Up and running.....

We turned the incubator on this morning and left it running for about 3 hours to stabalise. At around 11am I set the eggs - very exciting.

Here they are:

In 21 days I am hoping to have some fluffy babies!!!! Mmmmm now what will I do with all those chickens????

I'm EGG-cited!!!

I can't believe it - I didn't get a chance to tell everyone that Michael got his FIRST TOOTH on ANZAC Day - 25/4/09. Now I know why he has been so much of a whinger LOL.

Well, I am egg-cited - literally!!!!

I emailed my lady who I got the fertile eggs from and I didn't hear back from her for a couple of days so I decided I would buy some fertile eggs from a lovely lady called Shani who has a farm called Shrimani Farm in Victoria. In the mean time, my other lovely lady from Newcastle let me know that she had a dozen eggs for me too - So WOW - now I have about 30 fertile eggs to put in the incubator!!!! Unbelieveable.

You may wonder how I can get fertile eggs from another state (Victoria)- cause we are in Sydney. Well, Shani takes a LOT of care with her packing. Here is a picture of how the eggs came:

I can highly recommend Shani for fertile eggs - especially egg layers that aren't boring!! Check out her website : http://www.shrimanifarm.com/home

Here is a pic of the other eggs:

All up I have 3 blue eggs too, so hopefully I may get some blue egg layers (if I get girls).

I am going to set the eggs tomorrow in the incubator. If you get eggs that have travelled (like in the post), you should leave them for 24 - 48 hours to settle first. I will let Shani's eggs sit for 24hrs.

Can't wait for tomorrow!!! The incubator is working perfectly so I am pretty confident that it will be successful and we will get some babies in 21 days!!!!

The incubator is up and ready to go!!!

We have had a busy week, well a busy fortnight. It has been school holidays and also Alex has been home recovering from her operation. She is a pretty bad patient too but is back at work on Tuesday (thank goodness!!!).

Well, Greg's Incubator is ready to go at last!!! YAY!!! We tested it last night (empty) and it went fantastic and held temp perfectly. He has done a great job and all up it probably cost about $80 - $100, which is not too bad.

This is where the semi auto turn is

Gregs box with all the circuits etc in it.

It has a semi auto-turn and a easy fill water container. It has 2 lights in case one blows. He did all his own wiring/circuits etc as he is fairly handy when it comes to these things. It was a pretty big job for him but he really enjoyed the challenge. It is totally perfect as he is a perfectionist. We got a fridge/incubator kit from Jaycar, but I have NO idea why the advertise it as an incubator at all. The max temp was 19deg!!! Greg had to modify the circuit to get it to get up to a max of 40deg and then set the temp at 37.8 deg.

The water filler and auto turn

The thermostat and hygrometer etc

I have put some old eggs in it from when I was treating the chooks for Cocci, just to test it a bit more with eggs in it (non fertile). So far going really well.




I am waiting to hear from a couple of people regarding fertile eggs YAY - can't wait. Will update my blog when I get some :-)


Jemma stayed with her big sister Courtney for a few days last week. Courtney booked her into horse riding camp which Jemma loved. Here are some pics of her riding.

Shopping day & some sad news

Well the sad news is that Lacey the chook passed away today. We are not really sure why because she finished her antibiotics a week ago and seemed fine. The silky hen was making a lot of noise this morning so Greg went to investigate and she was dead in the coop. I feel ok about it all as I think it was meant to be - we did what we could for her.

I went shopping today for clothes which I desperately need. I had one bad experience with a sales assistant at Myer (I have sent an email of complaint) but overall everyone was very helpful. Target was having a fantastic sale so I got - 1pair jeans, shirt, pretty top (looks great with the jeans) and 2 bra's and some undies. I got a new pair of casual shoes from Colorado and a jacket/wrap and 3 long sleeve t'shirts from Suzanne Grae. I need to get a few more things but that will do for the moment. I am happy with my purchases as I am trying to get a casual wardrobe together. I went through my wardrobe and will donate a lot of old items that haven't seen the light of day for a few years now.

Greg is still getting the incubator tested. We are testing it tonight and setting temperature. Hopefully it will be ready to go soon.

Michael has a head cold and has not really slept much over the last couple of nights so that is fun. He is ok, just struggling with breathing through his mouth when his nose is blocked hehe.

Lots happening....

