You all know that we live in the sticks. I don’t know if you Internets think that we are farmers, but let me assure you of one thing. I am not a farm girl. Not. Even. Close.
I’m no girly-girl either, but I’m not about to help birth a cow anytime soon. Or ever. Speaking of cows, I have a good story to explain what a city slicker I am at heart.
The first time I ever went to the ranch belonging to my college roommate Tanya’s family, I asked her if I could pet the cows. They were so cute! Um, apparently you can’t pet a cow. I also referred to their crap as “cow turds” instead of the proper terminology of “patties”. Eh. Poop is poop, regardless of what you call it.
Anyways. We are not farmers, per se, but we do have chickens. A neighbour gave them to us a couple of years ago, and we converted an old dog run into a chicken run. They are banties, which are the smaller chickens and some of them are kind of cool looking. They stink, yes, and the roosters start crowing at an awful time in the morning, but the kids like them. They go in there and pick them up, etc. It’s like a big playpen with live animals for toys.
Last year another neighbour moved away and gave us their old incubator. Three weeks ago, Honey put some eggs in said incubator. The last couple of days a few of the eggs have been moving, and we’ve been…waiting.
Last night after supper one of the eggs had a small crack in it.
We checked after the kids were in bed, and still no progress beyond the crack. As I was getting ready for bed, Matthew came in and told me that he thought it was time! I grabbed the camera, he grabbed the video camera, and out we went to the shop.
(Side note: we didn’t tape the birth of any of our three kids. We’re great parents, hey?)
Here’s the video for those who want to watch. The first thirty seconds or so are quite dark until the heating light kicks on. I’d edit it, except I don’t know how…and we all know I DON’T HAVE TIME RIGHT NOW. But? I had to share this.
Also? Turn down the volume because there is some high-pitched shrieking.
Photo Sharing – Upload Video – Video Sharing – Share Photos
This shot makes me refer to the chick as a “he”, since that looks more like a ding-dong than a hoo-hoo. Like my technical terminology?
Honey tells me that at this stage it’s almost impossible to tell if it’s a chicken or a rooster. I’ll call it a “he” in the meantime. Now I just need to think of a cute name. Suggestions?
See? More proof I’m not a farmer. Farmers don’t name their chickens, they EAT them.
I went out this morning to see the little guy, as Honey had checked already and told me that he was all fluffed up.
I turned around to see that the boys had followed me out (barefoot and in their pyjamas…and rockin’ the bedhead look).
They may be just a tad excited about the chick. We’re not sure if any of the other eggs will hatch, but I’m glad at least one did. Except upon seeing just one this morning, Nathan piped up, “Where’s mine?” Sharing is a skill that those two have not yet mastered…or even attempted.
Here’s the Flickr set for those who are interested. It’s public, so you don’t need to have an account.
Chirp, chirp (that’s chick speak for “Have a great day!”)
Neato! Being the city slicker I am, I have never witnessed a chicky birth. Very cool. Thanks for sharing:-)
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Isn’t being a farmer cool
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Thats so cool that you caught it on tape! I’ve never seen a chick hatch before. HE is sure cute once HE fluffed up
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Oh wow that is SOOO cool!! I watched the video twice
What a cute little chick – and fluffed up even cuter!!!
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Awesome! (We have a chicken coop at the new place too…)
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Also, that’s way less gross than watching kittens be born!
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That was so cool! I also have never seen a chick be born. He’s so cute!
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That’s a neat experience. I’m not a farmer or a gardener, but I like little moments that farmers nad gardeners get to experience, like new life! Hope at least one of the other eggs hatches, sharing is hard!
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Wow. That was cool. Were the X’s on the eggs so you could tell if they had turned themselves over?
We had to turn them over three times a day. By “we” I mean Honey
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Wow! WOW! WOWOWOWOWWOW!!!
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Hay that’s so cool, we’ve had chucks for years and never actually managed the timing right for the hatching! I love the photo of him stirring up at you from the shell.
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Very cool — I should show you the video of when my Opi came up and we taped the um, ending of the chicken’s life. You’d think I was being attacked by a cougar, not a headless chicken. Watching it hatch is pretty neato!
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Too cool Angella, and I hate birds.
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Great post Angella! Li’l chicks are so very cute.
Still looking for a name? Just call ‘im Ding Dong… or Hoo Hoo.
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ahh thanks for clearing that up. I’m not a girl who has spent much time on farms. But it makes sense because I guess the mother chicken would naturally rotate them.
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That was amazing to watch…and I grew up on a chicken farm with around 12,000 chickens. I had never seen one actually hatch before!
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Dude, now that is living with nature!!!
Very cute, but from a distance.
Impressive though!
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that is SO cool!!
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Seriously COOL! How neat for the boys too!
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Ok thats the coolest thing I’ve seen this morning
How exciting. Did you know that you can do imprinting on chicks if you catch them before they are a day old? We did it in Biology, totally cute to make up your “call” so that your chick would come running.
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That was awesome. And the boys’ faces of sheer glee in that last picture? Priceless!
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