Helping the Chickens

We don’t seem to be having any luck letting the chickens hatch their own eggs.  I wonder if maybe it’s because it’s been so cold and dull.  I know last year when I bought the chicks we had to settle for 11 instead of the 25 I wanted.  Even the hatchery was having trouble getting chicks.

So we have decided to make our own incubator and try to hatch some chicks.  We started with a large cardboard box.  Colin lined it with tin foil and then installed a 40w light bulb.  We need to get the temperature up around 100F.

We headed out to the barn and gathered up all the eggs on the floor.  Colin ran interference with the mean rooster so I could do the bending for him  🙂  We’re not sure if we are going to have any luck with these first few eggs.  Since Colin has been laid up, we’re not sure how old the eggs are.  But we will be back in the coop in a few days and gather up some really fresh ones.

Hopefully, in 21 days we will have a box of peeping little chicks.  We’ll then move them to a safe location and let them grow before putting them back in the coop.  Ella’s very excited to see the chicks hatch.