, the pair of Rhode Island are a pain as they are not scared of the lawn tractor and you literally have to nudge them out of the way, so this is their layout.
I don’t have chicken 
but a neighbour does, I have a veg garden that feeds us all year, the neighbours don’t. We are both generous…
Egg yolk colour depends on their diet.
Delivered yesterday and going to be turned into an omelet aux cèpes tonight
Another big difference is the whites are very convex but that I think is to do with freshness, the albumen is really bouncy at first and shop eggs just aren’t as new obviously.
Yes freshness is a major factor as they lose a lot of humidity, older eggs when hard boiled are easier to peal.
Oh yes, if too fresh they virtually disintegrate 
new eggs aren’t worth hard boiling but are great poached 
@toryroo have you candled the eggs 
in the incubator yet?
Ooo… Poached eggs with a couple of rashers and grated cheese, one of my favorite breakfast’s when on holiday.
If you want really golden yolks, include some broccoli in their diet.
Yes, did it Friday, not looking good tbh although we have left them and will redo it Friday (day 14) as most are olive / green and VERY hard to see. I think only one looks properly viable (of 11) and one is definitely a double yolker. Most are probably only 1st to 3rd eggs so very small and who knows if they’d all even had a bonk, although Red seemed to be at it all the time he may have had favourites
Update: much to our surprise we got a chick from our unlikely lot (and it wasn’t the one that we’d drawn a smily face on either ). He started peeping Saturday morning then it was a miracle, we went to check on it before putting R to bed and we actually watched him hatch 
When we were sure no others were viable we started looking on LBC, nothing we wanted that wasn’t miles away. Before leaving work yesterday I checked again and perfect, some chicks born on the weekend in breeds I like! Organised to pick them up on way home, we decided on 3, a tricolour Sussex, a Marans splash and a blue copper Marans. They may have also had a Wyandotte that wasn’t on the listing 
I hoped hubby wouldn’t notice but apparently he can count to 4
They are bigger than our dear little one, he weighed just 26 grams where the biggest new one is a whole 42g!
Our little one:
Them all in their brooder
And the little fatty
The new hens all happy and doing well and no weasel sightings!
Just set up our broody coop, with our new plate heater instead of a hen! Much better, they have space and are in a room off the terrace, was getting very stinky in dh’s office!!!
Admin please let me know if this isnt allowed
We took on a bedraggled young abandoned / lost “hen” last autumn but we now have a lovely young cockerel. He has a cuddle every morning and I love this little chap, but sadly he needs more of a harem than our 3 elderly girls (who are now about to have to wear saddles due to his attentions).
So we are looking for someone who would like to rehome him. We are in Riberac 24600. Happy to travel to deliver him if anyone is interested.
Thanks admin for having allowed my previous post…
Update on little Sacha, has found his new home with some young hens to keep him happy.
)!
