Each year, around this time, I start getting really anxious for the ground to warm and the days to grow longer even though I know that winter has just begun. I also find myself thumbing through the most recent Farmer's Almanac to discover the days that the little book suggests are the optimal time for planting, and my most favorite - setting eggs for hatching.
I tried my hand at hatching eggs just three short years ago with a styrofoam incubator that held 42 eggs. That first year I was feeling overly ambitious and took 30 eggs from my (then) small flock of 4 birds. I thought it would be super easy - put the eggs in, put a little water in and voila! New baby chicks!
I also started to panic as I thought about what I would do with a group of 30 young chicks!
There are so many "chicken'ish" sayings in our language and the one that says "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" is actually very true in its most literal sense.
Out of the 30 eggs that I placed in that incubator, none even developed into something. None.
Not feeling defeated, I tried again a few weeks later and this time only put 12 eggs in.
Once again, after the first week had passed - I checked in a darkened room with a small flashlight to "candle" the eggs and found.. the same thing. Nothing developing, nothing.
A month or so went by and I did some more research on how to hatch chicks. I was convinced that it was my chickens' fault and ordered hatching eggs from eBay to put into the incubator.
Yes, that is a thing - ordering hatching eggs from eBay. Check it out.
One last try and I put 6 eggs into the incubator. Not expecting success again, I checked the eggs at the one week mark.
This time, I saw something! People who hatch eggs and candle for development have called it a "spider". Basically it's the veins from the developing chick that start to form within the egg to nourish it with oxygen as it develops.
I was beyond thrilled! I showed the photo of the "spider" to everyone I knew like a human mother displaying a ultrasound whether they wanted to see it or not.
Twenty one days later, 3 of the 6 eggs hatched and I was a doting mother to the little chicks - cleaning their little bottoms and making sure the temperature was just right and they had the proper food, etc.
Now, three short years later, I've had several chicks hatch from my flock. I've moved from using the old styrofoam incubator to a more manageable (and reliable) incubator and I still get so excited at checking after the first week and seeing something growing inside the shell. I don't know that I'll ever get used to it and I kind of hope I don't.
It's the promise of new life and new beginnings. Even as winter is fast upon us.
I also started to panic as I thought about what I would do with a group of 30 young chicks!
There are so many "chicken'ish" sayings in our language and the one that says "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" is actually very true in its most literal sense.
Out of the 30 eggs that I placed in that incubator, none even developed into something. None.
Not feeling defeated, I tried again a few weeks later and this time only put 12 eggs in.
Once again, after the first week had passed - I checked in a darkened room with a small flashlight to "candle" the eggs and found.. the same thing. Nothing developing, nothing.
A month or so went by and I did some more research on how to hatch chicks. I was convinced that it was my chickens' fault and ordered hatching eggs from eBay to put into the incubator.
Yes, that is a thing - ordering hatching eggs from eBay. Check it out.
One last try and I put 6 eggs into the incubator. Not expecting success again, I checked the eggs at the one week mark.
This time, I saw something! People who hatch eggs and candle for development have called it a "spider". Basically it's the veins from the developing chick that start to form within the egg to nourish it with oxygen as it develops.
I was beyond thrilled! I showed the photo of the "spider" to everyone I knew like a human mother displaying a ultrasound whether they wanted to see it or not.
Twenty one days later, 3 of the 6 eggs hatched and I was a doting mother to the little chicks - cleaning their little bottoms and making sure the temperature was just right and they had the proper food, etc.
Now, three short years later, I've had several chicks hatch from my flock. I've moved from using the old styrofoam incubator to a more manageable (and reliable) incubator and I still get so excited at checking after the first week and seeing something growing inside the shell. I don't know that I'll ever get used to it and I kind of hope I don't.
It's the promise of new life and new beginnings. Even as winter is fast upon us.
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