Wow a lot has been happening lately. Our internet was all used up so it was really slow. This is why I haven't posted for a while. It's back now.

On the weekend, I went up to mum and dad's place. I love their house - it is their dream house (and mine too!!). I love country style type places like this. They are on 1/2 an acre, which is a great size.

When we were redoing our chook pen, mum and dad took my three chooks. They have a huge run and a cute pen - it was there when they bought the house. They then added 6 baby chickens to the 3 that I gave them. One day, while they were still babies, they got out of their coop and sadly one must have got taken by "something" when they were running around. Recently, one died for no real reason (she was found dead in the coop). But the remainder of them are great, chooking around. I haven't taken my chooks back because they are very happy and spoilt with mum and dad.

Mum and Dad have a great vegetable garden too, here is a pic of it.

The incubator will hopefully be finished tomorrow and I will put some old eggs in it to trial it and get the temperature right.

I spent the whole day yesterday at hospital as Alex was having a procedure done. From 7am to 9pm we were there - it was hell - sooooooooo boring. Today was a relaxing day at home thank goodness, just pottering around. We went for a walk up to the shop and got some videos.

Tidy up day.....

Here is a pic of an African Violet that I got from K-Mart, which was looking pretty sad. Originally I put it in the bathroom, but it didn't really seem to do much good in there so I decided to put it outside under the awning. Well look at it now!!! It LOVES it there.

Today was a tidy up day, which for me started yesterday.

Yesterday I vacuumed and cleaned the whole house and mopped the whole house and generally tidied up everything so it was clean and tidy.

Today I cleaned out the chook pen and folded the washing (and put some out) while Gred did some work in the yard.

I haven't showed the modifications to the chook pen yet. Overall it is excellent. The only change we have made is to make some roosts up higher. You can see them in this picture.

Greg finished the stairs and the length of wood to hold the wood shavings in. It is great and the wood shavings do a great job of soaking up the poop. I haven't had to change the wood shavings yet - only scoop some out and turn the remainder over. It doesn't smell bad or anything. The pen only takes about 30mins to clean out, which includes raking the run and putting the scraps into the compost bin. I compost the newspaper too which sits where the food and water sits. It's a great set up for an unused part of the yard.

I'm pleased to report Lacey is back in the pen today. She is still quite thin but she seems good within herself - no crackling sound and no crowing. Tonight when we went to give her the meds she wasn't roosting, so we gave them to her and Greg put her up on the roost. I think she is really out of her comfort zone due to being out of the pen for so long. She will get into it, while she was gone, the babies (of which one is a rooster) started roosting so there wasn't much room!!!

On the subject of chickens...... GREG'S INCUBATOR..... that is what I am going to call it. Well, we (he!) is progressing really well. He decided to make an semi auto-turn for the eggs out of scrap from his work. Here it is!! (not fully finished). It means that I wont have to open the lid to turn the eggs, which is great for temperature stability. It will also have a water filler as well so I don't have to open the lid. He is doing the lid and the wiring tonight. Will keep you posted!!!

Here is a pic of Miss Jemma bouncing on the trampoline :-)

Using up leftovers

Chicken Pies - all from leftovers - very yummy


I got a free range chook marked down from Coles on Sunday and cooked it for dinner which was yummy. After Alex took some for her lunch today, I had a fair bit left over. Usually I make chicken noodle soup but I felt like a change today.


I made chicken pies and they were really yummy and all made from leftovers. It was:

• all the chicken stripped from the carcass (which was then given to the chooks)
• a leek finely sliced (mum gave me this from her garden)
• a carrot finely chopped (in the fridge)
• a stick of cerely finely chopped (from mum)
• some grated cheese - for in the white sauce (in the fridge)
• 3 short cut bacon pieces finely chopped (from the fridge)
• a white sauce (made from the white sauce mix I have posted previously)

Fry all the vegies & bacon till soft. Mix all this together and then I made some pastry (all ingredients in the cupboard) and put it all in the pie maker - YUM - yummy chicken pies (I made 9 all up).

I also was making Michael some apple and pear puree so took a few apples and put them in the pot with some cinnamon and a few rasins. Stewed for 10mins or so and then after the chicken pies, I made some Apple Pies (4). They were very delish too. I had one with icecream YUM.

So tonight was a leftovers dinner but you would have never known!!! Cost - probably about $5 all together - feeding 4 with leftovers - what a bargain!!!

