Fertile Eggs!!

Wow- we had some excitement over the weekend!  We discovered that our eggs are in fact fertile!!  We have been closely monitoring our hen/rooster lately, and we had noticed that he was really enjoying some "adult time" with the hens.  My husband I think is a little jealous of the rooster- apparently male-bounding transcends species!   So, I did a little reading in my backyard chicken book (great reference), and it had a very detailed section on how to tell if you have fertile eggs.  I had always heard you put a candle under them- we tried a flashlight in a dark closet, but having no clue what we were actually looking for- this proved to be very unsuccessful.  The book said that once you crack an egg, you can look at the yolk for a very small white circle.  If the circle is neatly formed with a bulls-eye shape or doughnut, then you have a fertile egg.  If the white shape is very disorganized, well then your rooster is not doing its job properly (as my husband says "shooting blanks").  So into the kitchen we went with two fresh eggs from the coop.  Being a house with four growing boys, someone is always hungry, so we knew after we examined the eggs we could fry them up to eat- no wasting!  After cracking the two eggs in a shallow bowl, my husband and I were closely looking for the white shape- I must confess, I felt as though I was waiting for the results of a pregnancy test!  Bingo, we saw the perfectly white shaped doughnuts- tiny as can be, but there indeed!  So, as it turns out- our rooster is apparently the "real deal", no "blanks" for this guy!!  Needless to say, we were all extremely excited about this discovery.  It has always been a dream of ours to hatch our own baby chicks.  Especially since our hens are of good stock- why not keep the good breed going?  Next step, incubator.  Yes, we could go buy one- but as you know by now, if it can be made, we will make it (excuse me- my husband will make it).  I am not the handy type at all- hence the reason I married one!  So, onto the internet I went- I can research really well!  I must say, I am not normally a fan of computers, but when it comes to finding info.- wow!!  Well, we found some great plans for incubators on the Mother Earth News website- told you this is a great magazine!  My husband decided the one made from an old cooler suited our needs best.  So, after everyone went to bed- he stayed up and watched the Youtube video of making an incubator from a cooler.  Supplies: old cooler (plentiful around here), working computer fan, hot water heater thermostat (had one from the heater we just replaced- hence the reason we never throw anything out- you never know when you might need it), thermometer, chicken wire, light bulb, and you are ready to make it!  First thing the next morning, my husband was up making the incubator and it was completed by lunchtime- it is so cool!!  He cut out the top and replaced it with plexi-glass so we can monitor what is going on at all times!  Once we got the temp. and humidity (cup of water) right in the incubator, in went the eggs.  Tuesday Feb. 15th was day one- 11 eggs went in- a variety of white, little brown, and big brown ones.  That first night- it was like a newborn baby in the house- I was up every hour checking on them to make sure the temp. and humidity were ok.  Everyday they must be turned- four times a day.  The temp. and humidity must remain constant, too.  But, if we are successful, in about 21 days, we should see little chicks popping out of the eggs!!  We have great expectations and I will keep posting back here on progress!  On another note, we have successfully made mozzarella cheese- absolutely delicious- no comparison to the store-bought kind!  Only took about 45 minutes, too!  With this warm weather, I have been busy getting my raised garden beds ready for spring planting.  I add chicken manure daily and yesterday we shoveled compost to top dress all the beds.  Our potatoes and onions went in the ground this week- 5lbs of red and yukon gold, and 2 lbs of red and yellow onions.  Seeds are sprouting in the greenhouse- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, basil!!  Yeah, my favorite time of the year!!