“To hatch, or not to hatch, that is the question.”
Two happenings in the Kamm McKenzie Koop today. Some good news, and some not so good news. First the bad news. I’m not sure just how to break it to Miss Frizzle, but her eggs are sterile. I brought a pen light into work today and “candled” the eggs, which is to say transilluminated them and see if there was a chicken embryo in there. Nada, and it is day 15 out of 21 days of gestation. If the light shines through and the whole egg glows, ain’t nothing going on in there. If there is a dark spot, that spot is a developing chick.
Here is a chart:
Here is one of Miss Frizzle’s eggs:
Now for the good news (maybe). We have 4 Silkie chickens. You can’t tell if they are a boy or a girl until they either “lay an egg or crow”, according to the gentleman from whom they were purchased. I have suspected for some time that one is a boy, as it is bigger, has a waddle under it’s beak and a bump on top of it’s beak. Well, this morning he had his personal gender reveal party, he discovered he was a boy and crowed three times. As long as he isn’t too boisterous, he can stay. If he creates a racket, he might have to go and find a new home in Coats with Dr Kamm. That means the next batch of eggs will be fertilized. I think I’ll let Miss Frizzle fulfill her life function of sitting on eggs for 21 days. She has been very dedicated to it. After 21 days have passed she will get bored and abandon the eggs. Then I’ll toss them and wait for a fresh fertilized batch. Stay tuned…..
