My Boyfriend bought some eggs

[ILoveReptiles]

Well, my BF is at it again. This time he bought 12 fertilized chicken eggs on E-Bay and he's incubating them because a friend's brother wants chickens on his farm. He's going to pay us to hatch them out and raise them for 2 weeks until they're big enough to go outside and fend for themselves.

My BF is using my reptile incubator (hobavator) and he purchased an automatic egg-turner. I loaned him my bag of Glitter-Grade Vermiculite to keep the humidity up, and he's been drilling holes in my incubator to put thermometers all over the place and measure the temperature in various locations inside. He started them incubating on Saturday, so in about 19-20 days we'll have chickens.

Oy! Chickens in a condo. OY!

[Zippy]

Post pics if you can.

[ILoveReptiles]

I will - when they hatch. :) Turns out he actually only has 11 in the incubator. The guy didn't pack them properly and one of them broke during shipping. We're not sure if the other 5 that were in the box with the broken one will hatch, because he wiped them off with a damp cloth, but apparently you're not supposed to do that.

I'm sure they'll be fine.

[king2005]

You know its easier to have chicks mailed to you lol

[ILoveReptiles]

I know, but he wants the fun of hatching them.

[king2005]

does he know which species he ordered? Mixed would be interesting :D

[ILoveReptiles]

does he know which species he ordered? Mixed would be interesting :D
Actually yes. They're all Barred Plymouth Rock, non-bantam (full size variety). He specifically ordered that breed because
1.) They're cold tolerant - ideal for New England
2.) They'll lay eggs even in the colder months
3.) They grow to oven roaster size. We plan to get one back once it's full grown, so we can have it for dinner.

[king2005]

Actually yes. They're all Barred Plymouth Rock, non-bantam (full size variety). He specifically ordered that breed because
1.) They're cold tolerant - ideal for New England
2.) They'll lay eggs even in the colder months
3.) They grow to oven roaster size. We plan to get one back once it's full grown, so we can have it for dinner.

Wanna mail me one?? hehe you made me hungry!

[lute]

awww!!! i love chickens! i had a bared rock when i bought my rhode island reds. i can't wait to see pics of them when they hatch!

[ILoveReptiles]

He did this once before, and I have a bunch of pictures of the old brood.

Only 3 of 5 hatched. Not too bad for a first try. They're now pets of his parent's neighbor.

Here is a shot of all 3 of them.

http://www.caicos.org/linkedpics/NiwatoriShimaAndKemuri.jpg
Niwatori (the first to hatch) is the one that's all yellow
Shima is the one with the stripe down the back
Kemuri is the tan smokey looking one

[lute]

awwww!!! those are so cute! i wonder how many will hatch this time.

[king2005]

awwww, so cute :D

[Argranade]

I love chickens but not for eating! ;) There so cute awwwww I want a pet chicken actualy when we move Im getting one and some ducks and a goat,sugar glyder.....uhh I went too far. :D

[dab_20]

Post pictures when you can!! My dad is an expert at incubating, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! We have been incubating eggs all the way since this spring and we still have more to hatch out.