Let the Incubating & Hatching Begin!

TODAY is THE day! The incubator has been running since yesterday. The temp is almost ideal. The 2nd thermometer (with humidity) is now recharged and in to temp compare with the other therm.

I'll be going out to collect eggs soon and hope they aren't frozen due to it being so DARN COLD! And then I'll add all my collected eggs to the incubator and wish them a successful hatching with healthy, vibrant little chickies!

They will be due to hatch March 3rd - 4th!

Do you want to see a banner up with all the seasonal ones to tell when the hatch is due to begin? I hadn't decided if I would do that this year. If you enjoy seeing it there, I'll be happy to add it! Just post me a comment OR mark at the bottom of this post in the "interesting" box. You don't have to log in or anything to mark the "interesting" box! :) No capcha code to try to discern.

I'm really looking forward to hatching again. I really need some little chicks to grow into layers and farm entertainers. I do enjoy watching their antics.

Varmit Control Update: No luck last night as we had a snow storm and it got COLD! There weren't even any tracks in the snow. I've more juicy tidbits to add to the container of cat kibble and a juicy pork chop fat strip to freshen up the aroma.

Off to murmur my little hatch well chickies mumble jumble while slowly circulating my hands over the incubator. Gosh, after last year maybe that isn't the best for wishing my lovely eggs well. I didn't seem to have to great of hatches..... Maybe I need a new gimmick or routine! Maybe a better prayer....

Another Day on the Homestead

It might be just another day on the homestead, but this one is only 43* so far! BRRR! How easily I get use to temps in the 50's. We have frost warnings for tonight and I hate that as my apple trees and lilacs are in bloom or budded. A heavy frost does them all in. My daffodils are done for the season. I hate that short daffy season! At least the trees are a greenish tinge in the distance and the grass near to needing mowing.

I've been pulling weeds from my garden plots and tossing them to the chickens. They LOVE that. If I walk anywhere near the pen they are all at the fence begging and looking at me with hopes for a treat. After all, grab some grass and run and the chase is on. Get a bug out of the dirt and roots and the whole gang is on your tail chasing you. It's a regular chicken derby! They seem to realize that it's also milk season and they are at their gate watching me and hoping I'll give them a bit of milk too. Being the 3 bucklings left, I did give them about a cup of milk poured on their grain yesterday and they were estatic about that too. The nice thing is that it helps the adhere to the finer particles of the ground feed to the whole grains and makes it easier for them to swallow. I've always wondered how they can stand to eat all the finely ground feed. It would leave my mouth terribly dry while trying to swallow! So I like when I can give them some milk to wash it down.

Patches has moved out to the barn with the rest of the kids. He seems very happy to have them to run and play with. I was hoping to get the other 2 bucklings to their new home this week. I'm not sure I can get that done as I've not caught up with the gal. She's quite busy helping hospice with volunteer home respite care for some families. It's very quiet without any goat kids in the house. In a way it's nice, but then I kind of miss them too. They are just out to the barn and yard so it's not like I have far to go to visit them!

Being the beginning of May, it's almost time for me to start planting. I need to finish up the weeding and preparing the garden beds to get that done. I'm hoping to get some planting started this week! I want to get my squash, chard and some spinach seeds in to start with. That usually makes getting the rest going easier for some reason!

The last incubator hatch was only 3 chicks. One hasn't been doing well and will be put down. The other 2 are going to the barn tomorrow. I've been leaving the light off now but the house is warmer as I still have to start an evening fire. So I'll take them out tomorrow which is suppose to be warmer out and the night temp better too. I'm sure they are both little roos. I have chicks starting to hatch now in the incubator and they need the brooder. I sure hope I have a much better hatch this time!

My 2 turkey hens have gone broody but they have mostly chicken eggs under them. The chickens keep going in and laying with the turkey hens in the crate! There will only be a couple turkey eggs there and I hope they are fertile being the tom was injured and moved in the barn so the hens would quit pecking on him. I sure hope some of the turkey eggs will hatch in the incubators as there won't be many, if any, out side! If nothing else, it maybe quite cute to see a couple turkey hens with the chicks instead of them having poults!

I also have a couple hens who have gone broody and are sharing a nest and eggs!

Yes, it's a busy Spring time on the ole homestead!

Incubating News

The 3 little mixed breed hatchlings are doing great. All 3 are getting around well and strong and vibrant chicks. With my luck they will all 3 be roosters! Just what I need!

I cleaned the one incubator and have some chicken and the turkey eggs in it. The chicken eggs take 21 days and the turkey 28 days til hatch.

In a week I'll set the turkey eggs I continue to collect in the other incubator and continue to do that weekly. I got 6 turkey eggs last week to hatch and I can put 48 eggs in the incubators. Being the Bantam eggs are small I can add a few more than 48. That allows me to put the 6 turkey and 6+ chicken eggs in each week and I'll have chicks that can help the poults with eating and drinking and such and not be so old they want to peck on them. I've not seen Thomas T Turkey mating with the hens. I do see the hens submissively laying down next to him but he continues to strut, display and vibrate his feathers making his strumming music while his head turns red and his wattles red and blue. He's got the foreplay part down but I don't know if he's getting the business part finished. Maybe he needs to take note of the roosters who don't know the meaning of foreplay and are all business and professional stalkers!

I also have the money now to order the parts for the other incubator that had it's wafer croak. That will help immensely being I have to quit hatching earlier this year so the chicks and poults have more time to mature before winter.

It took too long for Winter to end and now Spring seems to be flying!

Incubating and Turkey Eggs!

My turkey hens have started laying! I think I've gotten about 6 eggs now. Yesterday they both laid. These are going in the incubator either tomorrow or the next day. I need to empty all the unhatched eggs out and clean them out.

