My new toy!

For over 20 years I have longed for a cabinet incubator, and I finally have one! I have used numerous small metal or styrofoam incubators over the years, but now I have hit the big time. The capacity is about six times the size of the styrofoam incubator I had been using, which I can re-purpose as a hatcher. I can hatch out more fertile eggs rather than give them away to others to hatch. Guinea eggs are in the top tray, chicken in the center and Muscovy ducks in the bottom.

Eggplant and sweet peppers ready to pick!

My favorite recyled project (easy peasy) and other musings.

With the onset, or should I say onslaught, of pickling and canning I find myself with empty gallon vinegar jugs. They are made of sturdier plastic then a milk jug and are great for crafting scoops. If you have livestock then you have endless uses for scoops and can't have too many. They are also useful for pet owners as dog food and litter scoops. Since they are food grade they can even be used for bulk food like flour and sugar. Since the plastic has some flex, they are ideal for filling bird feeders too.

All you need is a clean vinegar jug with cap and a kitchen scissors or razor knife. You can trace your cuts or just freehand. It really is difficult to make a mistake. I start by cutting off the bottom of the jug and then remove about one third of the body on the side with the handle. You can put a bit of tape over the cap, but I have found that the fit snugly enough it is not necessary. Though they are not as sturdy as a metal scoop, you can't beat the price! If you take care when cutting off the bottom, it makes a nice saucer for potted plants. Bonus!

In the mean time while I hatch my purebred chicks in an incubator, a broody hen went rogue and I have baby chicks down in the barnyard. Very interesting to see mama scratch up some good bugs or seeds and then call the littles over to watch and learn.

There have been a number of hazy and humid mornings as of late. The damp has produced some interesting growth in the garden. One of these days I need to educate myself as to what wild mushrooms are edible.

One of the ducks has begun to set. When she takes her break to eat, drink and swim she takes care to cover the eggs with down. You would never know eggs were there until you push back the fluff to reveal the true nature of the fluffy pile of feathers.

I am also hoping to get a taste of the tomatoes that are just beginning to ripen. Seems like every time I bring one in, the Boogie-monster snaps it and eats it like an apple.

Managed to get a load of wax beans canned this morning too. You can tell just how hard our water is by the sediment on the jars.
Way too hot and muggy to get anything of real value done, days like this I wouldn't mind a bit of air conditioning!
Keep cool folks, and keep those pets and livestock cool too!

It's always something, really, always something.

I once had a farmer friend tell me "if you have livestock, at some point you're gonna have dead stock". While I accept the obvious truth to this statement, and live it far too often for my tastes, I really do try my best to avoid it as much as possible. A few weeks back I blogged about my doe kids battle with clostrida, which had a happy ending. This week it's been a chicken and a duckling on top of the baby bunny disaster. I noticed an 8 month old Buff Orpington hen was acting odd, not very active and her comb and waddle were faded and pale. Upon closer inspection I found she was limping quite badly. Her left foot and ankle was very swollen and hot. GAH! So up we go to the house where I used a large bore needle to remove as much infection as possible and then I injected it with some long acting penicillin. I fixed up an isolation pen for her with food and water, so the other birds wouldn't pick on her, and crossed my fingers. Fast forward a few days and the swelling is down, her color is back and she's eating well. I think she's ready to return to the coop. Yay! I have no idea what caused the abscess, perhaps a sliver of some sort, but it appears to have been conquered. Moving along to baby ducks, they have been hatching for about 10 days now. In checking the the date on an unhatched egg, I saw that other from that date had already hatched. In holding the egg to my ear, I could hear activity, but there was no sign of a pipped shell. To meddle or not, that is the question. You already know the answer. For those who aren't aware of how an egg develops, the last thing that happens is the yolk is drawn into the abdomen and the body wall closes. The yolk acts as food for the hatchling in it's first days of life. In cracking the shell too soon, that process may not be complete causing death. I cautiously cracked the shell on the end containing the air sac and found that the duckling inside had a deformed beak that was keeping it from breaking the shell with it's 'egg tooth'. Instead of the upper and lower beak overlapping, the lower jaw was twisted at nearly a 90 degree angle. So the next big decision is to chuck the whole thing in the freezer and end it there or come up with a plan. The duckling would not be able to eat or drink in its current condition, but how can it be helped? Considering how malleable a newborn is I grabbed a twist tie and secured the lower jaw to the upper in proper alignment, being careful not to cover the nostrils. I left the bulk of the body in the shell and returned the patient to the incubator. About 6 hours later I removed the tie to see that the jaw had improved! Taking advantage of the built in food supply I re-tied the beak into place and left it in the incubator over night. By morning the duckling had escaped from the remaining shell and I was happy to see that there were no other obvious physical issues and the head and eyes were otherwise in good shape. Upon removing the tie the jaw did slowly displace, but not as much as before. I offered some water and left the jaw untied for a while. Later I put the duckling in with the other hatchlings and have begun the process of tieing the beak for about 4 hours then removing the tie for an hour or two and tieing again for 4 hours during the day and leaving it untied at night. There is still some offset, but even if there is no additional improvement the little guy can still eat and drink comfortably. Isn't this a lot of work for a duck? Maybe, but not much. The babies are on the front porch and I would check them regularly during the day, it only takes a few extra seconds to attach or remove the twist tie. I also have the satisfaction of knowing I gave it the best chance possible for a happy life. I'm strange like that.

I have a rhubarb strawberry pie in the oven and, since I now have plenty of goat milk, home made ice cream in the freezer. YUM!