Violet's Babies

Violet's babies hatched Sunday. She brought them out to meet everyone today. The little white one is a Silkie, the red one is a Rhode Island Red. The largest black/cream one is an Australorp. The remaining two are Australorp/Barred Rock mixes.

There are no more hens sitting on eggs now. I may let a broody hatch some eggs later this fall, but we're done for now. My back surgery is the 18th and I won't be able to look out for broody hens for a while.

Ollie's Firstborn

While we're waiting for Daisy's babies to hatch, here's a video of Ollie and her first chick. Her mama was obviously a barred rock and you can see the telltale spot on top of its head. Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? Girl! I put some feed in the corners of the nest box to make sure the little cutie got some food in her belly.

Ollie's got another baby under her too that hatched this morning. It's a reddish color with some black markings on the wing feathers. Mama must have been one of those Golden Comets that's a cross between a leghorn and a New Hampshire, or whatever cross they use to make those red layer hybrids that are all the rage. The fourth egg doesn't show any signs of hatching yet. I'll give it another day.

If this chick is indeed a girl like I think it is, we're definitely keeping her.

Waiting for Peeps

I don't know which is worse - waiting nine months for a baby to be born or waiting 28 days for ducklings to hatch. Tomorrow is Daisy's hatch date, Saturday is Ollie's and Macaroni's. I'm on pins and needles waiting, something I'm terrible at doing.

I've read that if you listen closely you can hear the chicks peep to their mama's through the egg shells when they're getting ready to hatch. I'm listening closely to all three hens' nests. You should see me, kneeling down above the sidewalk and deck with my ear to the floor like an Indian listening for thunder in the distance. I haven't heard anything yet.

I've moved Violet to the floor beneath the nest boxes. Her hatch date is June 15. Violet is low in the pecking order and not very good at defending her nest. The other hens were getting in there with her and laying eggs in her nest. I don't know how many times I had to haul a hen out of there and put Violet back in! So now she's got a private nest to herself and no one can bother her. She wasn't keen on the box at first but now she's content. Earlier this week Poppy got in Violet's nest and stepped on one of the eggs and broke it. I was so upset. I had that girl's neck in my fingers but didn't do it. She's a good layer. An airhead, but a good layer. The egg that was broke wasn't one of the Silkie eggs.

And now another of my Australorps is broody, this time it's Iris. I don't think I'll indulge her though. My back surgery is June 18 and I won't be able to look after chicks then. I might let a broody hen hatch some eggs after that though. Lily's been plucking her belly feathers lately and she may go broody. She's my biggest girl and could easily cover a dozen eggs. We'll see.

I'm hoping that I'll be posting pictures and videos of baby ducklings tomorrow. In the meantime, Betty and I (and little Scarlet) are just waiting...

Final Countdown

Photo: My chooks last April when they were a day old. Ollie's in there somewhere!

In less than one week the first batch of Twelve Acres chicks and ducklings will be either hatched or hatching! I can't think of anything more exciting than the impending arrival of babies. I've been raising animals of one kind or another since I was old enough to hold a puppy (thanks Mom) and nothing beats babies being born!

Ollie's such a fantastic broody hen that I wouldn't be surprised if her chicks hatched a day or two early, a common occurence when a hen is allowed to follow her instincts undisturbed. There is nothing better for hatching eggs than a good broody. Read this great article, "Let Mama Do It". But it seems we people aren't content to let our hens hatch eggs. No, we have to complicate things because, darnit, we can do it better! Or we're bored, or we just want to invite disaster. Whatever the excuse may be, I'm about fed up with the people at Backyard Chickens. Want to see just how bad people are at hatching eggs? Take a look here. If you've never been to BYC prepare yourself and make sure you aren't drinking anything that might hurt as it shoots through your nose at the speed of sound. I'm not a violent person but I really think some of those people should be slapped and have their chickens taken away from them. Truly they are obsessive-compulsive about their chickens.

I'm happy to let my hens do the job of incubating. They are doing it a thousand times better than I could ever hope to. God saw fit to give these gals instincts to do things no other creature has taught them. I am amazed at how they know exactly how long their breaks should be. I watched Violet today as she took her break. As quickly as possible she did the following: pooped, dust bathed, ate, drank, hopped back on the nest. And she did it all within a short period of time. I didn't teach her to do that! How does she know how long she can be off the nest? Someone tell me!

While she took her break I quickly candled her eggs. This is the fourth day of incubation for her clutch of eight. Wouldn't you know it? Every single egg has a viable embryo growing in it...including those darn Silkie eggs! *Groan* I commiserated about that fact with Jim tonight on the front porch as we watched a passing rainstorm blow through. He said I could always give them back to the lady who gave me the eggs. She only has one roo and two hens. A nice thought I think! That is, of course, if I can keep Derek from falling in love with the darn things. Or worse, me...

