Well she did it! Kinda

 Our crazed Mama hen has finally managed to hatch out 2 chicks that lived, and from what I understand, three that didn't.  We have removed the rest of the eggs and began the process of incubating them.  I think to is about all she can handle right now.  We're still waiting to see who else, if any, hatch.  I've heard that the instinct to brood (sit on eggs) has been bred out of chicks bought at the store, and that the hens have to try and fail a few times before they finally get it.  I'm not sure how true that is, but there was definitely a learning curve with this one. First off she couldn't figure out which box to lay in, and, we think, she probably took breaks more than she should have.  She seems to be caring for these two.  I had to clean out the nesting box( gross) and put in fresh bedding.  I also dipped the chicks beak in the water just in case she hasn't shown them how to drink.  She gave it a valiant effort.    

On the other hand, we have two broody mama's in the Bantum coop.  Bantums brood very easily, and these were hatched the old fashioned way and not bought from a store.  Big Mama is our normal Broody Mama, but it looks like one of her daughters has joined her.  We don't need any more bantum chicks.  We have 5 right now; 4 hens and a rooster.  Chicks mean more hens and roosters.  Bantum roosters are really too small for the freezer, so we would need to find them homes.  So we have been taking the bantum eggs out from under her and replacing them with full size chicken eggs.  Only 6 full size eggs between the two of them.  Bantum hens don't care. They will sit on eggs, any eggs, and they will mother whoever hatches, even when they are her same size!  This is Big Mama with her babies from last year.  She hatched out 4 full size chicks and 2 bantum chicks.  Those black ones are full size.  

This is Taz.  This is the Bantum chick we hatched in an incubator last year after big mama left the nest.  We actually hatched out this one and a full size black chick named Gonzo.  We named them Taz and Gonzo because we thought they were both roosters.  Oops.  Turns out they were both hens.  Turns out they were best buds too.  

In other homestead news, it looks like we will be getting cattle panels after all.  Only this time, I'm pressed for time to get it in, and really don't have a good time to do it.  Looks like we have a 39 degree temp in our future.  39 won't kill my tomatoes, but it will lessen pollen production and kill any fruit on them.  Yes, my tomatoes are flowering and have fruit in some cases.  I've tried to cover them, but it's hard to keep them covered if it gets windy.  An actual wind tunnel can fix that and operate as a temporary green house in a pinch.  The problem I'm running into is the size of our truck.  It can carry maybe 2.  I need at least 6-8.  This means multiple trips to the store, or hope someone can deliver it all, sooner rather than later.  It's an investment, but something I hope pays off long term.  My hope is extending the growing season on both ends by being able to use this as a makeshift unheated greenhouse.  My main goal, though, is to cut down on tomato losses from blight.  

On a cautionary high note, I actually have a little corn and yellow wax beans coming in.  I just threw some seeds into the ground to see if they would be viable.  These were either seeds I've saved or older seeds.  So far, those are the ones breaking thru.  I still have 8 beds to do something with!  I also have some tomato volunteers.  Not sure if they are Roma or Cherry, so can't decide weather to keep them or not.  They're little, not flowering or anything.  If I do keep them, I'll move them to a new area.  

So how's your garden coming along?  Any experiments being tried? Anyone have experience using the cattle panels this way?  I would love the feed back.