Hatching Chicks

Here's a glimpse of my day today--our chicks are hatching!
This batch is having a better hatch rate than the last batch we did in the spring.

4 Little Chickie Birds.... so far!

Just like kids, they almost all looked away when I opened the lid a bit to take a picture...

 And I got a pic of this little one and closed the lid (don't want them to get cold!).

Hatching Day: Light Sussex Chicks: Take 2

It took the little bugger all day to get out of the egg, but it finally made it out just before 6pm.  I think all the noise of the kids and I helped to encourage him/her to get out all the way. :)

We've got some more starting.......waiting....waiting.....

Here's a pic of the first chick just after he got himself out of the egg--don't worry, he's righted himself now. :)

My daughter is in there, whistling to the chicks. Sweet.

Hatching Day: Light Sussex Chicks: Take 1

Hubby had his doubts this morning, as he peered into the incubator and nary a chick was hatching.

Hours later, our oldest son got up and checked the egg status.  He heard a chirp and then discovered one of the eggs in the process of hatching:

Be back later with an update! :)

On your mark.....get set....GO!

On Your Mark...

 

Get Set.....

 

GO!!!!

As you can see, we are incubating eggs. These are from our Light Sussex chickens that we raised from eggs last year. We are curious to see how it turns out, what the hatching rate will be, and whether we will have chicks with neck issues like last year.  Last year's eggs were mail-ordered and we aren't sure how much of last year's results were due to the eggs going through the mail.

We'll see in 21 days or so (about June 4)! :)

Ready....?

A Short Chicken Video

For your enjoyment...

They didn't want to go in when I was ready, so I eventually had to herd them in.  They are loving the green grass!  We're getting 5-7 eggs a day, which isn't bad for having 7 hens!

Finally--EGGS!

The day before yesterday, I found myself thinking about our chickens and wondering why in the world we hadn't had any eggs yet.  I even went so far as to pray for those chickens to start laying eggs.

Yesterday, my daughter was running late and didn't make it out to water the chickens, so I went out to water them later in the morning.

And I found 3 eggs in the corner of the chicken coop. Not in the nest boxes where the dummy egg and a couple golf balls have been gathering dust the last few months.

Maybe I should have started praying sooner, huh?


Worried that they'd been there for a long time and weren't any good, I put them in a pan and ran water into the pan. They stayed on the bottom of the pan, proof that these were fresh eggs.

Later in the day, my daughter and I went out to check on the chicken/egg status after school and we found one more in the same place!  Woo-hoo!

So, we have so far gotten 4 eggs from our chickens.  I'm not impressed yet, but if I don't have to buy eggs in the coming weeks I will be happier.  We got these chickens to be more than pets!

Hubby thinks that since these chickens are larger than our other chickens, maybe they are not comfortable in the nest boxes we have and that might be the reason for the laying on the floor in the corner.  We'll have to see what they decide to do in the coming days and weeks and see about coming up with a setup to make both us and the chickens happy.


Oh, and on the way out to the chickens, I happened to be walking alongside my garden and found a dead  mink!  No idea how or why it died (maybe a fox?), but this is sign that we do indeed have them around here, and to be extra vigilant about protecting the chickens.  We had suspected a few years back when a batch of our young chickens was murdered inside the coop, but now we have proof!

Light Sussex Chicken Update

Our Light Sussex chickens, who started hatching on May 10, 2012, are 20 weeks old today.  They haven't laid any eggs yet, but every morning we hope to find the first egg.  I can't wait for them to start laying so we can have our own eggs from our own chickens again!

I've not been brave enough to let the chickens have free range of the property until just recently, because our garden is not fenced.  I also hesitate to let them truly free range when someone is not going to be home all day long, as the last batch of chickens we had (Delawares) was massacred by free-roaming dogs when we left for less than 2 hours. :( So, that limits the days I can let them out and feel good about it.

The first time I left the door open so the Light Sussex chickens could come outside, they didn't venture far from the door. In fact, they spent most of the time craning their necks out the door, inspecting the setup, I suppose.

 

Last weekend we let them out to run around, which they did freely, and the kids reported to me that they were having a bug party in the grass. Apparently they were frolicking. I was inside working on beets and didn't make it out to take pictures. (Sorry!)  Later in the day, I walked out of the house to hear the chickens carrying on as if they were being attacked. I hurried out to the coop, where they were all hiding, and on the way I saw a stray kitty's ears and the top of his head peering over the grass.

My chickens are.....well....chicken.

I guess they've got an excuse.

Chick Update: 7 weeks old

Our Light Sussex chicks are 7 weeks old today.  They are really filling out, and I am impressed by the sturdiness of their legs and feet. To me, they are reminiscent of the Cornish Rock chickens that we raised for meat a couple years ago. I think this is a good thing, since one reason we are raising them is for a potential meat bird.

 We've had no casualties with the Light Sussex chickens since they were chicks, and the one surviving one that had a crooked neck has recovered and I'm not sure as to which one it even is.

