21 Days Later

This is not a zombie blog. It is the incubation period of a chicken egg. Fertilized eggs will hatch after about 18 days -- you may even be able to hear the chick peeping in the egg and in response the mother hen will start to cluck back as encouragement for the chick to hatch. The mother hen will sit on as many eggs as she can, even those she did not lay. She might even move eggs from the nest boxes next to hers!

We take the chick out of the nest within a few hours after hatching. This serves multiple purposes -- the first being it allows the chicks the chance to dry out. The second reason for removal is to protect them from other chickens killing them in a natural reaction to something small, out of place, or just different.

We keep the chickens separated from the older birds because, first and foremost, the chicks only have down feathers after being hatched and aren't able to keep heat in until their real feathers develop. So, for the first part of their lives they are kept under heat lamps. After the heat lamps, the chicks are kept in a separate pen visible to the older chickens. This allows for all the animals to get acclimated to each other without putting the baby chicks at risk.

The term "pecking order" is directly related to a flock of birds as any change (loss or gain) will directly affect the hierarchy of the flock.

Cheers,
Chef Jason and daughter Rowan