The chickies

Here are some pics of the chicks - so cute!!! We have 3 frizzles - fingers crossed they will be girls!!!! None of the other eggs hatched, they were all dead sadly, but really happy we got these cuties. I will give it another go in Spring.............

One of the 2 black straight feather ones

This was the little wee (the smallest chick) yellow one - it is a frizzle and is turning a light brown colour!!!

Frizzle black one

This was the yellow one with black stripe (2nd biggest chick)

The biggest chick - a buff one - huge!!

Look at the colours!!! Beautiful multi brown coloured one

My fav - this is the top knot one - black & yellow and frizzle too!!! please be a girl

I haven't posted for a while - I have been very busy (as I am planning a surprise..........will tell you later ;-)

Michael will be crawling very very soon. In a way I want him too because he gets frustrated, but another part of me knows that life will be very hectic once he is on the move!!!

Michael having a great time on his little car with Daddy

Hope to post a bit more next week

Pics of the Chicks

This little one has a black stripe down its back
Cute little buff one (have 2 of these)

This one had a lump on its head when it came out & we thought it might be deformed. Googled it and it has a crest/top knot (sorry not sure of excat term) - so cute it has a pom pom head LOL

This is a very little and cute pure yellow chick

One of the black ones (have 3 of them)

This is the a very pretty multi coloured one

No more have hatched other than the 9 from Sunday/Monday. We opened the incubator tonight and candled the eggs. There are 5 that have full masses in there and about another 7 that we are pretty sure are dead but just in case we have kept them in there. We took 8 out that we were sure were dead.

The first egg to pip sadly had died. Greg partially opened it from the break in the shell and it was dead and rotting - YUK.

We are going to keep the incubator on until Sunday. The eggs were due yesterday or today (depending on how you work it out). I have a 'vibe' that they are dead but hey you never know (I had the one I thought was stuck in the shell dead too and then it popped out)!! If another one comes ut I am going to call "Miracle" - hope its a hen!!!

9 babies so far

We have 9 little chicks so far - all very cute. I transferred them into the brooder box this morning. There are quite a few colours - black, black with a little white, black and yellow, buff (brown), pure yellow and a very cute one that (see the one at the front) it is a mix of a red brown, a light brown, bit of yellow and black. Interesting.

I have put food and water in there and tried to show them it was there but they didn't seem interested at all so I hope that is ok??? I will check with Backyard Poultry to see.

According to my candling - we should have another 10 to hatch. Saying that, the one that first pipped still hasn't done anything more. I think it is probably dead, but miracles may happen? So 9 or 10 to go. They are due either today or tomorrow by my calculations!!!

Mainly the first ones to hatch were the small eggs or bantam chooks. 7 of Shanis eggs have hatched (and these were mainly the bantam pens except 1) and 2 of Erins eggs have hatched (Erins eggs were all big ones). 2 of the 3 blue eggs have hatched too!! One of Erins and one of Shanis.

The incubator temps are going a bit crazy. Greg told me he modified it as it spiked to 40deg last night (it did that yesterday but I don't know how to fix it and it came good again), but now it is reading about a degree too low - 36.7deg C so hmmm. He is at work and it is very busy (he had to go in at 6.30am this morning) so I will just leave it - I don't know how to change it anyway - what will be will be. It has been changing so much in there that I hope it doesn't matter.

Michael is getting better but still not 100% so I am not sending him to daycare today. I'm meant to get my hair cut too but will cancel that for next week. Jem wasn't well yesterday but I am sending her today - I should call my house the hospital LOL.

Will keep you posted of more bubs :-)

Hopefully....................

3 babies so far

Its very exciting here - baby number 3 has just hatched!!! YAY For a while there I didn't think it was going to do anything because all I could see was its beak moving. I was a bit scared it might die.

I checked on Backyard Poultry and advice was just wait. I then went down to check and I found this little bubba!!!

The first one that pipped still hasn't done anything but it might.... fingers crossed.

