We had 12 eggs to get in the incubator, but Anya got six more eggs at lunch and another egg later in the afternoon. So we’ve got 19 eggs in the incubator
Category: Homesteading
2023 Hatch – Turkey Hatching
We’re setting up the incubator tonight to get our first dozen turkey eggs going.
I need to leave the incubator sit overnight to get the temperature and humidity regulated. Tomorrow, we’ll be putting the eggs into the incubator.
Notes:
General:
Pointy end down, may need to leave empty space between eggs so they fit
Temperature
Forced-air incubator, so set to 99.5 degrees F (monitoring for temps between 99 and 100 F)
Humidity
First 25 days, relative humidity 50-60%
Final three days, increase humidity to 65-70%
More Sprouts (and chicken chow!)
The tomato plants are starting to get big — still a few weeks before we can plant them outside, but we have plenty of healthy plants.
I had basically given up on the asparagus (they were older seeds), but I finally have five plants sprouted — this is part of my endeavor to get more plant once / harvest yearly stuff growing. 
And then there’s the chicken chow — this is Bocking 14 comfrey. It doesn’t go to seed, but provides a high-protein leafy food for chickens and turkeys.
2023 Maple Season – Wrap up
A total of about 6 gallons of syrup this year — 3.5 gallons on the 6th of March and another 2.5 gallons on the 5th of April. We tapped 39 trees (some with two taps — we need to log the type of tree & how many taps get put in!) including some on the new farm land.
First Daffodils!
We have our first daffodil blooms of the year — Anya noticed some of the little ones by the detached garage had bloomed. There are a few larger ones in the same area that flowered.
Sprouts!
We have tomato and pepper sprouts! Still waiting for the watermelons, though … I really hope we get to eat some fresh-from-the-vine watermelon this year.
First Turkey Egg
When we rounded up the birds today, Anya found two turkey eggs in the coop! These are our first turkey eggs … unfortunately, one of ’em is cracked slightly. But one isn’t, and we’re starting to save eggs to hatch!
Purple Crocus Blooms
The deep purple crocus are starting to bloom — and daffodils are popping up all over the place, so we should have all sorts of flowers soon.
Barn Cats First Trip to the Vet
We took the cats we trapped to the vet to get neutered. They were surprisingly chill in the car — not their favorite activity, but they were quiet and looking around as we drove. Dropped them off at a low cost / feral clinic in the morning, and we picked them all up a little after 4PM.
Each kitten has two days of pain killers & need to limit their activity. A neighbor will be taking the other gray kitten (the one we call Pebbles), but Ash and Fritter will be staying inside for a few more weeks so we can take them for a booster shot next month.
They are both recovering well so far — Fritter ended up having an incision in his belly, too, so Ash is recovering quicker. But they’re both happy to curl up together and nap.
2023 Garden — Seeds Sprouting
Most of the tomatoes have sprouted, and two types of peppers. Peppers seem to take a long time to sprout! I’ve also got an arctic kiwi leafing out beautifully and several grape vines that are starting to sprout leaves.