3/31/16 June's first hatch

What a lovely surprise! I moved June three nights ago to this hutch so that she could be alone to brood. Her coop mates were stressing her out so much and kept laying eggs into her nest. This lead to some dirty pile ups and 14 eggs under her. I currently have 5 of the dirtiest eggs in a brooder in my house. And left 9 under her. Not sure if the dirty 5 will make it, but i wiped the eggs best I could with warm water. For June I now use tiny containers for water and food. I have placed them nearby on a ledge. I made sure she was off layer feed and back onto regular food. I was definitely very nervous to move her since I knew the due dates started tomorrow, and ran till the 7th of April. Moving her at night seemed to be a good trick and she laid right back down on the nest.

Here is June looking all happy! She is no longer as pale as she was last week.

 The best news is, we already have 2 chicks. Here you can see a very healthy one peeping out from his mom. I bugged her three times, and so now ill give her another day till i check under her again. :)

Spring is definitely here! What loveliness to bear witness too. I enjoy having a broody hen far more than an incubator.

Happy Spring! 

Orusts in the snow.

What incredible camouflage! Some nights these birds do not go in to roost, and it takes putting on the flood lights and using a headlamp to find them. Here they are in broad daylight in the bush looking very much so like mottled leaves against the snow!

Here is a pic of them sunbathing best they can!

Enjoy! And we will post soon again! 

Egg comparison and Mabon at 3 months

As I have been crossing the orusts, I have a suspicious the orusts carry the brown egg color gene.

chicken selfie@

Mabon is going on 2 months of age! She is so friendly, and as i write this she is upside down and laying on my lap. so cute!

Mabon and the curious egg..

Hello everyone! The last 2 hatchlings just appeared this morning. The pips last night were the giveaway of their arrival. I slept right through the hatch, well, for these last two at least. I have been waking up at 2am for the other 4 hatches and coupled with work and home life schedules, I am beat!

mabon

mabon

All my hatches went according to plan except for one little guy whom i was EXPECTING a welsummer. I collected an egg i assumed was an egg from the Welsummers. It was in the Welsummer coop, it was a brown egg, and it was very large, even a little bit larger than the normal welsummer eggs i had been getting. For sure it was a welsummer egg!


 But when this little guy/girl started to hatch i saw the color of the down was NOT a welsummer. It was black. link to my welsummer parent flock.

After he pooped out it reminded me of my silver-laced pullet i have whom at the time of lay, would have been only 19 weeks. So, Is it possible on of the Orusts got to her on my watch for those couple hours the boys got out on the 16th of Sept?? And then is it possible for the Silver-Laced Wyodette, named Samantha to go up to the nesting boxes in the welsummer coop to lay an egg the very next day instead of the only coop she has known?? Oh the webs we weave!


As i can not be certain why or whom or when, BUT I am so very curious (and enthralled by this cuteness) to attempt a second hatch of this colouration. :) So, as soon as my incubator is disinfected and dry. I will be looking to plan out a November hatching date :)

Enjoy!