We have our first two turkey chicks of the year hatch out overnight and are we ever surprised! A hen made her nest in the flower bed and we kept taking her eggs to put in the incubator. We finally left her alone with four eggs as she was determined not to leave. Yesterday morning she was off her nest for the first time in weeks - apparently four weeks - as one of our dogs started to steal an egg. Right away I had her drop it and, when I picked it up, it started peeping. What an exciting sound that is! I scooped up the other three eggs and popped them in the bottom of the incubator as it was a very cold morning and mama hen was no where in sight. Overnight two of the eggs hatched, cutest little things you ever saw. We'll give the other two another day to hatch but 50% hatch rate isn't too bad. We have a bunch of eggs in the incubator with Sunday as their hatch date but it seems we should trust our mama's more.
To make this hatch even sweeter, our two oldest grandsons are visiting over their spring week and they were there to witness all the activity. They're city kids who seem to enjoy the slower pace of the farm and being here without mom and dad. One of our dog's rolled in cow poop on a walk - that was disgusting but fun too as it gave them another farm story to tell.
Eggs truly are the symbol of life. Another one of God's miracles here on the farm.
P.S. This photo was taken by my 7 year old grandson, Kyle.
Watching the eggs hatch is such fun! Hopefully the chicks will survive. We only tried turkeys once, with bought chicks, and had zero survive. :(
ReplyDeleteKyle's getting a great start as a photographer. That picture is excellent! Good going, Kyle!