Sad News & Glad News

Very sadly, our first chick Squeak died on Friday. It hadn't been looking very lively for a day or two, and just went downhill. There isn't much you can do for them, and it's very common I think. So, both Sussex chicks have died (Lucky never made it out of the incubator), and we're left with just ONE chick - Liquorice the Barnevelder.

The good news is that its leg hobble fell off on Friday, and it can walk very well now, when before it couldn't at all - much worse than Squeak. Here he or she is having a brief explore of the utility room. We can already see feathers developing on its wing-buds, at only 5 days old!

Meet Liquorice

Here is Liquorice, also on day 2. He or she is a Barnevelder, and as you can see, a totally different colour. This one has much more problematic legs, but as in this picture is able to stand with the help of its band-aid hobble.

I had a band practice last night, and returned at midnight to find a note explaining the hobbling procedure, and instructing me to check whether the plasters were still in place. Squeak's was not - what fun I had making another hobble and fitting it on my own in the middle of the night ...

Meet Squeak

Here is Squeak at about 2 days old, sporting custom-fitted hobble to try to correct the splayed leg problem, alhough his or her legs are not half as bad as Liquorice's.

Other news: Squeak has a second sibling. There was another egg trying to hatch yesterday and all last night. I expected it to be out this morning, but still not. Julie came home from work early and helped it out of its shell - it had all dried up as the shell had been cracked for over 24 hours. It was very bent when first hatched, although is looking more and more normal (for a straggly yellow thing) by the hour. It's another Buff Sussex, and is called ... Lucky.

Construction Complete

Yesterday we got the whole outdoor construction completely finished - adding the final section of chicken wire to the run and re-doing all the wood preserver which washed off when it was too cold to dry properly.

However, it will be some time before the chicks can take up residence, as they are not really hardy for quite a while yet. They need to live indoors for a good few weeks, so the next picture will be of the rudimentary brooder we have made out of a cardboard box!

Chicks Away!

Well it finally happened. When we got up this morning all doubt as to whether we could hear noises in the incubator was dispelled, as the clear sound of cheeping was audible in the next room! One of the eggs was cracked but no chicks were visible.

I had to leave for work, and assumed that the chick would emerge minutes later, but in fact a different chick hatched 11 hours later, and the original cheeper didn't come out until nearly 14 hours later. It looks a bit worn out!

The first to hatch (Squeak) is a Buff Sussex, and the second (Liquorice) a Barnevelder. They are quite noisy - I'm now wondering whether they will keep me awake - they are certainly noisy enough! We're now hoping that they keep hatching, as there are still 13 eggs in there.

Finishing Touches

Today we completely finished all the construction and painting of the chicken house and run. Thanks to Steve Thurlow I found a time lapse mode on my camera so we filmed this video of adding the last chicken wire sections to the run, and Amy finishing the painting of the wood preserver.

Gang Plank

I think that finalises the construction of the chicken house itself - today I made the ramp that the birds will use to get in and out of the house. Thanks to Clive for the inspiration to fasten the cross-batons at an angle - this means that the chicken droppings are more likely to be washed off when it rains! Julie and Amy have been out with their paint brushes re-doing the wood treatment which washed off, and treating the run.

Still no sign of any chicks in the incubator, although Amy and I are both convinced that we have heard tiny sounds of movement from in there. It's getting tense around here ...!

Chicks?

Well, the incubation period is nearly up. There are still admittedly no signs of life at all in the incubator, although I might have heard a little scratchy noise earlier, or maybe it was my ears playing tricks on me. The 21st day of incubation technically starts tomorrow (Saturday) at 3pm which is 20 days exactly since the eggs went in, so let's see ...

Totally Wired (Well, Nearly)

Today I put the chicken wire on the sides of the run - a bit laborious as I had decided to put the wire underneath the cross-pieces for a neater finish. Not sure it was worth the extra effort!

Next time I'll need to sort out the end - obviously there will be no wire on the other end ...

The Run

In a brief window in the winter I did a bit more construction today, finishing the frame for the run. It is 1.8m long as the chicken wire we bought is 90cm wide, so with a strut half way that will make it easy to add the mesh. I made the top cross-pieces a bit longer so they can be used as handles to pull the run around. I found that I needed to add some corner struts to give it a bit more rigidity. I will probably remove the cross-pieces when I put the mesh on for a neater finish. The last piece will be to make the ramp for the chickens to walk up into the house.

The eggs are still incubating - we're about a week in now - nothing notable has happened yet, although Julie's Dad warned us that any eggs which were not fertile will be pretty bad after 3-4 weeks at 37.5 degrees! Apparently they are prone to exploding and have an extreme bad egg smell. Oh goody.

Let It Snow

As things are going to go quiet for the next 3 weeks (unless we drop an egg while turning them), here's a picture of the "chicken chalet" which has resulted from the recent weather conditions, specially designed for the fun-loving ski-chicken. The nearest lift is about 10m away (the trampoline) and the road outside is a black run. Excellent nightlife with many foxy visitors!

Let Incubation Commence

This afternoon Amy and I marked all the eggs with a "X" on one side, and a "O" on the other and placed them all X side up in the incubator. We've made a chart for the next 21 days so that one of us can cross off the turning every 8 hours - 7am, 3pm and 11pm. When the X is showing we will turn them to the right, and when the O is showing, we will turn them to the left. This is apparently to avoid the membranes which hold the embryo being constantly twisted the same way and tightening up. The picture is taken through the "port-hole" in the side of the incubator which is covered with perspex.

Amy and I also did a bit more building later this afternoon - we have measured up the right size for the trapeziums which will be the frames for the run. All those pieces are now cut, but we ran out of screws, so it will be a fairly quick job to fix it all together next time.

Chicken Wire

We're still allowing the eggs to chill out today - I think we'll put them in the incubator this afternoon. In the mean time Amy and I started with the chicken wire, putting on the "panels" at the side of the main house. We took off the bottom roof timber and the cross-piece at the bottom so the wire could be fixed to the frame neatly, and then put the cross-pieces back on for a rather professional finish! It was snowing lightly as we worked ...

The rest of the wire will go onto the run which is the remaining construction challenge.