I've had a BAD hatch. I've gotten 3 chicks from the 2 full incubators! I don't know why. The 3 have clean legs and 2 are black with greenish legs. The yellow has pink legs but a muffy type face. All 3 eggs were brown. All 3 eggs were marked as being from the outdoor pen. That pen had the Americaunas and the black sex-links as far as hens. The roos where mostly mixed breed and a few were cochins. Two of the mixed breed were white with some orange and dark brown feathers. I suspect the 2 black chicks are from the sex-links and the yellow from a white roo.

None being Cochin make me wonder if there was a fertility problem with the Cochins. Another thought is maybe the eggs got too cold outside before I got them collected. Or maybe the house was too cold at times for the storage before they were put in the incubator. The incubators were both running very steady and holding their temps very well. I never missed turning. All 3 chicks hatched later than the 21 days.

Now to clean the incubators out and get them loaded again. I'll be putting the turkey eggs in one of them! I'm debating the best way to do it. Do I put them all in one and no chicken eggs and then add more turkey eggs weekly as I collect and save them? Or do I load one and then when I have enough load the other? My thought is if I load one with chicken eggs and put the turkey eggs in the other and add more turkey eggs weekly, I can hatch the turkey eggs in the other incubator after that one finishes it's hatch of chicken eggs. Chicken eggs hatch in 21 days and turkeys in 28. That would allow me to keep adding turkey eggs weekly and might be the they way to hatch more of them.

I sure hope the turkey eggs are fertile and hatchable!

I would also still like to trade someone some of my Royal Palm eggs for some Bourbon Red eggs.

National Poultry Day

Tomorrow, March 19th, is National Poultry Day.

I think I'm celebrating a day early. I filled the incubator today so will have chirp chickies about the 8th of April. I can't wait!

Hopefully tomorrow Thomas T can figure out how to mate with the hen who patiently lays in wait right next to him while he's turning circles and displaying his beautiful feathers!

I moved 2 goats out of the pen so that he has more room and less interference. It also will give MoNique more peace and quiet to kid. I suspect she's going to be first.

Poultry Talk

Isn't this a handsome Royal Palm tom turkey?

I've found a suitor for my 2 RP hens being our toms died over the winter. One of the hens is incessantly wanting in the pen with the roosters. When I let her in there the other day they fought over her and she laid there in the mating position with the squabbling roos. Hopefully getting them a new romeo will keep them from deciding to run off with the wild turkeys. I never realized that would be a problem but am now told it definitely is!

I got a 2nd Hovabator incubator and have one started up. I've been saving eggs for a couple days to put in and I'm ready to start. I've been looking forward to it. I still want a new Genesis 1588 but ran across this Hovabator and could save over $100. I'll get a Genesis some day but at least oave 2 good incubators to use for now. This 2nd one has a fan which should be very helpful. It's supposedly new and does look it so hopefully it'll do me well. I couldn't decide whether to keep the Little Giant or sell it. I thought it might be handy for a back up or parts so will keep it for now. Also if I just HAVE to have eggs in both Hovabators, I might use it for a bit of hatching. I guess we'll just have to see.

AND, it's time! It's FINALLY TIME!

I have the eggs sitting for hatching and some will be mix or cross breeds. I have them marked better this year as the chicks hatch out from the center of the egg and the top where the air cell is. I've marked them low near the point with BP, BI, OP, HT,and the day they were collected. This way I'll have a good idea of what is hatching and some about fertility. The BP (barn pen) is mostly Cochins and 2 of the blue Cochin roos. The BI (barn isle) consists of some excapees from the barn pen which are mix breeds and a Brahma hen. Then the OP (outdoor pen) are the sex links and an Americauna. The roos are mix breeds, a couple Cochin boys and the Jersey Giant boy. The HT (horse trailer) are the Bantams which are Cochins and Favorelles.

I'm most likely going to put these first chicks up on the feed store bulletin board and see if there's a market for chicks here as most will be cross breeds. It's a very small rural town and the economic situation is really bad. So it's another "we'll see". I did sell a black Cochin trio a couple weeks ago. I've not been able to get the roos sold though. I need to part with some! I also badly need the pen they are using!

I'm looking forward to hatching again this year. It's addictive!

Some Random Things

Tomorrow (Wednesday) thru Saturday we will have a bit warmer weather. Thursday we are to have rain. Rain on our frozen dirt road equals ICE ICE ICE! Not good. I hope it melts quickly so I don't have to drive on it or that the sand they put down will stay on top of the mess and still be helpful!

I'm definitely ready for a few warmer days though as I have 3 goats who I really need to do some hoof trimming on again. It'll be nice to be able to not be bundled up so I'm the size of Frosty the Snowman to do the job.

I also need to wrangle some more wire and it will be nice to be able to do so without the bulk of a winter coat.

It's been a rough couple of days here. I had bought the dogs some treats at the dollar store. I got a package of pig ear strips along with others. I was saving them for special occasions. I forgot that I gave them some at Thanksgiving and it upset their guts. Well, I gave them one Christmas day and the more than upset their guts. This has been a NASTY, gross issue. Why do I tell you this? Only because I thought you might want to be very careful of what you get your dogs for treats! I quit using the rawhide chews when we heard all the problems with them coming from China and being recalled. So now I'm not going to be buying any like these again either. When I buy them bones, they sneak them outside and bury them. I guess the buried bones are a much better deal though! We're just going to boycott the rawhide chews and now the sliced up pig ears. Nothing like giving my dogs a tainted treat for a Christmas present! Poor pupsters!

