It’s hard to dodge all the new life that comes with the Spring season. Besides all the bright new green foliage suddenly appearing flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and best of all, babies! Our farm is no different; we hatched our first batch of chicks, our watermelon seeds have sprouted, and we got two (yes, TWO!) new puppies. Oh yeah, and our mama sow – Mama Mia or Mia Ham – had six squishy little piglets!
Chicks, Man.
This winter, I decided that we were finally at a point in our farming journey where we could hatch our own chicks. I typically only buy young hens called “poults” or “pullets” because they have dropped their chick fuzz and are getting ready to start laying eggs, but this year on the new farm is different. We got a rooster as soon as our coop was done and a friend of ours sold us some laying hens so we could go ahead and get our egg operation back up and running. We quickly noticed that our new guy was… active, so we decided to buy a small incubator from Kebonnix on Amazon. The incubator includes an egg candler that allows us to tell if the eggs are fertilized or not.
Be sure to subscribe to learn more about the incubation process.
The incubator holds 12 eggs, but I decided to start with eight because that’s how many I figured were most likely fertilized after our rooster’s… activity. Seven of the eight hatched and I learned that I should make sure the already-hatched chicks don’t turn any of the other eggs over where the unhatched egg’s crack (called a pip) is facing downward toward the bottom of the incubator. After 21 days, we were blessed with seven fuzzy chicks, ranging in color from yellow, striped, and black. They are super cute and growing so fast! Check out the gallery below to see their progress.
We also noticed about five days before posting this blog
that we have a broody hen! Broodiness is when a laying hen’s motherly instincts
kick in and she doesn’t do anything for 21 days but sit on a clutch of eggs. We
estimate she has about a dozen eggs underneath her and we should hear some more
peeps in about two weeks!
This time of year, guinea fowl begin to breed and in fact,
this is the only time of year that guineas lay eggs so chances are good that
they are fertilized. They are notoriously poor mothers, though so we will have
to search for a clutch of eggs somewhere in the woods or in our neighbor’s
field and set some in the incubator.
I am trying my hand, again, at starting watermelons from seed. Unfortunately, I can’t find any starts for our favorite ‘Troubadour’ seedless watermelons, and our friend who usually starts them has switched to the Fascination variety. It’s a great-tasting watermelon, but I prefer Troubadour so much more. By order of Mrs. Sunshine, I did not start the seeds indoors, taking up valuable table space and getting dirt everywhere. Therefore, I started them in our outdoor shed which has windows facing the road and they have a grow light on them 12 hours a day. I can only imagine what our neighbors think I’m growing in there.
Check out the gallery below to see their progress.
Puppies!
The biggest addition to the farm (pun very much intended) are the two Livestock Guardian Dogs we adopted from a farm in Gadsden County in February. They are sisters who are primarily Great Pyrenees mixed with some Anatolian Shepherd so they will be large dogs. These breeds are a favorite for livestock owners as they are bred to be natural protectors, especially of sheep. The larger one is Athena and she is already a brave girl while her sister, Karma, was the runt and is still very tiny, but I know she will be an asset to the farm. Speaking of which, while I want my kiddos to assimilate the dogs into our farm, they are tools and not exactly pets. We still give them lots of love, but I work with them daily to understand that the pigs (and soon, sheep) are under their protection.
I chose this breed specifically for protection and they live outside in the house I built for them with a little overwatch for them to stand guard on. So far, they seem to only want to sleep underneath, which is totally fine with me as long as they continue to grow and become the protectors they were born to be.
I will definitely end up writing about them, so make sure you subscribe to get updates on Karma and Athena.
We are adding to our farm so quickly that people think we are crazy. But somehow it all works out with God’s grace. Thanks for following along with us as we do this thing. Stay tuned for more and be sure to check out our Shop for our latest products.
