“Green” eggs are extremely uncommon. Chicks born from a green egg don’t usually LAY green eggs. But these EGGIES are a very rare breel called Silverudd Blues, or Isbars. They actually DO hatch from AND also lay “green” eggs.
Last year (2022), we attempted to add these green kiddos into our flock, but … well, nature happens. So, this year, we are doubling down early! We fired up the incubator on March 23rd, and babies should be hatching by APRIL 12th!!
We have a good mix of both mint green and brown-green khaki eggs from our breeder for this season. So excited!!
Incubating eggs is half science and half art. Temperature, humidity, pre-settling, rocking, proper angles, air movement, oxygen ratios… and incubators have come a long way from my father’s old incubator box to help out. This incubator holds up to 22 eggs. We started with 18, and if you notice in the second picture, we were down to 15 before we went into our final lockdown.
Notice the red plug? We remove it 3 days before the chicks hatch out, so we can increase humidity by adding more warm water. Also see those concentric circles we’ve drawn on? That shows us how much the eggs have dehydrated during each week of the incubation process. It’s quite a lot!
Did you know? Green eggs happen when you cross brown egg layers with blue egg layers. Brown eggs *(which are actually white) are pretty common, but blue eggs are a genetic mutation originally triggered by a viral infection!
PIP, ZIP, n POP - NEW CHICKIES! A chick can take HOURS to hatch, and does so in three stages. First, they PIP through the shell and take their very first breath (and a few hours to recuperate). Next, they ZIP, cutting a small circle as they turn all the way around the inside their shell (which happens much faster). Finally, they struggle their way to POP out entirely!
