Eggs Eggs Eggs!!

So many eggs!

First, there was Moha's eggs. Moha, our last New Hampshire pullet, was found "cackling" (typical chicken call after or before laying an egg) in our barn today, outside of her fenced in pasture. I picked her up, and looked over at a small mound of hay. "Ah, so I see you laid an egg today" I said, taking steps foreward to what looked like an egg in the middle of the mound. Once I got a clear view of the "egg," I thought to myself "WHOA!!" - There were 15 eggs in one large clutch in the nest she built! She's been laying in secret here for possibly more than 15 days! Wow. . . So, I brought them all in, cleaned them, and put them in a carton. Pretty sure they were all hers, as they were very uniform looking once in the carton. This photo is before I cleaned and organized them.



Then, I got my expected shipment of 15 black/blue/splash Ameraucana eggs just yesterday. My were they beautiful! They varied in saturations from vibrant to faint hues of minty green to a seamfoamy blue color. They were sooo beautiful, and once candled - Glow a vibrant, neon green color! Here's them laid out before being put in the incubator:



And now, I just returned from nabbing 15 Wheaten and 11 Black Copper Marans eggs on a 7 roundtrip hour drive. They were certainly worth it! Both Wheaten and Black Copper are pure Bev Davis lines, and pure beauty. Photos never really due justice, but they were plenty dark, and plenty rich in color! Also, the Black Coppers were very big!



Put together - The black copper eggs and Ameraucana eggs are a nice little checkerboard of faint green and rich, dark red-brown. Right now, they finally rest in the incubator while my less than 15 brown eggs rest in the refrigerator, quite a few already eaten. My my, so many eggs!!



So, with the new eggs, new incubator, and new location to hatch the eggs - I really really hope all goes well, and many chicks hatch out of these eggs! After these chicks, I'm still expecting 12 more Black Copper Marans eggs from someone else along with 12 blue/black/splash Jersey Giant eggs! Soooo many eggs!!! What can I say, chickens are like potato chips - Ya can't have just one!!

Growin' like WEEDS!!

Okay so the chick photos aren't going to be daily, as I have been missing two of my four batteries to the camera for days now. FINALLY found them. . . And look at my Ameraucans! They're getting scruffy looking, and their shoulder and chest feathers are coming in!



This is one of the larger blues - Not sure on boy or girl, but sometimes feel it may be a boy. Likes to pick fights with the black cockerel, and I believe I once heard it "chook."



But, looking past all the lack of perfect down on the girls and boys - "Muffs" is still a very curious and tall girl!



The Ameraucanas aren't the only ones growing up, though! Look at this handsome little'un! This is one of our four Marans, and certainly a boy! The Marans have really grown, and this guy isn't the only one getting feathers popping in. . .



This is the smallest Marans of the bunch, the girl I posted earlier that was very white. Well, she has even more white now and is gorgeous! I hope she grows up to be a very good looking hen who will lay us plenty of gorgeous, dark red/brown eggs.

Glug Glug Glug!

The first Yak in Clallam County / the Northwest Peninsula drank his first milk today! It took an hour or so to actually make him drink from his bottle, be he eventually did - And here's my shot at capturing the event. The amazing, warm, and rare sun, though, warmed up our new goat barn so well that our baby yak needed something to cool off with. We couldn't just let him out to the pasture (He has and will be locked in the goat barn for a number of days) due to his slowly decreasing need to run away, charge at, or jump up/over things, so Ï drug out one of our plastic pools, put it in the barn, and filled it a couple inches with water. He jumped in there, walked around in it, then drank quite a bit. After that, he would often go in and out of it for short bits.

In a short story, today was his first full day away from his previous life, and for the first several hours of the morning - He took it pretty bad. By noon, he calmed down but still grunted a lot (Yaks grunt, they don't moo) and afternoon I was able to touch, pet, and itch any part of his body without him being bothered. If I left him, he grunted a lot. A good sign.