We aren't doing anything special for New Years Eve. We need to get to town this week to pick up some prescriptions so will pick up a couple things for a special treat. I think I'll pull a turkey out of the freezer for New Years Day. With the way the pullets are laying, I may do a few deviled eggs too. Being the oven will be going, maybe I should try out one of the sugar free cookie recipes I've acquired! Cookies are something I've missed the last 6 months. I found some sugar free chocolate chips so am ready for cookies. Doing nothing exciting is fine by me! I'm just glad that we finally have a New Years that hubby is not laid up, nor deathly ill. A quiet NY evening will be just fine!

Good news! I've spent a significant amount of time online incubator shopping. I've made up my mind. I'm getting a Genesis 1588 without the turners. I kind of like doing that turning by hand as I've gotten into this thing of talking to the eggs while doing the magic, good-luck chant of "Grow babies, grow!" over them! It gives me a chance to watch for any problems (rotting egg = NASTY) before they are a BIG, stinky problem. I also candle them as I go. Anyway, I do want to look on eBay before I order from the other company I chose (Cutlers), just in case.... I also found a catching net for poultry on there for $13. I've seen one used and it sure was a handy thing and I'm debating if I want one. It could be VERY handy and could be one of those things that one wondered how they did without it in the past. I can usually pick up most of the hens in the pen and barn if I want too. The roos tend to try to stay out of my way and they are the hard ones to catch. With my disability and balance problems it might be worth the money. I've wanted to make one, but the problem was the weight of a homemade one and my shoulder issues. This is a a pretty light weight one so maybe I should.....

I'm soooo ready for hatching to start!

Funny as it is, I was trying to take pictures of the chickens so I could count them! I sure can't get an accurate count in person! I need to know how many roos I have to get rid of so I can put an ad on Craigslist. That will help a lot! I also have to decide which I'm keeping!

I'm also trying to figure out which are the roos and am trying to put them outside in the buck pen with the others as I figure who who is who. I'm then going to start moving the hens so I have them all inside and separated from the roos. I need them to be without a roo for 30 days so that when I start to collect eggs for hatching that they will have been fertilized by the rooster who is the same breed and for a few, the right color and breed.It actually takes at a minimum of 3 weeks and in a few instances longer for the hen to be clear of unwanted "swimmers". It would seem like this would be an easy project, but it's not as it requires figuring out the young boys, catching them and transfering them from pen to pen. I'm also trying to decide which of the Cochin roos I want to have a harem and which I need to part with. There are more roos there than I had thought! If the horse trailer wasn't full of hay, it would sure be helpful for this shuffling around!

I also need to put some plans down on paper so I can arrange a hatching schedule around eggs I want to obtain for hatching and my own I'd like to hatch! I have to decide if I want to set a full hatch (48 eggs) all at once or if I want to stager them some. Do I want to set the full 48 or maybe 16 per week or even 24 every 9 days. I am saying 9 days due to the 3 day lock down for hatching. I'm thinking of moving them into the hovabator for the lockdown and hatch. I have to plan for brooder space for the hatchlings too. I can't just hatch eggs and have no where to put the chicks! Decisions decisions.... What do you think?

My Plans for the Day

There was a post on a group today asking what our plans are for the day! I thought I'd post here with my elaborated "plans" for your "enjoyment"! Personally, I think I'm rather a "boring" type person at times and that moment is here! So, enjoy my little writing about what I plan on doing today!

I don't have much planned today which simply means I'll be working on the usual borning and mundane tasks such as laundry, garden, tending house critters (cats, dogs, goatie n her 2 girls, chicklets & chicks), farm work (chores & milking), house work, yard work, cooking, and taking numerous breaks as I go from thing-to-thing putzin' along. ;) I need to have hubby hold my goatie girl today so I can start her back on antiobiotics. Her pastern is abcessing again and rupturing open again. It's not looking good at all. This is from the fireworks incident over a month ago.

I also need to get the chick brooders cleaned and the chicklets (and Keith the noisy guinea keet) in the big brooder need to move to the horse trailer for growing time, the little brooder chicks to the big brooder and the 8 new chicks in the incubator into the new chick brooder. I have 10 new hatchlings but 2 haven't made it. That's the worst part about incubating - the weak chicks that get hatched but don't survive....

I guess I can stay busy with a day of no plans! I can have no plans and still put in a whole day's work! Interestingly, if someone asked me if I'm busy today, I'd probably say, "Not really." Now, why would I say that? Habit?

Poultry Update

Wow, it's time for the next hatch! I'm really excited about this. I put some of the "woven", nonslip cupboard material down to help the chicks strengthen their legs better and to keep the incubator a little cleaner. My first thought when I had heard of doing this is it is much more comfy for the new hatchlings than the wire mesh. Being woven it allows air flow. It can easily be disinfected for reuse. I'm also going to put some down in the brooder this time for a few days to help the chicks strengthen their legs and see if I have less leg issues.

In the incubator are some Jersey Giant eggs (larger brown), Americauna x Favorelle (green eggs), "Orpicauna" x Favorelle (drab green eggs) and Favorelle eggs (small pinkish). There might be a couple of Cochin eggs and there is one Americauna Cross x Cochin (blue egg). I didn't write it down but the eggs are marked so I'll know that way and the cochins will have feathery legs/feet like the Favorelles but should be marked differently.

The Hovabator that was given to me has Americauna x Favorelle (green eggs), "Orpicauna" x Favorelle (drab green eggs), Americauna Cross x Cochin (blue eggs), Cochins (brown eggs), Orpington x Cochin (brown eggs), Favorelle (smaller pinkish eggs). I was also handed 3 Guinea keet eggs Sunday and added them. They take 28 days instead of 21 for hatching. I'm looking forward to seeing the % of hatch I get from this incubator on fresh eggs that weren't shipped. I hope it's much better than I've been getting.

This am the incubators were too hot when I got up and checked them. They were 103 and 104 in parts and I'm now hoping that I don't have cooked embryos! The heat wave hit us and has affected both incubators - NOT good.

