Another snow day!

We thought spring had sprung, it has been so pleasant with the sun beginning to feel warm, then we wake up this morning to a thick blanket of snow!
It's pleasant soft stuff, so a breeze to move, and the sun is shining brilliantly, so it is all quite lovely, but I was hoping the snow was done for this winter!
Yesterday we put the boys and girls together in our chicken family, in the hope to make the family greater in size. It was quite a challenge as some of the roosters are aggressive & fight. Then they became protective of their girls, and the girls became coy, it was all quite entertaining. We have one rooster who is an 'alien'. He is a breed alone with our flock, so has no girls to go with to perpetuate a breed. I feel quite sorry for him as he didn't get to move or share his life with any of the girls - yet. We'll let him have a moment later in the year.
Now I'm challenged to collect the eggs. As I said, the roosters are protective of their girls so really don't want me in to get the eggs - as if they know why I'm there. And one of them who was quite pleasant, has changed! I tried to feed him & he charged me!
With the snow, they don't go out too much, the girls go out more than the boys - isn't that the way. But then the girls have been able to go out all winter, the boys were nurtured indoors, being protected from the cold. Locking the rooster out while I deal with each pen is my only hope of survival.
I'm hoping to be able to set eggs to hatch in a couple of weeks. we shall see.

Call me lame, but..........

The excitement of the month is chickens!
The incubator arrived in the mail last week and since then I have been studying the methods required to create new chicken life.
With the incubator came a book about 'successful hatching' and that along with my other chicken 'Bible' have been my regular companions. The new chicken book gives a chart on the growth of a chicken throughout the 21 days of incubation.It is truly amazing, and I'm ready to be part of this. Heck, within the first day the head & eye are formed - I'm awed by the wonders of nature!
So, one of the things I learned was I had to feed my chickens 'breeder' food, which is higher in proteins & vitamins than their normal 'layer' food - but finding such stuff around here was the challenge. The only thing I could get was 'Game bird breeder' food, which one of my books tells me is a good alternative! Whew! So now they have that and as they chomp their way to a healthier breeding body, I am learning how to use the incubator & all its little intricacies! I want to be successful with this - I don't want to hurt the eggs/potential chickens.
Watch this space.