New Arrivals

(Just a little note- I did try to post this a couple days ago, but my computer and I are at odds.  It randomly does weird things, and I am not-so-patiently waiting until it's time to buy a new computer.)

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan brought home some quail eggs.  He got an incubator for his Animal Science class (which incidentally doesn't start until next month), but he had to try it out.  At home.  To make sure it worked.  The incubator started out humming and rocking on the kitchen table, but was thankfully short-lived.  It made its new home in the toy room, high enough that the twins couldn't open it to look at the fragile contents.

Last Saturday afternoon, we had our first new arrival.  Ryan had low expectations- 5 or 6 out of the 28.  We had that before we went to bed Saturday.  By Sunday evening, we had 19.  NINETEEN.

 The kids were super excited to see the baby quail before church.

Ryan had a box, baby bird food and a heat lamp all set up.  But no thermometer.  That was rectified Monday morning, after 9 got a bit over-heated during the course of the night. 

But we still have 10 left.  And the kids have had a lesson on mortality....

Ryan moved them outside Tuesday, to a 4' x 4' press board box gracing our backyard.  They were trapped in one corner, to stay close (but not too close) to the heat lamp.  Today the baby quail got to have free reign of the box, and Ryan built it a proper lid, with a hinge and chicken wire.

The baby quail have grown a lot and are getting grown-up feathers now.  They like to run, jump and flap their wings. 

(Local friends are welcome to come see the little guys.  They are pretty cute!)