The awkward stage

19 days old ...

Tulip, Buttercup, and Camellia had their first independent adventure into the yard today. They somehow got themselves down from the top level of their coop in the morning and after much squawking, made their way up the ramp and back upstairs at the end of the day. It took much prodding from their mommies but they did it themselves. The life of chickens is amazing to me. They were tiny eggs just over 2 weeks ago! Now they look like awkward teenagers growing into their feet and wings!

12 days old ...

Twelve days old and their feathers are growing in.

4 days old ... Fluffy butts

From egg to this in 21 days. It just amazes me!

2 days old ... Camellia has two mommies

This little one is named Camellia. I think she's a splash-colored silkie, which is essentially spotted.
Daisy and Lily take their responsibilities very seriously ... I mean VERY seriously.

Hatch Day (Day 21): One fluffy butt!

All three silkie chicks have hatched! YAAAAYYYYY! Two are this color (blue, probably) and one is buff. More pics will be forthcoming as soon as they start venturing from under the mommas.

Day 20: Happy Birthday Tulip!

Found this little thing at 4:30 pm today (so that's 31.5 hrs since it pipped). Since then Tulip's been joined by another one! So, now I have two little fuzzy butts and maybe one more on the way!

Day 20!!!! We got pipping!

WOOHOO! Two of the 3 eggs have started to pip! That is, they have broken through the eggshell! Daisy and Lily have been fighting over the eggs so I took the dud one (the 4th) and placed it under Daisy to settle it. I'm a little worried this jostling about is not a good thing but watching the hens carefully and may have to separate them if it goes on. I got this shot of one of the pipping egg right before Lily slipped it under her. If you look carefully, you can see the crack in the shell.

Day 17

I guess hatching could take place from tomorrow through Thursday! I candled the 4 eggs last night and one unfortunately died. I haven't removed it yet because I have not fully acknowledged that one of the precious eggs has stopped developing! I am an optimist after all. The chicks are taking up most of the space in the egg with an air pocket at one end ... and not moving around at all so I am hoping that is a good sign. I will keep my fingers crossed that at least 1 will hatch. I took this pic today. Don't they look so SERIOUS?

Day 12

Just 7-9 more days to go. I tried candling the eggs tonight but it is already too dark to see anything. The air pocket is on the fat end of the egg but that's about all that's visible. I didn't see any movement but my guess is that it is a pretty tight squeeze in there right now so maybe I ought not see too much movement. The wait is killing me! I hear that Daisy and Lily can feel the chick's heart beat now. I wonder what they are thinking ...

Day 10

It is Day 10 (of ~19). Checked 2 of the 4 eggs last night and this is pretty much what the eggs look like now (the video's not mine; it's from YouTube):

*fingers crossed*

An egg at Day 4 (This is what they look like now! ... but it's not my video)

Countdown to Hatch!

Success! I bought 3 silkie chicken hatching eggs on Ebay from muki1234, a highly recommended silkie breeder from TN. The eggs were laid on Feb 8 and arrived on Feb 11th and set under Lily and Daisy the same day. Melinda (the breeder) stuck an extra egg in the box so my chances of success are even greater! My little hens were already broody and took to mothering immediately! They sit all day, leaving the nest only once a day to eat, drink, and poop. Since it takes 21 days to hatch, I am counting down the days. They are hopefully hatching on March 4. There's a countdown clock to the right so I welcome ya'll to join me with the watch! I'm so excited! If I get a chance, I'll post some candling pics of the developing embryos!

Update: 2/14 (Day 3) - three of four eggs are showing spidering veins! That means embryos are developing!

Update: 2/16 (Day 5) - Maybe it was wishful thinking. Two of the eggs showed embryo development.

Update: 2/16, 7:21pm (Day 5) - Candled tonight and ALL 4 eggs show signs of life!!!! I'm so so so happy!

Plumpness!

Vermicomposting has a lot of benefits! Some tomato plants came up in my worm bin and I transplanted them in a little 12 in planter with 6 inches of soil ... and these are what I got! I've been fertilizing the plant with worm castings and O-M-G (!), the plants has burgeoned into a luscious bush dripping with large, plump tomatoes! At last count, there are over 50 tomatoes and I've already picked a dozen! It is still growing in the little pot and despite what I thought, it hasn't rooted below the pot. All its roots are getting the nutrients from the soil and castings and I've been watering it everyday since we haven't had a good rain for weeks. I love eating my fish tacos with tomatoes still warm from the sun!

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