Outside the goat barn, the goats were pretty good today. They didn't cause any trouble today, which is amazing! They have been the worst brats ever, and even killed one of our New Hampshire hens! The chickens have been fine since that incident, though. They're still finding ways out of their pasture, though. I blame the goats and my not finishing the chicken wiring. So, I finally fnished and fixed it all today. Hopefully tomorrow will be the first day in which not a single chicken will be found loose!




Oh, and of course - With the amazing sun today, I let the chicks in their brooder see the light of day by opening the building's doors, and let the sunlight shine right into their area. They had fun.



So, the day itself was one of those "This is the Life!" days, The sun made me just want to lay somewhere where it was warm and the animals were nearby, but instead I had plenty fun work to do. The only problems, honestly, were that Djimon skipped his last two bottlefeeding sessions, and he seems to have a serious case of rainrot.

Yak Yak Yakkity

Isn't he just adorable?? What you're looking at is our new baby Yak! He's about 2 weeks old, and we named him Djimon. We brought him him by car in a 5 hour drive, and he did pretty well, considering his life before that was with no human contact what so ever, and he mainly just frolicked around green pastures with his yak herd among many Watusi cattle. ( Old African breed with enormous, thick horns )

Once more yaks are born, we'll be snatching them up as well, and with a few more girls added, that will conclude our breeding group. From there, the young will be used for meat and the breeding herd will be used for their wool and milk. Yaks are so useful!



Aside from that, here's some more chick progress. We've only had our BC Marans for 3 days, and they're already growing wing feathers now! This one here is the smallest, lightest one - Most likely a girl.



And this here is another blue Ameraucana, the muffless and beardless one. She's also growing quite a bit. I wanted to take photos of my prize black cockerel, but he's getting so tame and smart now that he flies off the shelf before I even get photos! If I try and grab him before he does, he just crawls out of my grasp and perches on my hand. He's such a brave boy!

Eggs - Day 22: Sad endings and fluffy beginnings

Well, it is past the due date for my last two eggs, and. . . Nope. This story has a sad ending. Not too long ago, some days ago infact, I had a several hour temperature spike that really really upset me. It was the day I got my Ameraucanas - I was pretty sure at that point the eggs would be goners. Indeed they were. One, Goldenrod's, had died before the fetus even grew claws or down or anything - But Yellow's sadly died from the temp spike. When I opened her egg, inside was a dead chick who hadn't even taken in its yolk. For curious people, I did indeed take photos but will post them later. They're graphic as a warning, but rather educational. RIP, unborn babies.

As for my "prehatched" chicks, I finally got my Black Copper Marans! I only got 4, which is 8 less than I expected, but that's fine for now. I'm pretty sure one, the lightest and smallest, is a girl - And the older, larger one is a boy. Today I finally did the photo-journal I said I'd do. I took the biggest Marans chick, one of the blue Ameraucanas, and my prize black cockerel in for photo shoots. ( Well, actually, there is a shelf next to the brooder that I set up for their photoshoot, so all I do is pick up a chick, place it there, put a light near it and take some photos. )



This is one of the three black Ameraucanas - This guy sticks out like a sore thumb, and I'm pretty sure it is a boy. His bloodlines go back to Cree Farms, where the black cockerels are the most beautiful examples of Ameraucana roosters I have ever seen! I surely hope he grows up to be a shining jewel like them!



This is one of the blue Ameraucanas - And as you can see from her lovely, upright posture, she took very well to the photoshoot. She'd stand perfectly upward, look around, and then walk off scene to look at whatever struck her curiosity. She was very quiet and easygoing.



This is one of the new Marans chicks - They're 3 days old now, and still sort of new to this. We got them on Sunday, introduced them to the Ameraucanas, and they're doing quite fine - But when I put this little tyke up on the cloth, it started peeping in fear. I did the photoshoot quickly, and put it back down to safety. The marans are still pretty young and unsure, while the Ameraucanas are very outgoing. Today, they are 11 days old.

Tomorrow we're getting some yak babies, so expect some fuzzy looking creatures here pretty soon!!

Peep Peep Peep!