Baby No 1

Welcome to baby no 1. This little one is the only one to hatch so far. In the previous post, the egg that had the hole in it didn't peck out anymore, but I have left it in there just in case. I think it probably has died in the shell??? The front egg had a tiny little peck in it (so small you can't see it in the photo) and at 3.30am this morning this little guy was out of that egg (when Michael woke for a bottle we checked hehehe).

When we got up at 7 am this morning the poor thing had fallen down to the bottom of the incubator so, yes, Greg was right we had to put in some cardboard so they can't fall down.

So we took out all the eggs and fixed it up so none can fall down, and put all the eggs back in (incl little chooky who had falled down to the bottom). I hope that this doesn't affect the hatch but we got the temp and humidity back up fairly quickly. They were out of the incubator for about 10mins max and were cheeping too LOL.

Chook No 1 is running around fine so I hope that she will be fine. There are lots of eggs with peck marks (pipping) so fingers crossed we will have more babies this afternoon/tonight.

There are so many different opinions on what to do - do I mist them with water? or just let them be and see what happens?? I don't know but I think I will just let them be and have fingers and toes crossed. Our humidity is around 60% and we can't get it any higher so it will have to do. I have read different opinions on humidity too agggrrrrhhh - some lower, some higher!!!

I guess 1 is out so that is good....................will keep you updated........................

WE ARE HAVING BABIES!!!!!!

See the little crack in the egg above (behind the front one) - thats a baby chicken pecking its way out!!!!

OMG I just went to turn the eggs for the last time tonight and WOW there were 2 eggs pipping (this means they had started to break through their shell).



They are early - not due until Wednesday 20 May 2009 (sorry got my dates wrong thought it was Thursday 21st but acutally Wednesday 20th when I checked the calender) - so not sure why they have started now but it could be because the temp was a little high???



Anyway - we were not 100% prepared but it is ok - what Greg wanted to do we can't do but we will have to do it my way - which is:



We took out the cartons, put non slip matting down and then placed the eggs on there. They will be fine until they have hatched.



We did this quickly and have blocked up some of the vent holes to raise the humidity.



When we took the eggs out to set up the incubator for hatching some made cheeping noises!!!!!



I AM SO SO SO EXCITED!!!



I get Jemma from her Dads tomorrow so she will be so excited to see them...........



Will keep you updated............

Sick baby's aren't fun at all :-(

He doesn't look sick but he is - but can still do a smile for mummy!!!

Oh what a week!! Michael has been very sick. I haven't done anything at all this week - except pick Jemma up from school and I took Michael to the doctors - twice!!!

He has a throat infection, but I thought he may have an ear infection. On Wednesday I rang our normal GP - booked out, rang our local medical practice - booked out too, so I had to go to the Medical Centre at Hornsby. After a 2.5hour wait, I thought I would go to the local private hospital which has an emergency centre because Michael was in a meltdown.

The Dr ended up seeing him (sorry other people who were before us - but we were quick) and said he had a sore throat and to give him panadol (yes I was already doing that!!).

Today, he was still really bad - maybe even worse - so I took him to the local medical centre. He needed antibiotics for his throat. So hopefully by tomorrow he will be feeling a bit better. He hasn't eaten anything since Monday so I really would like him to eat something (at least he is drinking milk though).

So, a very boring week really - Greg is getting a great lesson (and I am refreshing my bad memory!!!) in teething and babies with colds who don't want to sleep!!! We have 2 teeth now too :-)

The incubator is still going strong and I candled the eggs again last night and I think I have 19 goers!!! Whoo hoo - roll on 21st May (my sisters birthday too!!) for beautiful babies. An internet friend of mine who I have not met in person but she is lovely has just hatched out some babies - they are so cute (she has sent me some photos). I can't wait!!

Teething isn't fun.........

Busy Busy Busy - I have been so busy with everything - where does the time go.

Michael has a cold and is teething - NOT a good combination at all. Last night he was up until past 11pm and then was waking regularly during the night. This has been happening all week. Poor little bubba.


He was meant to go to daycare on Tuesday and I was meant to get a hair cut but because he was so sick I canned it all. I won't send him to daycare tomorrow either because he is very unwell.


