Prayer Request

I play alto sax in band , as you all probably know.  Well, we own my sax.  And it seems that someone either (1) stole it or (2) accidentally took it home and maybe left for spring vacation and didn't realize that they have my sax.  It went missing on Wednesday and we sent out a mass email to the band and still nothing.  So today we are going to rent one.  Please pray that it is returned to me soon.  I'm having saxophone withdrawals.  Thanks!!

Time for Chickens, Time for Band, Time for Family, and Most Important, Time for Sleep

Sorry its been so long!!  First, I got sick, then family visited, band and co-op have been crazy.  I can't do any pics today but I'll give you an update.
They are getting so big!!!  They have all their feathers and seem to be healthy....  They are starting to get their combs too.  We have like around four roosters.
One of the prettiest I've named Aphrodite.  She's a black one but she has really pretty gold feathers on her chest and neck.

My dad and I built a tractor for them last weekend bc they were getting so big.  They like it.  I'll post some pics soon hopefully!  That's about it for now...  I'll do a better post soon!!
Later!
Love from MI (where it is currently snowing so hard),
Emma

Hatching

Well, Monday was hatching day.  Unfortunately, it did not go well.  We hatched 10 of the 22 eggs we incubated.  Two died.  One never fully got out of the shell, even with help, and the other died yesterday because it had, as a fried eloquently put it, "pooped it's guts."  Not pleasant.  I was somewhat depressed yesterday with those two deaths. 
Anyway, only one egg hatched on it's own!  Cathrine started peeping in the egg on Sunday night and even woke me up at one am with her peeping!!  (I sleep above where the incubator was and the brooder is.)  She was the "Alpha."  We didn't know it but you can't open the lid of the incubator once a chick has pipped (Made a small hole in the shell.).  We did this.  A lot.  So we ended up having to do what in the egg world would have been a C-section.  We slowly chipped off the shell and helped them out of the membrane.  There are videos on You Tube if you need to see how to do one.
As for my video, it has disappeared.  I don't know how or why but it has.  I can't find it!!  I will keep looking for it though!
Tuesday it snowed again...  A new foot of snow to replace what had mostly melted.  We missed Band today because of it.  We spent the morning hours using our very inadequate snow blower to plow our way through enough to be able to drive out. 
After some thought, we decided to  go to our local Tractor Supply and bought 12 more chicks.  They are Black Sex Link chickens.  (Click the name to learn more.)  So far they are doing well.  Praying that none die. 
We are feeding them a special chick food and have various "watering holes."  When they come out of the shell and are dry and you take them to the brooder, make sure to dip their beak in the water to show them where it is.
I will try to post more soon...
Day three of chicks!!

 This is what the pip looks like.

 Cathrine, soon after hatching.

 Warming up!

Me and Alpha Cathrine.

 All our incubator chicks.

Cathrine, all cute and fluffy!!  <3

Thanks for reading!!  Subscribe to email notification to let you know when there is a new post!

~Emma

Winter Weather Update

Sooooooo...  It's not spring...  *cries*
Yes, well, as much as I don't like it, this is winter in Michigan.
Yesterday a storm dumped about a foot+ of snow on us.  It's snowed from around 9:30 am yesterday and it's still going.  (I remember bc I was in the middle of Band and I have a good view of the window. BTW, I am now a chair higher than before!  4th chair!!  I was originally 6th.)
Anyway, we lost our electricity and had to pull out the generator which has turned out to be one of the best investments we've made.  ;)
You all are probably wondering "WHAT ABOUT THE EGGS?!"  The incubator went out with the electricity so they were without heat for around an hour but when my mom checked the temperature it was at 98'F which is pretty good.  We are worried that it could have killed them, but it is hopefully a very small chance.
Well, this is going to hold up everything a bit.  Tomorrow is day 18, the day we stop turning them. Then on day 21 I will try to film some of the hatching!!  It's so close!!!  I can't wait.  Luckily I made the brooder earlier in the week!!  I'll be posting some pictures and a video soon so stay tuned!  You can subscribe for email alerts if that makes it any easier for you.  Just look for it on the left side, right at the top, just below my into.
Just a suggestion mind you.  Hehe.


