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Category Archives: Chickens/Ducks
Smooth Sailing
Don’t you love those days when it feels like things just flow smoothly? Today was such a lovely day! Leif let me sleep in a bit and Kaia woke up early, so we were all up by 8am. We had a nice breakfast and then we just seemed to move from one thing to another. There were lots of giggles, nice quiet contemplation, and enjoyment in just being together. What a lovely start to the weekend!
Have a beautiful weekend!
This week
This sweet cat will put up with anything…
I know! I swore I was done chickening. But, I missed them!
Learning to have gentle hands with the baby chicks.
watching the world.
best friends
This is a picture that Kaia took of our tulips. I didn’t know it was on the camera! Doesn’t it look like a Georgia O’Keefe painting?
We know have 3 Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons, 3 French Black Marans, 2 Easter Eggers, and one true Ameraucana.
We are expecting 3 more Lavender Orpingtons in mid-April. Before they all need to go outside, Toby and I are going to redo their run and coop, and hopefully predator-proof it!
And I promise you, I didn’t give him illegal substances before filming this! He discovered this game on his own!
You can no longer call me a Chicken Tender
Yep, yesterday morning I loaded up all of the chickens and brought them to my friends farm where they will hopefully have a long life munching on lots of bugs and greens. Though I hemmed and hawed about getting rid of them, the final decision was made for me when the raccoon shimmied his way into the 2″ eaves above the garden shed, across the barrier wall into the chicken coop, and got into their sleeping quarters to attack them while they rested. I’d now lost 9 chickens (out of 20) to the critter and it was time to cut my losses. I packed them up in large totes (since they couldn’t safely sleep in the coop) and brought them inside until the morning (it was about 1 am at this point).
They seemed very happy to be on lush green grass in a big open field when I dropped them off.
Maybe, in a few years, I will feel like tending chickens again. But, I’m coming to realize that trying to live sustainably doesn’t mean doing it all myself. Especially in a city like Asheville, where there are so many like minded souls, it’s pretty easy to share my goods and knowledge for what others might have.
Toby wants to turn the massive coop into a play house…. he’s always looking for his next project.
Done with chickens!
Yep, you read that right. I think I’m done! We build them their fabulous new predator proof coop, fenced in a fabulous run, and spend many many hours feeding them, cleaning their space, keeping them disease and pest free, and worrying about them. Well, two weeks ago the bear was back and tried to break in. Suki (the ‘farm’ dog), in her old age, has decided to chase and attack the chickens instead of guard them. So, they can no longer free range. And last night, a raccoon pushed it’s way past the wood block guarding the gate, moved another wooded block in front of the chicken coop door, and was able to open the door just enough (about 2 1/2 inches) to squeeze through and kill 3 of my pullets, including my absolute favorite little white sizzle.
We got chickens to be able to produce some of our own food, but that production is minimal in the scheme of things. We got them for companionship, but now that they have to stay in the fenced area, we don’t really ‘hang out’ much. We got them to teach the kids a little about homesteading with farm animals, but Kaia could care less about them and Leif is really to young to understand. So now we buy food, scratch, and pine shavings. We spend time (far too much) worrying about their safety and health. We go out every morning and every night to feed and care for them. We spend money each winter heating their water. We feed the local wild life with them. And we get maybe a couple of dozen eggs a week.
There is a tremendous amount of pride that I take in showing off the beautiful eggs they lay. I love to hear their bocking and crowing throughout the day. And I do love to cook up a ‘home grown’ omelet for visiting friends. And, yes, I know it’s the ‘in’ thing to have your own chickens right now. But, I ask you, why should I keep them???
Let’s face it, I’ve just got some damn cute kids!
Our week in pictures
We started our week by getting more new chicks … four Easter eggers, to be exact. I stuck the camera in with them and each one had to have its turn checking the camera out.
This one reminds me of a Skeksis, only cuter
The rock wall began!
And Leif put on his most fashionable rock building clothes.
Kaia and I played Product War. (I’m getting better at using games and play in our school, instead of workbooks!) You each turn over two cards and multiply. Who ever has the largest product wins all of the cards in play.
Then she arranged her tiara, sat on her throne and worked in Comic Strip Math and Funny & Fabulous Fraction Stories. We both LOVE these books. Me, because she does her lesson and enjoys it. Her, because she thinks it’s more like playing.
