Last year my friend Allan found this very ancient Bower incubator. The folks pretty much forced him to take it away, so he brought it home and spent time fiddling with it and cleaning it up. Then he offered it to me for sale and I bought it. Never having hatched any birds before, this will be a first time experience.

My first responsibility was to familiarize myself with the Bower, so I read as much as I could find online regarding its operation and success. In its day, it was considered state of the art and hatches were as good as any in the fancy self turning, self humidifying incubators of today. The eggs lay on a screen, under which is a pan of water. Because these are duck and goose eggs, I mist them a minimum of three times daily and turn the eggs at that time as well. My little system is to mist them, then turn them, the misted side unturned and the dry side then indicating that the egg has already been turned. I have a thermometer in with the eggs. A twist of the screw on the top of the incubator regulates the temperature, so currently it is set just below 100 degrees F. The heating element is without a fan, so the eggs directly below the element stay at 100, while the eggs furthest from it, are somewhat cooler. The thermometer is placed on the outside of the egg circle so the coolest then registers no less than 98. This is not unlike the eggs under the mother duck or goose, with those directly in full contact with her breast will be the hottest, while those on the perimeter of the nest, will be cooler, but mamma duck and goose are experts with intuitive knowledge and not only turn the eggs frequently, but rotate and move their positions in the nest. It does not bother me then that at times some eggs are a bit cooler, as long as I, the mamma duck, turns and exchanges positions so the cooler ones also get a chance to be very warm.

Today, the eggs were candled, that is, a strong LED flashlight was shone through the shell in a dark room to illuminate the contents. It is very early to tell and some of the eggs, marked with an x in pencil, were added a full day after the others. Still, all the goose eggs showed vein development and most of the duck eggs as well. There were about 4, not all the late additions, that were neither duds, nor developing as quickly and one that was cracked. The contents in the cracked egg were watery in comparison and the yolk was not vivid. The eggs were collected in below zero temperatures and it is my bet that the crack was the result of a frozen egg. It was removed and will be fed to the piggies, who will be grateful for the treat. In a few more days, the eggs will be candled again, and by then, the heart should be beating and quite visible in most. The shells on the goose eggs do not afford a good look inside, but duck egg shells are almost translucent and the contents are quite visible. So far, so good. I have learned a lot and am excited to see the babies in 2 weeks. The hatch time is more or less 28 days for both ducks and geese. I have already started collecting eggs for the next hatch!

The dogs are not the only ones who get to have the meaty bones. Chickens love a fatty bone and will spend a long time picking it clean. They are omnivores, that enjoy meat, in fact need it to have a balanced diet. In the summer they forage for worms, slugs, bugs, insects of all sorts, plus will tackle mice and sometimes snakes, if they are small enough. Along with grasses and seeds, the proteins they get from eating critters, offers a balanced chicken diet. They also eat dirt or sand, which allows the gizzard to work at grinding the food, particularly whole grains and seeds, plus a source of calcium. Long ago, the shells of the eggs were dried and smashed, then fed back to the chickens. This is done on The Fat Ewe Farm and the chickens and ducks also get free choice oyster shell to satisfy their need for calcium. 

This gander is the one who has been ousted by his clan. Since hatching, he has spent his entire life with the 4 other Embden geese. However; it is breeding season now and there are 5 geese, 2 females and 3 males. Yesterday, the 4 others, females included, made it evident that this gander was not going to be breeding and was no longer welcome in that flock. I rescued him from where he had hidden between the wire and the fence. He was stuck there anyhow and could not have gotten out on his own. I always count the geese before turning them in for the night and when he was missing, I began to hunt for him. I heard the scuffle only minutes before and sure enough, there he was, the skin torn right off his back under those feathers. But, not all is lost. The Toulouse gander has 2 girls, so I will attempt to pair one of them with this lone gander away from the flock. I can imagine how he must feel being ostracized from the only family he has ever known, without any explanation, and violently expelled at that. It seems the ganders and geese have a bone to pick with him too. 

