Spring is busting out all over....as are the storms, wind, rain and clouds
along with the flowers, weeds and leaf buds.
In my last Blog post, I ended with the moving of chick eggs out of the egg turner in preparation for their hatching. This blog begins with the first signs of their busting out (hatching).
Thursday the 14th I ran to Farm and Fleet on my way home from school. I was almost out of the chick starter feed that I have been feeding the ducks and that I would hopefully need for baby chicks. (I know, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch.") With 20 eggs incubating, I was hoping for at least a few. The cleaning ladies came and did a nice job in almost 2 hours each of work. I decided to get out of the way so went out and worked with training Amiga in the round pen. Then I rode her all around the pastures and fence lines. Thursday evening Britney and I heard noise coming from the eggs and we were sure we saw a few moving slightly. I kept looking and listening to the eggs. In this video you can hear peeping and pecking. At the end you can see a little crack in the blue egg in the upper right of the window.
The school day went quickly Friday, as did the time at home preparing for company. I spent $280.00 at the grocery on the way home. Britney had called to report the hatching of the first egg while I was gone. A little black chick (large compared to the others) seen here:
When I got home, 3 more brown chicks had made their way out of the shell. Here is #2.
The time went way too quickly Friday because I was so distracted by chick hatching. I was trying to do last minute cleaning/bed making etc. and I really wanted to get my 4/13 Blog done before the weekend....but it wasn't going to happen. When I checked on the eggs at 11:30, I noticed one just about to bust out.
I ended up staying up past midnight to catch it on video.
Sorry these are so dark...not sure what to do about it. On my camera they look fine. After the chick is completely free and clear of the egg and yolk sack...it goes into the second incubator to dry off and strengthen its legs. The little ones do better at this than the larger ones. This also prevents them from knocking around the unhatched eggs.
I was woken up at 4am Saturday by a bunch of peeping chicks. I feared Abbey was the cause of the up set...but they had just gotten a second wind I guess. And, there were 6 more chicks hatched. After they dry off in the second incubator, I move them to their cage....the stock tank on the front porch where the ducks had been. They spend a lot of time resting. They will be walking around and then just plop down (as if dead) to rest.
Saturday was a cold, cloudy, windy day. I was disappointed because I had hoped we could picnic outside. But in hind sight....it didn't really matter, we had a great time regardless of weather. Visitors started arriving at 10am while baby chicks continued to bust forth from their confining eggs. We had a fun day together. Courtney was awesome help with dinner, buying and cooking all the hamburgers, hot dogs and brats. I will just post pictures with captions of the activities. These were shared by three of my photographic sisters. Thanks Carol, Patty and Patti.
J.J., Patti, and I Carol, Nicole and David
Lauren, Patty, and Mary Dave, Ben, and Dan
Britney and Abbey J.J. and Travis
Britney and Dan Courtney, Ben and Squeaky
Lauren and Ralph helping Joe fix the barn door that blew
off the frame.
Lauren, Cathy, Britney and I off for a walk with Carol (who took this photo) and the dogs.
Looking in on Sir Loin's mom at Brian's farm.
Picking up trash in the ditch out front on the way home.
Saturday night we had storms, but nothing like the tornadoes that hit neighboring states, so I was very thankful it wasn't worse here.
Sunday was an equally busy day on the farm. Everyone was back for lunch and more visiting. The weather was nicer so we got out more. My 2 nieces were even able to ride Amiga. The round pen was too muddy and the pasture not much better, but we made it work. Amiga was up to some of her tricks, so the rides could have been more enjoyable, but both girls rode for about 45 minutes each.
Lauren and Norman Lauren and Sir Loin
Lauren busting out on Amiga .... riding through the lush pasture.
There was one egg still trying to hatch that I checked on after everyone left, around 2:00 Sunday afternoon. I went to intervene (make a pip hole). There was no sound coming from the egg. Hum. I gently proceeded....No sound and no movement once a little hole was made. Not a good sign. I started a zip so I could see more bird. Still no signs of life. I guess I had intervened too late. I took it and the other 3 unhatched eggs out to where I have a fence post hole that needs filling. I opened the egg all the way... dead chick but it was quite large and crammed in, and there was still a fair amount of egg sack left. Two other eggs had the same problem, as chicks were probably too big to maneuver and make the pip hole. The last egg was a dud....infertile....just egg yoke....but quite stinky. I filled in the hole with some dirt to bury them.
I thank God for those we were blessed with and ask Him daily to help me keep them and all my farm critters healthy.
I noticed my three ducks were really vocal. I am sure they miss and are concerned about the other 6 who went home with Carol. I think Carol took
the "ring leader"
It was a fun weekend...but I was completely exhausted Monday, kind of like these baby chicks after busting out of their shells, seen here on day 2.
I was thankful we only had a three day teaching week to get through. I ended up being observed by my administrator again. At one point I couldn't find the correct words during my Power Point....oops.... I was just to tired.
I was like brain dead all day. I even forgot our Growth
Group was meeting at the Church. So, when we went to Dean and Linda's and no one answered the door, it then dawned on me. After praying at Church we went to dinner and each of us anonymously bought a meal for a family. The waiter was so into this "pay it forward" giving that he was going to bless another family later that night with money one of the families gave him as their gratitude for getting their meal paid for. It was neat to experience. Monday night we had storms, interrupting my much needed night of sleep. Actually, we have had stormy and rainy weather off and on the last four days. Today it was nice....but looks like it will be wet for several more days now. In this photo, I tried to capture the sun rays as they were breaking through the clouds and shining on the grain bins.
This morning I went to school early for institute day work, so I got home earlier than usual. I went to a lesson in the afternoon and my suspicions were confirmed... Amiga is slightly lame. We could see a bit of a "limp" while she was walking and gaiting. I thought I noticed it Sunday while Nicole was riding her. This might be why she was not behaving so well. I am guessing she did something when she slipped getting into the trailer on the way to Moraine View a few weeks ago, and then aggravated it running around and probably slipping in the wet muddy pasture last week. Now I have Amiga on stall rest. I was hoping to ride during my next three days off. Oh well....it is predicted to be too rainy anyway. And as usual, there is always plenty of school work to keep me busy. I watched Courtney in her lesson with Zorro...getting helpful hints for what to do when we bring him home the end of this month. 
I had put Amiga and Sir Loin out on the side pasture one day, and later discovered that the nice green grass did not satisfy their insatiable appetites. I was not happy to see this damage they had done to one of our peach trees. Who knows if the tree will survive this kind of attack. The horse and cow are banned from this pasture now.
Hercules is Busting Out his plumage
as he struts his stuff to impress our company.
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