Yet more chicks

I am addicted to hatching different breeds of chicks. We have done Sussex tricolour, Marans, Faverolle, Barnvelder, Leghorn and Wyandotte this year already as well as a number from our own mixed eggs.

I have finally settled on what breeds we want for our flock - with a view to them being a bit more 'meaty' than the laying breeds we have now, but still acceptable egg laying. 

Wyandotte and Sussex. The Sussex sound the ideal chicken for us, but I love the look of the Wyandottes so had to have them too.

11 Light Sussex (white with grey necks) and 3 Wyandottes have just hatched. 

The Wyandotte eggs had a bit of an accident. I bought them online and the person posting said they would post on a Monday, so they would arrive Wednesday. I arranged to pick up the Sussex eggs on Wednesday so they could all go on together. 

However the post didn't cooperate and the Wyandotte didn't turn up until Friday - by which time we were in La Mongie. We came back to find the postman had kindly left the parcel - in the full sun unfortunately. In the missing days the parcel had clearly been being used as a football as half the 24 eggs were broken - and then stinky after a day in the sun.

I was going to chuck the whole lot, but Doug suggested I should give them a chance, so I washed them off and put them in the incubator. A number went bad during incubation (not surprising given the stinky goop they had been covered in), but 3 made it. Pretty surprising even that many, given their start in life.

UPDATE - 2 more hatched a day after the others 3. Fortunate I always leave the incubator on for ages in case of this kind of thng!

The black and white ones here are the older Wyandottes.

Brand new Sussex chick

Not so pretty when just hatched!

This is one of the 3 new Wyandotte, still in the incubator and not quite dry yet.