Leif, Kaia and I did a little pH painting. We used Goldenrod paper and painted on it with vinegar or a baking soda solution. Kaia painted pictures with the baking soda solution, which changed the color of the paper to bright red. Then she decorated the picture with the vinegar. It changed the color back to yellow and fizzled a bit, too).
We ended our week with some Fork Weaving and perfume crafting (This is basically what we did except we didn’t use an oil base. We just added the essential oils to the alcohol and topped it off with water). Kaia was so excited about this. She loves being crafty and said “Mom, thanks so much for teaching me how to make flowers and perfume. Is there anything else you can teach me?” 
Have a beautiful weekend! Mine begins with a date night tomorrow night! Woohoo!
Look who has come to join us…
Kaia is now the proud mama of 5 baby chicks. Two are white silkies, one is a sizzle (of these three we don’t know if they are boys or girls), one is a Buff Orpington, and one is a Speckled Sussex (these last two are girls). We will be getting a few more in the coming weeks. (All of our chickens are between 3 and 5 years old. They are all laying, but at a lower rate. So it is time to add to the flock.) Such cute babies!
Kaia decorated their house with a welcome sign. They are staying in her room right now.
Silk Eggs
This week, we’ve been doing crafts to decorate our Spring Nature Table. Today’s craft was simple and fun with such beautiful results. I picked up a few silk scarves and shirts from Good Will and blew out some duck eggs. Then we followed The Magic Onion’s directions on silk dying eggs. So lovely!
We loved the results! Next time, we will be careful to smooth the silk around the egg as much as possible, with little bunching of the fabric. If the fabric is flat on the egg, the pattern comes out more clearly. If there is bunching, it looks more batiked, which is lovely too.
Snowed in and having a blast!
It was almost exactly this time last year that we had the big snow of ’09 and got snowed in for a week. Well, we are snowed in again and actually have been since Christmas. We’ve played in tents, made snow cream, baked, gone sledding, read, and just relaxed.
The duck surprised us on Christmas morn with their first eggs (finally!!)
I didn’t have any other eggs on hand for comparison, but these eggs were Large and Extra-Large! Can’t wait to see how big they are going to get after they’ve been laying for a while! Very tasty!
Snow Angels!
Snow Suki!
Snow Leif (He looks unhappy, but he asked Toby to carry him back up the hill like this!)
This is only a small part of our drive way!! It’s easy to get lost in your own world when you are out in the country. We are only 10 miles from downtown Asheville, yet in times like this, when the rest of the world is going about their usual daily lives and we are still snowed in on our mountain, you forget that things are going on outside of our cove.
Drying Mittens. Yes those are Leif’s little piggies that I just finished. Both Leif and Kaia were getting snow up their mittens, so I sewed on soem stretch felt to make long cuffs. Works like a charm!
Recharging
Learning about electricity with her dad. She got this Brain Box as a gift and loves it!
Temporary friends. They agreed to share the rug since it is in front of the fire place.
And these two will gladly share a box.
This crazy little man has discovered that he likes baking.
While I’m in the kitchen, and sometimes when I’m not, he will slide his stool up to the counter top, grab a pot, and get cooking!
Yesterday evening, I found this waiting for me when I went to clean up after dinner:
I think he was starting on a fondue! Yummy!!
Hope you are all having wonderful holidays!!
Taking time
I’ve been wanting to post about all the things we’ve been up too lately… projects, crafts, homeschooling, the ducks, the land. There’s always so much to share. But, I’ve been finding it hard to take the time to sit down at the computer when life has been so full. With having the kids at home, I’m generally only able to sit down after they are both asleep, and that could be 10 pm. If we come across a craft or something that seems particularly useful to share, I will do my best to post it. Until then, there are always pictures.
Warming up by the morning fire. Don’t you love the ‘bed head’?
Me – Umm, Leif? What are you putting in your car?
Leif – Haven’t you ever heard of a Clown Car, Mommy?
Leif – Well, this is a Bacon Car.
Note the two cherry tomatoes that somehow fit in there too!
Time for a swim
The ducks have been putting themselves to bed for about a week now. That means that as the sun starts going down, they head up the ramp and into the coop without me having to chase them around. Yay!! So, they have officially earned their time free ranging. And because they are no longer enclosed, they also have access to the pond and the baby pool. The pond is so surrounded by weeds that they haven’t found it yet. But, boy are they excited about the pool! They are so funny to watch… a bit spastic!
