Friday & Saturday we welcomed another batch of babies. I anxiously await hatch day(s) & am amazed every single time at the wonders of life. This month we incubated Easter Eggers & Marans. The Marans eggs were from our 3 Black Copper Marans hens with a Blue Copper Marans rooster. So, the chicks hatched could be either blue or black. I didn’t really care which
Around the Farm and Garden – February 2014
Around the Farm and Garden – January 2014
Blue Copper Marans
We have had a number of people ask about our Blue Marans. In answer to that question here is a quick post on how we produce these dark brown egg layers. Blue Marans are not listed in the French or American standard. Blues do not breed true, meaning breeding two Blues does not always result in Blue chicks. The Blue gene is dominant and dilutes
2013 Hatch #4
Last week another batch of eggs hatched. This time we incubated Blue Marans & Easter Eggers like we have done in previous hatches. We also hatched a few Rhode Island Reds for the first time. This is our 5th hatch & it’s still exciting. I love watching the chicks peck their way into the world.
2013 Mama Hen Hatch #1
Last week some of the eggs our broody hen was setting on hatched! About a week after we noticed that she was sitting on eggs, I candled some of the eggs & realized they weren’t developing. So, I swapped five of her eggs for five eggs from our coops that I thought should hatch. Three weeks later we have new babies. I love the process
2013 Hatch #3
We’ve successfully made it through our 4th round of incubating chicken eggs! It continues to be an exciting experience. I get very impatient by day 20. I anxiously wait to see who hatches, then get nervous after some hatch & wonder why others aren’t hatching. I’m then excited when another few hatch. The truth is, though, each batch we’ve had at least one chick pip
Trying Out 3 Egg Dye Kits
Easter is coming, which means it’s time to color eggs. Our hens are laying like crazy right now & we are getting at least a dozen eggs every day. I thought it would be fun to try out a couple different egg dye kits.
2013 Hatch #2
We had our first successful hatch of Blue Copper Marans! Our rooster is a Splash Marans & we have 3 Black Copper hens. With that combination comes Blue Copper chicks. I love them already!