Surprise in the Compost

Unlike other people we have far more in our compost heap than just compost. Recently we had a chicken and some eggs, and before vicious Mama sat on the eggs there were about 15 of them. So I was shocked when the other day my daughter told me that there was only five.

I told her that they must have been buried under the straw, but being the strong willed, stubborn teenager she is, this was ignored. Therefore, the eggs hatched, we had four chicks, and vicious Mama and chicks were placed in the maternity wing.

This is where the problems began, take one hot, steaming compost heap, a calima with temperatures reaching up to 40c and a batch of eggs, and there will be chicks! So, off my daughter went to put the ducks to bed, just as it was getting dark, and an hour later, loads of screaming and a frantic dig in the compost she returned with five more chicks.

It appears that I was right, and that the eggs had been buried in their own personal incubator. So, although vicious Mama was under the impression that she had done her work, in fact the straw had acted as a fantastic birthing place.

My daughter was convinced that she could hear chirping, so spent an hour in the dark, with a torch digging in the heap! I have to give her credit, because I didn't get off the sofa, and had no intention of being out in the dark up to my elbows in compost waste! Dedication or madness hmmmmm that is the question!