By Design

And, to go right along with the posts from the last couple days, here is an appearance by my husband. I’m putting it up for him because he hasn’t wandered into the world of Blogger.

Evan was bummed because one of his hens went missing a few weeks ago. When looking in the barn through the junk that resides there, Tiffany discovered the AWOL hen in a nest that she built between a plastic tarp and a big wheel toy.

To avoid a chickie blood bath when they hatched (cats in the barn), Evan and I waited until the middle of the night and moved the hen to a protected nest that we put together. Boy4 picked up the hen and I picked up the….. 4 hatched chicks, 2 half-hatched eggs and remaining 14 unhatched eggs. The Mama hen was PO’d about the move, cussed at us in chickenese the entire time, threw the straw that we arranged out and redecorated the nest.

What hit me as truly amazing is that, what this “dumb animal” does based purely on God-given instinct, is very complex and difficult for us humans to replicate. When we want to successfully hatch a batch of eggs, we have to:

- Collect eggs for a time, keeping them within a few degrees of 72F so that they remain in suspended animation (don’t develop, don’t die)

- Put eggs in an incubator for 21 days, keeping the temperature between 98-101F. Small variance can be catastrophic

- Place a wet sponge in the incubator and sprinkle the eggs every day to maintain proper humidity

- Turn the eggs an odd number of times each day so that they warm evenly and don’t spend every night on the same side

- Hope that most of the eggs hatch. Success rate is not usually very high and is completely dependent on a) egg fertility, of course b) diligence and accuracy in care

- After hatching, we have to adjust the temperature to keep the chicks warm and dry, shove their little beaks in water and food, hoping that they learn how to eat

- After a few days, we guess that the remaining eggs are duds and dispose of them.

The hen:

- Lays an egg a day and sits on them for the exact number of minutes/hours it takes to keep them right around 72 degrees until she decides that there are enough eggs (in this case, exactly 20). I’m going to change her name to Mrs. Dugger

- When she has enough eggs, she ceases producing any and changes the length of setting to maintain the 98-101 degrees it takes to develop the embryos

- Dips her beak and sometimes chest in water to maintain the exact humidity rate required

- Turns the eggs regularly around the clock so that each side receives the same amount of time “up”

- When the chicks are ready to hatch, the hen actually “calls them out”. They can hear her and she can hear them and she does this weird trilling/singing thing to which the chicks respond and start pecking their way out of the egg

- After hatching, the chicks remain under the Mom (perfect temp) until they are dry, then venture out onto her back and cluster around her neck. They move nearer to the underneath part of their Mom whenever they need to be warmer. Our hen looked like she had on a chick necklace last night.

- Mama hen knows which eggs are duds and will either abandon the nest after all viable chicks are hatched or will kick the duds out of the nest.

- After hatching, Mama hen will teach the chicks to scratch for feed and to drink water. Whenever there is danger, she will command them to sit under her and will give her life protecting them.

All boring farm stuff but…. pretty amazing. I’m sure that this all “evolved”, right? ;)

~Cliff

Sneaky Mama and Her Brood

This morning I discovered one more little yellow chickie. That’s a total of 9, and she still has seven eggs under her. I am not sure if any of them are going to hatch. We’ll see…

Sneaky Mama with her babies hidden under her

We’ve always incubated our own eggs or ordered babies. We’ve never allowed a broody mama to hatch her own, so this is something new for us. If it turns out well, I think I will want to do it every year. So sweet.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, NINE.

Nine baby chickies.

Will we get any more or are they duds?

Safe and Warm

Yesterday peeps were reported to be coming from under Sneaky Mama hen. Cliff waited until night time, as advised, then moved her to a tub we have for keeping chicks in. We don’t want the barn cats to get the little ones.

Today I went up to the barn to see if I could take a peek.

There are still at least 5-6 unhatched eggs. But I saw six of these little brown ones that we call chipmunk chickies because of the stripe on their back. That’s what their mother looked like when she was a wee chickie.

See how her tail feathers are up in a little “bouquet”?

And I saw two of these little yellow chicks. I am guessing these two have a different rooster daddy. I am not sure which one since their colors can totally change as they grow. Right now they look more like the Buff Orpington – but there are only two and Buff Daddy doesn’t let Roostie the Mean Rooster around the girls much. So I dunno.

