A Fluffy Day

Talk about a fluffy day!  The new chicks are bopping and peeping around.  They are just adorable.  They are not even a week old yet and the feathers on their wings and tails are starting to grow out already.  They sure getting big fast.  The black and brown one is the only one who'd let me take a close up picture of him today.  He's just the cutest little thing...

 

The chicks also must think I'm their mom because they cuddle up on my chest near my neck and sleep...

The night is also going to be very cold tonight. The adult chickens have heat in their coop, but the ducks do not.  So I brought them inside and let them take a warm bath in the bathtub.  They looked better and they had a great time in the tub too.  I dried them off and they are sleeping in Colby's (one of our dogs) crate.  They are all cuddled up with a towel to lay on.  They'll go outside again tomorrow morning, but for now, they are warm and cozy.  Stay warm and have a great night!

Day 26 of Duck Egg Incubation

Today is day 26 of the duck egg incubation.  This mean that the eggs were laid on their side and stopped being turned.  Once again the ducklings inside can get themselves situated for hatching.  This was done this morning before I left for work.  So hopefully some will have hatched when I get home.  So excited for baby chicks.  We shall see what happens...

No baby ducklings yet...tomorrow hopefully!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday to three new beautiful baby chickens.  The chicks were hatched throughout the day yesterday, the 20th day of incubation.  (I just didn't get a chance to post about it).  I don't know if there will be any more.  I incubated 18 eggs and 3 have hatched so far.  Hopefully they will continue to hatch, but if not, I won't love the ones I have already any less!  All three of the hatched eggs were laid on December 26, 2013.

Yesterday when I got up to go to work, there was already one hatched, dried off, and cheeping in the incubator.  I let him in there until I came home from work.  I figured the heat would do him some good until I had a chance to get the brooder set up last evening.  We think he is a cross between a brown chicken (the rooster is brown) and a white chicken.  He's definitely a mixed bird because there are ever so tiny spots of dark on his baby feathers.  Here is the baby photo of the first little chick to hatch.   (**Note: I have no idea what sex they are, so I'll just refer to them all as "him", haha).

The first to hatch! January 21, 2014, early morning

When I came home from work I had noticed that while is was gone, another one hatched.  I think this one is a cross between a Buff Orpingon (brown) and a Australorp (black).  He is beautiful.  Here is his baby photo:

The second to hatch! January 21, 2014, early afternoon

So then there were two.

My hubby, Brandon, and one of our dogs, Colby, with the first to hatch

Me with the second to hatch

Having their first meal

Having their first meal

We got them into the brooder for safekeeping.  Here they can also drink, eat, and take naps under the heat lamp.  They are so much fun to watch too.

Then later that night, the third one hatched and we could hear him peeping in the incubator.  We think he is a cross between a brown chicken and white chicken too, just different.  Here are his baby photos:

The third to hatch!  January 21, 2014, in the evening

The third to hatch!  January 21, 2014, in the evening

So then there were three.  They are all so cute.  Even though they were only born yesterday, they are all really active walking, eating, and peeping around the brooder.  They all seem to be really healthy too.  I've been cuddling them, kind of like their mommy would by covering them and tucking them into my hands and arms.  When I do that, they fall asleep and stop peeping.  I'm trying to handle them a lot, so when they are grown up, they will not be skiddish or afraid of me.  I hope I can get them to come when I go outside to see them or call them.  More like pets than just chickens.  Here are more fun photos:

I candled the duck eggs today as well.  They are all developing well and the embryo's even moved today.  It was almost like they kicked.  This means they are all still living.  So hopefully we will have 3 ducklings in about a week.  Their incubation period is a week longer than chickens.

So stay tuned.  Updates will come shortly about the new chicks (hopefully there are some more) and the new ducklings!

