Baby Chicks

Our eggs in the incubator

We had a second successful hatching last week. It was so less stressful than the first hatching we experienced two weeks ago.

I had worried so much over our first batch of eggs. When they started hatching, I couldn't sleep at night. I worried too much that some little chicks wouldn't be able to hatch. I spent way too many hours watching them work at chipping away the eggshell. I intervened with many of them who were struggling, delicately chipping away bits of shell with an old dental tool. Since I was opening the incubator so often to assist chicks, I had to constantly adjust it's humidity and temperature to compensate for my actions.

With this batch of eggs, I let nature run its course. I left the incubator alone. Lo and behold, the chicks turned out fine. What a fool I was to worry so much!

Yesterday Nathan took a tub of chicks to work with him. They were part of his annual science fair booth.  There's something irresistible about little fluffy chicks, so engineers played with the chicks all afternoon. They were a huge hit!

Now we have a total of 35 chicks living in Sarah's room until they are big enough to move into the barn. She is one happy child!

Matthew cradles his favorite chick

Eggs ready to hatch