More signs of Spring!

The ducks are laying again, which is good, since we don't have as many chicken eggs as usual to eat, because we saved all the eggs from this week to put in the incubator, in the hopes that we'd hatch  a few that are our late Turq the Rooster's get.  He died last Saturday of unknown causes (found dead without a mark on him underneath the ramp into the chicken coop.  This was distressing to all of us, because he was THE BEST ROOSTER we've ever had in terms of NOT attacking people, and NOT being too hard on the ladies (no bald spots or bloodied combs), and he was beautiful.  A blue laced red Wyandotte.  I'll have to find a pic to post.  Anyway, I tried to add BLR Wyandottes to my Murray McMurray order, but they were already sold out.  So, I added just one Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster to the order, and we will hope that he works out.  If not, I'll keep the gender-confused Partridge Cochin Roo(?) around a little longer.  He doesn't crow.  Ever.  He sits on eggs.  And pecks at you if you try to take them away.  But he mounts hens, too.  And he looks like a roo.  I don't want Cochin chicks tho'.  Last year, I ordered one Cochin hen, hoping for a decent setter, and s/he's what we got.  Cochins don't lay as well as Rocks and Wyandottes, and they grow slower and don't do as well free range, so I'm not interested in perpetuating his line.  I just wanted a setter that didn't mind the nasty winters here.  The kids named him Red Queen, back when we thought he was a she.  That just strikes me as funny.

And the whole point of this was... I have duck eggs again, and in 3 weeks, maybe I'll have chicks.  But I hope not too many, because chicks in April were NOT in my plans this year.