Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
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.
So the fun part of incubation is over: the chicks have hatched, and you’re looking at an incubator full of empty shells and hatching gunk. What now? Clean it, thoroughly. Keeping your incubator clean will help ensure that you have successful hatches and that your hatchlings will be healthy. Continue reading “After The Hatch: Cleaning Your Incubator”
The first hatch of the year was an unusual one: the bulk of the batch was shipped Cream Legbar eggs – and shipped hatching eggs typically have a low hatch rate (for a number of reasons). We also put in a couple of our own Black Copper Marans eggs – early in the season, for them – and hoped for the best. Continue reading “First Hatch 2018: Final Count And Recap”
It’s hatching time! We have several incubators here on the farm and we like to keep them busy – we typically hatch eggs during spring, summer, and fall, so we’re starting a little earlier this year. We have Crested Cream Legbar (shipped eggs) and French Black Copper Marans (our own stock) eggs in the incubator and they should be hatching in the next couple of days. This point in the incubation process is called lockdown. Continue reading “In The Incubator: Chicken Eggs On Lockdown (Hatch #1)”
It’s that time of year again – the fowl are laying and that means there are chicks, keets, ducklings, and goslings to be hatched! One of the most important aspects of hatching your own eggs without the help of a broody hen or duck is having a reliable incubator. But where do you start when looking for an incubator?
Before you buy one, I highly recommend considering your goals, using questions like these as your guide in your analysis:
We’re always excited when it’s hatching day…it’s really amazing that fully-formed chicks, ready to scratch and find food, emerge from eggs that seem much too small to contain them. They work so hard to hatch, too; sometimes, they’re exhausted after hours of struggle and they simply crash out on the incubator floor. That rest is well-deserved.
This round, we set French Black Copper Marans (purebred) and American Bresse x French Black Copper Marans eggs. The FBCM eggs are dark brown, sometimes speckled, and highly sought after by chicken enthusiasts. The chicks are very cute, black with little white bottoms and feathered feet. The Bresse/FBCM eggs are from our handsome FBCM rooster over our friendliest white Bresse hen. Continue reading “Farm Babies: Chicks Are Hatching!”