Now that the preorders are filled and next year’s hens started, it’s time to have fun with new breeds and lines.

Cream Legbars, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and a rainbow of Silkies popped out this week, and some olive eggers are hatching as I write.

Both the olive eggers and the Legbars are sexable at hatch, which is nice for those who can’t have roosters (aka most people). We’ll sell the olive eggers, but keep the four little Legbar pullets, because their eggs will be next year’s olive eggers.

One incubator has been mothballed, and the second will be offline soon. Pullets hatched next month just might wait till spring to lay, and that’s a long time to feed an unproductive bird.