Sorry it isn’t the best picture. These little ones are hidden back in the nest and it was hard to get a snap.

Sneaky Mama was so motherly, singing to the babies constantly. They mostly stay under her. I think she makes them even if they don’t want to. They seem to prefer sitting up in her neck feathers.

She is constantly on high alert, tail feathers up in a bouquet, body and feathers all puffed up to cover her babies, providing them with just the right temperature and keeping them safe from predators.

When she heard a cat meow, she stretched out her wings and called to the little ones, getting them back under her for safety. It looked warm and cozy. My heart was warmed to think of being so well protected.

It made me think of this:

Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with his feathers.He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”

He sometimes makes me be right where I am, even though it is uncomfortable and things look dark, because it’s the best thing to keep me growing healthy and strong.

He keeps me safe and warm, at just the right temperature, and brings me what I need when I need it.

When trouble comes near me, He calls my name and hides me under His wings.

I love it when God uses sweet everyday things, like a sneaky mama hen, to remind me.

Psalm 17:8 …”hide me under the shadow of thy wings”

Psalm 36:7 “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”

A Visit To Our Little (HOBBY) Farm

On very warm days like yesterday, the air is thick with the scent of blackberries. Even as we drove down our street with windows down, the huge bushes alongside the road filled our car with that sweet and delicious smell. Today, as I went up to the barn, I could smell the berries growing just outside, though not as strong, because today is much cooler.

On my way up to the barn I walked by Scarlette. She is Violet’s beautiful little heifer from last year. She has grown to be very sweet and personable and will make a wonderful family cow.

Avery greeted me with her typical half meow, half whine, then resisted my attempt to pet her as she stretched out on the floor and eyed me dubiously. I am pretty sure I detected an eye roll here.

I walked over to check the status of a sneaky hen. She pretty much disappeared a couple weeks ago and I just figured the predators got yet another chicken. Laying right in front of my eyes, I almost didn’t realize she was there, she was laying so still and quiet. I almost stepped on her. The sly little hen, who wants so badly to be a mama, placed her secret little hoard of eggs on a piece of black plastic (!what?!) covering some wood, amongst some dusty farm tools.

And, by farm tools, I mostly mean a ladder and a battery operated 4 wheeler of Ethan’s. He’s been asking to ride it so I am glad I now know where it is. Hey! Not everyone can own a bonafide John Deere!

I wish they’d hatch already. She is keeping me from finishing my homeschool room project because I can’t get to the old table back there to see if I can make it splendid with a can or two of spray paint.

This marvelous view outside the barn makes me feel organized just looking at the neat patches of different crops and nursery stock below us.

Back down toward the house I resume Operation Calf Watch

Poor Violet, laying in the loose dirt to keep cool. Looking at her sizable belly, I don’t blame her for laying down most of the time.

I love the beautiful flowers I see on my way.

Perennial Geraniums

What a cute old boy Boris is. He’s nearly blind now, but just as sweet as ever.

We can’t finish up even a mini-tour without saying hello to Duncan.

Walking by some assorted toys here and there that are not supposed to be outside…

and some other signs that a precious little boy lives here…

I finally make it back to the fabulous green door.

There’s lots more to see but I have got to get back to that project that took me up to the barn to check on the table to start with!

Have a wonderful summer evening!

Callie, another farm kitty. She wandered up and adopted us.

Night At A Fountain

 

I have not posted on this blog for such a long time. This has mostly been because the format has not been set up in a way that I can post pictures as big as I am able to post on my other blog. However, a few options have changed here on Blogger, so I am going to post a new photo of our youngest Little Man and see how it turns out. If it works out okay, we will hope to start posting to our family blog soon. And, by that, I mean my husband and kids better post too!

Bullseye!!!

We recently had an opportunity to take an archery class with some friends. Originally, just Evan and Elisabeth were taking it. But once we went I knew Nathan would love it too.

I tried to snap a picture of Elisabeth's best shot but she had them pulled out before I could get to it! We'll get one next time.

Baby's First Memorable Snow