I managed to see a little of the Osprey egg hatching today. When I looked earlier today the female was turning the egg, that hatched and I saw the chick still in the shell, I missed the breaking out of the shell as I had to do my chores on the farm. I have been looking over the Internet and I cannot find any other real-time live Osprey cameras, I think that this is the first live broadcast of the event.
When we had Ostriches we use to incubate eggs. We had a very big incubator, that had the capacity to incubate up to five hundred eggs. We also had a hatcher that the eggs were put in, two days before they were due to hatch. The incubation and hatching is amazing, you see the eggs rock as the chicks head goes into the air pocket to give it the air it needs, to be able to break out of the shell. You have probably seen an air pocket in a boiled egg when you have opened it, the area between the shell and membrane is the area. The air pocket will only last until the chick manages to break the shell. With the size of Ostrich eggs we were able to see through the eggs with a bright light. On many occasions we had to start to break the eggs open, or the chick would have died before the eggs hatched. Hatching the Ostrich eggs was one of my favorite jobs on the farm.
When we first had Ostriches we use to use someone to hatch our eggs for us. We would take and collect the eggs for incubation. On collecting them, they only survived for two or three days. They were dying of yolk sac infections, that we later found out was caused by a dirty hatcher. We then started to hatch our own eggs, we were very successful. Unfortunately or maybe not, I had the same problem that I have with all the animals I have kept. I don’t like to send them for slaughter. For that reason we stopped breeding Ostriches. I do have some good stories of the experiences that we had with them. I will tell you them at another time.
The Sheep need to be shorn. I managed to speak to the lad who will shear them for us. He will try to do it this week. He is also going to trim their feet and tidy them up, to get them ready for sale. Fortunately he also has a sheep dog to get them in for us. There is a lot of work keeping sheep. It is important to shear them about this time of year. Without being shorn, there is a chance that the flies will lay their eggs in their coats. If you don’t treat them against flies and you don’t see them on the Sheep, there is a chance that when the flies eggs hatch, the maggot will eat into the Sheep. With us not being able to catch them, the chance increases. When we first got the Sheep, about this time last year, three did come with maggots. Sheep’s feet also need attention or they are liable to get foot rot, that causes lameness. Their feet need trimming regularly. Fortunately we have not had any problems with their feet.
Woody is surprising us, she is no longer on pain killers and is getting back to her old self, that includes being horrible to the other Horses. When we let her out in the morning with Bliss and Misty, they both wait to greet Woody, her response is to lunge at them with her ear back, trying to bite the youngsters. She nearly got Bliss this morning, Woody’s teeth were on the rump of Bliss. She is definitely on the mend.