The Farm Is Busy Busy Busy

There has been so much going on with the farm it can be hard at times to keep up. This past month we had ordered our new baby chicks for the new additions, we lost a few during shipping but for the most part they did very well. Since we had lost a few I ordered a few more and the new babies are set to arrive this week. I am excited for the new additions! When I started with chickens I had laying hens off the bat. I have had baby chicks, but only ones that I have hatched myself. But the new chickens will include

Jersey Giants

Black Polish

Bringing back White Leghorns

Columbian Wyandotte

I did order some of the same breeds that I already have to add a few hens to my flocks and add pairs for each breed. If I am lucky I can work towards the new coop by the end of the summer. It is basic but separates the birds so I can monitor breeding better. Ultimately I hope to have all boys and girls where they belong, making hating much easier when it comes to breed identification.

Along with the new expecting babies I usually have some in the incubator and they started hatching yesterday. They were a little early, well I should say one was because according to my counter it should have only been day 19. This can happen, if it absorbs completely and I hadn’t checked it before most likely would have not noticed. It’s not a bad thing, as long as they stay in the incubator until they are ready. It was hatched and walking around but I did notice that its sack was not fully absorbed, most likely due to hatching early. But I am leaving it in the brooder o give it some time and hopefully it will absorb as normal and be able to go in the brooder with the rest. The main thing is to not feed them until the sack is absorbed. Doing so will stop the absorption process there for killing the poor baby. Their best chance is in the incubator.

Lots of things to do so many new hatchlings. We are quickly working our way to plenty of almost layer for people’s homes in the spring. My biggest obstacle right now is the weather, its hot, its cold, its warm, then it’s a blizzard, now today its warm and now it’s raining. All I can say is mud mud and more mud. Building on the goat barn will be put on hold because with part of the roof the snow was not the roofs friend. That’s honestly the way that things can go the first few years when your starting up, things break, more things to build, more things to fix. But it keeps me busy, on my toes, and never lazy. More updates and pictures to come of the new hatch!!