Last night I went to retrieve the gosling from the brooder in the barn, but it was a lot warmer in the barn than outside and the lamp was keeping the brooder toasty, so I left Peter and the four cockerels outside. The low was 50-degrees, and this morning all five birds were alive and well. The chickens did stay in the brooder all day. Nobody wanted to go exploring I guess.
Tonight as I type this I can hear Big Red out in the barn complaining. He's not a fan of the new cockerels, and he makes angry hen noises at them and wipes his wings on the ground, but has yet to actually get physical.
While watering plants today I found sprouts in the Honeydew Green Flesh melon, Carnival Blend Sweet Pepper, Petite Yellow Watermelon, Peter Pepper, and Moss Rose jugs.
My favorite chick has an interesting pattern across the face, with chipmunk stripes down the back. No idea what kind it is - it came from the eggs #1's friend sold us.
One of #3's favorites is a little yellow chick with black spots. It's the only yellow chick in the lot so far. It does stand out.
I finally snagged a photo of Penelope's litter. One of her kits has gone missing. She had one with nice harlequin patterning, but when I took photos today it wasn't in there. I don't know if it somehow got out of the cage or if the cats were able to get in. Either way, Penelope's litter now consists of four kits.
Tonight, there are seven eggs left in the incubator. The duck egg has pipped, but has not hatched and is taking it's sweet time. I see a beak and some stringy feathers sticking out, and it does move from time to time, but it's been in largely the same condition for at least the last 12 hours now. I'm trying to be patient, but it was the duck and the two fairy eggs I was most excited about hatching...
Six eggs have not pipped yet. Tomorrow the first two Indian Runner eggs are set to go into the incubator, which means I have to clean it out and sanitize it. What do I do with the six eggs that have not hatched for the amount of time it takes me to clean the brooder and get it set back up again? Considering putting them in the other brooder with the turner, just long enough to clean out the brooder and put them back in the hatching brooder. I don't want to give up on them yet.