Lessons from my fourth hatch

The triumphant chirp of a new chick is a sound that never gets old. This time, I was lucky enough to hear it twice.

As of today, my flock has grown by two tiny, peeping bantam chicks. One fought its way out of the incubator; the other was delivered under the expert care of a broody hen. This fourth hatch attempt was a rollercoaster of expectation, science, and a little bit of old-fashioned luck - and I learned more than ever before.

The Incubator Mystery: A Case of the Singleton Chicks

Let's address the elephant in the room: my incubator. It has a curious habit of producing one, and only one, perfect chick per hatch. My first, third, and now this fourth attempt have all followed this pattern.

This time, four other eggs showed promising signs during candling - a red glow with a dark shadow indicating development - but they never pipped. By day 24, I had to accept they weren't going to make it. It's a frustrating puzzle. The lone chick that did hatch is now a thriving 29-day-old ball of fluff and energy, which tells me the basics are right, but the fine-tuning is off. Moving the incubator away from drafts (a lesson from hatch #3) seems to have helped the overall environment, but the mystery of the singleton continues. The investigation is still very much open.

The Surprise Sous-Chef: A Hen to the Rescue

Now, you might be wondering about the second chick. Why was there a hen in the mix? Well, a crucial lesson from my previous attempts is that eggs shouldn't be stored for more than seven days before incubation.

When I set the first six eggs for this hatch, one of my hens decided she wasn't done contributing. She laid four more eggs over the next five days. I quickly added one to the incubator (within the 24-hour window), but with low hopes, I left the remaining three with her. I provided some shade with a plywood shield to protect them from the direct sun and heat, but honestly, I didn't expect much.

To my absolute joy and surprise, on the morning of August 11th, 2025, I heard it: the distinct pip pip pip of a hatching egg from her nest. Sometimes, the best technology is Mother Nature herself.

The Fourth Hatch: A Breakdown of Events

Here's a more detailed log of how it all went down:

• The Star of the Show: The incubator chick pipped on day 19 at 8 PM and was completely free of its shell by 10 PM - just as I was about to call it a night. By morning, it was already on its feet, sturdy and strong. I moved it to the brooder on day 21.

• Egg Audit: I had 9 eggs in the incubator from three different hens. Seven were from Hen A, one from Hen B, and one from Hen C. The first egg from Hen A and the single egg from Hen B were infertile. The egg from Hen C was one of the four that partially developed.

• Preparation is Key: This time, I was ready. The brooder was set up with starter feed, a waterer, and a feeder before the hatch. For heat, I used an electric water heating bag at night, which worked wonders, though it required one reheat during the early morning hours during the first 10 days.

• Sibling Rivalry? The mother hen is doing a fantastic job with her surprise chick. I tried introducing the incubator chick to its younger sibling (they have identical plumage!), but mama hen got understandably defensive. For now, they in separate cages. The chicks are nine days apart, by the way.

• DIY Win: A quick victory lap - my DIY cold storage box for egg storage worked perfectly, just as it did last time!

This fourth hatch was a powerful lesson in humility and observation. It taught me to trust both my equipment and my hens, and that even when technology gives you a puzzle, nature might just have a backup plan.

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Lessons from my third hatch

I'm now into my third month of incubating bantam chicken eggs, and I just started my fourth attempt. I've already written about my first hatch. My second and third attempts didn't go as planned. Here's what happened and the hard-earned lessons I've picked up along the way.

The Second Attempt: All Eggs Infertile

Out of four eggs, none were fertile - which shocked me, given that my roosters outnumber hens two to one. Was it poor mating, improper egg storage, or just bad luck? I'm still not sure, but it was a frustrating setback. These eggs were place under a table in the hall at Malaysian room temperature, by the way. Ceiling fan was running for 8+ hours everyday.

The Third Attempt: A Brief Victory

This time, I set seven eggs. Only one hatched - a tiny triumph - but the chick died after a week due to my mistakes. Three other eggs showed early development but stalled around day 14.

Here's what I learned:

1. Location Matters
   Placing the incubator in the hallway seemed ideal for family viewing but turned out to be a disaster. The ceiling fan (running 8+ hours daily) created drafts, causing temperature swings inside the incubator. The only egg that hatched was the one farthest from the fan - probably not a coincidence.

