And then there were 4.......I mean 10.

Holy shit, look at that! Today was my first 4 egg day! I don't know who laid the fourth egg. One brown was from Stew. The two white eggs were from the White Leghorns.


The other brown?


Hmmmm......the buttercups lay white eggs. Or rather, whenever they decide to finally start laying they will lay white eggs. Which leaves the cochins. Two of which really do not look ready to lay. Leaving the biggest cochin and the Giant hen. It seems awfully small for the Giant girl, but then again, she has really been showing the signs of impendinng egg laying lately so who knows. Maybe this weekend I can catch them in the act.

Either way....yay!



Speaking of new additions....the eggs in the incubator were due this weekend.



Yes.


They were.


Technically they were due Sunday morning. Of course, Friday night I go in the extra bedroom and hear eggs rocking in the 'bator! Whooo!


And then Saturday morning I found a bunch of "pips" in the Rhode Island Red eggs. Meaning they were starting to hatch.


So I went off to spend time with my newfound facebook addiction......

And then.







A BABY OMG!



So I take a picture and go move it off my phone to my computer...and then I resize it and upload it.....and right before I go to post, I go to check on it to see how it is.


And then.








There were two chicks!



So I take a new picture and go get it off my phone. And then I resize it and upload it and go to make a post, but first I better go check on the eggs again!

And then.








Holy shit, three chicks!



And what is this?






Another one "zipping"! Ready to hatch at any moment.





And then.









Another zipping!



They were just busting right out of those shells and zooming all over. Or flopping. Or flapping. Whatever.


BABIES.



They just kept coming!




Next thing I know....








6 of them! All Rhode Island Reds.....



And then finally....FINALLY....






I got a yellow one! A Salmon Favorelle aka POOFY cheeked chick! Actually I ended up with a few more Rhode Island Reds too. And then ANOTHER yellow poofy cheeked chick.



For a grand total of......



[insert drumroll here]








10 chicks! 8 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 Salmon Favorelles!

I also had 2 Salmon Favorelles pip but die before getting out of the shell all the way. And 3 Salmon Favorelle eggs that did nothing. And 1 Rhode Island Red egg that did nothing.

Those 16 eggs total were what was left after the great power outage and temperature spike of 2009, that wiped out 14 of the eggs on the 2nd day of incubation.


Bummer.



BUT OMG SO CUTE!




You all are jealous. I can totally tell.


I'm not going to lie, today I tossed the leftover eggs and cleaned the incubator.


why?


Because I am setting a new set of eggs on Wednesday.


I KNOW.


But I am dying for some Brahmas and found a good deal on ebay, so got 20 of those eggs (half Light, half Buff) and I am also going to put in 2 dozen of my own eggs, now that the Giant Rooster is getting his groove on. I am going to crack some open and do some random fertility checks, but will go ahead and just incubate a couple dozen and toss the ones that are no good. I am totally wanting to have some leghorn/giant crosses. Maybe they will gain some size but keep the good egg laying? Hopefully they won't lose the size of the giant AND the egg laying.


Whatever. Either way...CHICKS! And not just chicks, but FREE CHICKS. Because I totally have like 6 dozen or more eggs at my house right now. And I have only gotten more than 1 egg a day this month. Craziness.

This is all Stew's fault.


She started this.








[Remember how I said DO NOT stick your hand in the nestbox with the chicken still in there? I STILL STAND BEHIND THAT]


BTW, let me just say to all of you floppy zip tie tail haters....ME TOO! Believe me, I wince every time I see a picture that shows them, I just haven't gotten around to dealing with them. Actually they are meant to be only temporary. Just to hold it all in place so I can use actual wire clips.


Someday I will get it finished......




So apparently there must just be something in the water around here. First we have the giant rooster.


And now?


Check out my neighbor's new horse. Mule. Draft mule. Draft horse.


WHATEVER IT IS.







He (she?) makes Ralph the donkey look itty bitty.



Speaking of equines......




I wish Foxy had this kind of hair.








That is fricking awesome.



I am jealous. Foxy should be jealous too.





I heard that.



Foxy is such a crankypants sometimes.






Who me? Cranky? Never.




Especially when she does not get her treats promptly. If there was a carrot, licorice or candy cane smuggling problem around here, I could totally market her as a treat sniffing horse.


Don't believe me? Watch this.



FOXY, FIND THE TREATS!











Good horsie.



If she could will them from the bag into her mouth, with the power of her mind, she would totally be set for life.



As it was, I was bored and waiting for her leg to dry so I could put medicine on it, so we played in the arena a bit. I stood on the mounting block and made her walk cirles around me with me just pointing where I wanted her to go, then I had her walk forward for a treat and then back up the very end of the lead rope and stand patiently before coming back up for a treat.



Foxy approves of the treat games.



So much so that when I was done and let her loose, she seemed to be signalling something to me.




Okay, stand here, remove treat from pocket, insert in Foxy's mouth....lather, rinse, repeat....






Okay, enough with the patiently standing far away, time for a treat crazy lady!





Insert treat here!




Foxy is such a goober sometimes.




Speaking of goobers, apparently someone locked the door when she went out to collect eggs and let the dog out. And then could not find the spare key. And then had to call her sister and her hubby on their anniversary while they were on their way out to dinner to celebrate, to drive the 20 miles over to bring a spare key.


Someone. Somebody. I'm not saying who, okay? It is a secret.


Maybe it was Stew? Never know what those crazy chickens are up to!


Speaking of crazy chickens........I added a second roost recently specifically to free up some space so everyone wasn't so crowded.


However.


The disco chickens are a bit confused.





That is not proper roosting technique! Not acceptable!

(btw, there is a hilarious youtube set of videos where they keep saying NOT ACCEPTABLE and that is all I can ever think of when I post that. I will totally find them and link them eventually)