I got my blue Ameraucana (real Ameraucanas, not what hatcheries and locals sell) chicks yesterday!! Aaaah they're so cute!!

There are 8 of them, I'm not positive on gender yet, and 5 of them are blue with the remaining 3 being black. Here's some pics! The first thing I must point out is that there is one in particular, pretty sure - So sure I'd put money on it - That this one is a girl. It has the biggest muffs, best blue, and best feet color. I took plenty photos of it. What should I name them, though? They're all starting to develop personalities! Anyway, these first two photos are of the same girl. ( What are muffs? They are the side-part of the beard that an Ameraucana or Easter Egger sports. So now, I have 9 bearded babes! )



Next, we have a girl who doesn't seem to have a beard or muffs at all. She's a little smaller and darker, so who knows - Maybe she's A) younger or B) a male.



Here's one last photo of a small group when I first came in to see them this morning. They're getting to be quite friendly! Aaah they will be soo spoiled! And starting perhaps tomorrow, I will begin a day to day photo-journal of the growth of an Ameraucana chick! Yes, they really do change quite a bit in just a day's notice! Let's see how they grow. . .



But in the mean time - Today is day 20 for my eggs, so starting tomorrow night they should start pipping, zipping, and hatching!! Yesterday they experienced a terrible temperature spike and drop in humidity, but hopefully they'll tough past that. They'll be due to join these blue peep peeps come Tuesday or earlier, and on Sunday we still have 10 Black Copper Marans (chocolate-colored egg layers) to join these chicks. They're due to hatch today, and we'll pick them on midday Sunday.

Eggs, day 17 - Peeps on the Way!

So in the last couple days I have been bouncing around a lot of Craigslist and emails, looking around for some new additions to our farm. I luckily found 8 true Ameraucana chicks we'll be picking up in just two days, and now after countless Marans for sale locally, I've settled on one person. Sooo in the end, we'll be getting 8 blue egg layers on Friday, and at the most 10 chocolate-egg layers on Sunday, with our very own Olive-egg layers due to hatch from Friday to Sunday. Soo much excitement!

In the mean time, I had plenty fun today. Still trying to work out all the problems with the goats and chickens and their responses to the pasture. The Wyandottes are finding places where they can escape the pasture (but why? It's 2 acres of free goodness!!) and the goats are finding ways into the hen's new nesting room and their original coop, causing all kinds of havoc! Goats. . Sooo much trouble. They eat anything too, for sure! They even try and eat our chickens!

To prove a point, just hours ago, in the black of night, I had to use some random twine to rope up both of the girls and pull them out of the chicken coop, whom they got stuck in and couldn't find a way out of. They were jumping on the nesting boxes, eating the chicken food, waking up and scaring the chickens, knocking over their waterer - Too much. Just too much. I tried luring them out with hay, and all they did was bay at me. I tried scaring/chasing them out, and they run back the other way. So finally I roped them up after about 15 minutes of trying to catch both of the girls, and I had help. We carried one goat and sort of dragged the other around, from the entrance of the coop to the opening of their pasture. THEN, we lured them back into their "dreaded and boring" barn of which they so insist on staying out of, and locked them in.

. . . Goats are a lot of work. After that, I finally put leg bands on the last couple Wyandottes while they were calmly in their sleep, and checked on all the chickens to make sure everyone was okay. . . And also made sure their nesting boxes weren't broken.

Eggs - Day 16! Two days left!

It is day 16 now, and there are only two days left until Lockdown! What is lockdown? It is the last three days of an egg's time before hatching in which you cannot open the incubator, must stop turning the eggs, and increase both humidity and temperature so that the eggs will properly hatch. Soooo exciting!!!

Well, I've learned a couple tricks with my camera, so - Here's our two new goats we got two days ago! The first is Zing, a black LaMancha. The second is Zest, a yellowy striped black LaMancha. They are earless, yes - It is a part of the breed. They are just a month shy of being a year old, and Zing is surely pregnant, due April. Zest may be due in June. Then, we're getting the milk!



