If you were expecting this blog not to have any bad puns mixed in, you came to the wrong place. I promise I’ll try to keep them from being too painful. Try that is… Anyway, as part of the recap of last year’s activities, I wanted to post about eggs. Along with that: how NOT to hatch them.
I’ve been dying to get my hands on a few ducks for a while now. They often produce more eggs per year than chickens, and are more cold-hardy. My readings suggest they are fairly easy to care for, and, like any good homestead animal, are often pretty amusing to keep. I’ve narrowed down my breed choices to Black Cayuga and Saxony, based on their egg-laying, size, and disposition (aka: neat coloration). I’ve also decided I’d prefer to hatch from eggs rather than buy ducklings, if possible. Late last summer I set to work making an incubator and finding some duck eggs.
They say that the best place to incubate an egg is under the bird that laid it. This is probably true. However, getting to watch my future pet ducks break into this world seems like a fun experience. Beginning last August, I did my homework and put together an incubator based on plans and videos I had found online. Once I knew what direction I was headed, it was a fairly simple process. The materials could be gathered and assembled within a day, only requiring novice electrical skills and basic tool use.
I housed the incubator in a plastic cooler to increase insulation but avoid any risk of fire by avoiding using a wood frame. I don’t anticipate ever incubating more than a dozen eggs at a time, so I went with a medium-sized cooler. I installed a pane of glass for viewing and a wire rack a few inches off the bottom. Under the rack I put a bottle of water to act as a heat sink, and a sponge in a tray to be wet as-needed to maintain humidity. Next came the wiring. I installed one low-wattage light to provide continuous heat, and another attached to a hot water heater thermostat. I also added a small computer fan to keep air flowing and evenly distribute heat. The final touch was a digital thermometer/hygrometer to keep tabs on the environment inside.
I found a local backyard homesteader via Craigslist who was offering mixed-batch fertilized duck eggs. It was very interesting to see how one person could maintain 30-40 healthy, breeding fowl of different species and breeds in one small suburban backyard plot. I’d prefer to have more room for free-ranging myself, but farm anywhere and everywhere you can! We brought the eggs home, tucked them into the warm incubator, and waited…
…and waited…
…and nothing happened.
Though I incubated at the best temperature and humidity levels, there were plenty of other variables that could have disturbed the process. From low fertilization, to transporting the eggs, to rotating them enough times per day, it’s tough to imagine what went wrong. I candled the eggs throughout the incubation, and, though some showed a few correct changes, it was hard as a novice to figure out when things stopped developing. At least I can now say that candling eggs and reading x-rays are not anything alike. Another possible problem during incubation may have been temperature swings from the water heater thermostat. Though most of the time the eggs were at a snug 99°, I know thermostats for electric hot water heaters allow a range of temperatures to keep from constantly switching on and off.
Despite how things ended, it was a great experience building the incubator and watching the eggs. We’ve decided not to try it again this year because of the upcoming move back to New Jersey, but are really looking forward to the next attempt.
A few months back, I posted about trying a different method of herb preservation than we’ve used before. We took all the basil left on the plants before the first frost, shredded it with some olive oil in the food processor, and froze the lot. On the plus side, this method preserved the fresh basil flavor better than any other I’ve tasted. However, unlike what I had read prior about easy scooping, the oil froze completely solid. Perhaps we should have dried the leaves more thoroughly after rinsing them or used different oil. Either way, it became a real hassle to scoop out individual servings, even after a few seconds in the microwave. I’m thinking we’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison at the end of this year’s growing season with olive vs coconut oil in small-cube ice trays.
It took two years of work, but getting to dig into soil like this was well worth the wait and effort! There’s nothing better than seeing a bunch of these wiggly guys in every scoop. Hard to believe this was rocky Connecticut soil and crappy backfill under a crabgrass lawn when I started. It’s even harder to imagine the inch of snow that fell right here only last night!
This is a love story...
...No, it's not. But
it is a post about our rabbits and our hopes of breeding them. Our females, Sunflower and Buttercup, were
born in July of 2014 and brought home that autumn. Buttercup is an English Lop, a large breed
developed in the Victorian Era for its fancifully long ears and docile
temperament. Sunflower is half English
Lop and half Rex. The Rex breed
originated in France in the early 20th century, and remains the top
choice in the US for meat and fur production.
Bucky, our male, was brought home last spring. Like Sunflower, he is half Rex and half
English Lop. All three were purchased
from Buckleberry Fern Farm in northern NJ, and have been healthy, hand-tame,
and truly entertaining from their first day home.
After
copious research and planning, we finally set Bucky and Buttercup on a date
last August. However, Dr. Ian Malcolm’s
statement, “Life, um, finds a way” might not have been intended for small,
furry non-reptiles. Poor Bucky couldn’t
quite figure out how things were supposed to work, and, probably because of the
heat, Buttercup was NOT having any of his shenanigans. We let them be for a few days, but despite
Bucky’s many attempts, he was NOT the
father. Buttercup threw us for a
loop when, at about day 30 she began nesting.
We suspected a last-minute conception before they were separated, but by
the 35th day it was clearly game-over.
Springtime
is for bunnies and eggs and fertility, so here we go again! The topic of spring breeding came up
recently, so I thought I’d take a look at the calendar to plan litters around any
road trips or festivals we might have coming up. We want just one litter this spring, and
would prefer to breed Buttercup for her Lop ears and larger size. However, if she isn’t cooperative, we’ll
still need to wait just over a month before putting Sunflower in the ring to
avoid a double litter. Leaving calendar
space for all of this, it dawned on me that breeding time was upon us!
All
three rabbits were brought inside for their regular nail-trimming and cage
scrub-down today, after-which Bucky was sent to visit his lucky lady. Luckily, I don’t think I’ll need to supply
Barry White or candlelight this time. I
could tell within a minute or two that his time alone was well-spent on
learning the right moves, and Buttercup was much more receptive to this second
date. We’ll leave them be for a day or
two, just to be sure things take. Stay
tuned, and hopefully we’ll have some good news by mid-April!
I’ve been dying to get my hands on a few ducks for a while now. They often produce more eggs per year than chickens, and are more cold-hardy. My readings suggest they are fairly easy to care for, and, like any good homestead animal, are often pretty amusing to keep. I’ve narrowed down my breed choices to Black Cayuga and Saxony, based on their egg-laying, size, and disposition (aka: neat coloration). I’ve also decided I’d prefer to hatch from eggs rather than buy ducklings, if possible. Late last summer I set to work making an incubator and finding some duck eggs.