Incubation Day 18

I am very excited to announce that today is day 18 of the incubation.  This means I have stopped turning the chicken eggs and have set them on their sides.  There are ideally 3 days left for the total incubation, give or take a few.  The chicks will position themselves correctly to begin hatching.  So hopefully there will be an update this week with lots of chick pictures! Yay!  My 3 duck eggs have another week before they can stop being turned.....Check back for some awesome pictures soon :-)

PA State Farm Show 2014

Hooray for the Farm Show!! This past Wednesday Brandon and I went to the 2014 PA State Farm Show in Harrisburg.  As you probably know, my favorite part is the poultry display.  They have such wonderful chickens and ducks.  My Khaki Campbell ducks would beat theirs any day though.  But I did see a few ducks that I did really like.  They are a green sheened black one and a white call.  They were both small and I believe they are bantams.  I can't tell you how adorable they are.  I NEED these little white ducks :)

We also saw the Turkey Hill cow which was out front, cute baby pigs, pretty cows, an awesome butter sculpture, magnificent peacocks, and a really neat farm miniature.   They are all pictured below.  I really enjoy they farm show, especially the great food.  And the yummy milkshakes!!

Turkey Hill Cow

Bantam White Call

Bantam White Call

Butter Sculpture

Miniature Farm

Incubation Day 4

So far it has been four days since I set the eggs in the incubator.  They seem to be doing well.  They are turning automatically every 4 hours.  They have to be turned so that the insides don't stick to the shell.  This can cause the chick not to hatch or die.  I've been having a little trouble keeping the humidity just right though.  The temperature is supposed to be about 100 degrees while the humidity is supposed to be about 55%-60%  then it increases to 65% during the actual hatching.  My humidity has been very high at about 80%. So I took out the little bit of water that I had in the bottom of the incubator to create the humidity.  Well this made the humidity at 40%.  I just added a tiny bit of water just a few minutes ago, so we'll see if this fixes the problem.  If the humidity is too low the chicks can dry out and cause death.  If the humidity is too high it can cause the chicks to be mushy and cause death also.  I hope they are going to be okay with the fluctuation of the humidity.

I also candled the eggs today.  The duck eggs, since they are white, were easier to see inside of.  They had the start of bloody veins inside the egg! Exciting! This means the ducklings are growing.  The chicken eggs are brown which make them a little harder to see inside of.  Things are changing inside of them, but I can't see the veins yet.  I'm hoping this is only because they are brown eggs.  So we shall see when they are candled at the 1 week mark!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Here's to a happy and healthy new year!

Today is the day I set my eggs in the incubator.  I got an egg incubator for Christmas from my husband and have been collecting fertilized eggs from the ducks and chickens for a week.  At 6:00 p.m. I started them in the incubator.  I have 21 eggs total.  Three duck eggs ( 1 each from December 30, 31, and January 1) and 18 eggs from the chickens (5 from December 25; 5 from December 26; 2 from December 31; and 6 from January 1).  I am very excited to see how many of these eggs will be fertile and grow chicks/ducklings.  In 21 days I should hopefully have some baby chicks hopping and peeping around.  And in 1 week more I should hopefully have 3 ducklings doing the same thing.

I also had a beautiful Buff Orpington hen that started sitting on an egg a day or two before Christmas.  She sat diligently on this single egg for a few solid days.  Then one day I went to collect the eggs as usual and there were none.  She collected all the eggs and was sitting on them; eight to be exact.  She sat on these for several more days.  Well, yesterday she was in a different egg box and the other chickens had raided her nest.  I was very sad to see all of her hard work gone.  They were now cold so I brought them in the house and cracked them.  It turns out she was doing a good job because they were definitely fertile and they had little veins starting to grow.  If she starts to sit again, which I think she will, we will move her into her own little house so she can sit and hatch eggs to her own liking without any other hens bothering her.

On a sadder note, I do have 4 chickens that I think we will be slaughtering in the not so distant future.  Last year when I was deciding to get chickens I ordered a brown laying mix of chickens from Myers Hatchery. I got brown, white, and black chickens.  Unfortunately I believe the white chickens are pecking the other ones.  All the other chickens are pecked in some way except the white ones.  Also the white ones seem to be the ones eating eggs every once in a while too.  Time for chicken dinner I suppose.  :(

All ready to go in their incubator!

Lots of eggs for lots of chicks!