Incubation Failure

You take a gamble when you purchase hatching eggs, when eggs come through the mail they can be handled so roughly that none hatch.  This is my third try for Jubilee Orpingtons only a few show development.  But, even worse after receiving Goose eggs twice, none are developing.  A goose egg takes 28 days to hatch I candled on day ten...I see no sign of life.  On chicken eggs you can see veins by day 3 most of the time, they only take 21 days to hatch.  I tried to candle the Marans eggs too...with the dark brown shell it is hard to see anything inside the eggs with my candler.  I probably removed 45 eggs from the incubator that showed no sign of life at day 10, about half the eggs.  But There is only one Salmon Favorelle egg left.  Salmon Favorelles are on the critically endangered list. 

Did I tell you about my little chick Popeye?  I name my chicks when they have something special about them.  Popeye is a Salmon Favorelle, that hatched a few weeks ago.  He was hatched with an eye infection.  His eyeball was so swollen I thought it may burst, after doctoring on him for two weeks he is doing a lot better.  The swelling has gone down and even though he is more than likely blind in the eye, he is otherwise healthy now.  Several of the Salmon Favorelle chicks I hatched have issues.  Many have toes stuck together, Salmon Favorelles have 5 toes to begin with...the pinky toe is attached to the middle toe on some I hatched.  They seem to be walking OK though.  The batch of eggs I got this time was very small eggs, I am wondering if they are very young laying hens they came out of.  A hen should have been laying for about three to six months before you hatch the eggs.  Small egg size means small chicks...which have a much harder time making it in the world.  I think with this batch of eggs, I will be done hatching for the year.  I am tired, I have a lot to do and building housing for all the chicks is high on my priority list.  I need to do several things, like finish up my breeding pens.  Make gates for them, cut down on my rooster population by processing some, make the goose house, because I used the one I made for turkey's...which are doing great by the way.

I have not really planted my garden yet.  Yeah, I am way late...but maybe I will get it done in time for a Fall garden.  I am glad my garden was so successful last year, we are still eating the stuff I canned this year.  The birds have eaten all the plums this year, ate my only apple too...I still have pears and peaches, strawberries and blueberries to harvest...but small amounts.  My plants are still rather small this year.  Maybe next year will be better...and I may have to invest in bird netting to get a harvest.  I only have two grapevines putting out grapes this year.  None of my seedless varieties have grapes on them though.  With the rain coming this week...I am not sure what I will get done.  But, like I said, I am tired...maybe this is Mother Natures way of making me take a breather...we are suppose to get upwards of ten inches of rain this week.  I have not gone up to the lake to look at the level of it, but if we get that much rain I am pretty sure my lower garden will flood again.