I'm still here, although I've had problems getting onto the local bbs
lately......lots of busy signals (which could be good news or bad--I
don't know what's up!).
Looks like we're going to have baby jendays hatching around
Thanksgiving! My oldest hen, Rio, decided not to wait for spring, when I
usually put up their nestbox. She turned up 'pregnant' last Monday
(swollen tummy, and I could feel the egg inside when I gently felt her
stomach). I got the box up ASAP, and she laid egg #1 on Thursday, #2 on
Saturday. Too soon to candle them to see if they're fertile, but I'd bet
that at least the first one is. I should be able to tell by next
Wednesday, maybe earlier.
This is a mixed blessing--I've missed having baby birds around, but her
timing couldn't be much worse. We're supposed to leave for Chicago on
Christmas day to go visit my husband's family (command performance, we
can't NOT go). If the babies hatch as expected, they'll need to be
pulled for handfeeding about 3 days before Christmas. Which means that
either they go to Chicago with us, or I stay home... neither option is
acceptable, unfortunately. I'm just not comfortable with hauling 3
week old babies 300+ miles in the dead of winter in a car, and
spending several days with them in a strange environment (with several
smokers ).
So now I need to train my niece to handfeed very young babies,
and pay her to take care of them every 4 hours for 4 days. I wonder what
this is gonna cost me? 
Looks like it's going to be a fun winter! 
--Kathy
 * SLMR 2.1a * Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting tagwines!
--- Silver Xpress Mail System 5.4M3d.b2
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