I do need to take a quick pic of the incubator on lockdown. I find it helps me to know which chicks hatched from which eggs when I wasn't looking!

Later this week I'm making a trip (couple hours) to pick up some Royal Palm turkey poults. I've got 6 coming and I so hope that they can all survive. As I posted before, I didn't have luck with turkeys in the past but have a different game plan for this attempt. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!!!

The silver-laced Cochin trio are doing great. I'm trying to decide on their new digs.

I want to open the partition in the horse trailer and give the "youngsters" from the 1st hatch (along with the 2 light Brahmas I got a couple weeks ago) and these from the 2nd hatch more room to hopefully avoid the 2nd hatch being picked on by the 1st hatch youngsters. I'll put food and water on both ends too so they have multiple areas to get to feed and water. The horse trailer is working well. The only time any sun hits it is early morning. The rest of the day it's shaded by a tree next to it and several fruit trees behind it. It's a stock trailer so has the 2 open slats at the top allowing heat to escape easily.

There are some CUTE youngsters in there. I suspect the gold and blue chick (from the Buff Orpington hen x Cochin roo) is a pullet which I greatly appreciate. She's a cute and very friendly chicker. There's a blue Cochin which I think MIGHT be a roo. It's also quite laid back, friendly and cute. He's going to be a great replacement for Blue Man who was taken out by a predator over the winter. There is 1 that I think is an Australorp pullet too (if I'm lucky). The 4 Brahmas are doing great. One I think is a roo due to the chest puffing up and challenging another younster who is a cross from an Americauna hen and Blue Man. It's a darker blue with some rust. If a pullet it will stay in the laying flock and if not it will be in the meat pen.

That's it for the poultry news. I'll do a goat one as soon as I can. I want to get some more pics to do it.

Dilemma from the Hen House

Do I or Don't I? That's the question of the moment!

The topic pertains to the new incubator I was GIVEN! It's a used, still air Hova Bator 1602. I'm still "tickled" over my luck to acquire this last Friday!

I so want to impulsively fill it with eggs of course! So I'm trying to use a little self control. I've cleaned and disinfected it. It's been running for a couple days and doing GREAT!

I've been advised to get a new switch and wafer being it's obvious to me that it's not new. The previous owner says she used it 1 time. I do believe her and greatly appreciate her generosity. I do suspect it may have been used when she got it and I didn't ask. It didn't matter to me. I need to order the parts as the advice of getting new ones is good!

I have sold 3 of my hens and I'm seriously hoping that I'll have some of their offspring hatch. They will leave tomorrow and I'll be left with 2 colored egg layers. One is a lightly feather footed Americana so I suspect her to be part Cochin. She lays a BEAUTIFUL blue egg. The 3 hens leaving lay green eggs. I still have and am keeping the pretty buff "Orpicauna" hen who lays a drab green egg. I would like to hatch out some of the green eggs from the 3 hens leaving so that has my seriously considering filling the incubator tomorrow after they leave and I have collected the last eggs from them.

I also got an egg from the new silver laced Cochin trio! I can't wait to hatch some of their eggs too!

My black Cochin hen has gone broody (finally) and is setting on some Cochin eggs and possibly a couple from the Orpington hen. There also might be a blue egg or 2 but I've not seen what she has so far and the day I found she truly is broody I gave her the 4 brown eggs I had just picked up from another nest. I was afraid she might of only had an egg or 2.

All that being, I would like to replace the wafer and switch, but I want to hatch the eggs from the hens that I sold too. I have some other eggs I've also collected since Friday. The best eggs for hatching are under 10 days of age and preferably 7 or less days from what I'm told.

So, I'm pondering do I or don't I fill this incubator and go for it? I'm sure leaning that way.....It would also be nice to know how it does compared to the cheap Little Giant incubator I have!

The incubators and brooder are in the house, and hubby and I are both enjoying them. The chicks who graduated from the brooder are out in the front of the horse trailer and doing GREAT! I don't want any house chickens so I must be sane, right? NO offense to anyone who does have chickens as house pets at all. Yes, I'd bring a sick on in and cage it to treat it if needed, but not to roam with the cats and dogs!

I think the REAL answer to this dilemma is, YES, I'm hooked on hatching eggs! I'm hooked on chicks.

I guess there's worse addictions one could have!

Update or Catch Up

Update or Catch Up? I would guess this is both! So much has been going on that I'm "whipped"!


I'm now milking 5 does by hand. Due to Danika and Raquel being first fresheners, it's taking a LOT of time. And I DO mean a LOT! I want these does to be the kind one can just tie and milk, no drama, no hassle, etc. How I handle them now is setting them up for their milking behavior for a long time. Both will be sold and hopefully their new owners will continue the "program" and not untrain them! Danika is catching on to this FAST and is such a sweetie! Raquel is a theatrical drama queen and a rodeo bronc! I am LAVISH with the treats, rubbings, and giving them the time needed. I've gone from 45 minutes in the evening to 2 1/2 - 3 hours! That's time feeding goats and chickens for the evening, collecting any more eggs, bottle feeding 4 kids, and milking. (Summer only takes a second to give her a sour cream container of food morning and evening as she has pasture but expects to get fed with the goats! Silly horse but she's a dear.)


Raquel is improving every milking but oh so slowly! She's getting right on the stand and her head locked into the head gate (which she ripped off the stand and clunked me in the back of the head with). She's standing there to get started eating and then I pet and praise her, give her a treat, and then sit and pet her an talk with her a minute. When she ripped the head gate off, she fell off the stand and bruised her udder. Now she's milking bloody milk on that side of her udder. She has a NICE BIG udder and wonderful teats and orifices. She's now being MUCH better and not bucking with milking the not-sore-side (left) of her udder but she's "going rodeo" with the bruised side. She's VERY easy to milk if she'd just stand still. It has to be milked out so she doesn't get scar tissue and mastitis. Anyway, after she's milked (hobbled too) I am leaving her to stand on the milk stand and to chill out. I then milk her momma right next to her just tied and standing on the ground so she is watching a good milker stand right. It also gives her herd security that she's not alone. She can also see her pen mates on her other side as it's a half wall and wire for the top half. What a challenge this has been! But progress is being made and that's my clue that things are going in the right direction!