I can’t believe the Ancona’s were only hatched 2 months ago! They grow so much faster than chickens!
And what could be better than a pool, and a rain storm?
Ducky update
The Ancona babies are a little over a month old and doing great! I am going to move them to the main coop tonight. I’m sure they will be very happy to have more room to make a mess.
We also got three new ducks yesterday. The two that are lighter and larger are Saxony ladies and the darker one is a Khaki Campbell boy. They are ~3-4 months old. Very beautiful!!
This is Snow, Nibbles, and Splash. I’m pretty sure they are all girls.
This is Dot. She is definitely a girl…. nice loud quack.
This is Freckles. I think he’s the only boy! (YAY) He should have been named nibbles, though. He keeps nibbling the feathers off of the other ducks wing tips!
And these are the new ducks. They haven’t been named yet. Any thoughts?
Summer
Our new babies
Field trip!
One thing I really like about homeschooling is going on field trips! (OK, I know that I could go on field trips even if Kaia was in public school, but it just seems like more fun when we get to design and plan them ourselves!) She just finished up her solar system and prehistory studies. So, we headed to the Raleigh/Durham area to visit friends and play!
The first day, we met up with some other homeschooling friends and headed to the NC Museum of Life and Science. The little ladies enjoyed looking at the butterflies in the butterfly exhibit.
Driving the boats in their wind exploration exhibit.
Climbing on the dinosaurs.
Digging through the rubble for fossils. (Leif especially enjoyed tasting the fossils!)
On day two, we went to the Morehead Planetarium to see a show! We all enjoyed relaxing in the reclining chairs and watching the stars above in their huge dome auditorium. After, we spent hours playing and exploring at the NC Botanical Gardens. Leif made some great moves on their life size chess set.
Day three took us on a tour of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. We went specifically for the Megalodon exhibit, but enjoyed walking through the whole thing. Leif said ‘hi’ to the little turtle swimming back and forth.
Kaia heard the secrets of the dinosaurs.
And, of course, there were lots of smiles along the way!
Kaia, who has always been a very cautious little lady, decided she wanted to take a ride on ‘uncle’ Mark’s bike! I was really proud of her! She’s usually one who would prefer to sit back and watch rather than participate. So for her to take this step was a pretty big thing!
Off she goes!
Leif enjoyed some riding of his own!
And a little exploration of daddy’s face.
And a little more exploration!
Kaia took this picture when she noticed the sun shining through the glass door. I love it!
By the end of the 4 days, we were all pretty tuckered out!
We’ve got lots more field trips planned this year! Next stop is in May when we head to my sister’s in Atlanta for some time at the Aquarium and the zoo!
While we were gone, our fantastic neighbors and friends took care of our animals. Kathie even put up a few videos of the chickens, too.
Eggs for sale!
Our ladies have had a great egg laying month!! Last month we averaged about a dozen a day (from 22 chickens), and the numbers just keep increasing. I’ve put a fence around the garden so that I can let the chickens out of their gated area to free range in the afternoons without them getting to the seedlings. They are loving it!!
So, with all these eggs, we’ve officially started selling them. I spent a good part of today designing the cartons
Aren’t they cute?!
Our day in pictures
Let’s start our morning with some daredevil antics!
Don’t see anything wrong with this?
Let’s look again:
Then off to a sweet farm tour where we enjoyed some fabulous home made jellies and ice cream, and I scored an angora fleece from this guy:
Then we spent the rest of our day enjoying the beautiful spring weather:
(You didn’t know chickens can read, did you? Well, our chickens can!)
What I didn’t get was pictures of the fabulous sand creation that we created! We got a bucket full of sand from the pile in our back yard and Kaia put all kinds of stuff in there. Then we all went dinosaur fossil hunting. Even Leif was getting into it. At one point, Kaia pulled her hands out of the sand and said, “Hey mom! Coprolites!” I was thrilled that she remembered the word for fossilized dinosaur poop. Then, I looked at what she was holding in her hand and realized that it really was poop!! Turns out the neighbor cat has been using our sand pile as a littler box!! Needless to say, we all stopped playing archaeologists and went inside to scrub off!!!
