Sadly, we found that our security system is still not adequate. Last night our rooster was the victim. I admit that I was rather distraught. He was a beautiful gentle rooster. Irreplaceable in my mind.
So this morning I loaded up the remaining hens and took them to my parents. Maybe we can get rid of the varmints and then start with a fresh laying flock.
Except for one hen. We have one hen that has been setting on four eggs. They should have hatched this week but I didn't even know if the eggs were fertile. Since nothing had happened yet, I thought I'd just throw out the eggs and send the hen with the others. But when I lifted her off the eggs, one was cracked! So she stayed. I could not bear to make her leave the nest when she was this close to hatching chicks!
I checked at noon and there is now three cracked eggs. Any idea how long this hatching process could take? I'd like to move the hen and chicks into the garage tonight. If they are not fully hatched, I'm not sure what to do. I guess we will barricade the coop even better and hope for the best.
Maybe this would be a good night to camp out in the pasture. Or not!
Since I have chicken on the brain, I'll share one of our favorite chicken recipes. We have been out of chicken meat for weeks and this was the first chicken meal we had. It is a favorite with the whole family.
Baked Parmesan Chicken
1/2 cup butter (I only use 1/4 cup)
1 slice whole wheat bread
1 T parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
chicken breasts (I used two.)
In blender blend all ingredients except butter and chicken until small bread crumbs form. (I keep bread crumbs in the freezer from botched batches of bread, so just stir the ingredients together in a bowl.)
Thinly slice chicken breasts. Melt butter. Coat chicken with butter and toss with crumbs. (I place all the chicken in a dish, pour over the butter and stir, then stir in the bread crumbs.)
Lay the chicken in a greased 9x13 dish in a single layer. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 1 hour. If chicken begins to brown too much, cover with foil.
They should hatch out within a day. I would think by tonight they should be almost out. That is the way ours were though when we hatched them using an incubator.
ReplyDeleteWe've just hatched some chicks. Most took 7-8 hours from pipping to hatching. My book says that it can take anything from 2 to 24 hours. Our chicks are 6 days old now and I can't quite believe how much they have grown in that short time.
ReplyDeleteGina, On your post about the jam, I recognize the jam jars. My sister-in-law married a Hofer from Alberta,Canada. I think he is related to this family. I just thought it was interesting to see the jelly. thanks Rachel Anders
ReplyDeleteOn the comment i made i forgot to leave my e-mail. it is homeat50@hotmail.com thanks Rachel
ReplyDeletelooks yum.
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your rooster! but I love that you have a broody hen. please let us know how that turns out - I hope it's good!
They should be out by now! If not, though, I'd move them to safety for the night anyway. Our broodies did ok with a transfer from an elevated nestbox to a nest on the coop floor at the first sign of hatching. If you have some out & some not you'll take the chance of losing the ones that aren't out, but if you leave them then they are all at risk from your predator.
ReplyDeleteI found your site looking to see if my recipe for baked custard was being shown by Google. Your recipe for custard may be even better than mine! I'll try it next time! We also have a few hens which are on camera on my website: backyardhencam.com. Children in our community check in on my hens each day to see how they are doing. I've bookmarked your site.
ReplyDelete