Hatching

[Porsmork84]

Hi everyone, hoping for some advice and tips.
After 1 of my bantams died recently, I'm left with only 2 birds. Instead of just buying another, and risking bullying etc, I'm going to try letting one or both of my girls hatch when they next go broody (which is pretty regularly!). But, I have some questions;

1. I am planning to get some hatching eggs from eBay. Can anyone recommend anywhere else online to buy? I'm after Pekin Bantams.
   
2. What do I do with male chicks? My plan is to offer them online for free, and if no takers, I guess I will have to ahem, dispatch them. Does anyone know of places I can contact to take them? I'm surrounded by zoos, animal farms and know of a couple of places that sell live chickens, but have no idea if they would want them!
   
3. I have an eglu go. I'm planning to take the roosting bars out and let the chicks hatch in there, and put a little step outside so they can get into the run without tripping over the lip. Any other tips?
   
4. Where is the best place to put the food for the chicks? Inside the coop, or just a little bit outside?

[cakeymakey]

Hi There,
I've hatched polish bantams from ebay eggs twice successfully under my broody pekin bantam hen. Its a bit hit and miss, but as long as you are prepared it can work very well to increase your flock, and be fun for the family to observe too.

The first hatch we had 2/6 hatch but only one made it. At 6 weeks old it was killed by the neighbours cat. Last hatch was more succesful with 5/6 hatching, and so far we still have 5 5week old polish chicks.
Some of these will almost certainly be cockerels. We'll try and find them a local home (we are very rural and lots of people keep chooks around here).

I'm not familiar with eglu's but we've always used a separate broody box for our hatches, and a seperate run to keep it away from the other adult hens. They will attack new members of the flock if not. So you'll need to consider this if you only set one hen on eggs and not the other, or if one hen has a successful hatch and the other doesnt.

Finally keep them away from all predators (cats, other birds etc) and under cover, until they are big enough to fend for themselves . Bantam chicks are small and we learnt this the hard way - losing our lovely first chick to a cat. So an upturned lid with chick crumb in the box when they first hatch, and later a shallow feeder in the run is the best way to go. Chicks can drown easily too, so offer water in a dish with elastic bands over the top to stop them falling in. Theres lots on the internet for thye first time hen breeder and I found a lot of helpful advice on backyard chickens website too.
Have fun!

[Porsmork84]

Thanks for your advice! I've got 6 on the go, they've been sitting about a week. Just candled and I'm hoping for 3 to work, though it was hard to see blood vessels, just a dark shadow and air sack! I've got to leave them be now! One definitely had an embryo dancing about it it. Exciting times!