Harley has some trouble with digesting grain and corn. I am convinced that the problem is that the products used for dog food are genetically modified. Research has shown that one major side effect is the gut explodes in tiny little holes that leak not yet properly digested food into the bloodstream, which causes an immune reaction. 
Harley seems to be in pain after eating comercial dog food, but he sure likes to chow down on rack of ribs of beef.

A wonderful little treasure...
This morning a tiny chickadee settled near some then unclaimed bones and availed himself of the fat, flitting to the bone and to the caragana tree again and again. What a delight to watch the littlest of the creatures enjoy the bones as well. Thank you Creator for the splendour of the magnificent animals and birds and their ways, not matter how peculiar to us humans. 

Last spring the farm acquired 5 supposedly purebred Embden Geese. They were adorable little yellow fluffballs, but one had a bit of a tuft on his head and some grey in the yellow feathers. Never having owned geese or even been around them before, I simply assumed that is how they were. They grew incredibly fast, eating mostly grass and whatever they found in it. Two others were eaten by the raven, right through the wire of their cage. The raven sat outside and waited for the opportune moment to strike, grabbing the gosling and killing it, almost. I saw this happen and as I was running to save the little fellow, his feet were propelling like riding a bike in mid air and then nothing more. The raven had already taken a toll on some other babies on the farm which is why the goslings were in a cage. My mistake was the cage was in a fence, not in the yard where the dogs could have watched over the babies. 

So, the five goslings soon were big. I really enjoyed watching them and they greeted me loudly as I approached. They also greeted any others with an even louder voice. I suppose that is how they earned their watch dog reputation. 

Then the opportunity arose to buy some American Buff goslings from a local friend.They only had two and a different cross, Toulousse and Buff as well. The three joined the farm with the Saxony ducklings that also came along. The trio of geese and the Saxonies formed a bond and do not like to be separated, that is until lately. 

The Embdens hang around together. Today was bright and sunny and only -14, so I let the waterfowl out of their enclosures for the day. The geese all formed a group, sans the Saxony ducks, and waddled around together, bathed together and slept together. Then when it was time to go home, they went to their respective pens. i was sort of wondering if they were beginning to mate for spring, though there is no sign of that behaviour and I have no clue which are males or females. They sure were beautiful basking in the sun together. The Embdens have blue eyes, but are loud and chase the dogs and cats and chickens. The big Toulouse cross must be a gander because a few times he has raised his wings and hissed at me. I just raise my wings and hiss at him and I am much bigger so he quickly backs away, sometimes running.  It will be interesting when they start to mate too. Baby goslings are soooooooo cute!


Moab.
The chickens, ducks and geese do not lay in the dead of winter. Here in the frozen north, it is a rare chicken who feels so inspired to continue to produce eggs. Their natural rhythms are such that when the days are short, they instinctively know that it is not the time to reproduce. Many chicken farmers add heat and artificial light to induce laying all the time. The Fat Ewe Farm does provide two heat lamps for the chickens, though the ducks and geese do not require heat, even in 40 below. They must be sheltered from the wind and are grateful for some straw on the ground so their feet do not freeze, but otherwise, they are very hardy. They do not lay in winter though. 

Geese are seasonal layers. Once they know it is the time, usually late spring or early summer, they will pair off or sometimes a gander will take two ladies, but not usually and the geese will make a crude nest and begin to lay. Geese are excellent setters and great mothers, so usually can have successful hatches of their own. Some breeds of ducks will become broody and raise a clutch of eggs. Last year, this was so. There were also two hens that raised 10 chicks between them and those 10 birds are now half grown and part of the flock. The chickens have been laying from 3 - 7 eggs daily. Some excess go to the animals, but usually cooked as they can utilize the protein better and for the dogs, it discourages egg stealing. Fluffy is not much of an egg eater so the eggs are gifted to the two seniors who help out on the farm and to friends who come by. Eventually the farm will have fewer hens and only one or two roosters, but winter is not the time to downsize. The more bodies in the coop, the warmer they keep it. Thanks for asking.