Double Yolker

I'm really impressed with my new incubator. The hatch rate has been superb so far. One egg hasn't hatched. We still have a couple days to go before all the eggs should have hatched. Kirk says this weekend we'll put in the coop the Australorp rooster and take out the Buff Orpington rooster. I had been wondering if we should hatch again with the added work load of the grandkids but if Kirk is for it, I guess we will. He's usually the one that puts the brakes on my projects telling me I'm getting carried away. He's usually right.

Besides, chicken in the freezer is always good, though we can't raise enough for all our needs because of our set up this will help. I'll have to get with my dad and make sure he can get the wheat screenings ordered for me. I need cheap nutritious feed. It would also help if we didn't have to order hens and raise then for ourselves since you have to order 30 chickens at a time from the hatchery. I think I will go to county fair and see if I can't purchase a few hens of a breed other than what I have. plus a replacement rooster. Besides that, I'm hoping to trade some eggs with the neighbor and get some green Auracana / Australorp eggs. We need some hens that will lay green eggs for the grandkids. Those plans should do for hens and a rooster since the batch of chickens I'm hatching now is strictly for meat.

As I carried a baby chick to the basement where their cage is, my youngest grand daughter was on my hip and reached over to touch the baby chick in my hand. She started to stroke it and then grabbed for the beak when it cheeped, clasping a hold of it firmly she slammed it shut and about pulling the poor chicks head off. I guess you'd call it Tough Love. While we gazed at the chicks in the cage I thought of the fact that I was going to replace the light colored Buff Orpingtons. The photographer in me is wondering what I should get at fair to replace them for the dark chicks and chickens just aren't photogenic.

And then what would I put on my blog site?

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The oldest grand daughter is holding the huge egg for me.

This morning we cracked a very large hen's egg, the one I was sure would leave a hen dead from internal injuries but all seemed to be fine. I was surprised since I have seen hens perish from such a delivery. My hopes from the big egg were for a triple yolker. We've only had one before and the third yolk was a very very small one.

Alas, there was only two and the yolks were weak and runny.

Though she's been cracking eggs for a while this morning it ended up being a messy business.

Got to keep those eggs coming as they are a breakfast favorite with the younger crowd.