The incubator is still going strong........ next Thursday is the hatch day - can't wait. We attempeted to candle the eggs and over half I think are a goer. I say "I think" because I have no real idea what I am doing. I labelled them Yes, No or ? - so we will check my accuracy when they hatch!!! Greg made a very cool candling box so it was quite easy to see a mass in there!!!


The chooks are also going well, except the only one that lays an egg is Browney the Isa Brown. I would have thought they would have started by now but NO - I wish they would hurry up. The good news is the rooster has still not started to crow (and I hope he doesn't). I haven't named him because if he crows............hes gone..............**cry**


I had a lovely mothers day. We went to Greg's Aunty's place in the morning and saw his mum and grandmother. Then for dinner we went to Blu Water Grill at Hornsby and it was lovely. I had a lovely steak - everyone loved their meals and the service was absolutely fantastic.


Michael, Troy and Alex at Blu Water Grill (the first time Troy has held Michael!!!)



I had a wonderful day :-)

Starting daycare

Browney wanting a pat

I have had an up and down week this week. I had mothers group on Monday which was great. A really lovely bunch of girls go to mothers group and although they all weren't there on Monday it was lovely to catch up with some of them. Next week its at my place.

Michael can hold his own bottle now

On Tuesday Michael started daycare at ABC Berowra. He also went today as well. The reason I am sending him two days per week is to get him used to it before I go back to work. He was getting scared of people he wasn't really familiar with ie not his immediate family and I didn't think he would cope with full time care in 3 months, so I have decided to start earlier and slowly.

Jem playing her Nintendo after doing homwork and watching Bondi Vet

I shed a few tears on Tuesday. They said he was good, he had a few tears but was really good. Today was better I think, he went really well (had 2 sleeps). The strange thing is he wont eat there!!?? I feed him before I take him and I give him something to eat when I get him home but they have tried him and he just spits out the food. He does have a bottle so who knows. Maybe he just has to get used to it first.

So still feeling a bit sad today even though I know this is the best for him. I had a really bad couple of days with Jemma and homework too. I don't know what is going on but seriously, it takes nearly 2 hours to do the homework. It is just SO draining for me. Jem's Dad doesn't do her homework or really take much of an interest in that so it is always left for me (at his house the TV is always on and Jem just doesn't do it properly. He also doesn't read to her or with her - the social life comes first in that household agggrrrhh). I decided to do it even on his week to make sure the time is spent doing it!!! I'm having a stress about what is going to happen when I go back to work...........................**sigh**

The incubator is still going well - although I noticed that the el cheapo thermometer was saying 38 deg C. I put in the medical thermometer (that you use when you are sick) and it was reading 38.?? so we have turned down the temp. I don't know how Greg checked the temp on the hygrometer but he reckons it is right but I'm not so sure - anyway it is running a bit colder (around 37.3 - .5 or so) according to the hygrometer but I think this will be ok.

We tried to candle the eggs the other day to see if anything was happening. We have NO idea what we are doing but it seems like a lot were no good but 2 seemed to be developing. It was early so we will check on about Day 10 on Sunday and see what we can see. I'm confident that more than 2 will develop but our equipment wasn't good and as I said we had no idea what we were doing LOL.

I'm having a friend come over tomorrow for a coffee so that will cheer me up a bit I'm sure!!! I think Im a bit run down and feeling blah!!! Off to bed soon................

Stamford CRAP!!!!!

We were very excited today as we were going to our big buffet breaky at Stamford Grand North Ryde.

We have been twice before, the last time being probably about 2 years ago and both times it was delicious.

Oh my Goodness - it was TERRIBLE. We were so upset.

We got there and it was packed out with tourists. That is fine. We waited about 10mins for a table - ok - but then it was great.

I organised bubs and told Greg to get some food. 30secs later he was back - no hot food available (run out of eggs, sausages, hash browns etc) and there was a queue a mile long for toast (only one machine). He got some fruit and I went to get a coffee. Got my coffee - no teaspoons. Asked someone - wait 2 mins and got a spoon (they didn't put any out). Greg goes to get some hot food - got some but still no hash browns and queue still huge for toast. Then tourists all get on their bus and it is very quiet and not busy. I go to get hot food. Run out of poached eggs and sausages (still no hash browns). Toast is available so I get toast for Greg and I.

