The "Aawww" Factor

I can't help but be charmed when I walk into the coop and see a little chick curious enough to pop his head out to see what's going on. Just gives me a lift to the day. The "Aaww Factor" alone is enough to convince me that this is the best way for me to raise chicks. The joyful peeps from the little ones and the low, contented clucks of the hen pretty much confirms it.

Having hens raise their own broods has other advantages as well. It's a lot less hassle and work because there is no brooder to take care of and clean. It's also a lot cheaper because I'm not running a heat light for weeks on end.

I've learned a lot by watching this hen, Tokyo Rose, raise her chicks. Almost every book I read cautioned about how delicate little chicks are and how they can't get chilled. They need to be in at 100 degrees F, with absolutely no drafts. Yet these little chicks at two days old were running around in a coop that was barely above freezing and no worse for wear. When they got cold, they scooted underneath mom. In the right environment, chicks are pretty hardy, it seems

A Cold Frame...Of Sorts

Way back when, people used to make cold frames to start their vegetable plants in the spring. Cold frames protected the plants from frost and gave them a head start. They were sort of miniature greenhouses without the building permit. This is my version of a cold frame. I'm the first one to admit, it looks like hell. But if it does the job, I can gussy it up later.

Last year, I noticed tomatoes plants springing up all over the place. I figured the seeds in the compost never died and germinated all on their own. Most of them where the heirloom variety which are humongous and, if you ask me, taste better. So a little seed of inspiration was planted in my brain and I decided to see if I could grow 'maters from seed instead of buying plants which I've always done.

When I canned all my tomatoes in the Autumn, instead of dumping all my tomato scraps in the compost, I dumped them in their own little pile. First I put down newspaper, then straw, then compost and finished it off with a little earth. A lasagna type compost pile, I suppose you could say.

This week I picked out some old lumber from a duck house we took down a while back and made a frame around the pile which flattened considerably over the winter. I put some more compost on top and some...Tah-Dah!!!...my very own worm castings. Then I put an old window on top of the wood frame. The window was one of the many we replaced when we first moved in. The good thing about this window is that it has a screen in it so I can slide it open a bit if I find it's getting too humid inside.

My hope is that tomatoes will start growing inside. If they do, then I'll root around and find some taller lumber and build a permanent cold frame structure. Right now, the lumber is basically 2 x 4s and will need to be replaced with higher sides if tomatoes do start growing. It's all put together with spit, baling twine and a few strategically placed rocks so it will be easy to improve it if need be. That's the nice thing about renovating an old farmhouse and building chicken coops and what-nots, you always have building supplies hanging around for little make-shift projects.

It's funny how I'm changing my ideas about gardening. When I first started, I wouldn't have even thought of starting tomatoes from seed, now the thought seems perfectly 'natural'. I hope the cold frame works. It would be nice to be able to start everything from seeds instead just a few herbs and 'easy' plants, especially if the seeds are my own. Every year, I spend less and less on getting the garden going. I don't buy compost or manure any more because I make my own. Last year, I planted some of my own seeds I collected. That garden is getting pretty self-sufficient...just like us.

The Incubator

I had my first foray into incubating eggs. It'll likely be my last. At least, I hope it is. Right after the chicks hatched, I had three hens go broody. If I knew that was going to happen, I would have just stuck eggs under them and let them do the job they are meant to do. Having chickens hatch their own clutches then having to take new born chicks away, incubating and now having a hen raising her little ones in the coop, I much prefer having the hens do the work and not worry about brooders, lights, humidity and so forth. The hen does all that for me. Not that she worries about any of that stuff, she has no use for man-made 'conveniences'. She just becomes a mom. Plus she teaches chicken stuff like scratching effectively on the ground and how to get along with each other. I know most of this is purely instinct but a positive role model is always a good thing.

The incubator is not mine, it was lent to me. The cost was two Buff Orpington chicks from the hatch. I like this informal bartering system that is developing. It's very co-operative and everybody gets what they want and there's no GST on anything.

