Hatching assistance

Tuesday afternoon an egg was pipping.  This means that it had cracked a hole in the egg with its beak.  Tuesday night, nothing had changed and I was a little worried.  

Tuesday evening

 I was worried that if I left it with the hen, and it hatched, she would peck it to death before I woke up in the morning since she'd already pecked at the first two chicks.

So Tuesday night I removed part of the shell, leaving the protective membrane.  The membrane was very dry and there was a gap between the shell and the membrane so it came off easily.  I had hoped that it would be easier for the chick to just tear through the membrane.

Wednesday morning, nothing had changed.  So I broke off more of the shell and waited.

Wednesday morning

 It was getting weaker, that was obvious, and it had only torn through the membrane a little more.

I read a lot online about how dangerous it was to help a chick out of the membrane, but I also read that if a chick wasn't out of the egg in 24 hours, it was a bad sign.  I needed to leave for work and I wasn't willing to risk the chick dying in the egg while I was at work.

So I slowly and carefully helped it out of the membrane.  It was pushing through, but it would need a little help now and then.

It finally made its appearance.

It was limping a bit that day, I think because part of the umbilical cord had been wrapped around its leg, but by the next day it was fitting in just fine with the others.  

A second hatching

This morning as we were leaving for school and work I heard a very faint chirping.  I moved Silkie Sue aside and pulled the egg out to put with the first chick and we watched.  I was fairly impatient, or really worried about leaving late for work, so I helped the shell to peel off a little bit.

Our first chick

This morning the youngest son saw this

This was the chirping last night

I pulled the egg out a little and we watched it hatch.

A foot!

It's out!

 I even got a little video

Here is the baby

Here is what's left of the egg

Hatching can wear a baby out

I hear chirping from eggs!!!

This is so cool!!!!

And this is the noise they make when they're laying

 I hear this noise for several minutes before those huge eggs show up in my chicken coop.  I swear they're screaming from contractions or something.  

Two Goats in a Bowl

Nope, there isn't anything hiding in my jacket

Rucker took a nap in my jacket yesterday and I managed to get a picture before I took him back outside

Snow Day

It was our first snow day in the house (the new goats were born today but that post trumped this one).

5:30 AM, each goat hiding in their own house

Just a little sledding

A garden will be here very soon

His creation

Clyde was the only one to venture out in the snow - I found his footprints all the way by the house

Twins!

Sometime between 6AM and 11AM this morning Jenny gave birth to twin boys.  They're both healthy and feeding from mom and she's cleaned them both up.  I wish I'd been here to see it happen, but I'm just glad they're healthy and I don't have to bottle feed.

They are the cutest little things :)

What I stumbled upon when I went to let the chickens out

I literally dragged mom into the mud room so I could keep the babies warm

YES!  No bottle feeding!

He fell asleep in his arms

I pity the girl

I pity the girl that laid this egg.

These are large to extra large eggs, and then there is THAT one
Yes that is THREE inches long

Just in case you didn't understand just how large that sucker is