Incubation: Day 7

Seven days ago I sat 24 eggs in my incubator.  They are a variety of surprises, I have no idea what breeds are included in this batch.  I just ask the lady who sells eggs locally if she could give me two dozen eggs, a mix of colors and sizes so I get a nice variety.  She knew that some of her hens were laying fertile eggs but she couldn't guarantee how many.  I was willing to take the risk.

Today is day 7 so I candled my 24 eggs and found that 19 of them have active little baby chick embryos inside! Yay!  One green egg was so dark that I couldn't see anything inside other then the air pocket so I marked the outline with a pencil and I will check it for any changes at day 10 and 14 if needed.

Later this week I will try to share the brooder I'm building from an old portable crib that, due to a change in federal laws several years ago, isn't legal for human use any more. I am hoping it will be a portable home for my chicks until they are feathered out enough to go outdoors...to the new coop that we haven't built yet.  Can you tell we work best under pressure? Ha ha!

We are setting down new roots

We've moved from the high desert to the tall pines of Arizona.  I gave away my flock and sold my coop because I didn't know for sure where we were going to land or how long we might be there.  It took us over a year, but we are now settled in on 5 acres and I'm ready to start a new flock.

I'm getting two doz hopefully-fertile eggs tomorrow that I will set in my incubator to start my new flock.   While they are growing-out indoors the hubby will build me a new coop.

I'm already planning my garden area for this spring and a green house to help us continue to grow throughout the cold winters we have here in our new home.  After living in the high desert, learning how to keep my hens from overheating in the summer, now I get to learn to keep them from becoming pop cycles in the winter.  I'm looking forward to my new journey!