Now I have to put a price on them and I'm not sure what to put! I need to decide an individual price for each but also a "2 for" price. They are twins and very bonded. They'd be much happier to go together to a new home. I'm also considering offer a free stud service for them if the new owners will supply the feed for them while here for breeding. I'm seeing some prices locally but they seem to be one extreme or the other. I also have a lot invested in these 3 yearling does ($ and time). I needed to see what their dams were producing though so needed to grow out a few of their offspring to see what I need to most work on in breeding improvements. We can't really improve upon them a lot if we don't know what they produce so we know what genes need to come in to cross on them! I now have a very good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of both senior does. Kids are always adorable and cute but one can't know their true mettle if one doesn't raise them up to freshening and milk them a while!

I was suppose to be going to pick up an incubator tonight and haven't heard back from the gal. I sure hope she's not changed her mind or something as I really am hoping to get it. I hope tomorrow will work for her.

I have some running around to do tomorrow to get prescriptions and such which means a trip to the "big city" and 40 miles. Then Saturday I have a "date" to pick up a new rooster and need to be back to watch the Preakness! I'm worn out but have to get things done. We had a funeral for the dearest aunt one could hope to have this week so the emotional loss adds to one's running out of steam.

I did get some garden seeding done in the last week also. I have plenty more to do but it's a start. I got my grapevine clippings and have them in water rooting. I'm ready to get them planted too if I can get enough time. I've finally decided on the place which was quite a decision being I sometimes like to leave a couple goats loose and don't want them to "find" the grape vines!

And I need to get some mowing done - BADLY! Even that has an order to make things easier! For one I need to put Summer (horse) in the dog yard for a couple hours as there is some luscious grass there she's wanting. Then I need to take a shovel out and stab a few burdock plants and then I can mow it. Life on a homestead is often like a puzzle. The border needs done first so one can start putting the pieces where they go methodically!

Yesterday (12th) was Miss Molly Ta Mollie's 10th birthday! Molly is my black tri female Corgi. I LOVE this little dog! She's feeling her age unfortunately and having some age issues. I had a litter of pups from her several years ago and then found she has some genetics starting to show up that I won't breed so we've not had any more little Molly's. Bummer but the only ethical thing for me to do.

It seems my work is never done! So much work - so little time!

A New Hatch

I've new clutch of eggs went in the electric hen (incubator) this morning! The hatch date is the 28th, with lockdown the 26th. I sure hope it goes much better this time as I had a hard time with the loss of the pipped chicks who didn't make it on the last hatch.

I have eggs from my Favorelles, a few from the Orpicauna (Orpington x Americauna cross) who lays the darker drab green egg and a pretty blue egg from my Americuana who has feathers on her legs and shouldn't. I also have 20 eggs from a friend's Jersey Giants. Hopefully we'll have better results. I'm going back to turning the eggs by hand like I did the first hatch as I used a "prop" for the turning last time that was like an electric turner. There are also less eggs this time than last so maybe that will make a difference.

I am at the point that I'm hooked on hatching! I am also at the point that I definitely want to upgrade to a better incubator. Shipping of eggs is too expensive for an incubator that won't give a better success rate.

I'm also at the point I'd love to have a hen go broody! She might have better luck than I do!

Please cross your fingers with me and send good vibes for those chicks-to-be! Grow chickies, grow!

Bad Hatch

How majorly disappointing. I had the incubator going and the temp was doing great, humidity was doing great, I was remembering to turn the eggs 3 times a day and many times 4. I have no idea why I've had such a bad hatch. BUMMER!

I know the eggs that were shipped from FL took a horrible ride here and the box was really banged up with all 4 corner-edges and 8 corners looking like it was bounced on all and had a dent along one side of the box. Football game while it was taking 5 full days to get here?? Scrambled eggs? Most like damaged air cells. I got 1 chick from the 2 dozen eggs. :( I don't even want to know the % of hatch.

The other 2 dozen eggs came from much closer but were still shipped. I have 2 chicks from them. NONE of the banty eggs hatched which was definitely a disappointment. I had a lot of hopes for the cochins to hatch as the gal has laced cochins. This was really a bummer as there were 3 eggs pipped yesterday that stopped progressing. I hoped that helping them would be beneficial and carefully opened the air cell end to give them a boost but I think they may be dead. I'm not seeing any movement. They are 3 brown eggs so were hopefully cochins. DISAPPOINTMENT!

I had a few eggs of my own I stuck in and 4 hatched. This group did the best of all. Two look to be Black Cochins. I am pretty sure that 2 of them will be Cochin x Orpington as they are yellow chicks with a touch of black on the tips of the wings and only a feather or 2 on the legs. These 2 pipped and weren't making progress so I did open the top of the shell so they could exit easier. They still had a hard time and took so darned long the membrane was drying to them. They did pull through but they are pathethic looking at the moment. Their fluff is still mostly glued to their body except what they've been able to loosen and fluff on their fronts. Their wings are able to move and stretch and have a bit less "glue down". I don't know what to do to help them with the rest. I'd love to "bathe" them but I'm afraid being newborn chicks they would shock and die. So I'll play it by ear and see what I can do to help them out some over the next few days. I'm hoping that as they are moving (and they are active) around and start to fill out some that it will break the gunk loose and it will fall off. They seem content and the brooder is WARM it was 117 under the heat lamp so I had to move it slightly. Chicks should have 100 at the start. The little yellow chicks won't be cold while we decide how to fluff their fluff!

