Chicks Ahoy!

The sound of cheeping greeted me this morning as I walked downstairs to start chores. Grabbing the flashlight, I peeked inside the cabinet incubator sitting at the base of the stairs, and sure enough, five Black-Copper Maran chicks were waddling around inside.

The Black Copper Maran is a French breed, and very rare, so the hatch is exciting! The hens lay a dark brown, almost chocolate-colored egg. I bought these eggs from a breeder in another state, who shipped them to me to hatch. Many folks who visit here are amazed to learn that an egg can be sent through the mail and still grow a chick three weeks later.

These chicks are coal black with white chests, and feathered feet -- cute as buttons. I have six older Maran chicks already outside in the hen house, so these little guys will be joining them in a few weeks.

Four more eggs to go, and one is already pipping the shell, meaning its little beak has broken through. Now it must twist and turn all the way around the shell, continuing to break it open. As tempting as it becomes to want to help a struggling chick, being able to hatch by themselves seems to be an essential key to survival. If the chick isn't strong enough to hatch, there is something wrong, and helping it out of the shell makes for a miserable time watching it slowly die. Don't ask me how I know.

The chicks hatch soaking wet, and will remain in the incubator for the rest of the day, drying off.  Right before hatching, the chicks absorb the remainder of the egg yolk into their bellies. When a hen hatches chicks naturally in a nest, she often waits on the nest for several days waiting for all the eggs to hatch. The first ones to hatch must wait for the latecomers. This will provide them with all the nutrition they need for the next two days.

Tonight, we'll put the dry chicks under a heatlamp, with water and chick-starter food in dishes nearby. The heatlamp takes the place of the real mother, and the chicks' natural instinct to find food and water will take care of the rest!

In five short months these tiny chicks will be out in the barn laying eggs or crowing with the sunrise, and starting the cycle all over again. It never grows old watching it happen. Guess that's why I live on a farm!

Sunday's Tail

Yesterday morning, I received a phone call from a friend. She told me a neighbor of hers was giving away "about thirty" Pekin duck eggs and she had a couple of chickens she wanted me to have. Never one to miss a bargain, I turned the incubator on to warm up, jumped in the car and drove over to the neighbor's home.

When I arrived, the neighbor directed me to a dog house behind a silo and then pointed toward the road.

"The rest of the eggs are out there by the road. Oh, by the way, there may be some goose eggs in with them."

My young daughter and I squeezed through an incredibly small space between the silo and a wire fence panel and looked inside the dog house. The very small dog house. There lay about forty eggs.

I reached my hand and removed the first few, before turning to my daughter and saying, "How would you like to get in there and collect them for Mommy?"

Lucky for me, she agreed and we soon had the eggs wrapped in a towel.

We headed for the road next and collected another thirty eggs.

With seventy eggs on board we headed to my girlfriend's house. The cutest puppies I have ever seen waited for us in her yard, eight-week-old 'cockerdoodles'.

After cuddling the pups we headed for her barn and chicken pens. She mentioned she wanted to sell her Naragansett turkeys for $10 each. I am raising Naragansetts so it didn't take long for us to bundle two of them in the trunk of my car after her husband tied their legs together with twine. We set them on a towel beside the cage I'd brought for my two chickens, and after a short chat, waved goodbye.

Now, you can't put turkeys and chickens in a trunk without opening the middle console section of the back seat, so they don't get too hot or short of air. My daughter buckled herself into her booster seat and opened the console.

"I can see them, Mom!" she said.

"Great!" I replied and we began driving home.

About ten minutes later, just as I swerved wide to avoid an Amish buggy ambling along the road, a blood-curdling scream erupted from behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of my daughter's terrified face through the blur of turkey feathers flying around the back seat.

Thirty pounds of live turkey loose in a vehicle doesn't make for safe driving so I pulled over, and we managed to bag the turkey with her leg bindings still hanging from one ankle.

Securing her with an apology for treating her in such a manner, I drove the rest of the way home with a turkey sitting beside me.

We reached home without any further drama. I was prepared when we opened the trunk and the second turkey hen flew over my head! I made a vow to always tie turkey's legs myself in future and lunged for the hen. Much to her disgust, I won.

Now both turkey hens and the chickens are safe with their companions in our barn and the eggs are in the incubator. Duck eggs take twenty-eight days to hatch, but I am not sure about goose eggs! Time to go googling!