So I know a few weeks back you might have read about my desire for that time of year when chicks start hatching on the farm.
The writing of that article must have sparked some big desire because this year I have not one, not two, but three incubators currently playing surrogate hen/ to around 10 potential hatchlings.
As of the writing of this article, there has been one hatch so far of baby chickens and all 6 eggs in that incubator hatched without fail.
The ducks which I have on the farm, now named after Mary Poppins characters; Bert and Mary, started producing eggs in early January. So on a whim, I placed a couple of duck eggs into one of the incubators with my chicken eggs and to my surprise - one of the two eggs began to develop a duckling inside!
The unhatched duckling was quite the spectacle on the farm's Facebook page, Purple Shamrock Farm. People commented that they wanted frequent updates and photos of the developing youngster which was just a silhouette on the other side of the shell.
I wish I could have said in this article that the "famous" duckling had hatched, but life sometimes happens and I discovered one morning, when candling the egg, that the duckling had passed away in its shell.
Saddened, but not defeated, I had just happened to put another duck egg into an incubator about a week before finding out about the fate of the previous duckling and discovered yet another little duck starting to develop! Life has a funny way of giving and taking and as we all know - it is not in our hands but rather in the hands of our Creator who survives and who doesn't.
Following this lesson - I've also discovered that incubating ducks is significantly different than incubating chickens. The humidity has to be higher (makes sense since they practically live on the water), the incubation time longer (a full week longer) and ducklings, apparently, have more difficulty getting out of the shell. Great. Just what a nervous Mutha Clucka needs - something else to stress over.
When a hatching is going on - I'm checking on the incubator no fewer than every half hour or so when I'm home. If a "pip" begins on a shell (meaning a small crack in the eggshell which allows the chick to start making its way out), an internal countdown starts for me. If 24 hours go by and no further movement is detected or progress, I'm itching to step in and help.
Those out there who've raised poultry know that the last thing you should do is help a chick out of its shell. There are delicate blood vessels in the lining of the egg that slowly cease their usefulness as the chick is working to escape its oval home and if you happen to nick one in trying to help - sadly the chick may not make it. The hatching process ensures that the chick is fit to live in this new world that awaits it. It's hard for us humans to understand that sometimes - and especially for me who lives just about every day with these creatures.
I will be reminding myself to not step in to help in the next few weeks or so when this second duckling, hopefully, begins to make its way into the outside world. I'm hopeful that everything goes as it should and there will be a new face on the farm in the coming days.
The next few weeks will see a lot of hatching around the farm and if you'd like to stay up on all of it - be sure to visit the farm's Facebook page at Purple Shamrock Farm. We'd love to have you join us in our journey!
Friday, February 21, 2020
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Working Tans (or Purples in My Case)
It's well into winter in my book and it's cold. Thankfully we haven't had massive amounts of snow or ice (at least, not so far) but we have definitely experienced some bitter cold days.
I'm very thankful that the heaters in the poultry waterers are doing their jobs faithfully to keep the animals' water from freezing and my coveralls and farm jacket (though not fit for wear in public because they're pretty filthy and smelly) are doing their job of keeping me nice and toasty when running from coop to coop.
I give a laugh at the thought that I can't imagine doing half of what I do in the winter without these "working tans", as I recently heard another farmer call these articles of clothing. When the wind turns bitingly cold - there is nothing more comforting out on the farm than that pair of canvas coveralls to block it.
I purchased the farm jacket almost 4 years ago when I got my first flock. Not because it was, necessarily, a necessity but because I wanted to look the "part" of a farmer. I had four chickens to care for in a 6' long, 3' wide chicken coop. I thought I was "so cool" to wear my pristine jacket to the farm store to purchase one bag of feed which would last me over a month.
Now that my chicken run is 30' x 30' and there are multiple chicken coops, I have added a pair of coverall bottoms and these two pieces of clothing are absolutely essential to surviving farm chores. I also need to add, they are no longer pristine but rather are covered by the patina that comes with caring for livestock. Enough said about that.