Using the incubator was a no-brainer. I collected eggs over six days, keeping them at room temperature. I marked each one with the date it was laid, the roo and if the egg was warm or cold when I collected it. Turns out it doesn't matter if an egg is stone cold when collected, it still will hatch. I kept them in big square cardboard egg crate and had one end propped up with a book, alternating the ends morning and night. This is to prevent the yolk from sticking to the side of the egg which impedes the development of the chick.The incubator came with an egg turner so I didn't have to manually turn the eggs several times a day. Nice and convenient. It also had a window in the top so I could look at the eggs without opening it. All I had to do was add water to the tray every three days or so and let the incubator incubate.

A couple a days before the hatch, I removed the egg turner and laid the eggs on a screen lining the incubator. This way, the little chicks won't get squished by turning eggs. I was told to expect anywhere between a 50 - 70 percent hatch rate. So I was expecting about 25 to hatch. The incubator manual said that in the last week before the hatch, I would be turning down the thermostat quite a bit because the eggs would start generating their own heat as the chicks developed. I didn't have to turn down the heat at all so I reduced my expectations to a hatch of no more than 20, if that. Low and behold, over a two day period, 35 out of 42 hatched. So now I have chickens coming out of my ears.

The best thing about the incubator was I actually saw a few chicks hatch. That was just amazing. First the little chick pokes a hole at one end of the egg. I guess it's like a air-hole for them. The books call it 'piping'. The egg rocks every now and then and cracks appear. Then the chick must give a mighty push and the egg splits open revealing a very wet and noisy chick with incredibly big feet. I let the chicks dry off and then removed them in batches.

Out of the seven that didn't hatch, three were just infertile but four had fully developed dead chicks. And the same sire for all of them. I would really like to find out why some chicks will grow to maturity in the egg but not hatch out. One of the little chicks that did hatch out had a swollen tummy and had a yellow ball on. I think the yellow ball was unabsorbed yolk. He died shortly after being born. Another chick cracked the shell but could not get out. Now, 'they' say don't help chicks out of the shell because if they can't manage to get out on their own, they won't make it anyway. I fully intended to do that but the poor little thing was peeping his head off and after a while I just couldn't let him go on all stuck and scared. He also had the swollen belly thing going but no yellow ball. I secluded him just as I did with the one that died. But this little guy hung on and survived. He's smaller than the rest and at first had trouble staying steady on his feet. But he holds his own and nobody picks on him. I've taken to calling him Tiny Tim from the book 'A Christmas Carol'. This little guy is not destined for the freezer, he's a pet. Sigh, as soon as I name 'em, I'm hooped.

Worm Castings

My little worm experiment continues to work out well. I actually have two bins going now because it's easier when it comes to harvesting the castings. I've found out that with castings, a little goes a long way; it shouldn't be anymore than 10% of a mix. I think I'll use the castings as top dressing for seeds and seedlings.

Those worms are pretty prolific. I have one and a half feed bags of castings and I will be harvesting castings again before I start planting. I have changed my harvest technique a bit since I can't be dumping the bin out in the snow. I take some of the contents and put them on a cardboard. Then I put a spot light on the contents. In about 15 minutes, all the worms go to the bottom of the pile and I take the castings. I continue until all I have is a bunch of worms left. They go back into a nice clean bin with bedding and food.

I honestly have no idea how many worms I have now. I have been feeding them regularly to my chickens and it doesn't seem to make much of a dent in the population. The worms do go through food fairly fast. Apparently a pound of worms can eat half a pound of food a day. I figure I put in at least a pound every two days or so. (When it comes to poo, rabbits are about as prolific as worms.) Now all I have to do is figure out how many worms it takes to make a pound and I'll have an idea of how many worms I have. But that's really not on my to-do list. The worms are thriving, the rabbit manure is manageable, I have beautiful castings for my garden, that's all that counts.