Well friends, you win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, this time, I lost three. Out of six eggs that went into the incubator, only three were able to fully hatch.
The fourth chick died mid zip, which was absolutely heartbreaking.
I completed his hatch after I could see he was no longer zipping or breathing, and found what appeared to be a chick that was simultaneously too large to maneuver around in the egg, but also too young to be hatching (the spot where he was absorbing nutrients was still open into his abdomen).
I will admit, I didn’t hatch out the last two for an eggtopsy, I was just too bummed out. I was really disappointed that my darkest egg didn’t hatch, but honestly, not terribly surprised. I’d read that Marans eggs are notoriously difficult to hatch. Even so, after my super successful (5 out of 6) Olive Egger hatch, a 50% hatch was a little discouraging.
To speak only about what didn’t go well isn’t really fair though, because I did get three of the teeniest, most adorable little cheepers ever out of this hatch. At just over a week old, they are perfect, fancy French Black Copper Marans full of personality. Gorgeous, healthy little birdies with soft, feathered feet.
They’re honestly to die for.
UPDATE April 23, 2018
Since I'm already transferring these posts over from the old blog to the new, I figured I would share a little update on this particular hatch. Every single one of these little chickadees turned out to be a rooster. They were absolutely gorgeous, with two classic FBCMs and one all black. I held out hope that last one would be a hen until I saw it crow with my own eyes. Two went on to another local flock, and the third is our beautiful, benevolent alpha rooster, Terrence.