2. Hatch Timeline
   The chick pipped on day 19 and hatched by day 20.

3. A Chick's Struggle
   
   

   

   
   The chick had trouble standing and showed signs of wry neck (stargazing). After 48 hours, I moved it to a plastic container tilted at an angle to help it stand upright. Amazingly, within a day, it was running around on its own. Also, I fed it some cow's milk just in case it had some nutrient deficiencies.
   
   

   

   
   

4. A Fatal Mistake: Cow's Milk Isn't for Chicks
   I fed it cow's milk as it seems to be not pecking on the cracked corn. But by day six, the chick was weak and scratching itself, most likely from dehydration. It died the next day. Lesson learned: chicks need proper feed, not dairy substitutes.

5. Better Nutrition for the Flock
   Since the chick had developmental issues, I suspect my hens and roosters might need higher-quality feed to produce healthier eggs.

6. Preparing for Future Hatches
   Next time, I'll have chick starter feed, proper feeders, and a secure brooder box ready - especially since my house is surrounded by curious cats.

7. Knowing When to Stop
   On day 24, after candling showed no progress in the remaining eggs, I turned off the incubator.

8. DIY Cold Storage Success
   As an experiment, I stored eggs in a homemade polystyrene cold storage box (with temperature ranging between 22°C - 24°C) for seven days before incubation. Frozen ice in a plastic bottle was replaced every 8 hours to maintain the cool temperature. The hatched chick came from one of these eggs. So it seems to work!

Final Thoughts
Each hatch teaches me something new, even when things go wrong. With better prep - stable incubation conditions, proper feed, and smarter storage - I'm hopeful attempt #4 will be the breakthrough. Wish me luck.

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My First Egg Incubator Attempt - Lessons Learned

This is an update on my first try with a new egg incubator - and honestly, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped.

Out of the three eggs I placed in the incubator:

Why I Bought An Egg Incubator

I keep bantam chickens in my backyard. I have been keeping them for something like 24 years now.

Recently, I just bought myself an incubator (Note: a Lazada Malaysia affiliate link ). It wasn't an easy decision - I've always preferred letting my hens hatch eggs the natural way. There's something deeply satisfying about watching a broody hen patiently tend to her clutch, the way nature intended. But after losing three hens in the past six months and seeing a steady decline in hatching success, I finally hit panic mode. The uneven rooster-to-hen ratio (around 2:1) didn't help either.

Gone are the days when a single hatch would give me four or five healthy chicks per hen. That was 15 or 20 years ago. These days, I'm lucky if I get two chicks out of five or six eggs. At first, I wondered if something was wrong with my flock - were my hens getting older? Was there a hidden disease? But the more I thought about it, the more I kept coming back to one glaring change: the heat.

Extreme high temperatures have become much more frequent here, and I can't help but blame that for my hatching woes. Eggs are sensitive; too much heat can kill developing embryos or prevent fertilization altogether. My hens still go broody, but the results just aren't the same.

So, I caved and bought an incubator. It feels like admitting defeat in a way - like I'm stepping in where nature should handle things. But if climate extremes are the new normal, maybe a little backup isn't such a bad idea.

Ah Ngiew's Daughter?

It's very uncommon to find stray cats with long fur in my neighbourhood. In fact, I've never seen one before. Not just here, but in my entire life. So you can imagine my surprise when, on the morning of 28th March 2025, a tiny, long-furred kitten appeared on my front porch as if by magic. My first thought? Could this be Ah Ngiew's offspring?

The Uncanny Resemblance

Ah Ngiew, my male cat who disappeared six months ago, had distinct features, most notably, the extremely fine fur behind his neck, softer than the rest of his coat (a trait even his younger siblings didn't share). But this little kitten? The same.

Even the way she meows reminds me of Ah Ngiew's mother - those little audible breaks in her voice, the same hesitant, raspy tone.

