After seeing my little girl, who is almost 21, off for Navy boot camp the week of Nov 16th, I was pleasantly surprised to find a new chick in the incubator that Saturday morning. I was doing my egg turning ritual when I realized there was a crack in one of the eggs and I turned it over to see that there was someone trying to get out. I was so excited.
I was happy to have purchased one of the small Brooders from Brinsea so this little chick could be kept warm. I know that this one is part Lt Brahma and part Easter Egger based on the egg it hatched from because I only have one hen that lays pink eggs. Since it was so small, I got a crazy idea of having one of the young bantie hens be in with it. I knew that if the hen was going to reject it the hen would peck at it and be mean. I tried one hen but she was too concerned about where the young duck and rooster were that she had been with so that wasn’t going to work. I had a Black Silkie that was some what odd, so I brought her up and put her in with the chick . They did fine together. The chick liked her and would cuddle under her like she was his mom. He is almost a month old and I have some new chicks that I’m expecting next weekend, so I will try this with them as well to see how they are accepted. The Silkie hen has been great and seems to enjoy being a mom. They are in a small tub in my bathtub. I keep some fresh straw in the bottom for them with the brooder. There is a small bowl for water and a small bowl for feed. I guess the hen likes the feed bowl as her nesting area because she sits in there and the little chick gets in there under her wing and just cuddles right there with her. They are just the cutest thing I have ever seen. They have surprised me a couple of times by getting out of the tub and out of the bathtub. The little chick follows right behind the hen.
I have been very happy with the results from the Brinsea mini incubator and the mini brooder and recommend them to anyone that is a beginner or just wants to hatch a few chicks or ducklings at a time.
