L,M,N,O- no P

(I tried unsuccessfully to load a video clip of the last duckling hatching...I will have to You Tube it...usually the egg shell is not stuck on the duckling's head so it's pretty funny.)

The ducklings...L,M,N,O are cute and fluffy and snuggling up with a teddy bear. It appears that the egg that would hold P is not viable....so the final count is:

Chicks 4
Ducks 4

(...although I left the last egg in the incubator just for good measure.)

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*

*IT'S ALMOST MY ANNIVERSARY*

Who you callin' Chicken Little?

This was Friday morning before I put Chicken Little into the brooder with his sisters and brother....I say brother because I believe there is one rooster in the bunch. He is larger and in charge. Chicken Little was the last of 4...and I cracked open the other egg and it was not fertile....so out of 4 fertile eggs we got 4 chicks. Right now the chicks are so cute and fluffy. But too soon they grow into big stupid birds. Ducks on the other hand do not peck each other and do not run from me when I corral them in the pen so I can bring them in at the end of the school day. So I have a few more days to enjoy the cute fluffiness of the chicks. Ducks due Wednesday :)

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*RUN A 10K ON SUNDAY*

Are You My Mother?

#4 arrived shortly after noon today....looks like the last of 7...two were not fertile and I am not sure about the other...I left it in the incubator just in case. The first yellow chick that was mistaken as a duck egg and incubated for 20 days along with the ducks is the miracle.

6 days til ducks...I hope!

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*

*LOVE A BABY CHICK*

I am Going to be a Mom Again!

As I was leaving the classroom I decided to check the incubators one more time.

I heard chirping this morning....but no pips.

So as I was leaving I noticed the duck incubator was not humid enough....so I added water and I thought I heard a chirp. Now that's odd because the duck eggs SHOULD NOT BE HATCHING UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY!

But low and behold, there was a pip and a "chirpchirpchirp" coming from one egg!

For 3 weeks I have unknowingly incubated a chicken egg with the ducks! The difference?

*Humidity.
*I spray the duck eggs daily.
*I have candled the duck eggs during Open House and the eggs should not be candled in the final week of incubation.
*The turner is on in the duck incubator and should be turned off 1-3 days before hatching so the chicks can get in position to break out....and also so it doesn't trip them up when they are resting from hatching.

So this little guy- or girl- defied all odds so far...and will hopefully be hatched in the morning! Thank goodness for its loud chirp!

...see the little piece of shell?
I can't wait until morning!

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*BE A MOM*