Our Successes and failures...

 Well it has a been a few years since we began our homestead and sadly due to some major changes in our lives we had to put a hold on our homesteading. We had expanded our birds to chickens of many breeds, Cayugas, Muscovies, and Pekins... even had a few turkeys for a brief bit. Also had a few goats and loose rabbits but due to a neighbor dog digging under the fence and killing over half of my flock, I thought it was safest for the rest of my farm animals to be rehomed until we can have better accommodations. 

First failure, while we thought that we had a secure yard and area for our animals we were proven wrong on one terrible night that cost me over half my flock.

Second failure, not sectioning out our property. I thought that keeping a free-range farm would be best, but after a year of free-range goats and birds I found that they ate everything! All my flowers and smashed my garden even though I did have some of it fenced off.

While there were many small successes, I biggest would just be education. I have learned a lot and will back sure our next attempt will be better organized and much well suited for our animals and life style.

Plans for our permanent Homestead...

Fenced off garden area

Barn/Coop with pasture for animals to share but will have corral type areas for separation when needed

Ducks will have own area with pond/water

Dogs will have own fenced area (used when we are not outside with them)

Motion lights/notification

One thing I what very badly is to have my Homestead be an animal sanctuary/rescue. For this it would be convenient to have a building setup like a kennel for quarantining or housing small animals and a cat jungle.    

(I will add to this as I continue to progress my ideas and plans)

Finally!!

 So after so much trial and error we finally have hatching chickees. I did so much research before starting the incubating process but I guess it is a trial and error process.

One thing I can't emphasize enough is do your research. I had many fails because of simple errors on my behalf. One of my biggest duh moments was counting my days. (I count day one as the day I put them in the incubator, when day one is a full 24 hours in the incubator.)

Humidity is very important, don't let it dip to extremes. I found that having one hole plugged and all the bottom water trays filled kept the humidity between 40-55%. If it got a little high I would remove the other plug until it stabilized.

Another thing I hadn't thought a lot about but makes a big difference it you hen/rooster combination. I had banty roosters breeding with my standards hens which is not impossible but can prove very difficult. I received some eggs that are for a friend's farm and they are doing GREAT, even hatching 2 days early.

Happy hatching!

DUCKIES!!!!! (Pekins)

 So we have decided to add ducks to our homestead. We went down to the local farm store and purchased 3 ducklings, they are Pekins (I am pretty sure at least).

Pekins are a great starter duck. They are relatively quiet (for ducks ha), docile and great egg layers, up to 200 a year. Pekins grow to be about 8-11 lbs and can live 9-12 years. Pekin ducks can be very loyal to their humans, some say a stronger loyalty than dogs can have.

Pekins have white bodies, a yellow bill, and orange feet. It is very difficult to tell the sex of Pekin ducks until they are older and have their feathers then you can tell by the wing feathers. Male ducks have a curl to the end of their wing feathers and females or smooth. (picture to come once mine are old enough to tell)

Generally Pekins duck are not brooders (lay on their eggs) and need to be incubated if you plan to hatch your own. Pekins eggs have a 28 day incubation period at 99.5*F and a humidity level of 55-75%. When incubating Pekin eggs it is similar the incubating chicken eggs in which you lock down the eggs 3 days before the hatch day. At lock down the temperature is slightly lower and the humidity higher, this increases the survivability of the ducklings. Compared the other birds, duck eggs are relatively easy to hatch since they are very forgiving when it comes to temperature and humidity levels.

Pekin ducklings are yellow with orange bills and feet. Ducklings hatched in and incubator should be watched very closely and limited on their access to swimming water. The ducklings feathers are not sufficiently developed to protect them for extended periods in the water. They also don't produce enough preen oil to water proof their duckling feathers. 

I decided I wanted a pretty duck so after some googling and research I have ordered some Cayuga ducklings. They are also docile, loyal and relatively quiet. They are about the same size as pekins and absolutely gorgeous. I will post more about these guys after I get them.

Eggs Gone Bad

 So today I moved my one viable living egg/chick to the hatching incubator. The excitement was very thick in my house, both kids were super excited even a friend little girl is counting down the days til its HATCHING DAY. After making sure that egg was settled, I went to candle my other eggs and I could smell a hint and something funky. I have tried to google this and even sniffed every single egg in there and the smell was coming from one egg. I am pretty sure the egg has gone bad and it was 11 days along. Here is a picture of the progress that is made day by day.

I have decided I will candle my eggs on day 5, day 11, and day 18 so I can keep track of the progress and get rid of any eggs that have gone bad or were not viable.

Here is a picture of an egg with the ring of blood, which means the embryo died and the blood has pooled. 