So, it's been disappointing! I won't give up though. I have 7 adorable chicks and I THINK 4 are Cochins so that is GOOD.

I have an online horse friend who offered me some of her Jersey Giant eggs for the cost of shipping and they should be here tomorrow. I have 2 dozen of my eggs saved from the last few days.

I'm mainly going to TRY to hatch my Favorelle eggs. The eggs I've saved are from the pen with the Favorelles. There is also a Favorelle x ? hen and the Orpington x Americauna hen who lays the DRAB green eggs that are so pretty. I want to expand the number of the Favorelles I have as I don't know how old these hens and roo are. I'd like to see what the "Orpicauna" hen produces and egg color the pullets will eventually lay mostly for the fun of it.

I'm hoping a couple of the hens will go broody soon and I'll be sure to give them the eggs I most want hatched (Favorelles and Cochins) with hopes they can do better than the electric hen is doing!

IMHO, hatching shipped eggs has to be a learned skill and a lot of luck in the ride the eggs take getting here! I'm trying my darnedest and think I need a whole lot of good luck!

I'm thinking I'd love to have a better quality incubator. I hear this one isn't that great and I've decided I'm definitely "addicted" to hatching! I'll be watching for a good used Genesis 1588 with fan and turner.

Candling Eggs

This incubating is FUN! That's all there is too it! I am totally addicted. I've also found something else to do at the end of Winter when I'm needing signs of Spring. Nothing says Spring like crocus', daffodils, and CHICKS! This could easily become a cure for cabin fever in this house!

I just bought a $4.99 Energizer 1 watt led flashlight for candling and could even see in the Maran egg in my incubator. The air cells were interesting due to the eggs having been shipped vs my own eggs where it's centered. This has been pretty fun and I've learned a lot about something so simple as an egg! All for a little flashlight I found NEW at Goodwill! We have a big Goodwill near us that gets a few new things in now and then and the prices are great. This flashlight has been the best find so far.

When you get some time, google "hatching eggs" and "chick development". You'll find tons of interesting info and could easily spend a few days surfing! Just be sure to mark the ones you like best in your favorites. Don't disregard the home schooling sites in this as I've found they have some of the best and more interesting info! I even found hubby doing this when I was away from the computer!

I did wonder if I should try candling the robin eggs on my electric meter! lol I wonder if maybe that would be taking it a tad bit too far but wouldn't it be good for the robin to know if she needs to stay there in the pouring down rain or if she should give up and try again?

The Last Hatch

No, I'm sure not done hatching even though that sounds like it! I thought I'd share some photos of my last hatch that I finally got reduced in size so they hopefully load reasonably well. I've added 2 other posts also with the incubator and the eggs incubating which also have pics and go with this posting. I hope breaking it up a bit helps!

This is one of the light Brahma chicks. Disappointingly, only 3 of these hatched out of about 16 eggs. I was so hoping at least 5 or 6 of them would hatch with hopes I'd have a couple cockerels and few pullets. Now I'm really hoping that, as they grow, there are at least 1 cockerel and 2 pullets!

These are a couple of my Cochin chicks from my eggs. The chicks stay in the incubator for a good 24 hours to dry and to finish absorbing the yolk sac which provides their nurishment the first 24+ hours.

The orange is a piece of the "sham wow" type of material. I got this at the dollar store for kitchen use to clean up spills. It picks up and holds water really well so I used it instead of sponges for the lockdown. It worked great and they were able to get across it well. They did eventually stay on it as I think it was more comfortable than the wire of the incubator.

This little Cochin is having a well earned rest and is drying out pretty well. They weren't really fluffy until the next day when they were able to stand better and stretch their little bodies. The red heat lamp warmth seemed to give them a boost when they got into the brooder.

Now they are growing like the proverbial weeds and feathering out on their wings, tails and some on their backs.

Incubating The Last Hatch

No, I'm sure not done hatching even though that sounds like it! I thought I'd share some photos of my last hatch that I finally got reduced in size so they hopefully load reasonably well.

The red plugs go in the vent holes in the lid for the last 3 days which are "lockdown" with humidity raised and no more turning, just a LOT of vibes for them to be strong and healthy in their hatching.

Two thermometers! The above came with the incubator and has fallen apart! so much for a piece of paper stapled to a piece of plastic! Below is a battery-operated thermometer with hygrometer to measure the humidity. I had just added warm water so the humidity is a touch high but stabilized soon after. Yes, the eggs are written on. I hear it's the thing to do! ;)

I imagine some of you also incubate some eggs so will have seen new chicks. I find the whole process and outcome very interesting and know you might also.

The next post is the hatch!

Enjoy!

My Incubator

This is the box from the new incubator, a Little Giant. It's a cheap model but I decided it would be a good start for my induction into hatching chicks!

I didn't get the egg turner or fan. (pic below) They didn't have them in stock and I didn't really have the $ to invest at that point. I also didn't know if I'd really enjoy doing this or what. So I'm starting out very frugally.

I've had a couple kind people send me eggs in a GREAT deal I couldn't refuse. I hope to get better now that I've done a hatch and buy specific breed eggs and upgrade my incubator.

And, I'm ADDICTED! This has been so much fun. I have the chicks in a brooder in the house. They are 2 weeks old and growing feathers. They are getting use to us but still a bit more flighty than I want them to be. They have that little red hen syndrome of THE-SKY-IS-FALLING when I start to do anything with my hands in the brooder.

Yes, I've started and now how do I stop? This is sooooo NEAT! I've started that 2nd hatch (note above) and it's fun to look on line and see the development stages and tend the turning of the eggs, monitoring the temp and humidity, and the vibes I send the growing chicks when doing so!