I got called to the school today for Jemma. She was feeling sick. Took her to the Drs and she has a viral throat infection. Anyone would think she was dying but she is fine. She has a low grade fever but is fine. I don't think she will go to school tomorrow though.

A really really easy breakfast that we have virtually every weekend is French Toast. We seem to always have leftover bread (which I chuck in the freezer). Just put a couple of eggs in a bowl and lightly beat. Add some milk (or cream) and mix it up (kind of like scrambled egg mix). Cut your bread into triangles and dip in the egg/milk mix. Put in a frypan with butter and oil and fry until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

A big hit in our house!!

Yummy french toast frying away

Lacey the chook is doing really well - the antibiotics are working. She is not making any crackly noises or doing the crowing thing. I am feeding her cat food to fatten her up and she is very happily muching away on that. I think she may be ok which is great.

Plans

The backyard, looking down from the chook pen, to the house

I was thinking yesterday that I wish I had some land, could have more chooks & maybe a rooster or two, wishing I had a new car like Jemma's Dad has got (he just got a car that I have been eyeing off for a while), wishing I had a bigger house, wishing we didn't have a mortgage, wishing I had some nicer clothes, a new kitchen........ and so on - you get the picture LOL.



I don't often feel this way, but sometimes I do. Today I feel differently. I don't wish for all that because I have so much that is wonderful in my life (well, some of those things would be nice but definately not essential).



I think we probably all get "stuff" envy every now and again, some more than others. We are very lucky, we really don't go without at all. Having said that, I do go without to get what I want. By that I mean, I could have all (except the mortgage) that I have listed above - right now BUT I choose not to. WHY? Because I have plans for the future. They are not set in stone or anything but we have things we want to achieve in the short, medium and long term.



At the moment, our only debt is our mortgage. We have a credit card, which we pay off each month in full and our bank account can cover that amount. We would have no problem going out and getting a loan for all that I have listed above. But we are paying off our mortgage as fast as we can - that is our first goal. We believe that we will have more opportunities with that gone. Oh we still have a life - we have take away still (but not a lot), we still go on holidays (but I cook all our food & shop around for accommodation), we buy ourselves stuff still (but not much, only what we need and we check prices etc). We treat ourselves with little items regularly (but not all the time).



I have known people who will not go without anything. They have beautiful in fashion label clothes, the latest mobile phone, dine out all the time in lovely restaurants, drink regularly, smoke, go on fabulous holidays, have really nice cars, lovely furniture, big tv etc. They don't have anthing else though - no savings, pay rent (dead money in my view) and probably a credit card and car loan debt sadly.



It doesn't bother me that this is their situation (it would bother ME if it was me), but I wonder if this is really what they want and if this makes them happy? I guess we all have different priorities and wants and different things make us happy. But I believe their lack of self disclipline NOW will impact their FUTURE and they wont be happy where they are in the future. But then they would say well you can't take it with you which is true.



Here is some of what makes me happy:



Everyone (except Nat and Marty) out for Jem's Birthday

Beautiful bubba Michael - just look at that face!!

The Chick Inn and residents. I love my chookies!!

I think that some people I know think I am pretty wierd, but I don't mind - I probably am wierd, but thats ok with me - I'm enjoying my life at the moment. A lot of people wouldn't do what we do and that is fine but you can still have a great life without a lot of stuff (eg my mobile phone cost $20 off ebay - in that time Alex has had about 4 phones, much flasher and "better" than mine - except hers cost thousands all up!!!)

Moving on

I went up today to see Mum and Dad. The markets were on and I hadn't been there before so mum and I went along. It was great!! They have a poultry/bird auction and it was very interesting. I was very very restrained and didn't buy anything even though I really wanted too.

On Friday, I tested the incubator again - just to make sure it was broken and yes, it is. I think it is the thermostat that has failed. As I was very upset on Thursday night, Greg checked the internet and decided that he could make an incubator - much superior to the one I had bought. So this is the next project - building an incubator!!! Will keep you posted as to how it goes.

Lacey the chook is still in the brooder box and seems to be going ok, though she is still a little bit wheezy. It seems that her choking has gotten a bit better. I'm hoping for the best with the 2 different medications and we are feeding her a high protein diet too to help increase her weight.

