Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Thursday 10 September 2009

Hatching chicks video

So.. 9 pm last night and Compostman and I have just bought the 2 part hatched eggs into the kitchen from outside, Renee Flemming is playing in the background and the dehydrator is running ( which proved handy later on!) Compostgirl was still awake so we called her down to see what was going on :-)



Chick 2 has just hatched as this clip starts, but Chick 3 is having trouble...so I kept dripping warm water on to it to help rehydrate the shell and membrane. The chick had a little drink as well, to help it recover from the all day struggle it had been going through.



Chick 3 is struggling so VERY hard here, but can't get out



We have put Chick 2 in a cosy box on top of the dehydrator to keep warm and dry off and by this point I am getting worried that Chick 3 is losing the fight with the shell.....



But HURRAH! I was wrong and Chick 3 struggles out of the shell and into the world.

Compostgirl was amazed as she has never seen this happen before. I have never helped to such a degree and we all found it a very moving experience to be a part of.

I love my life :-) I get to do such cool stuff sometimes :-)

7 comments:

  1. I love nature at work. I am glad the third one made it without your help. Even a big bloke like me would have had a tear of joy in his eye.

    You do get to do some cool things when being green, don't you!

    Gav

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  2. oh I'm so pleased they all made it. I've never seen a chick hatch before, I still can't believe they can fit inside an egg. Congratulations on your new arrivals. :-)

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  3. Oh yay! I cheered :o) I am sure the mama hen would have been pecking & helping to get it out so you being there just did the same job :o)
    Cant wait to see them grow up,my Littlely is such a cutie now!
    GTM x

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  4. That was wonderful to watch, and such a dramatic time for that third little chick, so glad it made it and all thanks to you! It brought a lump to my throat. Thanks so much for sharing that precious moment!! Will so enjoy following their progress!!
    Love Jane xxx

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  5. It made me cry to watch the chicks struggle and then hatch, and it made me feel enormously priviliged to be able to do this sort of stuff, and also to allow my daughter to see this happen....

    I felt so involved...its hard when you keep animals, when you get *so* involved and then one or more die, you feel so sad......and they *do* die, sometimes for no reason...

    but with chicks, its very hard to stay detached....and if I were a "proper" chicken keeper ( whatever that is...) I guess I really *should* have killed that little cockerel..but I just couldn't...not after it had struggled SO hard to get born...

    so now I embark on a round of possible problems I have only just solved by selling Capt Flint and killing (and eating) Long John Silver Dorking Cockerel at a year old....

    I do sometimes think I am too soft to have chickens.....

    but I wouldn't change the way I feel about them, for anything...! I love my chickens, and I get so much joy from them... :-)

    And so does Compostgirl and given the way she can be with us sometimes, its good to have a shared joy...

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  6. wonderful to watch. Thank you.

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  7. So glad I am not the only one trying to hatch chicks at this time of the year. We have some in the incubators hatching tonight and there are two eggs under a broody bantam in the garden not due until the end of the month.

    Lovely photos and video - thanks for sharing that. And I wouldn't have killed the cockerel either.

    Morgan
    x

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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