Life on the Farm ...

Well, we have been busy during the month of August!  We had Ben one weekend, Brandi the next and all 3 on the 3rd weekend -- with taking care of the animals before the afternoon thunderstorms kick in and working, we've been keeping busy doing odd jobs and repairs to various things around the house in the evenings.  I can't even believe that the month is almost over and I haven't put any updates in a long time...I'll work on not falling behind any more. 

We had noticed that Henny Penny was broody -- she wouldn't leave the nest box to allow the others to lay, and she was fiercely guarding the eggs that had already been laid.  She was bound and determined to hatch them.  So with some calculations of dates, figuring that eggs take 21 days to incubate, and that a couple of weeks away for the kids to be here, on July 30 I put 8 marked eggs under her:  2 of Beulah's, 2 of Thelma's, 2 of Opal's, and 2 of Betty's.  (Since she was broody, she hadn't laid eggs in about a week.)  To keep the other girls from trying to lay new eggs in the nest box and disturbing her, I moved her to what I called the "nursery", an elevated locked cage in the coop with her own water and food supply.  I candled the eggs at 7 and 10 days, then again at Day 17.  The last day, we could see the chick moving in the shell!  That was cool -- and all 8 of them were alive.  It was super great that Sally, Grady, Maggie, and Brandi could see the chicks pre-hatching, too! 

I had "scheduled" for the eggs to hatch at the 21 day mark -- but on Day 19, when I went to check on Henny Penny and her food/water, I saw little heads pop up from her wings!  She had her babies early.  :) 

Miss Henny Penny, mama to be

 

Here she is, 19 days later!  I don't know if it was the excessive summer heat or what, but they all hatched out early!  Yay!

surprise!

 

Here are a few pictures of the new chicks and the ones still emerging from their shells:

Bill holding the new born!

We have eight happy and healthy chicks!  100% hatch rate!  They are a little over a week old now, and here are some updated pictures with the beginning feathers starting to come in.  Henny Penny is still very protective of them! 

In just a few weeks, they will be joining the "teenagers" as I have been calling them, (the pre-layers.)  The hens that are laying I call the "big girls."  The teenagers that are the oldest at 18 weeks are Rhoda, Ruby, Ruth, and Myrtle. 

How'd you get up there?

Poor Myrtle.  She's the black one in the above picture.  The 3 Rhode Island Reds tend to stick together, and won't let her play or roost with them.  The big girls are meanies and won't let her play or roost with them either.  We're learning the term "pecking order" is true!

That's okay, she'll find her OWN roost:

In the rafters

Who needs them anyway?

Yes that is my van...

Silly girl, vans aren't roosts!

In the late evening, I call out to the girls, "Time for bed!" and they usually all start heading for the coop, if they aren't already inside.  But not Myrtle.  She is on whatever improvised roost she can find, and will evade me for a good ten minutes running around and around the vehicles, changing direction, running towards and then away from the coop, trying to tire me out and hoping I'll give up.  At some point, she lets me "catch" her and carry her into the coop. 

But I'm on to her!  Last night when I picked her up, she curled right up in my arms and nestled her neck up against mine, like a little hug.  Aww, how sweet.  Then I realized she was the one training ME!  Time to change my tactics!

Here are the younger teenagers, who are 15 and 12 weeks old, Wynonna, Wilma, and Elsa:

Wilma chilling on the sawhorse

Elsa showing off her fancy 'do

Wynonna rushing to make sure she doesn't miss out on anything

On patrol, making sure the kittens stay in line

That's it for now!  Stay tuned for an update to our state meals project!