Cody is doing well too. At the start, he would take his pills in some food but this week he stoppped doing this - eating around the pills or not eating the food. If he doesn't take his pills, he will die but I can't tell him this!! We now have to pill him - this involves me scruffing him and holding his legs and Greg prying his mouth open and shoving them down his throat. Not the nicest thing but it is over quick.

The other chooks are happy in their coop and chook around every day. We are still getting an egg a day from Browney, but sadly can't eat them due to the medication she was given. Another week and then it should be ok. The others still haven't started laying yet but I hope they will soon. Oh and the chook that I thought was a rooster, is a rooster (not crowing yet). We will have to do something about that as we can't have a rooster here. I'm cheesed off that I didn't trust my gut instinct when I bought them - I actually asked the guy if he thought the chook was a rooster because I thought he was. The guy said he didn't think so but it really was quite obvious that he was - but I thought well he probably knows more than me. Oh well.

As you may have guessed, I was feeling pretty sad on Thursday night after the incubator failed and I had to chuck out my eggs. On Friday, I was still feeling sad but on look from my little bubba Michael made me feel a LOT better.

And here is Miss Jemma, ready for bed tonight. She is meant to be with her Dad this weekend but he had a party on tonight so we have her. She was in bed by 8pm and fast asleep by 8.05pm LOL - he lets her stay up WAY too late most of the time so is often absolutely stuffed when she comes here.

Jemma sometimes tells me I am a mean mum - at our house 8pm is bedtime for Miss Jemma - strictly!!! - well 99% of the time. I tell her "Yes Jemma, I'm the meanest mum in the world - how unlucky were you!! "

I love my kids so much but both Alex & Jem have told me over the time how much of a mean mum I am. And both of them have what I call - "Good time Dad's". Amazingly though - when something needs doing or if things go wrong or they are hurt............who gets the job or the call to fix it............. YOU GUESSED IT - THEIR MEAN MUM - me :-)

Cutting my losses

Just a quick update to say that the incubator has been running way too hot all last night and today and tonight. It is running close to 40degrees and should be at 37.7 degrees. I have it set at the lowest temp and am unable to get it any lower.

Small fluctuations like this are fine but over an extended period of time, it kills the fertile eggs.

If I could get the temp down, I would have continued. However, I can't get it down because the incubator is faulty. I was sold a dud.

Thus, I have decided to cut my losses and turn it off. Why waste all the electrictiy when I know that the eggs are cooked...........& I don't want to risk half grown chicks dying from being too hot.

I am sitting here fighting back tears of sadness for my little eggs that I hoped would turn into little chicks.

Goodnight & thanks for your interest.

Rach

I stress too much

The eggs in the incubator, ready for turning. I got 4 blue/green ones - hope they hatch into hens

So, continuing with the animal drama theme :-0 now the latest drama was the eggs.

As said previously, it was running way too hot. Greg got it fixed. We got it up and running and then set the eggs - all good!!

Well I was monitoring the incubator and the temp rose up to about 1.5 degrees higher than it should be. So I freaked out and thouht I had killed all the babies/eggs etc.


Lucky for me, we in Australia have the wonderful resource of Backyard Poultry website, which I got on and expressed my concerns. I think they all probably think I am an idiot really.................. in a nutshell, this is what happens when incubating and I am stressing way too much.


So, with all their good advice, I left the machine & tried NOT to check it every 30mins hehe. As predicted - the temp went down. I still think it is running a bit too hot (possible about 1 degree) but this is maybe because the thermometer is at the top and it is a little bit cooler down with the eggs and water.


Who knows, but I have stopped stressing and am just letting it go, doing what I have to (turning eggs 3x per day & topping up water). Fingers crossed we have success in 20 days!!!!


Alex took Lacey the hen to work today (she is getting a train ride!!) to see the bird vet. Fingers crossed she will be ok & I hope they can fix her up. She has been a bit better since being in the brooder box but is still not well. She is still eating & drinking which is a good sign I think.

This is where Lacey has been staying for the last few days - the light keeps it warm as toast!!


The weather here has been very very wet. Yesterday we had a river running through our yard because it was so heavy and we are the last house down the hill so it all comes into our yard. It drains quickly though, so it is not too bad now. The Chick Inn is dry and warm inside that goodness but the chooks are all out in the rain, but when it gets heavy the go underneath the coop out of the rain. At least they are dry and warm at night!!! Silly things.