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If you’ve been waiting to hear about how the first Lavender Ameraucana hatch of the season is going, thank you for your patience. Where does the time go?? Read on to find out how this set, now two-thirds of the way to hatch, is doing!
Continue reading “Hatch Update: Lavender Ameraucana #1 (2023)”It’s technically not spring yet, but the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the chickens are laying. The trickle of eggs from winter has grown into a steady stream and – always exciting – our second generation Lavender Ameraucana pullets have laid their first eggs!
We’re at the halfway point with the first shipped Lavender Ameraucana eggs of the year, and there’s good news…and bad news. The good news is that there are, after 2 candlings (earlier than normal), still eggs in the incubator. The bad news is that there are now just 7 left.
Continue reading “Update: Lavender Ameraucana Hatch #1 (2022)”
The first hatch of the year is over. The hatchers have been cleaned and disinfected and the chicks are warm and safe in their brooders. Join us for a quick look back on how the hatch went!
Continue reading “Post-Hatch Recap: First Chicks of 2022”
Having raised both purebred and mixed breed poultry, I’ve seen the benefits of genetic diversity, such as heterosis (also known as “hybrid vigor”). When we crossed Easter Eggers that laid blue-green eggs with French Black Copper Marans roosters, we expected that the pullets would eventually lay olive eggs…and they did. And these girls turned out be some of the nicest birds we’ve raised to date.
Continue reading “Farm Fowl: Omnifarious Olive Eggers”
When you artificially incubate eggs as often as I do, you understand that bad things can happen. That’s why I think of hatching as bittersweet: the joy brought by new hatchlings is tempered by the sadness of those that die or have problems that may adversely impact their quality of life. Despite the inevitable lows, I find that there will be experiences that profoundly affect me, and that keep me going…like the immense strength in a tiny chick’s will to live.
Continue reading “Poultry Tales: The Magic Of Optimism (Lavender Ameraucana Hatch #1)”