NuggetMama
Songster
That is the strangest thing! I so happened to have tried hatching 28 eggs, ended up with only one hatched. Got more eggs (30) four weeks later and ended up with 7 healthy babies, and am now going and buying six more and picking up yet another dozen of eggs to hatch out.I feel this post in my soul!
I've always wanted my own chickens and birds but my father was adamant on not having them as he grew up with them and had bad experiences with some of his.
However, he and I were talking with our neighbor and my dad so casually mentioned "you know, I have always wanted a goose!" And well I took that as a sign! If I get a goose he won't be upset because he's always wanted one! Well I couldn't get just one goose; she'll need a mate! So I got two! Well while my little geese were on their way to being hatched I was watching my neighbors yard and we had a little fiasco with the smaller chicks getting through a teeny tiny whole into the duck coop and sadly three of their babies drownedin the duck pool.
Even though they kept telling me not to worry about it I still had to replace their babies! So I went to the local Tractor Supply to replace their three birdies. Well TS has a four bird minimum. If I got four birds and gave three of them back to my neighbors then that leaves one little birdie all alone! So of course I had to get five of them so they'd have a buddy! And my logic was, I'll get these meat birds and tell my dad that they'll only be with us for 8-10 weeks and then they'll be dinner! You know not a permanent fixture on the property. Needless to say he wasn't too thrilled.
However, 12 hours later he is sending me article after article and video after video of Rhoad Island Reds and telling me about how these were the birds that his mom raised and they were so beautiful and sweet. So I took that as a sign, if I find RIR I could get those and he'd be happy!
Well I get the call from the post office that my geese have arrived! Heading on over to pick them up and would you look at that! The post is right across the street from TS. I take a peak in and what do you know! They just got a shipment in of RIR in that morning. We'll their minimum is four so of course I get four of them! That evening my mom realized that my two meat birds have now morphed into six chicks and two geese. She wants to know what color eggs the RIR will lay and when my dad and I tell her they'll be brown eggs she says "well we need some white eggs for me to eat!" So we load up the car and travel to two more TS stores that are further away. We'll she just falls in love with more than just the white egg layers. So we come home with six more birds!
Well now we have ten layers, two meat birds, and two geese. What could a few more hurt? Over the next couple of weeks our flock grew some and shrank some. At the end of the day we now have 18 layers, two meat birds (ready to process this weekend or next!), two geese, and two ducks, and one rooster! I swear they're little mogwai you have a few in the brooder, they happen to get a little wet and bam! All of a sudden you have more! It's the strangest thing.
I don't know how these numbers came to be, no one seems to believe they're secretly mogwai, but I do know I am not allowed to walk into TS by myself anymore!
P.S.
We built on the property, which is 1.3 acres, a large dog run a few years ago. Said dog run was never being used so I converted it into a chicken coop. It has ample space for the birds and they're only in there at night to roost typically as they free range the fenced in property from about 0500 until they go in on their own at dusk. They have, I'd guess, about .75 acres of grass to roam. The dog run/chicken coop is 16' wide x 48' long with a roof that slants from 8' tall down to just over 5' tall.View attachment 3527031
I swear they are mogwai because my little Ares who just so happened to fall into the waterer dish today is going to have more babies coming and visiting tomorrow ! then the dozen eggs... My goodness..
