The Girls

For the passed 3 weeks I have been waiting for the newest additions to our home. I got the eggs from a friend that is a local egg farmer. This is my first experience with eggs so there was a lot of guessing and a lot of help from my friend June at the 4-H office.

Tuesday Morning I went to check on the eggs and I accidentally bumped the incubator. All of the eggs started rocking but one of them didn't stop. I leaned in closer for a look and the egg chirped at me. I had no idea that the chicks can chirp from inside the egg. Unfortunately the chick decided to wait until I went to work to peck it's way out of the shell. It started with a very small hole then pecked its way around until the top of the egg popped off like a hat.

When the "Bruce" finally made it out she (we are hoping it's a she) took about 3 hours to learn how to walk which is pretty amazing because she can't go 10 minutes without falling asleep wherever she is.

Bruce would then go around and try to "rally the troops". She bumped into, sat on, nuzzled, pecked and ran away from all of the other eggs in the incubator. I knew this breed (Aracauna) has a low hatch rate but I was hoping for some friends for Bruce. In the mean time we had to look for a temporary friend.

So Lindsay found the ball of yarn and put it in the brooder with Bruce. They didn't quite get along at first but a long lasting relationship has now formed.

We had the sad realization this morning that Bruce was going to be an only child. None of the other eggs hatched so we went to Echo Valley Farm Supply and got her a couple roommates.

There was a little bit of a clique at the beginning.

The girls getting acquainted

Buddy is already a fan.

Enters Bruce

About three weeks ago I

My New Adventure

I understand the world needs another blog like a turnip needs a thesaurus but i have just entered the blogging world. I grew up in Southern Oregon in a regular neighborhood. I never really was around animals besides my dog Pokey and for a very short time a few caged birds. Until about 3 years ago I didn't really know what to do with my life. With the help of my animal loving wife and some time spent in the country I have decided to become a country vet. Much to the shock of my family I threw in the towel on my construction management degree and started taking those animal science and agriculture classes. I am trying to teach myself to become a farmer/rancher in the process. This is my way of documenting my growth. I have a long way to go but am very excited for the journey.

Keep and eye out for my chicken post coming. The eggs just started to move in the incubator