WE HAVE A WIGGLER!

Hatch day will soon be upon us, and I am CRAZY EXCITED. My life is chock full of chaos right now, and these babies on the way are one of the things that give me a feeling of nothing but happiness and hope, therefore I am obsessed with them.

I had to turn the egg turner off 2 days ago, as is reccommended so that the chicks don't get stuck to the membrane inside their shells. So now the eggs are laying on their sides on a screen in the incubator. Because it isn't a good idea to handle the eggs too much at this stage, I haven't been able to candle them for a few days. However, just this morning I noticed one of the eggs bumping and shaking slightly. I reached in and touched the egg and could feel the chicky moving inside. He/she is getting ready to pip! :)


The wiggler!

I had been trying to think of good names for the babies, especially the first hatchling. I googled "names that mean first/leader" and was not too thrilled with most of the names that I found. Not to mention that fewer still are gender-neutral. The best that I've come up with so far is "Scout". I'm open to any suggestions for chicken names, the more creative and/or fancy, the better. ;)

But one little rooster (should there be at least one) will have his name chosen by someone other than me. My blog friend, Tehlia, has recently suffered the loss of a pet who was very dear to her heart. Spunky little Jeffrey the dog passed away just this past weekend, and I'd therefore like to give T the naming rights to our rooster, in memory of her sweet pup. Hard endings can sometimes make for beautiful beginnings, and I hope that the life of this little fluff ball, living and experiencing the world in its own right, will bring some comfort to a friend who is missing her little man dearly, and help her feel like the spirit of her little buddy lives on.

And just in case you were worried, fear not for the fate of this rooster, he'll be the one we keep.