Stay tuned for new posts!
See you all soon!!
Emma

A Week for Chickens

  Its day 14 of incubation!!  4 more days until we stop turning them and up the humidity!  Then its 3 days until they hatch.  Oh the excitement.  I candled a few and they look good.  Lots of movement.
  Ok, so this week we are taking pretty much everything off except for like math, bible, and a book we are reading so we can focus COMPLETELY on working on the coop.  We are going to read books, watch video's on You Tube, google stuff, and draw up some plans.  Hopefully- maybe- we will start work on the coop.  We've got a workshop/barn and my dad, after originally saying no, agreed to let us use a corner in the bottom/barn area.  (The shop part is in the top.)
  We're going to cut a hole in the wall that leads out to the grassy area that we had planned as using as a run.  A run is where you can let the chickens out.  I'll tell you all more as we get to that stage.  But usually it is a fenced in area with chicken wire all around and above it, with a wooden frame.  I'll put a pic at the bottom.  At least this way the coop wont take away from my basketball area.  (We had planned on putting the coop on this concrete square which is also where my basketball hoop is.)  Man, I love basketball.  I hope the chickens love it too because I will be right by them when I play.
  That's about it for now.  I will try to get another post in if we do anything major.  Maybe put a pic of our designs up when we do them.


  Random thought: I sometimes play my saxophone right by where we incubate them...  Will it effect them any?  I know that if you play Mozart while you are pregnant it can make the baby smarter (It did me!  LOL), but will it do the same for chickens?  Or would it, if I sounded better?  I am on my 5th month after all.


  See you all later!!

     Emma

P.S.  I'm working on a video on candling the eggs but I still need to edit it.

What you need to know: Starting off

                 

1)  One of the most important things you need, besides chickens, is space.  Before we moved here we lived in a good sized home without much of a yard and were in a neighborhood, and were unable to even think of having chickens.  But now, after moving here, we have around 6 acres and enough flat ish ground to build a coop and a run.

2)  A coop.  Coops are very important too.  You can build them yourself, buy them off the internet, get kits, or transfer an old outbuilding into a coop.  You will need to make sure you have a big enough coop to suit the needs off all your chickens.  A coop that is too small could mean sickness for your chickens.  Basically, try to make a bigger coop and your chickens will be better off, even if there is lots of room to spare.  Anyway, maybe you will want to get more chickens in the future!   I'll put a few pictures of coops at the end that I got off Google. 

3)  An incubator!  Your eggs won't hatch without one!  This is ours:

4)  Eggs or chicks.  VERY important.  We have buff Orpington eggs.  You can get chicks from places like Tractor Supply and even off the internet.  Here is a pic of our eggs (and my cat): 

5)  A temperature reader and a humidity reader.  Store bought incubators usually have the temperature thing but you may have to buy the humidity reader from someplace like Amazon.

  You will need other stuff too but this will hold you for now.  I will do a post later on about what you will need with chicks.  I hope this was a good start!!

                                                 

I just love this one.  It reminds me of a Hobbit Hole!!  (I am a huge Hobbit/LOTR fan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginings

  Greetings fellow chicken lovers!  This is my first post so it may not be very good, so please forgive me.  This is the first real blog I've done so like with the chickens, I am learning as I go.  ;)
  Our life with chickens so far:
A good friend in our homeschool group who also owns chickens was exceptionally kind and is letting us borrow her 20 year old homemade incubator and provided us with eggs.  She raises Buff Orpington (No relation to Biff from the Back to the Future trilogy.  Sorry!) chickens and provided us with 24 eggs.  We started incubating them and tragity struck...  The fan in the incubator stopped working and the temperature went up to 120 degrees!!  Needless to say, the 24 eggs were cooked.  We then returned the incubator and the eggs to our friend and about 4 days later it was returned, with 22 new eggs.  Come to find out she had accidentally plugged it in wrong and the high heat caused some of the hot glue in it to melt and stick in the fan.
  So now we are on day 9 with the new batch of eggs.  Things are going well!  The fan hasn't died, the heat stays on the right temperature (more on that later), and after candling (more on that later too) them all but one are alive as of now.

  That is what has happened so far.  I will do a post about what you need to do to start off next!!
  Until then,
Emma