Chickies!!!!

Outdoor nursery

Chick #1 and Chick #2

Well, the waiting paid off.  I now have three darling little baby chicks.  There is one more egg to go, and Mama Hen is determined to stay on it.  So I have gotten her and the little ones out to their outdoor pen, with the egg coming along also.  She is sitting on it even now.   We decided to give it one more day, but if it doesn't hatch by tomorrow, we will call it a dud and remove it.   It is so much fun to have babies that I don't have to fuss over, as I did the group that Mama Hen was a part of.  Those six I had in a cage in the vestibule, with a lamp for warmth.  I had to make sure they didn't get too hot, or too cold, that they didn't eat wood shavings or get "pasted up" which is a condition where their little tiny bottoms get the poo stuck on and dried.  Very Bad.  As soon as that happens you have to wash their bottoms with warm water to get things freed up again.  Then I had to make a different pen when they got too big for the first, and then they had to be introduced to the other flock. 

Mama, showing how it's done

 I mean, I did enjoy all that, but it was a tad labor intensive.  This time I can let Mama do all the work.  I think she is going to be very good at it.


I am determined to finish spinning my white roving that came from the mill.  I plan on heading up to Gloria's tomorrow for a fun dye session.  I hope to hand paint the skein, trying for stripes again.  I love to try for stripes.  I am also going to bring some uncarded fleece to pot dye, as that will allow me to play with color blending on the carder.  Happy days ahead.

Sitting on the egg and 2 chicks