Before we acquired our own chickens, we heard about this phenomenon called “chicken math”, where people seem to lose the ability to think rationally about how many chickens they can/should have. We chuckled and imagined that these were people with latent hoarding tendencies. Until it happened to us. Continue reading “Chicken Math Is Real”
Tag: Incubation
Duck Egg Incubation Update
It’s day 14 for the Muscovy eggs, so we candled them this morning to check development. Of the remaining 6, one was clear (the one repaired with nail polish), but the remaining 5 had wiggly duck embryos in them. They have about 3 more weeks to go, but we’re optimistic about a good hatch, despite the odds.
Ducklings are arguably some of the cutest baby animals…they’re soft and fluffy, and just generally adorable. They are very messy, though (and are prodigious poopers), and pretty much everything they come into contact with will get wet because they love water. Muscovies, unlike Mallard-derived breeds, supposedly don’t need a pond, but the sheer delight our ducks display when splashing around in their wading pool (or even the rubber tub) suggests they’re happiest when they can swim and splash.
Death Is A Part Of Life
Warning: this post is depressing. Don’t read if you’re already feeling blue because it definitely won’t make you feel better.
We’re sad to report that the black chick we assisted out of its shell yesterday had to be euthanized. Its legs didn’t work properly and it couldn’t stand or walk normally. We tried putting a “boot” fashioned from a plastic bandage on one foot that was twisted to the side to try to straighten the curled toes, but the chick’s joint in that leg was seemed to be frozen (unable to extend), so the problem could not be corrected. Maybe this is at least partly why the chick couldn’t get out of its shell. The frustrating part is that the chick was active and clearly had a strong will to live, but this type of problem would likely only become worse with age – as the chick grew and gained weight, the strain on the weak legs would have become even greater, so we would have been delaying the inevitable. Knowing this, however, doesn’t relieve you of the weight of having to end its life. Continue reading “Death Is A Part Of Life”
Hatching Wraps Up – Day 2
This morning, there were 12 fluffy chicks in the incubator. Since it was getting crowded with empty shells and chicks, we moved the fluffballs into the temporary brooder (half a large cardboard box lined with paper towels) and put out food and water. We add a splash of kombucha tea vinegar to their first week of water so they get probiotics, too.
The Chicks Are Hatching!
Progress yesterday was slow, so when I woke up at 1 a.m. this morning, I made a beeline to the incubator to see if any of the pipped eggs had zipped. None had, though a couple had enlarged the initial pip so I could see little beaks moving inside and hear chirping.
When I checked the relative humidity (RH), I was horrified – it was down to 31%, which is far too low for hatching (ideally, it should be more like 65%+, so chicks can successfully exit the shell). It had been holding steady at around 63% since lockdown. Prevailing incubation wisdom dictates that you do everything possible not to open the incubator after lockdown to avoid losing humidity, but I decided that it was worth the risk to add more water to bring up the RH. Chicks have difficulty getting themselves out of a shell with a hardened membrane, so this was potentially a life or death situation.
It’s Getting Flashy In The No Hawk Zone
We spent the weekend putting up hawk deterrents to try to discourage the hawk from continuing to attack our chickens. The reflective mylar tape was very flashy with its prismatic print, and we cut “tails” into it to make it even more annoying and distracting. The tape lengths we tied onto the lines rustled and spun in the breeze. We also added DVDs tied onto lines throughout the streambed area, and they spun and flashed, too. Finally, the glowering owl was added on a tall pole. Hopefully, it sends the message “hawks stay away”!