Over the past week, I have been gathering eggs from my Buff Orpington hens, who are in a pen with Neo, the best-rooster-ever. The eggs have been carefully placed on their sides ~ fat end slightly elevated ~ and left on the counter. This morning I went out and gathered the two that were in the nesting box. Then I came inside and placed all the eggs in the incubator. Hopefully we will have some chicks in about 21 days!
The eggs are numbered with the date they were laid.
I do this so that I have some idea of how long they are viable on the counter.
The temperature will be carefully monitored and kept around 100 degrees, with the humidity
(for the first 18 days) around 50%.
You may notice that the temperature in this picture is closer to 80.
That is simply the affect of having the top off while eggs are being placed.
One of the most fun parts of hatching chicks is listening to the eggs before they hatch. Somewhere around day 18-20, the chicks will start peeping in the egg! It is loud enough to be heard in the back of the house. When they hatch they must be left in the incubator until they dry out. That can take up to 48 hours. During that period the peeping is really loud, which is a lot of fun at night!
Outdoors there is a lot going on. Do you remember the trees that Mr. Marvelous cut down on the back hill and dragged up to the front? They look a lot different now!
It is a lot of fun to walk through.
He added the netting...
...and planted some beans....
...which already look like this...
They will climb the netting, giving us even more of a tunnel effect.
Being the Marvelous Mister that he is, he even added some lights!
And yes, those really are pink flamingos down at the driveway entrance.
There is lots more going on around here. The corn and potatoes are growing rapidly. The tomatoes are already blossoming and we even have a tiny promise of a tomato sandwich.
Things are going at a rapid pace and keeping us rather busy right now. I'm sorting through jars and mentally preparing myself for a very busy summer in the canning kitchen.
Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment