Dr Caroline’s Chicks have Hatched!

Last weekend, Dr. Caroline hatched some chickens from some fertile chicken eggs. The eggs were incubated in an egg incubator at home. It takes 21 days to incubate chicken eggs. At day 20, the chicks begin to hatch – they can be heard peeping inside their eggs and then begin to pip through the shell with their beaks. The process of hatching can take from one hour up to 24 hours, and is fascinating to watch as the chicks peck all the way around the egg and push their way out. Once hatched, the chick is wet and exhausted, and spends the first few hours drying off and sleeping for the majority of the time. After the hatched chicks have dried off and found their feet, they begin to run around, get to know each other and start to eat their food and water.

If they are not raised by a mother hen, they can be raised in a warm environment known as a brooder for the first  6 weeks. They can be provided with a substrate suitable for dust bathing and playing in, such as lucerne chaff. Chicks love to play and can become very boisterous – running around, chasing each other, having play fights, scratching around and dust bathing.

The breed of chicks that Dr.Caroline hatched are known as Australorps, which are a breed developed in Australia and make very good laying hens. As well as these chicks, there was also one white Silkie chick which hatched. All chicks are growing well and are very healthy.