Homestead Diary ~ Week 4

Last weeks post left off not knowing the outcome of 2 hatches, one in an incubator and the other under a broody hen.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

I woke up and of course the hatching process was on my mind. I noticed right away that one of the eggs had pipped and a couple others were moving around. Outside, I found the broody hen off the nest, but it looked like she had sat on the eggs during the night.  As the day progressed I observed her sitting in a different spot in the tank and moved the eggs underneath her.  I continued checking the incubator throughout the day finding no changes. I also noted absolutely no signs of life from the pipped egg. Rather early to have given up life, I thought.  There is always that case where development malfunctioned. One last check of the broody hen for the night found her sitting on the eggs with her head raised, looking down as if listening to noises underneath her. Back inside toward 9 pm I noticed one of the other eggs were pipped too and it was not one of the ones I seen moving earlier.  I tapped on the side of the Janoel 12 incubator and to my happy surprise I seen the chick was alive after all.

Friday, August 23, 2019

No progress from that first chick that pipped over night. When I went out to the barn, I checked on the broody hen.  She was NOT on her eggs, again.  I looked down into the tank where I had placed the eggs.  Oh, what is this?  One of the eggs was pipped and partially zipped and cold.  I quickly checked the other egg.  It was cold and pipped. Both little chicks were weakly chirping.  I fired that hen on the spot! Into the house and into the incubator they went.  To her credit, I had moved her only a few days before they were due to hatch. This may have upset her and distressed her enough to not sit. Or perhaps some other reason in her chicken mind was the root. Whatever her reason, I trust next time she goes broody, the outcome will be better.

The first Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner/Swedish Flower Hen chick hatched on Friday in the incubator.  I placed a black band on the chicks leg to note that is was one of cross breed chicks while I had the incubator covered to place the 2 eggs from the barn in. I felt pretty excited about this chick.  This makes the first LCN hen produced egg to hatch a chick. I am looking forward to getting Clinch and Cisco in with hens in a couple months. That first chick to pip Thursday morning showed no progress by Friday night. When I starting to remove a part of the shell of the crossbred chick produced blood. I stopped and put it back into the incubator for the night.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Culver Farmer’s Market takes place on Saturday.  If you recall from last weeks diary post, I missed to attend a family reunion that actually took place this Saturday.  After a bit of internal debate, I chose to go to the reunion for real this day. 

First a hatching update: I found 5 chicks in the incubator Saturday morning.  Disappointed I missed the hatching of one of the eggs I brought in from the barn, I knew I needed my sleep the night before. On the other hand my earlier fears of not locking the eggs down early enough turned out unfounded.  That egg that had pipped on Thursday morning still unhatched along with one egg I had brought in from the barn.  I helped the SFH chick out and the LCN/SFH cross chick.  I placed a white band on the SFH chick and a black one on the crossbred chick.  Certain hatches I interchange the colors and make notes. Other times I use a certain color based on what pen the chick came from.

The family had started going through the 2 or 3 tables of food when we arrived.  Delicious dishes of home cooked and some homegrown food provided more options than one could try.  The theme of the gathering this year celebrated 100 years since the 2 that started this family married.  We laughed and shared a few tears while remembering and watching a skit.  Actor portraited telling of the memories our ancestors might share if they were alive with us today.  Basically, a timeline of the family.  I learned a few new facts that along with the visit to the Stonehouse had me thinking a bit deeper about myself.

Looking over the chicks in the incubator Saturday night. I noticed the crossbreed chick, the first to pip on Thursday morning, did not stand due to leg issues.  I felt beat, sad and exhausted.  I worked with a it and left it sort of propped against the side of the incubator.  I shut the bathroom light off, hoping the chick would be stable there with no stimulation.  It is probably going to die, I thought.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

I completely expected the yellow chick I had helped out of the egg that had been pipped since Thursday morning to be dead.  I opened the incubator, what? No dead chick. What? All are on their feet? I counted 7. Oh, what a happy surprise. That Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner/Swedish Flower Hen chick was going to make it!!

I am going to title Sunday a day of rest that turned challenging.  A nice slow start to the day that included a late breakfast out with Brian.  I moved the newly hatched chicks to the barn. I started the process of cleaning the incubator and returned the top part to the house.  Except I found myself locked out.  Brian had left for his afternoon plans.  Inside of the house was my car keys, cell phone, insulin and gluecometer.  Unexpected opportunity to practice my homesteading survial skills.  Now yes, I could have walked to a neighbors and called him, but I had changed into a ratty old shirt that sported holes where they should NOT be.  No way, was I showing up dressed this way. One of those old-fashioned habits I guess, I have chore/working clothes and good clothes.  The chore clothes become rags before they completely disappear.  This particular shirt was overdue for the rag bin, but perfect for hot weather.  I worked on feeding chickens, took a nap in a chair I had packed in my car, and evaluated exactly what tools might make this easier.  I figured I would need to eat. I knew I kept a knife in the car and when I went to get it, I found a salt and pepper packet. Oh, best tasting tomato ever.  I ate it sitting out near the chicken pens. I had found a pack of smarties in the car and they disappeared quickly. I ate a crab apple and for dessert I picked wild grapes and ate a few of them.  Well I wasn’t going to die.  I worked on PM horse chores, I could tell by the where the sun was in the sky it was getting late enough for that.  Turned out I was locked out of the house for over 5 hours.  Now might not seem too bad and looking back it wasn’t. 

Chatting with a sister later, I remarked how dependent I really am on certain conveinances.  Maybe I need a few more sessions of roughing it, but preferably NOT locked out of my house.

Note: Going forward a day or two, the Lord showed me how even in those hours of being locked out of the house, I tended to give thought to how could independently survive vs. depend on His guidance. All these beautiful lessons on a journey called life.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Rain! Rain! Sums up todays weather.

Am chores, laundry, writing, and online work filled up much of my day.  I need several hours, maybe be even 2 days to catch up on cleaning and moving chickens around into pens.  With cold weather season around the corner, I start giving thought to organizing breed pens for next year and cutting down on numbers for the winter.

I stop here for Week 4 on a Monday. Look for the remainder of August diary entries to be out the beginning of next week (Week 5). Do you like these types of posts? I would love to hear your thoughts on if you as a reader would like to see them continue or not? Please leave a comment below or send me an email. Click on email to go to a form that will send me an email. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.