Homestead Roots

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

"Quack Quack" for Appleyard Ducks!!!

I could not be more excited!!! I have been wanting ducks for years!! These fine feathered friends joined our backyard homestead this week and are already bringing beautiful duck eggs into my kitchen :) I have been searching for good pure bred backyard duck and have settled on the Appleyards. They are a fabulous multipurpose breed (eggs and meat) and absolutely beautiful. We purchased these 4 hens and 1 drake from a local farmer who was selling off her flock. Yes, we have a drake....so hopefully we will be hatching some little ducklings in our incubator soon!!!!!

Meet the little crew!!!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Baby Chick Hatching in Genesis Hova Bator Incubator

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Day old baby chicks hatched January 1st Happy New Year

We tried our hand at hatching eggs and it was delightful!! We didn't have the best hatch rate due to not checking the incubator temperature and humidity with an extra thermometer. But we did get 5 adorable baby chicks out of the adventure!!

I put the chicks in a cardboard box which we cut out a window opening for the kids to observe the cute balls of fluff! We trained the baby chicks not to jump out of the little opening... lol, just kidding! We covered the opening with plexiglass which we just duck taped on the reverse side. It was absolutely perfect for the kids to watch the chicks without being able to reach their hands in a touch them...constantly! I also taped a thermometer to the window so we could keep track of the temperature. This was one job that Henry (my oldest, 6 years old) was in charge of! He was responsible to make sure the temperature was at a certain point each week. He did a great job and it was very easy way to introduce temperature tracking into our homeschool discussion.