I've always suspected that Ah Ngiew might have been with his own kittens when he vanished. After all, he'd always had a soft spot for his siblings when they were just days old, as can be seen in this video. He never returned last October, likely held captive - along with his mate and kittens - in a nearby house. Sometimes, I still hear seasonal male cat mating calls that sound just like his voice. This usually happens around 9 o'clock in the morning. To me, it's a sign: I still hope he'll come back to his real home one day. We all miss him, especially his bushy tail.

This kitten's age is about 6 month old, by the way, which ties in with the duration of Ah Ngiew's disappearance.

How Did This Kitten End Up Here?

The bigger question is: Why this kitten? Why my house?

Long-furred strays are rare here, so it's unlikely she was just wandering. Was she dumped? Perhaps because she's female, or because her colours aren't 'exotic' enough for someone's liking?

Or, was it fate that left her here?

What Now?

For now, this little mystery has curled up on my porch, and she's already claimed the place as her own. I bring her inside every night to keep her safe after a few tense confrontations with neighborhood cats in those first two days. Whether she stays forever or finds another home, she's already woven herself into our lives, reminding me of the strange, unseen connections between cats and the people who love them.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? A cat that seemed to appear out of nowhere, carrying a story you may never fully know?

We named her Ah Ngeow, by the way.

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Where Are You Ngiew?

It has been three long months since my beloved male cat, Ngiew, went missing on October 18, 2024, a month just shy of his second birthday. Ngiew is a gray Domestic Longhair cat with a bushy tail and stripes on his limbs. The longest he's ever been away before was about a week. So initially I didn't worry too much. He often spent time at the empty house across the street, hanging out with a female cat. It is always comforting to hear his cries from across the street when he is not at home.

But this time, there's no sign of him. I'm not sure if he's been taken in by someone, wandered off with other cats, or if his adventurous genes (his dad - and later his younger brother too - is also a neighbourhood wanderer) led him further than ever before.

GB1 GameBird 9M-GTR Spotted In Ipoh

First off, let me be clear - I am not a plane spotter. Plane spotting isn't something I've ever considered as a hobby. But something unusual happened in late November 2024 that grabbed my attention. A plane buzzed over my head, and its engine pitch and tone shifted dramatically from high to low, over and over again. This kind of sound was unlike anything I have ever heard in the skies above Ipoh.

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. I stepped outside, looked up, and there it was: a plane performing aerobatics in the sky. It was looping, rolling, and zooming around with what seemed like effortless grace. My first thought?

"Who's flying that, and isn't it incredibly dangerous?"

This wasn't a one-time occurrence either. The plane returned repeatedly over the next few days, so often that I lost count. Sometimes it danced far off in the distance; other times, it roared directly overhead, close enough to make me stop whatever I was doing.

Finally, after several attempts, I managed to capture a few decent photo of the plane with my Canon SX530 HS superzoom camera. The markings on the fuselage read "9M-GTR." A quick Google search revealed the plane to be a GB1 GameBird with that very registration number.

Not only did I snap a photo, but I also recorded a short video of its aerobatics.

Filming a high-speed plane at such a great distance was no easy feat, and I've realised I need to polish my skills in capturing fast-moving objects overhead. But for a first attempt, I'd say it wasn't too shabby! The video was shot handheld through one of my upstairs south facing window.

Reflecting on the experience, I can't help but feel a newfound appreciation for the skill and precision it must take to fly like that. While plane spotting may not be my thing, this unexpected encounter definitely added some excitement to my week and gave me a story to share.

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Video Link - Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Tweedale Morph)

This is a follow up to my previous post on the Oriental Honey-Buzzard in my neighbourhood. I actually took a couple of videos of this bird and here is one of them that I have uploaded to my Youtube channel.

Sorry for the slight shakiness in the video as I only own a budget tripod. Video was taken with my Canon Powershot SX530HS by the way.

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Hope To See You Again Bani

It has been 3 months. The date July 14th 2024 to be exact. My male cat Bani has not been seen or heard of since then. I think it is safe to conclude now that he has left home and won't be coming back.

Good bye Bani. We are going to miss you. Pleasant journey, wherever you are going.

I hope to see you again one day.