Anyone need any chicks?

I'm soooo excited....

... my eggs are hatching! There are 3 chicks out and half a dozen eggs pipped. Every now and then there's a "cheap-in". I so hope that at least 50% and preferably 75% hatch with most of them being pullets! I have a cheap incubator so I can't expect as good a hatch as a quality incubator would do. Also shipped eggs don't have as high a hatch rate as fresh from the coop. Most of my hens are very young and just started to lay so may not be as fertile yet. I lost my blue roo, Blue Man (after the Blue Man group), and the black roo had just started mating with the hens so he wasn't as agile yet as he'll become.

At least I know I can successfully operate this incubator successfully!

Pics coming soon!

I've gotten some major fence work done so haven't had as much computer time lately. I have decided where to put the new fence line in and just need to get out to drive posts and start wiring it. I'll do this in stages as I need the deer to realize there is a repaired fence line running out to the new back line. The deer are a major headache with my fence. We've gotten some NICE weather the last few days and I have to take advantage of that for outside work.

Plus, my break line broke on my van. It will be back tomorrow.

Then I can go buy a refrigerator as the freezer in mine has croaked. This isn't a good time as I'm milking so can't keep my milk near cold enough. (I'm just grateful it's not mid-Summer!!!) Service calls to the country are $100 so I might be able to buy a good used one for what it would cost to repair this one. Do I put this one in the barn for use as storage of grooming tools, work tools, fencing "junque", etc or be rid of it? It might be handy to have a place to put the supplements and wormers and such during good weather too. Oh, and kidding supplies such as all the blankies, baby coats, towels, etc. Maybe I better try it out for storage. It can go to recyling if I don't find it real handy.

The septic problem is RESOLVED! FINALLY! Now I need to get the dishes and laundry caught up and that's going to be a major project unfortunately.

I'm still waiting on Claire to have her kids. What a huge belly she's swinging as she waddles along!

Raquel and Danika are now doing milking boot camp and jumping up on the stand to get some food while I pet and handle them. They're VERY ticklish and boy can a young goat hop in the back end! I swear they're trying to do a front leg "hand-stand"! They look like they'll have nice teats to milk and nice udders. Their udders aren't bagged up enough to know for sure yet but I can see the udder and teats as they are walking away from me! I like what I see so far! Kendra, their dam, is VERY easy to milk. She has a nice udder, NICE teats, NICE orifices, and NICE production. She's milking over a gallon a day already!

Busy? Who me? lol This is country life and life in general.

Sunday Report

This is my 5th post of the day! I have 4 does who will be do soon/any time. I thought folks might like to guess how many kids they'll have, when, etc. So I posted them individually with a few pics and gave what info I could. The junior does will come later. So make sure you read all the posts today!

The goats are due soon and I'm started to get excited. I hope it's a good year kidding. With my first mini Alpines due out of a new buck, Nipper, who is an ND it should be!

This last week has been very busy. We finally got some warmer weather and I gave up and bought new hoof trimmers. I also got quite a few goats trimmed. We were having problems with Daisy's feet and I'm still a bit concerned. I don't know if the incessant laying down is due to her huge belly or if her feet hurt or what. The soles were a bit crumbly so I treated her for foot rot. We've continued to trim on her feet every few days trying to get them caught up. During a goat escape, my nippers (which I LOVED) disappeared and I couldn't find them. I was to the point they must have flown off the stand and bounced away from where the basket landed. True to form, after I found some new ones I like, the others surfaced!

Last week a predator got into the chain link pen with a buck and my Cochin chickens. We've seen coons, possums and smelled a skunk all last week. The dogs killed a possum in their dog yard and Murphy (corgi) broke out and killed one in the back yard. I don't know what got Blue Man, my blue Cochin roo who I REALLY liked, but it also returned. The hens aren't happy and have cut back on the egg laying in protest. Now every day I go out I'm cringing hoping my hens are ok. I REALLY like these Cochins and don't want to be loosing them! I don't want to loose any of my chickens! Hubby hopes he has the broken live trap fixed. I'm hoping so too as the war was started by the predators who think I'm offering free and easy chicken dinners! They can raid the compost piles all they want. They just need to leave MY critters alone and live harmoniously but they don't. :( So it's a critter war.

Due to the loss of Blue Man (yes, after the Blue Man group I've seen on tv), I've been saving every egg I do get and marking the date and what it's temp felt like when I got it. I've been going out hourly to collect eggs as the Americauna hens were eating eggs bad last year. I'm HOPING that I might have some fertile Cochin eggs. I just don't know if the individual brown eggs are laid by the Cochins or the Orpington hens. I also have 3 green eggs so far that I'm adding in. I have fiddled with the new incubator a lot and checked the temp, etc. I decided what would help me watch the humidity, etc. I'm ready to set eggs. I've sent my money for some hatching eggs to add a new breed I'm interested in.

Tuesday we are to go meet the folks with the Favorelles and finally get the chicken trade done. Between bad weather, illness, family commitments it's been hard to get it done with their daughter (who seems really nice and has a BAD drive to get down here in the winter). I was hoping the new little hen and my Fav would start laying so I could add their eggs to the incubator too but no luck. I'll have to wait til the next hatching for adding theirs and the new Favs' eggs. It will be a Fav rooster though and that is FINE!

Fortunately, some of the snow is melting off. It's a mess. I'm out of grain in the barn and my van is LOADED! I went out to move it to the barn this am thinking the snow was down enough and the ground would be hard enough but.... of course not. My van is stuck half way to the barn. I'll now dig the front wheels out and liberally add kitty litter and hope I can move it later when it gets back below freezing. This isn't good as we have one or 2 more nights of the temp dropping below freezing over night and then a few nights with it above. Once it's above, the frost will start dropping out of the ground and I'll be there for ever! I hate to ask the neighbor to come pull me out as his tractor rips the yard and drive up terribly and I HATE those deep ruts.

