sooty chicks

Those chirping eggs have turned into chirping chicks.  5 of them so far in the brooder box.  One, sadly, didn't make it through hatch but the others are fluffy and peeping like little champs.

Interestingly, these guys are white, not yellow, with random dots of black.  Their moms were black hens and Carlos the rooster is a mix of white and red so it's strange to see these little soot patches on their white fluff.  Sort of like a tiny version of 101 dalmatians.

Speaking of speckled fluffies, look how big the ducklings are getting.  Every time I wander outside they're underfoot, begging for food.  And biting my toes.

Even Tiny is growing.  And though I tried to give him a good strong name like Thor or Sledgehammer, we keep calling him Tiny.  So there we have it, Tiny.

I'm done hatching for the year so at some point I'll be back to posting about art.  Pretty sure, anyway.

chirping eggs

I was taken off guard today when my daughter came running in to tell me that the eggs were hatching in the incubator.  They were still in the turner and weren't scheduled for "lock-down" until tomorrow, but there they were, chipping and chirping away.

For those that haven't experienced it, it's a pretty amazing thing to hold a bowlful of eggs that are chirping at you.  When you hold the egg you can feel the little life inside wiggle and then protest loudly through its shell.

Wish them luck, hatching is hard work.

Happy weekend, all.