Tag: Chickens

Duck Hot Tubs And Waterbugs

~ Carrie

Coraline_HottubIt’s frigid here today. With wind chill, it’s in the single digits. The ground is rock hard, water frozen solid. Appropriate shelter for outdoor animals is a must on these winter days, and warm food and water help add some comfort. We pull on our balaclavas, like ninjas, and do the farm chores.

Muscovy ducks reputedly don’t have the same requirements for water (i.e., a pond) that other duck breeds do. Supposedly, enough water for them to clean out their nostrils (nares) suffices. While that may be true with regard to minimum water requirements, ours love a wading pool or even a puddle to splash around in.

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Rabbit Kits On The Way?

~ Carrie

It’s cold out there today. Cold enough to numb your hands and face. It even snowed a little in the afternoon. It’s supposed to get into the single digits tonight, so we did the “cold weather routine”, including warm water for the chickens in their coop; deep straw in the ducks’ coop; warm water and extra hay for the rabbits outside.

Both of the NZ does are indoors tonight because tomorrow is (according to the calendar) kindling day…if they’re pregnant. There are promising signs, but these two would be first-time mothers, so may not know exactly what to do with the nest boxes we put in their kindling cages. They come from a line that has large litters – their litter had 11, and all survived, so we hope they’ll be as successful in raising their own kits. We’ll check on them tomorrow to see if there are any new arrivals.

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The Second Generation Is Here

~ Carrie

We’re happy to report that 21 of the 24 eggs hatched. The little balls of fluff are happily eating, drinking, and chirping in their brooder. They’re strong, active, and busy doing important chick activities.

Chicks_Brooder

There were three eggs that didn’t hatch normally. One was a brown egg that had pipped but got rolled around by the chicks that hatched earlier. One Brown Leghorn egg had pipped but made no progress – no zipping. The third egg was another Brown Leghorn that hadn’t pipped.

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Chicks Galore!

~ Carrie

Hatched_ShellsAs of 6:30 this evening, 21 of the 24 eggs have hatched successfully. The only remaining unhatched ones are the other 2 (pure) Brown Leghorn and a single brown mystery egg. The brown egg has pipped, but there’s nothing to be seen on the white ones.

It’s difficult to convey how amazing it is to watch a chick emerge, wet feathers flattened, exhausted, and in an hour or so, it’s fluffy and bright-eyed. Some of the chicks worked so hard to get out – one, in particular, was a late hatcher that was rolled around by the other hatched chicks. He or she just kept working, bit by bit, and finally was out. Joy! Continue reading “Chicks Galore!” →

Pips And Zips – Hatching Has Begun!

~ Carrie

It’s exactly three weeks since we set 24 of our chicken eggs in the new incubator. Right on schedule, the little ones have begun hatching.

Several have “pipped” – beaks poking out through the shells. You can hear an occasional chirp, too. One brown egg has even started “zipping” – the next step in the process. The chick “zips” the shell (cracks it all the way around) to get out. Continue reading “Pips And Zips – Hatching Has Begun!” →