These photos were taken just this morning - And as you can see, we got frost. For the first time in quite a while. But, the glorious and rare sun will melt it all down as the day moves on! In the second photo, Zest is standing on a 2x10" board that I nailed between one stump on a hill and another on the ground - And in Zing's photo it is another board nailed between two equally high stumps. Both of these are great fun for the goats - Especially Zest. I just knew all these extra stumps will come into handy! Pretty soon they'll get more used to me not being around them 24/7, and they'll go have fun on the (perhaps 100?) stumps sitting around the pasture!

In other pictorial news - The chickens are not liking the goats. The goats got into their coop countless times, tried eating a couple of the chickens, and constantly head-butt them if they're near their food. It is a bad competition - I have already lost 3 eggs because of the goats. And today, with the frost, the chickens aren't even going out to the pasture yet. It is really cold, so they're all huddled up behind their coop where it is safe. It was a good time for me to get photos of all the girls, though. Including the newly marked and leg-banded Wyandottes. Here's Yellow, one of the two moms to my almost hatching eggs! Isn't she beautiful?

Goats!

Pics coming soon - I believe my camera is the issue, not batteries.

Anyway, our two goat doelings came today! They are just a month shy of being yearlings, and are the most darling things! They're a breed known as La Mancha, who are used for dairy and are earless. We'll be using them for dairy, too. (Cheese, Yogurt, Milk, Butter, aah the good stuff)

Both of them are pregnant, due late spring. So by summer we'll get our milk products. In the mean time - One is named Zest, and is black white yellow stripes down the face and a yellow-tinted belly. The other is Zing, and is purely black. They're both very friendly and are settling in quite well - The only time they make much sound is if you leave the pasture, they bay at you until you come back.


In other news, we're certainly getting more chickens - Some Marans, Ameraucanas, and Jersey Giants - But the closest to come are Ameraucanas. We found some chicks for sale on Craigslist (great invention of a website, by the way) and have a good chance of getting 8 chicks this weekend! Just in time for our own chicks to hatch!

Oh, and the current chicks are on day 14 - One I'm worried of and the other, Yellow's, is doing just fine! I candled it today and it is such a magical thing to watch! You can see a whole baby chick moving around, complete with veins all about the embryo.

Today is a beautiful day!! - And such wonderful weather, too! From sunrise to sunset was a beautiful, blue sky with a bright and warm sun!

Eggs - day 12! Pictures!

Well I've been having plenty of incubator troubles today. I think the room it is in is flucuating a lot, plus the humidity keeps dropping to 31% - So I tried increasing it, and it shot up to 43%!! Plus the temps got to 104 degrees today. . . If the chicks aren't dead by now, they're traumatized. Anyway, here's the eggs. Most of them are Easter Egger/Wyandotte crosses, and with the days so advanced, I'm pretty sure if any - I'm only getting the two when they hatch.



Here's a shot at candling - This is one of the two fertile and developing eggs at day 12. If you look closely and carefully, you can see the baby chick inside at the very top, sort of curled in a fetal position. This one in particular doesn't move much, but the other one is a wild little dancer.



And, here's the mom and dad. Mom is Llena/Goldenrod, hence the "goldenrod" marked wing for identification, and dad is our only roo, Marc Antony. Very curious as to the outcome of them.




All these photos were taken today. Marc Antony no-longer has his weekend vacations, and is instead open to wander with the girls. The rooster pad idea was scrapped, and now the girls get what once was going to be their building. The shelves that are already in it currently serve as really good nesting boxes, but apparently - According to the eight eggs found underneath the future goat's bed in their barn, the barn is a better place.

Eggs - Day 11!

Still no batteries.

Today has been a very busy day. If the weather is as nice tomorrow as it has been today, I'll be entirely done with the fencing! Livestock here we come! Today, though, it was all about doing the fencing in the back of the pasture, and lining the front with chickenwire. Tomorrow, when the girls and boy wake up - They'll be stuck out back in the pasture, and not even need me to wake them up!

