Lucky with his flock

We decided to let her be.  For two weeks she sat on those eggs day and night, only taking very brief rests to drink some water and stretch her legs.  Our kids felt sorry for her and brought her a small handful of grain each day.  Her devotion to her eggs was admirable.  We were all impressed with her mothering skills even though she was yet to become one.

One night just as dusk settled in, we heard her cackle.  I jumped up and darted outside.  Lane flooded the yard with light trying to see what was wrong.  As I approached her nest, the ground was littered with her black and white feathers.  Other than that there was no sign of her.  In fact, there was no sign of anything.  Whatever got her executed its plan precisely.  It got in and got out.

We felt sad and immediately decided to try to continue mothering her eggs.  We found a cardboard box.  Filling the bottom with hay, we carefully placed her eggs in our makeshift nest.  I put a small container of water amongst the eggs to provide humidity.  We placed a thermometer in the box to check the temperature.  Eggs need about a 100 degree temperature.  It needs to feel like it is being warmed by its mother’s body heat.  We did not want it to get too hot or too cold.  For a heat source, we hung a light bulb over the box.

Twice a day for two weeks one of us turned each of the eggs a quarter turn to help ensure proper development of the baby chicks.  After two weeks, I began to doubt that any egg would hatch.  One evening as I peered into the box contemplating unplugging the light and disposing of the eggs, a baby chick bored a hole into the side of its egg.

I called my family together and we patiently witnessed a miracle.  The chick continued to peck the side of the egg making its hole larger.  Its beak poked through taking breaths of fresh air.  Its feet and wings stretched against the sides of the shell cracking it wider and wider apart.  Wet and exhausted the chick left its birthplace and slept in the warmth of the artificial light.

It turned out to be a male and we named him Lucky.  He was the only one that hatched.  We all thought that his name was appropriate considering the circumstances of his birth.

We continued to take care of him.  Baby chicks really need water.  To teach them to drink all you have to do is dip their beaks in water.  You can put a little sugar in the water to make it more enticing.  Sprinkle some grain on the ground made specifically for baby chicks.  You can also sprinkle some grit.  This aids their ability to digest the grain.  Every third day for two weeks I also add vitamins to their water.

You slowly drop the temperature in the box to allow the chick to become accustomed to the outside temperature.  When it is about 85 degrees outside, I start putting the babies in the coop.  I start them out in a wire cage so that they can get acquainted with the older chickens in a safe place.  Eventually we work up to letting them go forth with the flock and it is up to them to fight back and claim their right to be with the birds.  It is a great day when you can turn them completely loose.

Lucky is now our rooster.  He protects the chickens and tries to wake us up every morning.  We enjoy having him around.  He is not mean to us because we did train him that we are the head rooster.  If you want to read more about that click here.  I just wanted to show that “desperate times call for desperate measures” and in a pinch you can use a cardboard box and a light bulb.  This type of incubator did not have a high hatch rate, but it did work.  You can use a makeshift incubator.