The Hatching Nurse

🤯🥚 EGG FACT OF THE DAY 🥚🤯

Ever cracked open a fresh egg and noticed those little white stringy things attached to the yolk?

Most people think they're imperfections...

They're actually one of the coolest parts of the egg! 👀

Those white cords are called the chalazae (kuh-LAY-zee).

💡 Their job is to act like tiny bungee cords that keep the yolk suspended in the center of the egg.

Why does that matter?

🐣 If the egg is fertilized, it helps keep the developing embryo in the safest position.
🥚 It protects the yolk from bumping against the shell.
💚 It helps maintain the quality of the egg.

Here's something even cooler...

The more visible and firm the chalazae are, the fresher the egg usually is!

So the next time you crack an egg and see those white strings, don't remove them and don't worry about them.

They're completely normal, completely edible, and actually a sign that your egg may be very fresh! 🤯🥚

Now I'm curious...

👇 Have you ever noticed the chalaza before, or did you think it was something weird inside the egg?

🏆💚 WOW... WE HIT 4,000 FOLLOWERS! 💚🏆

First of all, THANK YOU! 🫶🏼🐣

When I started The Hatching Nurse, I never imagined we'd grow into such an amazing community of 4,000 poultry-loving friends. Every like, comment, share, purchase, game, and conversation has helped make this possible, and I appreciate every single one of you! 💚

Now for the 4K Top Fan Challenge...

Y'all made this HARD! 🤯

When I announced that the follower with the longest Top Fan streak at 4,000 followers would win the prize, I honestly never expected so many of you to be tied with an incredible 11-week streak! 🫶🏼🐣

Every one of these amazing supporters has appeared on my engagement list for 11 straight weeks, which is absolutely incredible and shows a level of loyalty that means the world to me. 💚

Because we had multiple followers tied at 11 weeks, I had to use total engagement points during those 11 weeks as the tiebreaker.

🏆 11-WEEK STREAK LEADERS 🏆

🥇 Jessica Hoch Jessica Hoch — 10,838 points
🥈 Brandy Dickinson — 10,806 points
🥉 Lenora Deonath — 8,853 points
4️⃣ Trina James — 5,561 points
5️⃣ Brit Brit — 3,503 points
6️⃣ Jessi Egan-Agne — 2,639 points
7️⃣ Nancy Schweitzer — 1,798 points

The difference between first and second place was only 32 points! 😱

Please help me congratulate our 4K Top Fan Challenge Winner...

🎉🏆 JESSICA HOCH! 🏆🎉

Jessica, thank you for your incredible support, engagement, comments, shares, and dedication to The Hatching Nurse community. 💚🐣

And to EVERYONE on this list—11 weeks straight is an amazing accomplishment and I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know. 🫶🏼

💚 Here's to 4,000 followers... and now the race to 5,000 begins! 👀🔥🐣

Thank you all for being the best community a hatching nurse could ask for! 💚

🏆💚 WEEKLY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT! 💚🏆
Y'ALL... Lynn C Kinlaw absolutely CRUSHED it this week! 🤯🔥
Not only was Lynn our ⭐ Top Star Sender ⭐, but she also dominated the Weekly Engagement List with an incredible 3,446 engagement points! 😱👏
Lynn, you have been putting in the work lately and this week it REALLY showed! Thank you for all the likes, comments, shares, support, and for helping make The Hatching Nurse such an amazing community! 🫶🏼💚🐣
🎉 As this week's Top Star Sender AND Weekly Engagement Winner, Lynn gets to choose TWO prizes!
🎁 Prize Choices: 💳 $10 Amazon Gift Card 🥚 6 Hatching Eggs 🎲 2 Free Game Spots 🐥 3 Dozen Coturnix Quail Eggs
✨ And yes... you can choose the same prize TWICE if you'd like! ✨
Everyone help me congratulate Lynn C Kinlaw! 🎉💚🥳

🐣🥚 CHICKEN FACT OF THE DAY! 🥚🐣
🤯 Baby chicks start talking to each other BEFORE they hatch!
That's right...
Long before a chick ever cracks its shell, it's already communicating with its brothers and sisters from inside the egg. 🐥💬
Around day 18 of incubation, chicks develop enough to hear sounds from outside the egg and from the other chicks around them.
Researchers have discovered that chicks begin making soft peeping sounds while still inside the shell, and nearby chicks actually respond!
🐣 "Peep!" 🐣 "Peep peep!"
It's basically the world's cutest group chat. 😂
Why do they do this?
Scientists believe these pre-hatch conversations help synchronize hatching so chicks emerge around the same time.
This gives them a better chance of survival because:
✅ They can stay together as a group ✅ They can learn from each other ✅ They can follow mom together ✅ No chick gets left behind
Even more amazing...
🐔 A mother hen will often talk to her chicks before they hatch.
The chicks learn to recognize her voice while they're still inside the egg and will respond to her clucks before they've ever seen her!
💚 Think about that for a second...
A chick can recognize its mother's voice before it has ever seen the world.
Nature is incredible.
💡 Fun Fact:
If you've ever heard eggs peeping in the incubator before hatch day, you're hearing fully developed chicks communicating from inside their shells!
Many hatchers know the excitement of walking into the incubator room and hearing those first tiny peeps coming from eggs that haven't even pipped yet. 🎉🐣
💬 Have you ever heard chicks peeping from inside the egg before hatch day?
👇 Tell me what day you first heard them!
🐣💚🥚

🐣🪶 GUINEA FOWL HATCHING EGG AUCTION 🪶🐣

These adorable little keets are hatching from my mixed-color guinea flock! 😍

✨ 12 Guinea Fowl Hatching Eggs

🎨 Possible colors include:
🤍 Pearl Grey
💜 Lavender
🖤 Royal Purple
🤍 White
🩶 Slate

💰 Starting Bid: $5
📈 Bid Increments: $5
📦 Shipping: $20 USPS Priority
🇺🇸 Lower 48 States Only

✅ NPIP Certified
✅ AI Clean Flock
🥚 Freshly Collected

⏰ Auction Ends Wednesday at 4:00 PM EST
📬 Ships Thursday

🔥 Don't miss your chance to add some colorful guinea genetics to your flock!