Marc Antony's temporary rooster corner is down, his rooster pen is open, and now the chicken coop is a lot more open and spacious.

The eggs have been doing fine - Still, there are only two confirmed chicks. I think that is how it will end, sadly. The humidity dropped to 30% today and had me panicked, so I quickly re-soaked the sponge and set it back in. Since Moha's eggs don't seem to be coming along too well, I found a freshly laid egg of hers today and saved it away for later incubation. I've recently heard that someone actually stored some eggs away for 3 weeks and they still hatched! Oh, and the other nice thing about Moha's egg - It is truly pink. It was the most pink egg I have ever seen. Forget the rare Croad Langshan eggs. Moha's are amazing!! I really really hope Mohogany's eggs will also be as pink, so I can start a pink line of eggs in with my brown, chocolate brown, blue, green, white, and olive colors.

The Brahmas!

Here are my biggest fluffy-butts. These are the Light Brahmas - Raven, Cheesecake, and Mila. They were all ordered from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and had some other Brahmas with them, but each died off of one thing or another. These girls are the remainders.





This is Raven: She most certainly doesn't look like a Brahma, but I could be wrong. Her crest is not a pea comb, it is a single comb. Her body type is extremely U-Shaped, and her tail shouldn't be so erect. Plus, her face is quite round and her earlobes have a lot hanging from them. She doesn't even sound as similar as Cheesecake and Raven when she starts talking. She's relatively shy in the touchy sense, but often the first Brahma to come running up to you.





This is Cheesecake: She is what your average hatchery Brahma will look like - Lots of penciling on the back, which far as I'm concerned is not how they should look but still quite nice. Her body type overall seems pretty good to me, and her head is amazing, but that's judging on her being APA standard brahma or not. To me, she lives up to her name - She's very sweet, loves to jump up on my shoulders or lap, and is always running up to me the moment she sees me! Also, I believe she's head hen right now.



This is Mila: I believe she is the most up to standard bird we have of the trio. She doesn't have penciling, but instead some black leakage on the back, and her back levels quite nicely towards her very short tail. Her neck is quite short, though, and her head is very small but I notice that a lot of Brahmas are like that. Not entirely my cup of tea, and it seems her eyesight is rather far-sided (eating takes lots of focus and adjustment of the head before she actually pecks it) but I still love her! She's the "sassy" one of the bunch, and is always chattering under her breath when pacing around. Also, she is the absolute loudest when she needs to lay and egg, and if a Wyandotte bothers her during her egg-laying, she screams so loudly!!

Eggs, day 9! - Two gone

Today I culled two eggs so far. One was "Surprise #1" and the other was the pure Easter Egger egg. The EE egg ended up not fertile, go figure (that is why I culled it) and the surprise egg was fertile, but it did not develop at all. The reason I culled it was because while candling it, I noticed some cracks on the egg that seemed to have been formed while the egg was formed. After I gave it a chance, it didn't develop at all - So, I culled and inspected it. It looked exactly how a day 0 egg would look.

Otherwise, my 2 fetuses are still doing well, and growing oh so fast! The other two siblings to those are also coming through, but I don't see any fetus or veins. As for the rest - I still have hopes for about 4 others, and not sure on the rest.

The pure Easter Egger egg I tried hatching - Her mom had a really rough day yesterday. Tufted, my "Bearded Babe," always lays enormous eggs. We're talking double-yolker sized eggs that aren't actually double yolkers. Well, for a couple weeks they have been so big and hard for her to squeeze out that they come out lumpy, mountainous, and sometimes even all scratched up like a meteor. (pics coming soon!) Yesterday, though - She tried squeezing a monstrousity out for three hours! In the end, I gave her lots of water, all which she drank so needingly, and she only had a long, thin wrapping of crushed up shell come out. Along with a lot of viscous liquid and other matter, probably the yolk and white of the egg with whatever else. It was a horrible day for her, she was not feeling well after that, and today I'm cutting back her layer pellets and making her just feast on whatever is in the pasture. . . Because at first, huge eggs are amazing, but once they get like this - It is torture for her.