I started the day and nothing much had changed, same pips, no chicks. And a power outage... on a beautiful sunny day... only because I'm hatching chicks... Thankfully it only lasted a couple of seconds.
I always wonder if they're really going to hatch but I guess I shouldn't, these chicks are like the Queen - they don't like to get up early.
10:03 AM they were starting to break through the shell
10:43 AM they were really making a push
10:44 AM a chick pops out. Finally! The Queen witnesses a hatch with her own two royal eyes!
Sure it looks like a wet baby skunk, but it's an Australorp - and lemme tell you - the Australorps are kicking ass at this hatching thing. So far I have two chicks and five that have pipped and most of them as Australorps.
For reference, this is an Australorp rooster.
Xena is also more lively today. It may be my overactive imagination but I believe she's starting to fill out a bit. Tom was right to give her a chance, if she'd been culled it would have been a waste of a perfectly good life. Sometimes you can't help them, but why not try?
Today I will finish the coop and put the ducks out. I'm tired of cleaning up after them and I'm sure they're tired of their cramped quarters. It's supposed to get colder by the end of the week but they should be old enough now to handle it and they look fully feathered to me. If not I guess they'll come back inside...
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