Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

No, I have not "fallen off the face of the earth"! But, I have not had the time to write a blog post recently, though it's been on my to-do list, it's not a top priority. We had a great time on May 30th at Chickenstock  - sold about 35 chicks and 4 baby rabbits; plus swapped and bought plants (veggies & perennial flowers). I also brought home two new bantam broody hens and three bantam Cochin 5 week old chicks. Since that time, we've been busy in between getting sick with a strong virus that won't let go! Just when we think we're getting better, I feel exhausted again & have to take several naps. As a result, the garden isn't 100% planted, though there's lots of lamb's quarters volunteering themselves. We're planning on freezing and/or juicing them, as they're good to eat, just they get too big and crowd out other "wanted" plants. I have another batch of eggs going into lockdown today - I believe it's the 10th ...

Maybe my experiment with my 4th hatch will be a flop. I started to incubate the eggs, took them by car along with the other eggs at the school. This past Wed, I candled them & brought them home - they looked great, but today’s day 21 & only 1 egg has pipped! Yesterday, I added extra water to increase the humidity, and last night I added water to the sponge container. Maybe they’re just delayed due to the extra fan I added to the incubator has made it too cool? Perhaps the transfer of eggs in the car just delayed their hatching, but it could have also killed any weaker embryos. I guess I just have to wait this one out, but it’s hard as they’re not “on time” like the previous 3 hatches have been.

After I wrote the blog post on Tuesday, I “attacked” my room, and while doing that, Mom suggested to adjust the metal shelving units, so I could put the Cooler Bators on the, so I’d have more room. It was an easy but noisy job, using a hammer to raise up those metal shelves, but now that it’s all done, I’m glad I did it. Makes it much neater, and I don’t have to bend over to check on the status of temperature, humidity, eggs pipping, chicks, etc. Later that evening, I finally transferred all the eggs for the Easter Hatch-A-Long to the two Cooler Bators, and the 4th batch of eggs back into the Genesis 1588 incubator. These are the numbers of what went to “lockdown”: 89 total eggs out of 93 set! 40 in the new white Cooler Bator : 19  (of 21 set) brown Catskill Homesteader eggs - Dad’s Coop (one “iffy”) 16 (of 17 set) green CH eggs - PA coop 5 (of 6 set) small brown CH eggs - PA coop 49 in the red Cooler Bator: 8 of 8 SFH - some I wasn’t sure if they’d quit late, b...

 As you know from my other blog posts, I've been super busy here, mostly with hatching chicks, setting more eggs, selling chicks, taking care of the ones I kept & for those who ordered pullets. Plus, repairing fences, as the Swedish Flower Hens have been escaping & trying to dig up their future "grass paddocks" . I also made another hatcher, as I set too many eggs for them to all fit in the 1st hatcher. But, when I tested it out last night, I discovered the digital thermostat didn't work properly due to a missing screw that was to hold in the wire for the temperature senser.  So, we went downtown & asked an employee at Dubbens Hardware if they had a screw that would fit. After trying several, he said, "I'm sorry, it's not going to work." He thought for a minute, then said, "Let my just try one more thing." He got out a pair of needle-nosed plyers, help up the little "jaws", screwed in the screw & it worked! Praise...

Another beautiful early spring day with temperatures reaching the high 40’s. All the animals were very happy to finally have weather that was comfortable to be outside in. Since writing about “Little Man” this morning, I believe the Lord gave me the wisdom I asked Him for. When I was done feeding & letting out all the poultry, “a thought” came to mind to switch “Little Man Swede” with his son, who I’ll refer to as “Jr.” - they both look quite similar, but I don’t believe “Jr.” inherited Little Man’s attitude. I caught “Jr.” and carried him over to the SFH area, then put him down on the ground outside the fence where the other SFHs were. Next, I went inside the fenced-in area & caught “Little Man”, who by the way was a “good boy” about not crowing around me. I temporarily put him in an empty rabbit cage outside the bachelor roosters & ducks. By that time, “Jr.” had to be caught again, as he’d flown & walked over the melting snow to the outside of the Bielefelder’s area....

Last night before bed, I was checking in with fellow "peeps" (BYC term of endearment for fellow chicken raisers) who have also set eggs to hatch at the same time. This first "test hatch" is part of a small  Friday the 13th Hatch a Long,  so it's fun to check in with others & see how their eggs are progressing. I don't have any chicks yet, but just a few seconds ago, I heard loud peeping coming from the hatcher.  I woke up at 3:30am from a dream about chicks hatching again - and found the one that has pipped on the wrong end had pipped a short line & was trying to push off a "big chunk" of the shell! I looked and there was another pip. I managed to get back in bed until 5, then up for good. I guess the peeping has encouraged others, as when I just looked a few minutes ago, I had a total of 4 that have pipped! No, make that 5 - all 3 of the green eggs that are in the "cage" together have pipped.  Yesterday, I just brought...

Candled & moved the 9 remaining 1st "test hatch" eggs to the Cooler 'Bator yesterday morning. They hadn't lost enough moisture yet, even though I've been doing a dry hatch. Probably due to adding "fresh" eggs to the incubator (& double-stacking), resulting in less surface area of the eggs to be exposed. I re-candled last night & this morning, and they've lost more, so probably by tonight I'll add some water. I think they might be a day late, anyways, due to cooler incubator temps when I first set them. This morning they looked more like what I remember when I've put eggs in lockdown before. No internal pips yet, so I don't think I'll have any "early birds". Dreamed about chicks hatching last night, so I'm obviously excited about it. Still have to get chick starter & set up the brooder in the "storage room". I was planning on selling all the chicks asap, but since so few made...