Drop your bid below! 👇🐣💚

Ok seriously y'all it took me 3 mins to clean and refill this thing ... Life changing 🤗🤩

🐣💚 ONE WEEK UPDATE... AND I'M SHOOK 💚🐣
Y'all... this brooder looks DIRTY on purpose. 😅
But here's the crazy part...
👉 TOMORROW makes ONE FULL WEEK since I set this thing up.
In the last 7 days: ❌ I have NOT refilled a waterer ❌ I have NOT refilled a feeder ❌ I have NOT changed the brooder pad ❌ I have NOT scrubbed anything
The ONLY thing I've done is turn the light on and off each day. That's it. 🤯
As someone who normally spends an hour or more after work: 🧽 Cleaning brooders 💦 Refilling waterers 🌾 Filling feeders 🔥 Scrubbing heat plates 🧹 Sweeping up messes
This has been absolutely LIFE CHANGING.
Now don't get me wrong... it's definitely time for a cleanup and fresh pad tomorrow 😂 but compared to my old-school galvanized stock tank brooders (last photos), the difference is unreal.
If I was only hatching small batches, I would use this setup EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. 🙌
And let's be honest... The chicks seem pretty happy about it too. 🐥💛
Who else has switched from traditional brooders to a low-maintenance setup and wondered why they didn't do it sooner? 👀⬇️
🐣💚

🐣💚 THE RESULTS ARE IN! 💚🐣
Our imported German Bielefelder hatch is officially complete and what an exciting hatch it has been! 🎉
✨ 2023 Imported Line: 8 out of 9 hatched 🐣 ✨ 2013 Imported Line: 10 out of 14 hatched 🐣
🎯 TOTAL HATCHED: 18 BEAUTIFUL GERMAN BIELEFELDERS! 🎯
For shipped hatching eggs, I couldn't be happier with these results! 🙌🏼
What's even more exciting is that we're already seeing differences between the two imported lines.
👀 One of the biggest things German Bielefelders are known for is being auto-sexing at hatch, meaning males and females can be identified by their chick coloring and head markings.
Looking at these two groups side by side, you can already see a noticeable difference in the clarity and consistency of the auto-sexing traits between the 2013 and 2023 imported lines! 🇩🇪🐣
That is exactly why I wanted both bloodlines—to compare: ✅ Auto-sexing quality ✅ Growth rates ✅ Feather development ✅ Temperament ✅ Egg production ✅ Overall breed quality
German Bielefelders truly are an amazing breed: 🥚 Large brown egg layers 🐔 Begin laying around 5-7 months 🍗 Excellent dual-purpose birds 💛 Calm, friendly personalities 🎯 Auto-sexing at hatch
Now the real fun begins as we watch these babies grow and see which imported line comes out on top! 👀
📸 Looking at the pictures, can you already see the difference between the two lines? Which group do you think will end up being the stronger line as they mature — the 2013 imports or the 2023 imports? ⬇️💚🐣
🐣💚

🦖🐔 CHICKEN FACT OF THE DAY! 🐔🦖
Did you know chickens are among the closest living relatives to the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex? 🤯
Scientists have compared proteins and DNA from modern birds and discovered that chickens share a surprising connection to one of the most feared predators to ever walk the Earth.
So the next time your rooster runs at you full speed, flaps his wings, and acts like he owns the place...
Just remember...
🦖 He's basically a tiny dinosaur.
And honestly? Some roosters never got the memo that they're only 8 pounds. 😂
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🚨 IMPORTANT QUESTION 🚨
You HAVE to choose ONE...
🦖 1 T-Rex-sized chicken
OR
🐔 100 chicken-sized T-Rexes
Which one are you fighting and WHY? 👀
No sitting on the fence!
👇 Comment your answer below!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
💚 Bonus Question:
What's the most "dinosaur-like" thing one of your chickens has ever done?

🐔🌈 CHICKEN FACT OF THE DAY! 🌈🐔
🤯 Chickens can see MORE colors than humans!
That's right! While humans see three primary colors (red, green, and blue), chickens have four color receptors in their eyes.
This means chickens can see: ✅ Red ✅ Green ✅ Blue ✅ Ultraviolet (UV) light
🌞 The world your chickens see looks completely different from the world you see!
Things that appear plain to us may have bright UV markings that chickens can easily spot.
🐔 Why does this matter?
Those super-powered eyes help chickens:
🐛 Find bugs hiding in grass 🌾 Locate seeds and food 🐥 Recognize flock members 🥚 Identify eggs 🚨 Spot predators faster
Even a chicken's comb and feathers can reflect UV light, helping chickens communicate and recognize one another in ways we can't see!
💡 Fun Fact:
Researchers believe chicks may even use UV vision to help identify their mother and siblings shortly after hatching.
👀 Ever wonder why your chickens seem to find treats you can't even see?
Now you know!
🌈 They're literally seeing a hidden world all around them.
💬 If you could see the world through your chickens' eyes for one day, what would be the first thing you'd look at?
👇 Tell me in the comments!
🌈🐔💚🐣