Yay! Congrats on the chick! If you have any eggs that have yet to hatch, you might leave them an extra day or so, to catch any late bloomers. But mersiepoo is right, if there is some reason the chick doesn't make it out, it's usually best. :( I've only had to assist one chick out, and that was Bear, who is now our Head Hen. She was a very large chick in a very large egg, and we just picked a few pieces of shell from around her head once she'd pipped and it was clear she was in a bad position to hatch and couldn't turn in the egg like she needed to--then we returned the egg to the incubator and she finished up herself. But I'll never forget that little beak poking through the pipped shell and YELLING, then retracting and having a curious little eyeball appear at the hole. My husband was the first thing she saw and she's STILL bonded to him. :) Yesterday, Bear went broody, and picked a fight with our Beta Roo, Scott, who is a banty. She tussled with him so bad that he knocked one of the ends off one of his spurs, then he stood over it and looked at it, VERY confused. :) No real injuries, though, and today Bear is setting nicely on a nest. We haven't decided if we are going to give her some eggs to hatch or maybe some of the chicks from the incubator in 2 weeks. Velvet ~:>

25 count runs are the norm for the minimums to order in chicks, but I noticed one 'chain' farm supply store orders them in on speculation...sets them up in a big galvanised water tank with lights and sells them by the each. Of course it 'just happens' to be around Easter, and I groan when I see that. What happens is they end up as holiday novelties to kids and when the roos get big (and they're always roos) people like me who raise chickens get a phone call from people who knows someone who has seen my egg sign and would I like some free chickens? I have taken in a few and have fed them for years with no return, just because I knew they'd have met an unkind fate if I hadn't. So, if you see a sales situation like this, get it in writing you are getting pullets. LOL. So if you've never had chickens before do you know if you order fertile eggs, you'll also need an incubator and brooding box and heat? And again.......if it's an egg it's just as likely to be a roo as a hen. And if you see ads for grown layers, they might be culls who don't lay or are past their laying years. Happens all the time here come fall and somebody who wants to start a laying flock bites. Your best bet is to find someone else who wants a small run of chicks and split an order with them. You might even want to enquire at the feed store or hatchery and let them know you are wanting to do this, and if it's a rural area like mine, they'll keep your number or hang a note on the bulletin boards so that other people who come in wanting only a few pullets can contact you and you can do this.

I looked it up on Sialis Lisa. It is 14-15 days. The blues starved because the evening before, even though it was 70 degrees, the parents weren't feeding very much at all. I knew this because opon opening the box all the nestlings heads raised up and were chirping loudly. The next day the weather turned for the worst, as described above, and actually I fed bluebird nuggets and waxworms in a tray on the ground. The worms diappeared so I assume the parents were just feeding themselves. The nestlings were about 3 - 6 days old. And actually If you follow me on the forums a lot you would know that I had 3 different pairs successfully raise nestlings last year. My boxes here are in my next door neighbor's field which is very open. Yes, I have lost plenty of birds. I'd like to say it's bad luck but IDK. Also the next property over lives a man who came from the city and landscapes his yard and sprays for dandelions. I got lucky last year when he sprayed during an active nest. Thought my blues were goners. Not much I can do about it. It's the best area in the neighborhood...you go else where and get problems with HOWR, HOSP, etc. 1 neighbor has a huge field but it's too far for me to monitor. It is straight back from my property. I want my blues nesting close to the house...not having to travel large distances. Somehow I lost 3 female bluebirds last season. I've never lost a male (knock on wood) so either female bluebirds don't know how to defend themselves or the male isn't watching his mate. Bluebirds in general don't seem to have what it takes to survive...they take forever to build in the spring and sometimes are away for days. They waste a lot of time. I've never had the luxury of time for a third brood. Something always messes it up. And this year, I think it will be because of how long the blues waited...they got back 1st but were beaten to box choices by the TRES.

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....