Still, it was a fabulous day!
a break in the weather
Finally, it’s gotten above 35 degrees!! The snow has been on the ground for a month and it seems like every morning I’ll wake up to a little more! The past few days it’s gotten up into the 50′s and it’s been wonderful! The chickens are having a field day taking dirt baths and stretching out in the sun.
Speaking of chickens… have you ever heard of longcrowers? Check this rooster out! If you have crappy neighbors, you need to get you one of these babies!!!
Kaia and I had a great week of school! She always starts with math. She loves using the abacus. Most of what we are doing is review as we try to get caught up to her skill level in her new math program. She’s really enjoying so much hands on and not a lot of workbook pages. Leif really likes the abacus too… I’m going to need to get him one of his own
She’s also enjoying spelling, and usually does more than one lesson a day. There is a chart that comes with the program that you mark off each lesson you complete. She’s on a mission to put stickers on the chart as fast as she can. It really is amazing how fast she is progressing, though. She’s soaking it all up. It’s not that they didn’t teach it at her old school, but the kids had the choice to spend their day how they wanted and she always wanted to color. Me… I’m a task master. I think it’s important for her to start learning this stuff, so if I present it to her in a way that she enjoys, then we both win. All About Spelling has lots of hands on too… she’s all about that! Her reading skills are really blossoming! She’s feeling so much more confident and she’s started reading to Leif, writing letters to friends…
This week we also continued with Prehistory and the Precambrian period. We’ve started making a time line similar to this one. It’s fun to see the way her mind works with stuff like this. As she is filling in the pages, everything she pastes on the page goes in perfect alignment with the last piece. It’s all square and in order. Funny how some things must be in their proper place while other things (like her room) can be chaos! We focused on volcanoes this week and she made one out of model clay. We were supposed to create an eruption (with baking soda and vinegar) but she wanted to make a volcano just like Mako Island (from the show H2O: Just add Water, the Australian show about kids that are mermaids). So, she didn’t want to make it erupt.
Here are her little hands hard at work. You can see the secret entrance to the magic cave where the girls turn into mermaids.
She pulled the top of the volcano off so that she could paint the magic pool of water inside!
And here it is… Mako Island in all it’s glory! I think she should call it Phallic Island
Leif is keeping me on my toes, too. He finds all kinds of stuff to keep himself busy while I’m occupied with Kaia… like boxes full of shredded paper:
Even with his hands in the box, he can still give you a great “Who Me??? What did I do??” look!
While we aren’t busy doing fun learny-type stuff, I’ve begun planning this years garden. My cucumber, peas, greens, and beans did fabulous last year, but the squashes (winter, summer, and pumpkins) got hit hard by borers, and the tomatoes and melons just crapped out. So, I’m going to fill each bed with a good helping of chicken poop compost to see if that helps the soil. I’m also rotating what goes into each bed so that the heavy feeders aren’t draining the soil in the same place. I think the only thing I’m going to drop from my list is melons. I’ve never had good luck with them… you can’t can them up and save them for the winter, and for the space they take, you get so little return. I’ll just buy them at the markets when they are in season and use that space for other goodies. I’ve never had luck with Eggplant either, but it’s supposed to be so easy to grow. I think I’m going to try the good-old standard eggplant this year instead of trying to grow the skinny kinds. How do you grow your eggplant?
Worms.. ugh!
Despite all of the garlic and pumpkin seeds that I’ve been feeding the chickens, it seems they have worms. Maybe that explains why I’ve been getting 2-3 eggs a day from 24 hens!!! I thought they were just taking a long time recovering from their molt. So, after dusting the whole hen house, laying boxes, roosts, etc. with Diotomacious Earth (to kill any external mites, parasites, and sundry mean little buggers), I put on my witchy cap and stirred up a brew to knock the worms right out of them. I got the basic recipe from Valerie at DoubleGRanch.
Mix one cup of Diotomacious Earth (food grade) with 2 cups of Flax Seeds in a food processor. Add Olive Oil until you have a nice chunky, dry-ish consistency. I also added ~1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 head of garlic, and 1/4 molasses. Spread this out in their food trough and watch them go crazy!
I’ll be giving them this mix for a week or so…. hopefully this will bring them back to health!
Finally… the coop!
