incubating/brooding eggs

We are looking forward to letting our hens brood on some eggs this spring.  Our eggs are usually fertile as we have three roosters.  We’ve never let the girls sit on eggs before.  Hens generally only get broody in the Spring, which makes perfect sense as the chicks probably wouldn’t survive an Idaho winter without assistance.  In the mean time, we are incubating some eggs inside.  This three egg incubator is designed to be like a kids science project, but it actually works.  We’ve hatched a beautiful pure-bred Auracana rooster in a previous batch.  It was really quite amazing to watch the egg break open and hatch.  It took about a half an hour for the chick to peck his way out.  I don’t know quite what we’ll do with the chicks in the dead of an Idaho winter.  I suppose they’ll have to stay inside for quite a while.

Letting hens brood seems like it’ll be a lot of fun too.  We’ve never done it but Mother Earth news had a really good article on it this month.  I’ll write another post this spring after we’ve successfully (we hope) hatched some chicks.  We have one hen, she’s a little bit older and kind of mangled from an owl attack, that gets broody pretty consistently. 

Does anybody else get wonky in the head when their spouse, lover, partner goes out of town?  It’s been so quiet here today.  Jenny and the boys were in Oregon for most of the day and half the night.  I enjoy the quiet, or at least I think I’m going to enjoy it, but I never do real well.  I frequently don’t eat right or sleep well.  Sometimes I drink coffee, which I almost never do any more.  I get restless and worry about her driving all that distance.  I get lots of stuff done but mostly things like scrubbing the kitchen.  Rarely the major projects that really need my attention.  Usually I like to think of myself as being pretty comfortable in my own skin, but I sure don’t act like it when everyone is gone.  I get really restless and uncomfortable.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Maybe next time the family is gone I’ll make more of conscious effort to make it a day of prayer and meditation as opposed to a day of anxiety and discomfort.

I met with some friends this evening which helped.  I like getting an hour or two of alone time, but I sure don’t seem to like it much when it’s a day or two of alone time.  It gets awful quiet out here in a hurry. 

We are looking at getting another milk cow.  We’ve got our eye on one that we really like.  Another pure-bred Jersey that’s pregnant and has a great disposition.  We could certainly use the milk.  We are sold out on milk most of the time.  We are scrambling to fill orders for our regular customers.  Fancy, our Jersey who’s currently in milk, is producing less and less as the winter progresses.  The goats are producing even less than that and two of them have dried off completely.  I’ll be sure to post pictures if we get the new cow.  Her name is Emma. 

Blessings,