Having to buy eggs has served as a harsh reminder of why we got chickens in the first place. And buying pastured eggs from the store just felt wrong. We miss our own flock’s eggs, so it’s time to begin again. Call it v2.0.
Tag: Hatching
Hatching Tales: The Year’s Last Guinea Hatch
The last group of guinea eggs for the year hatched at the beginning of the week. As with most hatches, not all of the eggs made it to the finish line…but we do have six healthy keets scurrying around in the brooder now.
Continue reading “Hatching Tales: The Year’s Last Guinea Hatch”
Farming Reality: Endings And Beginnings
It’s a topic that often seems to be avoided, but is a real part of raising livestock: losing animals. Sadly, this morning, we found a 10 day old guinea keet dead in the brooder. While it will never be easy, a farmer learns to accept that losses will occur even when you’ve made your best efforts to prevent them…and learns from his or her mistakes. Continue reading “Farming Reality: Endings And Beginnings”
Hatch Day: Guinea Fowl
Some people are enchanted by them…but others are less-enamored of the unique, ever-alert guinea fowl. We happen to be big fans (for a number of reasons), and are thrilled that the first group of eggs from our own stock are hatching today!
Chinese Geese: Growing Goslings
How time flies…our first goslings were hatched a month ago from our goose’s eggs. There were only 2 eggs (of her first 5) that made it to lockdown, so we kept our fingers crossed that both would hatch…and they did! We now think we have a little goose and gander, based on differences in their behavior and physical characteristics. Continue reading “Chinese Geese: Growing Goslings”
Post-Hatch Recap: White Chinese Geese
Our white Chinese goose, Daisy, began laying her first eggs about a month and a half ago. It was especially exciting because they’re the first goose eggs laid here at the farm! Since we have plenty of chicken and duck eggs for eating (and goose eggs are huge), I figured it was time to try my hand at artificially incubating some.