Spring = Baby Animals

We tried really hard this year to incubate baby chickens. Our first attempt in April failed miserably. I think I accidentally had bumped the temperature too high during one period of thermostat adjustment (needs to be at 99.5 degrees), and none of the eggs hatched, resulting in much sadness in the humans of the household.

After that disappointment, we tried again with a smaller group of eggs (spaced apart), and we decided to really read the directions this time (usually helpful but rarely done). Of the approximately 24 eggs we placed in the incubator, 13 hatched after the approximately 21-day incubation period. Nine chicks survived in all, a few from the Barred Rock breed we already have, and a few from the eggs that the Walsh’s gave us (they were all green eggs, so we are excited to see if we get green eggs from them). There are few things cuter in the world than baby chicks, newly hatched.

At the end of May we purchased to additional baby calves, both bull calves. "McKinley" was about 4 weeks old at the time of purchase, and weighs about 100 lbs. "Taft" was only 2 days old and weighs about 90 lbs. We will bottle-feed them for about the first 8 weeks, and then they we will join their older brothers in the pasture (both of whom are about a year old and weigh about 900 lbs). All four are doing "mooo-ey" bien.