Ducklings hatched today

Now everyone in unison: Awe....

I don't know how many there are yet, they are still hatching.

It's peeping hot in here

A wind storm knocked out the power yesterday afternoon.

I phoned Hydro and they said it would be back on in half an hour. I didn't believe them. The wind was getting stronger and I knew that it wouldn't be long before more areas loss power. There were only a few hours of sunlight left so we had to get to work right away.

I left the eggs in the incubator. It's fairly well insulated and in a room that was about to get much warmer. It was the peeps that I worried about.

I have 43 little 4 day old chicks in a brooder in the garage which keeps the chicks toasty warm. Without electricity the brooder doesn't work. So, we stoked up the two wood fires in and set up a temporary home for the chicks in a box next to one of the fires. They didn't like the journey from the garage to the house, but once they were inside they enjoyed investigating their new surroundings.

On top of this, I had a sick hen out in the yard. She was so listless and her eyes were glossed over. I thought for certain that she wouldn't make it through the night. Thankfully it was just an unpleasant egg and she's right as rain this morning. It was just one more worry on an already stressful day. But back to the peeps.

As the early afternoon turned into the late evening and the power was still not on, I began to wonder if I would get any sleep that night. I had to keep the fire going at a good rate to keep the chicks warm enough. So I would have to stay up until the electricity returned.

Have you ever put your hand under a hen while she was sitting on the nest? It's wonderfully warm under there. It's like being in an extra hot sauna. That's the environment that the chicks need. And an extra hot sauna is what we turned our house into.

Because there wasn't much light, so the chicks cuddled together and all went to sleep on mass. Then one peep would wake up and all the chicks would wake up and start chirping. Then they would slowly fall back asleep.

The power eventually came on around 9pm, and once the brooder warmed up again we took the peeps home. They sure were happy to be back.

An occasional adventure is all well and good, but there is nothing quite as comforting as home, sweet, home.

More eggs in the incubator

I stuck 13 hen's eggs in the incubator last night.

I don't know if I've done my math right but I think they should hatch around the same time as the duck eggs. It takes 28 days for chickens to hatch. - Ops, 21 days to hatch. So they will be ready sooner than I planed. oh well. I'll get the brooder ready.

I've come to pick up my Peeps

I have six roosters crowing in my ear.

We brought home four bantam cross cocks today and man can they yell. The boys are for my new chicks. They have experience fighting off hawks and two of them have even defeated an eagle. I figured they would be perfect for keeping my girls safe when I'm not around.

As for me new peeps, I picked up 43 darling baby hens on Thursday. They are absolutely tiny and very curious about the world around them. They will live in the brooder until the weather warms up enough. Until then, I get to wipe their bottoms. That last part is not as cute as it sounds.

Urban Hand-raised Hen Programme

I plan to hand raise hens to sell to urban chickenites.

I think that chickens are the best. They can be affectionate, intelligent and they provide their owners with a lovely egg almost every day.

I love the idea of keeping chickens in an urban environment. I wish I had known about this as a kid. Forget about wanting a cat, hens are the answer.

That said, there are challenges for the family who wants to keep a couple of hens in their back yard. I think I've got the answer to that: my Urban Hand-raised Hen Programme.

What challenges could there be? They are only chickens after all.

If you want to hand raise your hen yourself, you have to start from scratch. Most places require a minimum order of 25 chicks which is way too many for an urbanite. The would be chicken lover has to set up all sorts of equipment to keep the chicks healthy. There's special chick feed, brooder, heat lamp, red light bulb to stop them from pecking each other. Correct temperature and airflow are vital. Not too hot, not too cold, good circulation, and no draft. You even have to teach them how to drink. You have to provide special watering equipment to prevent them from drowning. For the first week or so, you have to wipe their bottoms if they get pasty poo stuck all over it. It can be expensive and time consuming to care for chicks.

One could always buy point of lay hens - chickens who are mature enough to start laying, usually after 4 to 6 months of age - are few and far between around here. And even then, they are usually over a year old and are not use to a small flock and human affection.

If left to their own devices, it can be hit or miss if the chicken is affectionate towards people. The best way to do this is to keep them in small flock and handle them several times a day.