UPDATE

I took the suspected bad egg out of the incubator and put it in a ziplock baggy. I took my kiddos outside with the egg and cracked it open (thankful we didn't have to smell it) we saw the embryo had died, the yolk had broke and the shell was very thin and weak.

Just a few more days

 So I have done so much more research on the whole incubating eggs subject. Because of this new research I decided to buy a second still air incubator for the hatching stage.

Here are some of the reasons I decided to do this and I am going to also touch on a different method of incubating eggs called "dry incubating."


Ok to start off you want the temperature a stable 99.5* of the hatching incubator. I laid paper towels down on the wired bottom for easy clean up, but left the edges of the wire exposed. It will reach the humidity levels that are best for the hatching stage (it is advised the roll up paper towels and put them in the channels that are under the wires then fill them with water). It might take a couple of days but the humidity level should stabilize I leave one of the red plugs on top of the incubator out, just to keep the humidity from getting too high . While the chicks are hatching it will produce a bit more humidity but the levels should be in the range that you don't have to worry about the chicks drowning. You will want the paper towel moist (not soaked). During the next 3 days DO NOT OPEN the incubators lid. The reason for the incubator being a still air incubator during the hatching stage is sometimes a forced air incubator can dry out a chicken to quickly or even cause the chick the stick to the egg shell during hatching and as a result kill it.

Dry Incubating

 The reason many use this method of hatching eggs is the air pocket on the top of the egg can end up with too much water in it and drown the chick during hatching. For this method humidity levels should remain low for the first 18 day (until you move the chick to the hatching incubator) the humidity levels should not go below 20%, 25% is where you want it. I have found the easiest way to keep the levels low are adding just a bit of water daily (a teaspoon or two) through the red plug holes and keep both plugs open.

Something you will want to keep an eye on is the size of the air pocket at the top of the egg. If it is too larger or growing too fast, you need a little bit of humidity, if it is smaller (no bigger then when you started) you want to decrease the humidity.

On day 18 is when you will be bumping up the humidity levels. You want to to be at about 65% you can achieve this but the directions above.

HAPPY HATCHING

If you have any question feel free to ask.

Farm bird incubation

 So many things happening this spring at the Purdy Homestead

I purchased and incubator to hatch my own chicks, with many questions and awesome advise from a great friend, I do believe come the end of the month we will have CHICKS!!
I have many hens and a couple rooster and had a broody hen that hatched one chick which was killed just a few days after hatching so I will try it this way.

There are so many different way to hatch your own eggs. From the obvious, having a broody hen sit on them for 21 days to a heat lamp and of course the incubators. If you decide you want to hatch your own eggs you need to decide how much time you have to dedicate towards your eggs. If you as busy as I am this time of year a unit that has the automatic egg turner and circulated air fan kit might be best. When I decided to hatch my own this year I had no idea that eggs had to be turned 3-4 times a day at the same time each day. That was my main reason for the auto egg turner. The fan is so the temperature is uniform throughout the whole incubator. With a still air incubator the bottom of the incubator will be cooler than the top so it is even more important to turn the eggs on a ridge schedule.

If you do decide you have the time to turn them yourself then you might want to mark each side with a pencil so you know which side to turn them. On day 18 you want to stop turning the eggs so the chicks can position themselves for hatching.

Once you have found the incubator that fits your needs and you have brought it home. It's like Christmas morning opening the box even if you know exactly what's in it. You will want to find a good location to keep the incubator, basements work well basically you want somewhere where it will not be in directly sunlight and keeps a regular temperature without drastic frequent changes. Once you have found a location to keep the incubator you will want to run the incubator for at least 6-8 hours to get it set and make sure the temperature is set and stable. 99.5* F is your target temperature and humidity levels should be 55%- 60% while being incubated and 65% during hatching.

At five days in the incubator the eggs can be "candled." This can be done with a flash light, I found some foam tape around the top of the flashlight so the egg sits right on top for easy viewing. If the egg is viable and a chick is growing you will see views and a little black spot.

At day 18 you want to stop turning your eggs, or take them out of the auto-turner and set them on the metal mesh (I put paper towels down for easy cleanup). This is to allow them to position themselves for hatching.

Do not help the chicks hatch from the egg. If for some reason it does not hatch there is normally a good reason. Helping the chick can effect the chicks health and even kill them. After the chick is dry and fluffy (about 6-12 hours after hatching) the chicks can be removed from the incubator and placed in their brood box.

After each hatching you want to make sure to sanitize the incubator and turner. It is very important to
thoroughly clean the incubator.

Here is a list if Incubation Periods for different kind of birds.

Chicken 21 days
Ducks 28 days
Geese 28-33 days
Guinea 27-28 days
Muscovy Ducks 35 days
Ostrich 42 days
Peafowl 28-29 days
Swan 35 days
Turkey 28 days