At a client's closing on his new house, I mentioned to him(Anil) about my interest in farm and beekeeping. Anil told me about someone he knew who bought some land and is starting a farm. I couldn't be more excited, I wanted to talk to the guy and visit his farm. I came to know,this is the person I have met with before, a Cyric from Chicago. He works at the American Airlines, and he travels most of the week. He also just purchased a gas station with his partner Sunny. Next Monday, May 17th, I went with Anil to the gas station he ownes and from there we embarked on the journey to Cyriac's farm. I had no clue what to expect, but was very excited. The location is in Lockhart, past the Austin Airport on 183 S. He bought a 20 acre land which had a pond and nothing else. He fenced the whole land, got a bull and a few cows, some goats, and some chicken. He had an RV which he drove from Chicago in a single stretch, and parked it at the location while he got the house brought in and finished. He has electricity, Dish and water available at the location. He named his house Shanti Bhavan meaning Peaceful home in Sanskrit.
While we were there, one of the goats got stuck her head in the fence and couldn't come out, I notnoticed it and told Cyriac about it. We went out there and I helped hold strongly the hind legs of the goat while the other two freed the goat's head. It was quite an experience I didn't have in years. I remember the days when I was young and my aunt milk the goat we had in my grandmother's house and she would ask me to hold the hind legs of the goat so that they don't kick the milking container.
He showed me around his place, full of flowering wild flowers and great potential to do a lot of things. On my way back, Cyric offered me 4 eggs freshly picked under a hen in his coop. Since he had a rooster, I imagined, the eggs are fertilized, and didn't want to eat it. On the way, I got this idea about whey not try to hatch it? It would also be a great experience for my kids who are 12 and 3 to watch if it comes out okay. They also seemed to be very excited. Neelima, my 3 year old daughter told me that she will take care of all the animals I get, including the chicken. She has an innate ability to take care of others, I am sure, what God has given to all women, preparing them for running a family in the future and be the protetor of living being in the world, everywhere. I was excited again, since haven't seen a chick close in a long time, I rummaged through my garage and took my box where I keep my beekeeping items when a swarm call comes, and shredded some paper and put it in there. Thank you, Internet, after a few searches I was ready for the set up. Articles in the Internet was very helpful in collecting information about how to hatch chicken eggs. I borrowed Nikhil's (my 12 year old son)table lamp, replaced the bulb with a 40 W bulb and put everything by the front formal living area of the house. My wife Sreedevi didn't like the idea, and I moved the box and eggs upstairs to my room (it is good to have your own private room, so that you can experiment with a lot of things). I also added a flat plastic box filled with water. I went to Radio Shack and got a thermometer (electronic) I need to keep the eggs warm at 99-103 degree F. This gadget was very helpful in doing that, some times, the temp had gone up and I started to worry if all the eggs might have gone bad. Days passed by, my patience was wearing thin, I have to confess, but yesterday night, when I was sitting by my desk, I heard birds chirping! I thought it was from outside, but it was already very late at night, so it cannot be coming from outside, then I realized it might be my hatching box where the sound is coming from. I just couldn't believe it, I didn't realize it was 21 days already (the farm visit was on May 17th morning).
I never thought I could have pulled this off! Of course, it is (God)nature which has done it, but I hope I have created the right environment for it to come out well. I also found a crack on one of the eggs in the morning. Waiting for it to come out. I have put some grits and a small bowl of water, and noticed that the chick started to eat it and drink the water. So I guess, it is okay. I was worried if I might do something which might harm them. But I guess, God is taking care of everyone and everything....
The wire which you see is the temperature measuring device which has a digital readout outside the box. Yellow is the dish for water, you can see the other eggs in the last picture as well.
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