Candling Results - Day 12

I took this photo of my ducks last July when they were 3 days old. This is what's in store for us!

We're almost to the mid-point of egg incubation here at Twelve Acres. I was fortunate to be able to candle Ollie's and Macaroni's eggs today. I had no luck at all getting pictures though. Try as we might, we just couldn't get a decent photo. I'm no pro at egg candling but at this stage of the game it's very easy to tell if an egg is good or bad. Good eggs are so filled with chick or duckling that they appear to be solid inside and show a very large, dark shadow along with an air cell on the large end of the egg. Bad eggs show nothing at all and sometimes you can still see the yolk. I removed any bad eggs I found and cracked them just to be sure. I had 100% accuracy! Here are the results so far.

Ollie (Buff Orpington hen): 4 good eggs, 2 bad

Daisy (Cayuga duck): 10 good, she removed 4 bad ones herself

Macaroni (Blue Swedish duck): 15 good, 1 bad

I will candle Violet's eggs in about 10 days and find out how many good ones she's got. She's setting like an old pro.

Violet's Setting

This is Violet* and she's been acting broody for about a week now. She seemed to hem and haw about it at first, which is normal. She developed a 'tude and the characteristic "poofing" that only a broody hen (or a tom turkey) will do. A hen won't get serious about incubating eggs until she's laid a clutch worth her effort. Unfortunately with layers you take the broody's eggs each day when you gather eggs, so they don't get a chance to accumulate. Then when it comes time to start incubating the hen's left with an empty nest. It's easy to find some fertile eggs for her in a pinch though. Around here, there's plenty of chicken owners who are more than willing to share their eggs with my broodies.

I kept removing Violet from the nest box today to see just how serious she was about this whole motherhood thing. Each time I removed her she was back on the nest within a reasonable amount of time. I lifted her up gently and checked her belly--no feathers to speak of, which is normal for a broody hen. She's been plucking them to line her nest which explains why I've been cleaning black Australorp feathers out of this nest box for a long time now.

This batch of 8 eggs came from an Asian lady who lives by my mother-in-law. Jim just happened to be at his mom's when I called him and asked him to stop by and ask for some fertile eggs for Violet to set. He asked his mom for something to put them in since he's not in the habit of keeping egg cartons in his truck. She gave him this basket and put a scrap piece of towel in it to cushion the eggs on the ride home. Jim said he enjoyed talking to the chicken owners and when he told them the eggs were for a broody they refused to accept any money for them, a phenomenon known to bird growers everywhere! They also selected a variety of breeds for Violet: Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, Silkie, Australorp and another that Jim couldn't remember, possibly New Hampshire Red or Welsummer. When he told me he was bringing me two Silkie eggs (I'm holding one of the little buggers in the photo) I groaned, "What am I gonna do with a pom pom chicken?" I'm not a big fan of the frou-frou breeds. Just give me a sound, reliable egg layer with a nice disposition and I'll be satisfied. When Derek heard about the Silkie eggs he immediately got excited and asked if we could keep them. I said, "Let's just see what Violet can do first." Of course you know if she hatches those darn Silkie eggs (which she will just cuz I don't want 'em) I'm doomed to keep them! *Groan!*

In case you aren't familiar with what a Silkie chicken is, you can see some photos here. They are particularly popular as pets because of their sweet nature and they are considered a delicacy in the Asian culture. They have black skin, are small and are not very good layers. But they are excellent broody hens. Just what I need. *Groan!*






















Violet's hatch date is June 15 so keep your fingers crossed for her. She's my smallest Australorp but fortunately most of the eggs she's setting are on the small side and she's covering them well. Those Silkie eggs remind me of the pullet eggs my girls first laid. If you're wondering about the red X's on the ends of the eggs they will prevent any confusion at egg-gathering time. Everyone knows that eggs that are marked are fertile and are to be left under the hen.

*Violet was nicknamed "Violent" when she was a teenager because of her annoying habit of pecking me as hard as she could on my legs. Fortunately, she outgrew it. She has beautiful beetle-green sheen to her feathers in the sun and the largest dark eyes of the Australorps. A real looker!

Ollie's Broody

Ollie finally decided to get seriously broody yesterday. So she sat all day in the nest box on...nothing. I felt sorry for her today and put two golf balls under her. She seems happy to have something to fidget and fuss with. I gave them to her at the edge of the nest box and she clucked happily as she tucked them underneath her warm bottom.

So in about 21 days I should have a lovely pair of Titleists running around the coop. Unless one of you folks out there would like to send me a couple of fertile eggs to put under this determined gal!

These peeps better watch out or Ollie will teach them a hard lesson. Maude seems intent on staring at her.

The peeps are 7 weeks old on Friday and they are learning to be big girls. They've begun roosting on this pine branch a few days ago. Aren't they cute up there? Don't they look smug and smart?