And then there were 9

Weasley is still plenty broody. But now there are only 9 fertilized eggs. Not sure what happened to the other 3?  Were they not growing?  Did the other hens move them?  Hmmmmm

When life hands you lemons...

Weasley is still broody. I’ve tried most of the tricks (except dipping her in cold water) and she just goes back. She’s not violent or angry when I collect eggs from beneath her, so I’ve just let her be. 

But I had an idea. Maybe she could hatch some eggs?  I bought a dozen unrefrigerated eggs from a friend with a rooster, marked them, and stuck them under her. 

She seemed so happy that I was putting eggs under her rather than taking them away!  She quickly fluffed out to cover them all. So we’ll see if any chicks hatch!

New puppy!

We got a new puppy!  Meet Indy

That’s one way to cure a broody hen

One of the Weasleys has been sitting in the nesting box for a day and a half. Every time I go to get eggs I have to pull them from under her and she seemed to have a tail twitch. So I sucked it up and was going to check for egg binding. 

How you check is much how you would expect-Internal exam. I put on a latex glove, lubed up a finger, and gently went in. No egg   

But boy did it cure her broodiness!  As soon as I was done she was off running 😂

Zoo with cousins

Choosing curriculum...

This year we're doing My Father's World Pre-K and both daughter and I love it.  I do have some slight issues with the fact that it is clearly made for Baptists, but the differences are small and infrequent so that I can just skip the part "Will you ask Jesus into your heart?" and rearrange the ten commandments (to, ahem, the correct **cough cough- Lutheran** way ;)

I've been reading the book  When Children Love to Learn with a homeschooling friend who uses Charlotte Mason method with her kiddos.  I'm really enjoying it and I'm smack dab in the middle between the Charlotte Mason approach and the Classical approach.  MFW is a nice balance.

I have another friend who uses the Classical approach with her daughter and I've spoken with her about it.  There is a curriculum, Memoria Press, that seems ideal.  There is also Classical Conversations, but the nearest class is an hour away and it's expensive.  Plus, I don't know that a weekly class is really a good fit for us.

We're also looking into Math-U-See for a supplementary math program (most kindergarten curriculum come with a math program).  We're pretty certain that we want to get a supplementary math curriculum, just not 100% sold on Math-U-See.

And then there are all the other curriculum out there...

I really like complete curriculum with a teachers manual that is just open and go.  I LOVE that about MFW.

Lots of decisions to be made! 

The brave chicken

One chicken, a Weasley, was brave enough to leave the coop today. The rest just sat by the open door all day. 

Brave enough to leave the coop, but she got snow trapped none the less!  

We had about 4” when we got home from visiting family and so far we’ve gotten another 5” today.   I had to carry her back to the coop 😜