Happy Saturday, dear reader. Chick day has turned into chick week here on the farmette. We joyfully received about 50 chicks (they are really hard to count) on Friday. Now, our little hatchery in our dining room is hopping. I noticed the first pips Saturday afternoon. Pips are the first little shell crack or hole that the chick creates to be able to breath during the hatch. Then they take a break for several hours usually.
This little first pip is from a Whiting egg. They can be any color at all so we'll see what we get from this guy. So I went to bed with the pips pipping and awoke to cheeping.
And the first two little guys. Not the fluffy beauties that we received from Cackle Hatchery but they'll dry off and look much cuter in a few hours. No one wants their hairdo judged first thing in the morning. Two down and about 23 to go.
One of these little looks like a tiny wolverine. I'm sure he's just as aggressive.
They'll stay in the incubator for another 24 hours or so. If you open the incubator and poke around, you can dry out the eggs that are in the process of hatching, trapping them in their eggs like a too small sweater. So we'll just watch from above through the tiny window.
As soon as these little guys hatch, they'll go into a brooder and I'll tuck the goose eggs in this incubator. I have another incubator going too with 37 eggs in it, so it might be turning into chick month...
And here are the Cackle chicks today as they get bigger.
I've finished the season of Victorian Farm on Amazon that I mentioned that I was watching last week. It was interesting and a fascinating project. Three Victorian experts living for a year in an old English homestead from the 1850's, using only what was available in the time. They wrapped their experience up in the final episode. My favorite of the trio, Peter, summarized their time like so: It wasn't a job so much as a lifestyle. The longer we work on the farm, the more it's becoming a lifestyle. It sounds trite probably but it has been joyful, building things and hatching things and taking care of all the feathery and fuzzy things. And my core muscle strength is better than ever.
Not an exciting photo but it was a beautiful blue day. I was trying to sneak up to get a picture of the geese taking a nap in the sun but it's practically impossible to sneak up on a goose. Check them out on the bank of the pond here.
Have a great weekend, friends. We're working on a new pig farrowing area today for Ladybird and making sure everybody has enough hay in their shelters for the chilly weather next week. I know many of you are in much colder places but it's in the teens here at night next week. I want all the kids to be cozy. You stay cozy where you are!
Best - HP
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