On the home front, my 2 dogs are coming into heat. I'm not breeding any pups in this economy. I won't breed unless I have puppy homes mostly prearranged, etc. It isn't a good time. Also with the economy, there are more dogs in the rescues and shelters due to people needing to move, and the rough things happening in their lives. I'd rather see those dogs rehomed first and the balance in life stableized. I was attending shows and hoping to show my male - didn't work out. I also don't want to breed my female Corgi. I don't know if it's her former hip injury or DM, but she's having problems and her eyes have gotten bad. I'm afraid her genetics might not be up to my standards so no pups for her. She had 1 litter and I now regret it. I've not had the money to get her spayed and I'd like too. I don't live where there are low cost programs and the vet quoted me over $100. I do a lot of crating and confining with crates and gates! The boys can get quite testy with each other. But that is also life and has it's responsibilities!

Homesteading and farming are definitely something one must think about and plan around! Other wise it's too hard, too messy and just not a happy proposition! I like to try to make things easier on myself. I try to do what is right for the animals I'm lucky enough to have!

My walnut squash bread is done so I need to get a move on! Have a great weekend and I hope you'll post your guesses on the kiddings on the threads for each of the first 4 to kid. I sold the other 4 who would have been in the first-round kidding.

Hen House News

I just heated my cup of coffee and thought I'd say howdy! I've been really busy so haven't had enough time to post.

The hen house news is rather long! With Winter, I have so much time to ponder on what I'd like to do, want to do, have/need to do, shouldn't do..... and what would just be FUN and interesting to do!

I was right in suspecting one of my 2 black Cochin hen's is a roo, so I have 2 Cochin roos. The other is a blue. That will be fine as it's better to have a black x blue cross for mating as blue x blue causes splash blues. Doing that can affect the intensity of the color in the blues if one trys to breed back to blue.

I'm planning on penning the black roo with 3 of the blue hens and the blue roo with the black hen, a blue (for a short time) and the dark, feather-legged hen who was suppose to be an Americauna (who I think is only half Americaunca) and the half Orp/half Americauna gold hen.

I should be getting the Favorelle trio that I'm doing a roo trade for the feather-legged-suppose-to-be-an-Americauna roo Saturday. Then the Favorelle roo will get to keep his 2 Favor hens (coming with him), get my Favor hen and the little half silkie/half colombian-something-or-other hen. I think the Orpington hen may go with this bunch for the time being as she lays a brown egg so I'll know which eggs belong to the Favs, the Silkie cross and the Orp. I'd love to have several of this little Silkie cross. She's by a blue Silkie so at some point maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a couple silkies who need a new home.

So that will pair the roos up with the hens and I just have to get the tractors done for them. And to think I use to just have a big flock of mutt chickens, collected the eggs, butchered a few and that was it. Now I think I want to do some other "fun" and interesting things with my chickens too - especially since I can't let them free range.

I also bought an incubator! The one up in the barn was going to cost more for parts than buying one. I only got a Little Giant for now and I still want to get a Genisis 1588 with a few bells and whistles when I can find a good deal and have the money. If I do enjoy the hatching and want to get into it more, I would eventually use one for incubating and other for hatching as they need different humidity levels for the hatch so the egg membrane doesn't get too dry and keep the chicken from tearing it's way out of it.

I'm looking forward to hatching some of my Cochin and Favorelle eggs for now. Right now the Cochins, Americaunas, gold Oprington/Americauna and Orpington (she's got to move shortly) are together and with the 2 Cochin roos. The roo I'm trading is in the barn with my 2 Favorelle and Silkie cross hens. Americaunas and half Americaunas lay the green/blue eggs. The Favorelles lay a pinkish egg and the others lay brown. This helps narrow it down as to who is laying. I have more plans too but that's the beginning of them and for the current time.

Chicks will be available in the farm stores around here the middle of March and I plan on getting a few IF they have something I want. I'd like a few Orp chicks, few Australorps and some buff and light Brahmas. I should be able to get the Orps and Australorps there. I have an offer of some shipped eggs to get another breed I'd really like and may need to do this for the Brahmas. Reading these poultry catalogs might just be an incentive to get into "trouble"! I like seeing all these other breeds!

My hens haven't had winter lighting so they are just starting to lay. I got 2 nice brown eggs yesterday and 2 the day before. Prior to that, for the last month I've been getting 3-4 a week. Don't these look nice? Soon I'll need a larger basket! Finding eggs is fun and a bit exciting at this time of the year! Well, other than the fall into the snow I took yesterday trying to get to the eggs. These girls are in with a couple bucks who were trying to help me with my egg hunt or whatever I thought I was doing down there in that corner!

Also I just got 8" of snow on top of the 10" from a few days before, so have a lot of snow I'd like to give away. This is the perfect packing snow for making snow men and other statues! Have you seen this one:
The pic came in an email and I have no idea who it belongs too or came from. I just think it's creative and neat!

So, I think I'll stay busy as the goats will start kidding in a couple weeks! I have the 2 who will kid first and the 2 who will kid after them paired up with a goat panel divider between the 2 pairs so it's quieter for all. The herd queen is in here and 2 others would gladly be queen if they could. Spirit, the new doe is one who'd like to be queen but she's with Daisy, the 3/4 Boer doe who is very laid back and has no interest in climbing the royalty ladder. Daisy just wants her attention and fed and she's happy.

Today is National Pancake Day. I think I'll make pancakes for supper! We can have sausage with them.

Catch you all later, enjoy a cup of coffee or drink of your choice, and have a good day!