Coraline’s babies will be six weeks old tomorrow, and they sure look different from the yellow and brown puffballs they were not so long ago. Their color has changed significantly: now, they’re predominantly brown, and a few have white chests. They’re about half Coraline’s size (a couple are larger), and very curious about the world outside their run.
Coraline’s been ready to leave the duckling run for a couple of weeks. We wanted the ducklings to gain more size before we unleashed them, hopefully making them less of a target for predators. When we did this morning’s chores, she was standing at the gate to the run, clearly wanting to go out, so we decided today would be the day. Continue reading “Coraline’s Ducklings Are Free (On The Farm)”
Our chickens and ducks free range, so they’re always looking for tasty snacks. We finally created our compost heap a couple of weeks ago, and they love it. They pick stuff out of there we wouldn’t have guessed they’d seek out (like sweet pepper seeds and scraps), and when the gate is open, they scratch in it like there’s no tomorrow.
Goldie’s trio of chicks is happy and healthy, and a week old today. It’s been so interesting watching her raise these little ones: she showed them where to eat and drink, patiently laying by the food dish and clucking to them; she led them in scratching around in the shavings in the brooder (we took pity on them after watching their determined, but fruitless, efforts for a while and scattered some dry chick food around so they could actually “find” something – they have free access to mash); and provided a safe place for the chicks to hide and sleep. She talks to them constantly, with reassuring, encouraging, or warning clucks. There’s a lot of conversation going on in the brooder! 
We opened one of the pullet eggs this morning and discovered that it was actually a double-yolker! It’s not uncommon for pullets to lay a few double-yolked eggs initially, but this was a perfect miniature.
Photo 1 shows three regular chicken eggs, two duck eggs, and the twin yolks of the pullet egg in the center of the bowl. Photo 2 is a comparison of pullet egg to (standard) hen egg.
Goldie left the nest with the three unhatched eggs in it yesterday and took her three chicks to the opposite end of the brooder. We took this as a sign that she knew the remaining eggs weren’t going to hatch, so we took them out. Not wanting to risk tossing a viable egg, and to try to better understand why they didn’t hatch, we decided to open them. Carefully. Outdoors.
Our Gold Laced Wyandotte, Goldie, has been sitting on a clutch of six eggs for the past three weeks. Today, her hard work and dedication has paid off…she has chicks!