We finished the coop this weekend, and the chickens are ecstatic!! It was quite a show trying to chase them down and move them all into the new coop. Luckily we had help! They are settling in nicely, but still having a bit of a problem figuring out how to get onto the roosts. Some are just sleeping in the laying boxes (oh no you don’t!!). We may have to build a ladder. Maybe now they will start laying a little more than 2 or 3 eggs a day!!!! I mean, come on ladies, there are 24 of you!!!
Before finishing up, we decided to have a picnic in the coop. We figured it would be last time we would ever really want to hang out in there!
The front door... isn't she a beaut!
The Roosts
laying boxes and food
chicken hatch
happy chickens!
Coop continued
The coop continues to be our main project around the homestead (although it would be a really good idea to get to winterizing the house!!)
Toby’s father came up last Friday and gave us a hand siding the coop. We still have to put up the windows and doors and then put the roosts and boxes in, but hopefully, hopefully, it will be done this weekend!
What does Leif do while we are busy around the house? He plays with his feet, he smiles, he makes crazy monster noises, and…
He eats seaweed!! Yes, we have another seaweed fanatic in the house!
He just turned 8 months old… got his first top tooth… is trying to crawl… and makes me love him more each day!!
Chicken Chalet
We have started on what I hope to be our last project this year… The Chicken Chalet (I was going to call it the chicken palace, but being in the country, it just seems more like a chalet Toby and I have promised each other that we will have no more big projects until next spring. We are both very ready for a break!!! Let me say that again to make sure it sticks: We are both very ready for a break!! Kaia has already requested family time by the fire, with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and knitting. Let’s see if we can make that happen!!
Anyhoo, we now have around 30 chickens and desperately need a larger space for them. Their new coop is 12 x 12 with a 6×6 corner of it walled off to be my garden shed. So, they have an “L” shaped coop. It should be ample space for them (and the baby pea chick that we are still hoping to get once the coop is done).
We had some wonderful help with Toby’s mom showing up with all of her tools, Heidi lending a hand, and Heidi’s man (who just happens to be a professional carpenter)… You can’t beat that!
We put on a couple of panels of clear roofing so that the chickens can have a little natural light.
And just to prove I was working too… This is what I was looking at all day!
We probably have another full weekend of work before it’s done. But, then I get to kick my feet up and just enjoy the fall and winter, right???
The 5 kingdoms
Kaia has been studying the 5 kingdoms of life at school for the past 4 weeks. So, we thought we’d take a trip out to the Nature Center to see what in the Animal, Plant, and Fungus kingdoms we could find.
Poor little papa peacock is moulting and has no tail feathers. But you see behind mama Peahen’s legs there is a little baby??? Once that little one gets big enough, he/she will be coming to live with us!!!! Do any of you own peafowl?? If so, do they live with chickens?
When we got home, we found this:
We aren’t really sure what kingdom it belongs to… It seemed to enjoy eating non-living things.
But, it sure was friendly.
And it enjoyed hanging around with us
Oh, and the prize for naming Louise has arrived safely at it’s new home. Isn’t it cute?
Traveling Chickens and Contest Time
I headed in the house after picking up Kaia from school today. She took a while getting her stuff gathered up and then followed me into the house a while later. When she finally came in she said, “Mom, there is a chicken in the car. I tried to get her out, but she wanted to stay.” Suuuure, I thought! Kaia likes to play joke and it would be just like her to make me go all the way out to the car only to yell after me “just kidding”. But, she seemed serious, so I headed out there and this is what I found:
Apparently, my son’s car seat is a very comfortable place for an afternoon nap!
Now every time I open the car, she jumps the chicken fence, runs up to the car and hops in. Maybe I’ll take her along for the ride the next time I go pick my daughter up at school
This is one of the chickens that I got from a friend last month. She is an Ameraucana, so I’ve just been calling her “one of those ameraucanas”, but a sweet little bird like this needs a proper name. Contest Time!
Name That Chicken
Here are her details:
Like I said, she is an Ameraucana and lays blue/green eggs. She is a deep golden brown color. She is very sweet and lets me pick her up and carry her. She is smart because she can get out of our 6 foot fencing, somehow. She is sociable and would come into the house to hang out if we let her. And she is not a fan of male attention (she runs away from the rooster any time he tries to have his manly way with her). So what should I name her? Send me all of your suggestions! Kaia is the contest judge and will pick the winning name. The winner will get something I’ve made. I’m not sure what yet… but it will be great!! Make sure you leave a way to contact you if you don’t have a blog. Have your entries in by Sunday, Sept 20th. I’ll announce the winner on the 21st. Good Luck!