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Oriental Honey-Buzzard - Tweedale Morph

Blyth's Hawk Eagle? That was my first thought. But no. After much digging, it turns out be be an Oriental Honey-Buzzard in what seems to be a Tweedale Morph. My lucky day.

This bird first flew onto the lamp post right in front of me while I was weeding out in my front yard on one wet Monday evening. It then flew onto my neighbour's roof some 25 feet up. I didn't pay much attention to it thinking that it was just paying a quick visit. Some 10 minutes later, it was still there. This prompted me to get some pictures of this bird - and later, some videos.

I first used my Canon EOS 800D camera. But I soon realised that I do not have the reach with my Canon EF-S 55-250mm lens. That's the longest lens that I have on my 800D. So I switch to my old Canon Powershot SX530HS. Now that's better (thus the picture above).

No doubt the Canon EOS 800D would give better picture quality. However, I just couldn't afford those long reaching birding lenses (those greater than 400mm lenses) as I do not have deep pockets. I just can't justify it for now.

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Flowering Again?

Some thing peculiar is happening. This has never happened before as far as I know.

The rambutan season here just ended about 2 weeks ago. In fact, there are still some rambutans on the two trees that I have, though they are not human edible anymore.

And last week, new flowers are blooming again! Not just on one but two trees.

Yes, we have had two rambutan seasons before within a year in the past. But normally, they are spaced out on a couple of months apart.

What's happening? What's triggering this phenomena?

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R.I.P. LahChee

I have been expecting this and it finally happened last month on 18th July 2024. LahChee died with what looks like brain seizure.

It was around April 2024 when I first noticed that something was wrong with her. She wasn't gaining weight and looks a little skinny even though she was eating and drinking normally. She was of the size of a 3 month kitten even though she was 7 months old.

Rest in peace LahChee. We all are going to miss you.

R.I.P. AhChee

The stray mother cat that can came into my life some eight or nine years ago, died last Sunday 14th July 2024. Funny thing was on the evening before she died, she was still very active and came to me looking for food at around 6:30 PM in the evening like she alway do. I obliged.

She gulped down about half a cup of liquid in the food while consuming some noodles and anchovies in between (it was chicken feed meant for my chickens). She then followed me around and even went hunting for rats.

Next thing I knew was my neighbour found her dead in the morning.

R.I.P. ChahJee

I feel so sad. ChahJee died yesterday 5th July 2024 after been with my family for only 18 days. He died at around 1:35 P.M.. My wife and I was by his side.

Welcome ChahJee

Not too sure why but this mature cat has decided to call my house home. I tried to chase him away but he just refused to go. On the next day, he was still loitering around in the backyard. But on the third day, he got all friendly, brushing himself against and bonding with me.

So, welcome cat, welcome to my home.

R.I.P. - Chahchee

Name: Chahchee

Date Of Birth: Sometime begining December 2023

Date And Time Of Death: 13th June 2024 6:00 P.M. (after short illness since 3rd June 2024)

Cause of death: Unknown

Age: 6 months+

Thank you Chahchee for coming into my life. If only we could have spent more fun and time together. 6 months is just too short.

Nest In A Tree Branch

This is the first time I am seeing this. A bird nest in a tree branch. My, the bird is not even a woodpecker but a Coppersmith barbet instead. The old tree where the nest is sits on my neighbour's property. The place is quite tranquil, now a home-stay with not much human activity. Probably, this is what attracted the mother bird to this place.

Chinese Pond Heron - Breeding Plumage

Learnt something new today. These Chinese Pond Herons, they look different depending on the season. This blog post contains pictures of a Chinese Pond Heron in its winter plumage.

The two pictures in this blog post here is how it looks in its breeding plumage.

More Kittens

More kittens in my house.

Date of birth: 3rd April 2023. Time: around 2:15 p.m. That was when we heard the sound of some baby kittens crying. We counted four, but one died 4 days later on April 7th. Mother cat is in the pink of health. Likewise for the rest of the kittens too so far.

Here are two short videos that I've made of the kittens on April 6th:

New Cat In Town

New cat in town. Date of birth is 17th November 2022. Time of birth, around 9 A.M. Kitten has another sibling but it went missing 4 days later. We have no idea what happen to it. So sad.