My working tans are not tan, but are (no surprise) purple. My jacket, nor my coveralls, are Carhartts but they're the less expensive brand, Berne. Truthfully, I don't really mind what brand they are as long as they keep the biting winter wind away.
I've discovered how amazing these pieces of clothing are that I can easily put them over thin pajamas for early morning chores on a normal temperature winter day, zip everything up and I feel like I've layered about two layers of warm clothing on. Combine this outfit with a pair of insulated Mucks boots and I can tackle subzero temperatures fairly easily.
On days when the temperature dips into the crazy single digits and below, you'll often find me walking like the kid in the movie A Christmas Story with two layers of pants and four layers of tops, a scarf (or neck gator) wrapped about my head with a knit cap to top it off and two layers of gloves. This ensemble will allow me to be out in the cold for an hour or better to add bedding to coops, fill water, collect eggs, do some general cleaning in the barn, you name it. Oh, and I am able to put my arms down (unlike Randy in the aforementioned movie).
I've learned my lesson, too, with working tans to never put eggs in the pockets of the jackets to carry them to the house. Almost without fail, at least one egg will explode in the pocket when I bend to retrieve something.
There has not been any snow recently nor crazy low temperatures, but we haven't quite entered February and it seems there is always snow during Sectionals. That all being said, I won't have to worry about being cold so long as these working tans (or purples) are within an arm's reach.
I'm very thankful that the heaters in the poultry waterers are doing their jobs faithfully to keep the animals' water from freezing and my coveralls and farm jacket (though not fit for wear in public because they're pretty filthy and smelly) are doing their job of keeping me nice and toasty when running from coop to coop.
I give a laugh at the thought that I can't imagine doing half of what I do in the winter without these "working tans", as I recently heard another farmer call these articles of clothing. When the wind turns bitingly cold - there is nothing more comforting out on the farm than that pair of canvas coveralls to block it.
I purchased the farm jacket almost 4 years ago when I got my first flock. Not because it was, necessarily, a necessity but because I wanted to look the "part" of a farmer. I had four chickens to care for in a 6' long, 3' wide chicken coop. I thought I was "so cool" to wear my pristine jacket to the farm store to purchase one bag of feed which would last me over a month.
Now that my chicken run is 30' x 30' and there are multiple chicken coops, I have added a pair of coverall bottoms and these two pieces of clothing are absolutely essential to surviving farm chores. I also need to add, they are no longer pristine but rather are covered by the patina that comes with caring for livestock. Enough said about that.
My working tans are not tan, but are (no surprise) purple. My jacket, nor my coveralls, are Carhartts but they're the less expensive brand, Berne. Truthfully, I don't really mind what brand they are as long as they keep the biting winter wind away.
I've discovered how amazing these pieces of clothing are that I can easily put them over thin pajamas for early morning chores on a normal temperature winter day, zip everything up and I feel like I've layered about two layers of warm clothing on. Combine this outfit with a pair of insulated Mucks boots and I can tackle subzero temperatures fairly easily.
On days when the temperature dips into the crazy single digits and below, you'll often find me walking like the kid in the movie A Christmas Story with two layers of pants and four layers of tops, a scarf (or neck gator) wrapped about my head with a knit cap to top it off and two layers of gloves. This ensemble will allow me to be out in the cold for an hour or better to add bedding to coops, fill water, collect eggs, do some general cleaning in the barn, you name it. Oh, and I am able to put my arms down (unlike Randy in the aforementioned movie).
I've learned my lesson, too, with working tans to never put eggs in the pockets of the jackets to carry them to the house. Almost without fail, at least one egg will explode in the pocket when I bend to retrieve something.
There has not been any snow recently nor crazy low temperatures, but we haven't quite entered February and it seems there is always snow during Sectionals. That all being said, I won't have to worry about being cold so long as these working tans (or purples) are within an arm's reach.
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