Eat toast - back to get bacon & eggs - still no poached eggs or hash browns. Feed bubs. Back to get food - YAY there is some BUT no plates and no knives and forks. Ask for some. Try to make espresso coffee - no milk in it so it doesn't work. Ask them to fix it. Still no plates. Waiting waiting. Coffee machine gets milk & I make one. Plates finally arrive. Only 4 hash browns left so I take them all (2 for me and 2 for Greg). A girl asks me where she can get the hash browns to which I tell her it took 25mins for me to get these 4 so good luck.

Eat breakfast. We would like a drink of juice. No glasses. Ask for some glasses. Waiting waiting. Greg picks up a champagne glass from a display and get a drink - I don't bother. I go and see if there are any more hash browns - NO. Overhear someone ask if there are pancakes - NO. See a man wait nearly 10 mins for a knife and fork. Greg has some Coco Pops. Stale.

So what did we do??? We finished and walked out - no one even noticed. We will NEVER go back again - it was absolutely disgusting and they were charging people $32 per person for that - what a load of CRAP.

While this debarcle was going on, what were the staff doing?? Well only 2 of them were busy working (it was WAY too much for them) and the rest were setting up for lunch outside (cause obviously that was more important).

No attention to detail (eg spilt food on the buffet, no one wiped it up) and no attempt to fix the mistakes (like instead of putting out a whole bunch of teaspoons for everyone, they gave me 1 only).

Wake up to yourself Stamford Grand North Ryde or change your name to Stamford CRAP.

Bumming around

SO CUTE

We are bumming around today. Not doing much. We went for a walk up to the local monthly market and I bought a few little things. We stopped in at the chemist and the shop and then walked home again.

This afternoon, I cleaned the chook run - raked up all the old lawn clippings etc and put it in the compost bin. The remainder I just raked into a pile in the corner to compost naturally.

Here is a pic of our rooster

I have tried to get a picture of our silky x OEG???? rooster. He has lovely different colours and is my smallest chook (he is only very little). He hasn't started crowing yet - sadly, when he does we will need to find him somewhere else to live. I have my fingers crossed that he may only have a very small crow and we may be able to keep him. Hmmm with typing this the words I hear in my head are - "Tell 'em they're DREAMING son" - from the Australian movie The Castle (a funny movie if you haven't seen it - very aussie).

Chookn around

Incubator is still going strong............waiting takes so looooooooooooong...................only 19 days *sigh*

We are going to The Stamford Grand - North Ryde for buffet breakfast tomorrow!!! Yumm I don't want to go on Mothers Day as they charge extra cause you get a glass of bubbles and a flower or some such thing. I don't care about that sort of stuff so we will go this weekend and enjoy it. Cant wait :-) We will drop in and see Gregs granny afterwards so she can see Michael.

Keeping safe

Playing with toys on the floor today

It's starting to get colder now. Some people in the area have lit their fires as we can smell the burning wood. Both Greg and I love winter. Greg loves the cold - I like the cold but I love roaring fires and snuggling up with a blankie in winter!!!!!

Just waking up after a sleep

Having a combustion fire and a baby who is about to start crawling soon is NOT a good mix. Greg and I checked out the internet to see if we could find a solution to keep Michael safe with the fire.

My goodness, everything we looked at either didn't fit or was about $300 +++. For such a temporary solution (we probably will only use it for this winter and next) that is a very expensive option.

So I kept looking and Deals Direct sent an email saying that a baby gate was on special so I had a look. That particular model wasn't suitable but they had another one which was either one huge playpen or two little ones. This was perfect and it cost about $160 incl postage.

Here it is

Greg had to modify it a little bit by cutting a little bit off one part, but it is perfect!!!

The eggs are going well too. The incubator is running perfectly in the garage, so I am pretty confident we may get babies in 20 days!!! (can I just say, if you want time to go sloooooow, hatch eggs ;-)