It got really hot today (104 plus  humidity) and I put some ice cubes in their water.  I also gave them some weeds and some bug-chewed chard from the garden to give them something to do.

The camera is not working right....I hope to be back soon to post pics or video!

Chick Update: 5 weeks old

I'm a bit late on the Chick Update--sorry!

They are now turning into chickens, and this week my daughter and I moved them out into the chicken coop. 

Here's a little video...it's really short due to the iPod being nearly full...sorry!

I very much like them out there better than in the porch at this point.  They are not roosting on the boards shown in the video yet. I went in last night to check on them around dusk and they were all huddled by the door in a pile. Hopefully they will soon learn to roost up where they should!

June 2012 Menu Planning

As promised, here is my menu plan for the month of June. :)

Breakfasts will consist of the following: Purchased granola bars, homemade granola bars, homemade granola, bacon, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, Sausage sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, toast + nut butter, juice

Lunches will consist of: leftovers, sandwiches, veggies and fruit, the odd chip treat, homemade cookies

Snacks will be: smoothies/Morning Orange Drink(made w/kefir), Apples + nut butter or cheese, Tortilla chips + cheese, salsa, Popcorn, dried fruit/nuts/chocolate chips mix, carrot/celery and hummus, homemade granola bars, homemade cookies and the like

Here is the June 2012 Dinner Plan, by week:

Week 1:
Hamburgers, Green Salad with red peppers and onions
Boneless Pork Loin, Chard from the garden (boiled), potato cakes from freezer
Roasted Chicken, Green beans, Mashed Potatoes, Green salad with cucumbers, peppers, onion
Taco salad (pastured ground beef cooked with added mexican herbs and spices, onions, lettuce, salsa, Daisy sour cream, white corn chips)
Church party-

Week 2:
Hamburgers, Tailgate Salad, Green Salad w/veggies
Mac 'n cheese, hot dogs, red peppers, olives (someone's requested birthday meal, lol, will fill in with a big salad or leftover Tailgate Salad)
Chicken Thighs(what kind to be determined), Veggie to be determined, Rice and salad
Burritos/wraps, using leftover shredded chicken meat
Pizza from scratch, pepperoni and mushroom (this is where I use the spelt flour instead of wheat flour and test it on myself)

Week 3: VBS week--trying to keep it simple and minimal cleanup...
Hamburger Stroganoff, veggie, salad
Hot Dogs, tater tots, veggie tray
Chicken Thighs(crockpot?), veggie, salad
Leftovers? Wraps again? Sandwiches? Anything quick.
Pizza (yes, again! but I don't think there will be any complaints :))

Week 4:
Hamburgers, veggie tray, Pasta salad
??????????????
Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, Potatoes or Rice
Beef/Bean/Veggie Enchiladas
Nachos Grande (White corn chips, pastured ground beef with Mexican seasoning, cheddar, toppings), or maybe Taco Salad again....depends on the lettuce situation


Might be a bit boring and repetitive, but it gets the job done! :)

Chick Update: 4 weeks old

Our Light Sussex chicks are 4 weeks old today.
I am really wanting them out of the sunporch, as their dust is building up in there. I don't dare attempt cleaning it up until they're out, though.  So there it sits.

Life has kept us busy enough that we haven't gotten a new door made for the chicken coop yet. Hopefully this weekend will offer the time and inclination to get that done and move the chicks to their new home! (Please, Lord?)

This last pic is of a chick perched on the box the kids made for the chicks. I call it Webkinz for Chickens. :)

So far, only one of the chicks has a larger, redder comb that is one indicator of being a rooster. Ivy thinks all of the ones with black on them are roosters and the ones with gray on them are hens.  Odds are, she's right, because that's more like the 50% chance we have of getting boys/girls. But I like the one rooster idea better.
It's way to early to tell for sure, though! Just guessing at this point.

Chick Update: May 31, 2012 3 weeks old

Our Light Sussex Chick(en)s are 3 weeks old today (give or take a day).
They're very nearly feathered out. I'm thinking maybe in the next week or two we will put them out in the enclosed chicken coop, once we get that patched up a bit.  Caught another raccoon today, so we have to be sure the coop is varmint-proof before we put the little guys and gals out there or this will be all for nothing!

The weather will have to warm up a bit more before we put them out there as well. It has been a little bit chilly the last couple of days!

A little video, complete with my kids' comments:

Chick Update: May 23, 2012 ~12 days old

The chicks are about 12 days old now.  I am not sure which one is the crooked-necked one, so I guess that is a good thing s/he is doing well.  I will have to go in this evening when they are tired and see if I can tell which one it is.

I took about 2 minutes of video and uploaded it to YouTube to share with my readers.

And here are some pics of our daughter and the chick she was holding. She is the only one of the kids that really wants anything to do with them. She wants to hold them and play with them every day (so far). LOL

Chick Update: May 17, 2012

As of this morning, the chick count is down to 11 chicks.