#*%$%&#& Bear!!
Well, that funny little bear that was knocking over my chicken food bin decided it was hungry. Wed. night, at about 1:30 Suki started going crazy. She was inside for the night (dumb me for keeping her in) and was whining and pacing at the door. Toby went and let her out and heard a commotion at the chicken coop. By the time he and suki got to the coop, one of the doors to the egg boxes was ripped off of it’s hinges and Sparkle (our little gray silkie) had been stolen off of her nest and all of her eggs were eaten. I’m very angry… at myself for not leaving the dog outside and at the bear for taking my sweet little hen!
I’m headed to get some electric fencing today and may put some around the bees too.
Last night, Toby saw the bear again, sitting on a trail just off of our property. It was just waiting there. Suki was outside barking and making a fuss, but didn’t see the bear. I think the bear was waiting for the dog to go inside. Once Toby came out, it got up and walked back up the trail.
Needless to say, none of us slept well last night!
Photo updates
Of course, we’ll start with the cutest!!
Leif had a few bites of rice cereal yesterday, and he downed it!!!
“Hmmmmm, I think I might have a bite, thank you!”
“WOW! I LIKE! Give me that spoon!”
“Mine!! ALL MINE!”
“Yes, boys can too play with Barbies! They are very tastey!”
I finally got around to harvesting most of the chard. I blanched it and stuck it in the freezer. (There’s no more room in there now, with all the frozen greens and 3 gallons of blueberries!! A fourth gallon I made into Blueberry Jam and Brandied Blueberries!!)
I’ve been knitting up a little headband to keep my ears warm this winter. Kaia wants one for winter and one for summer! I might use some light weight yarn and make myself one for summer too!
We have MORE hens! A friend moved and couldn’t take her 11 chickens with her… so she gave them to us! That makes 35 chickens at our home! Some of the babies from the spring will turn out to be roosters and we’ll find them new homes. But, it looks like we will start selling eggs! And we need to get on the new coop!
And here is one of our regal Fezzik
Buttercup’s babies
Last week, Buttercup hatched 7 of her eggs. Two died within hours, but the other 5 are doing great!
So that makes 9 new chicks altogether! Yay! I hope they are all hens
Chicky baby
Snowflake ended up hatching a total of 4 chicks (out of 8 original… but one was squashed, one was dropped, and two didn’t fully develop). Poor Sparkle didn’t hatch any. I waited until day 23 before I took her off the nest. I cracked open all the eggs and only one had a chick and it looked like it was only 18 or 19 days developed. I think she just didn’t keep them under her enough and they got cold. I’ve put her back in the coop but she still won’t stop sitting on anything she can. I’m not sure how to break her from being broody. I don’t want to put her back on more eggs. I think another 21 days of sitting would be too much for her. She needs a break.
Now, my Buff Orpington is sitting on 12 eggs. She went broody a week ago and I decided to put her in the other side of the broody coop once Sparkle was out. We’ll see how she does.
Here’s a pic of the 4th chick that hatched. Dad is an Ameraucana and mom is a Welsummer;
With 3 of his ladies sitting on eggs, Fezzik the big rooster is getting a little antsy and has started picking on Poodle Noodle, our silkie rooster. He drew a little blood on his left ‘ear’. I put some blue lotion spray on it so the other chickens won’t be attracted to pecking at the red blood. It seems to have worked, but the ear may be infected. It’s puffy. I’ve put a salve on it… we’ll see how he does.
Still waiting…
The chicks are very late in hatching… normally, a chicken has a 21 day gestation. Our first chick hatched at 22 days, three more hatched at 24 days! I don’t hear any peeps coming from the other two, but they had moving chicks in them last week. Our other broody mama is due on Friday… her batch didn’t look as good. One, maybe two moving chicks out of 6 when we candled them last. (Oh, and another one of our chickens has gone broody, but we don’t have any room for her to sit. So, I’ll try to discourage her )
The arrows are pointing to the crack in the shell where the 4th chick is starting to hatch.