What I plan to do is to raise hens in small flocks of 6 or less. Spend lots of time with them every day to socialize them to human interaction. Then, once they are old enough, sell them to urban chickenites.

And yes, before you ask, city people around here can keep hens. From a recent news paper article: The Charm of Chickens:

ROOST RULES

Bylaws governing keeping chickens in a residential neighbourhood vary by municipality. It is recommended interested parties contact their municipal hall or local animal control office. Roosters are not permitted in any urban municipality.

CITY OF VICTORIA

No limit to size of flock

Eggs for personal consumption and cannot be sold

SAANICH

10 chickens on land 1,114.8 square metres to 1,858 square metres

30 chickens on land lots between 1,858 square metres and 0.4 hectare

No limit on land more than 0.4 hectare (or one acre)

ESQUIMALT

Four chickens on any parcel of land zoned for single family residential use

OAK BAy

Requires a poultry-keeping permit

Five chickens on land greater than 745 square metres but less than 1,858 square metres

Eight chickens on land between 1,858 square metres and 4,047 square metres

10 chickens on land greater than 4,047 square metres (or one acre)

NORTH SAANICH

10 chickens on land 12,000 square feet to one acre

20 chickens over one acre to two acres

30 chickens over two acres

CENTRAL SAANICH

No more than five chickens on a parcel of land less than 1,858 square metres

No more than eight chickens on a parcel of land greater than 1,858 square metres and less than 4,047 square metres

No more than 10 chickens on a parcel of land of 4,047 square metres or more

Duck Eggs

I went egg hunting around the yard yesterday. A bit late for Easter, I know.

There are three ducks (not including Sky Duck) laying eggs in five different nests. Some of the nests are really poorly placed and easy for a big old monster to get at. So I collected up the eggs to stick in the incubator.

I know that all of the eggs are under four days old and the weather hasn't been extremely cold or hot during that time, so I think they will hatch. I even tried candling them, but I have no idea what I'm looking for. They look mostly transparent with yellow tint up the pointy end (except for one which is yellow tinted up the other end). I'm curious to see how they change over time.

These are Muscovy ducks, so according to this breliant guide, they take 35-37 days to hatch. Which means that Sky Duck's eggs (I left her on the nest) should hatch 10 days earlier than mine.

Eggs how many started sitting should hatch

Sky Duck >17 10 Apr 2010 15-17 May 2010

Incubator 14 19 Apr 2010 24-28 May 2010

Anyone want to check my math on that?

Tasty eggs

It's raining today. That's good because after the last few days of hot sunshine, the rain barrow is less than half full (or is that more than half empty). It also gives me an excuse to work on my weaving.

Yesterday I potted up the basil seedlings. I have lots extra so I think I'll sell some of them and start more seeds for use later. There are four different types of Basil, but in an unusual act of recklessness, I didn't label which are which so I'll call them Assorted Basil.

One of the other ducks has started a nest near my bedroom window. This is great news because maybe I can help protect her from nasty monsters.

Speaking about eggs, I have one hen who loves eggs. She loves them so much that she pecked open no less than 7 eggs the other day.

Apparently when you have an egg eater in the flock and you don't know who it is, you lift up each hen and whichever one is the heaviest is your prime suspect. This one hen weighs as much as my rooster which is at least five times the weight of the average chicken in my flock. So, yesterday I separated Blacky (soon to be re-named Vindaloo) and not a single egg was pecked. This is indeed good news.

But now we are faced with a different challenge. What do we do with naughty black hen? I'm not willing to eat her. Mostly because I don't want to kill her. Plus there is the plucking. She is people friendly - not affectionate - but not aggressive either. She's also older than the other hens. I'm not interested in keeping her separate from the flock forever. It makes one more feeder to fill twice a day. That means I have to go out and buy an extra feeder and waterer for a chicken that I don't really want.

So, I have one gorgeous, healthy, friendly, and well fed chicken available. She is still laying most days, but you have to get the eggs quick. If anyone would like to buy an extremely fresh stewing chicken or if someone with a soft heart would like to give her a good retirement home, please get in touch this week.