The last one to hatch had something wrong with it, as I mentioned in my last chick update. It could not sit up at all, even when I set it up. I think it was paralyzed or something.  Its feathers did not fluff out nearly as much as the other chicks and it was missing feathers as well. I put that one down on Monday, rather than have it suffer any longer.

The second death was the weaker, less coordinated of the two that have what I believe to be Wry Neck. I gave this chick vitamins a couple times a day, and dipped his beak in the water multiple times a day. Still, he didn't make it.  I had read about elaborate means of trying to save chicks, involving blending lettuce and other foods up and force feeding them....and I considered it, but decided it to be unwise in our situation. If these chicks work out for us as dual-purpose birds, I don't want to be breeding birds that I know have this gene--and especially not ones that aren't able to pull out of it on their own.  At any rate, I think this particular chick was having difficulty in swallowing, and I am not sure he would have been able to eat the food, even if I did force it on him.

At the end of the day, this leaves us with 11 chicks. The remaining chicks all look to be healthy and strong. The one that has Wry Neck (or whatever it might be) is fully able to eat, drink, and run around with the rest of them. For now, I am just going to let nature run its course and see how it does and whether it corrects itself. If it's a roo, we will likely have him for dinner once he's grown enough...same if it's a hen and we don't want her eggs to be mingled in with our other hatching eggs.

Time will tell.

Chick Update: May 13, 2012

My daughter, Ivy, home from camping and *finally* I let her hold a chick! :)

We have had a total of 13 chicks hatch out between last Thursday and Saturday.  The last one to hatch is not able to move around, open its eyes, and looks like half of its feathers are missing. :( Unfortunately, it's the way it goes when raising animals: there will be animals that aren't perfect specimens like you might find at your local Tractor Supply. I think we may have to cull that one. :(

Of the 12 that are fluffy and running around, we have 2 that have what I believe to be Wry Neck.  These two chicks have their heads thrown back and it's like they are checking out the ceiling all the time. They *can* set their heads upright (one of them is better at this than the other) but are often seen resting their heads on their backs.  One of them I have observed righting itself and running to the feeder/waterer and eating/drinking. The other one, not so much; s/he is less coordinated and often topples backwards. I was afraid it was blind, but it's not. It's just terribly uncoordinated.

From what I have read, if this is Wry Neck, infant Poly-vi-sol drops without iron should help, as might vitamin E. We went to the store yesterday and I picked up a bottle of Poly-vi-sol. I put a few drops in the water, figuring it wouldn't hurt the other chicks to get some additional vitamins, and I tried to get a drop into the worst-off chick's beak this morning.

I am going to continue checking on the chicks, and dip the worse-off one's bill in the water/food frequently throughout the day.

Part of me wants to do all I can to save these chicks. But the other part of me feels that the best thing to do would be to let nature run its course. Survival of the fittest, and all that, you know?  These chicks are a heritage breed (Light Sussex) and they are bound to have their specific genetic weaknesses. I don't do the breed any favors by coddling a chick that will pass these genes on to the next generation, assuming we use these chicks as breeding stock for our future egg/meat chickens.

Here is a video of the chicks last night. Sorry it's so red: that's the heat lamp causing that.

One More Hatching Video

Thought I would share another video of chicks hatching. This was two of the ones that were hatching around the kids' bedtime. One of the kids and I are talking in the background. :)

Hatching Day 2: May 11, 2012

All day yesterday we had only one chick running around in the incubator. Two of the eggs had the first pip by the afternoon, but there was no more action until bedtime. Perhaps it was too noisy for them and they were too scared to come out?

At any rate, once the kids were put to bed, 2 more chicks hatched out.

When I got up this morning and went down to look, we had 7 chicks total! They are clamoring about in there pretty good, bumping into the other eggs, so I think I will prepare a box to move them into. I was going to wait another day, but these guys are crazy! As soon as they detect movement, they run over to the edge of the incubator where they see us looking in, all giddy and excited. It kind of reminds me of the movie, Independence Day, with all the people at the top of the skyscraper, staring up at the UFO's. LOL

I'll be back later with more pics! :)

Checking out the wall decoration, lol!

Hatching Day: May 10, 2012

Today, May 10, is Hatching Day on the calendar. Yesterday I heard a few peeps in the pantry, where the incubator is sitting. Today, I came downstairs to find one very talkative egg with one pip. Soon, we will have at least one Light Sussex chick!

I am using my oldest kid's iPod to take some video.
I will try to post some video through the course of the day. It takes forever to publish to Youtube and I'm afraid I will miss something going on in the incubator, lol! :)

In the meantime, here's a few teaser pics:

First Pip

Chick #1

Chick #1, pose 2

I'll be back later today with an update! :)


Update:
Here is the video of the little chick in the pics above, hatching. The noise is the background is us getting the kids around and out the door for school. :)