You know, it was not expensive in money OR time to do this, it was pretty darned simple. :) DH got a PS EyeToy color camera for $5.00 at Gamestop, and YahooLive is the host for the cam, sound and chat, at no cost to us. My husband had the know-how to get things going, but you can find out online and it isn't difficult or complicated. The number of people viewing the cam and talking in chat crashes my husband's computer sometimes, but we just restart things and everything's fine. We wanted to hatch chicks anyway, so thought we'd share the experience. The cam just pointed through the viewing panes in the lid of the incubator, now we set it inside the brooder box. Baby chicks DO have a wonderful effect on all who gaze upon them, it's like Valium for your eyes. *L* And yeah, it is VERY remarkable that Chicken Sister has babies this late in life--but then, both of the boys LOVE her to distraction, you should have seen them run over and burble over her when we brought her back from the vet after her egg-binding adventure. What a couple of love-struck chuckleheads. :) It was very sweet, they missed her so! We'll be hatching again the weekend of June 21st, and will resume chickam then, if anyone wants to watch. We will have our incubators issues solved before we start more eggs. Velvet ~:>

Hi Jan, hope you made a complaint to the sheriffs office. They should have come out to make a report of damage. What a nasty thing to have happen. Do you have fencing around the areas where chicken tractors are parked? Perhaps you could just put up some T posts with several strings of electric to prevent dogs getting close again. Paint ball guns are also a good weapon to mark the dogs if you can't do the 3S's. Paint balls will sting pretty good too, could be evidence if you can locate dog homes for reparation. We had a lovely day, great presents, son was able to come home for a visit. He brought along one of his house buddies who had no place to go. Made for a lively day. Weather was terrible, raining in the AM, snow after noon. Made roads slushy and slippery, slowed driving down a lot. We passed 3 accidents on country roads as we went for the whole family dinner at 5pm. Slides into a ditch, spun into a tree. No people hurt, just shaken up, wrecked vehicles. Son, husband, buddy, all worked Saturday to get a new roof on the workshop. Did pretty well, laid the perlons, foam insulation. Sunday after church, they worked late AM till afternoon in the nasty weather, they laid the sheet metal. Handling the big pieces is hard, but fastening it down went pretty fast. They got one side all down, looks very nice in dark green. Hope to get the rest done this week ourselves. Son went back home today so it will have to be husband and me. I had tried to talk husband into sheet metal roofing before and he wouldn't. When shop needed new roof I tried again, time saver, metal will shed snow quickly, last a long time. He went for it this time. May even get metal on house when roof needs doing! I have always liked how metal roofs looked, probably because I saw so many on great barns! Never seem to need repair work. The dark green on white shop building is real sharp. With his woodstove going so well, the insulation and metal roof should help with keeping in the heat while he works out there on the really cold days. With the break in temps we have melted a lot of snow. Grass is showing!! I have to mulch some bushes now that I can see the ground again. Amazing how 35F can feel like 60F after all those below 20F days! Barnyards are clearing of snow, horses are racing around with firm grip on dirt. Only a couple had winter shoes and snowball pads on before husband got hurt. They had good traction but the rest were much more tenative on snow and ice. Husband is feeling much better, arm is coming along very well. Ribs are still a bit of trouble in damp air, hard to breathe deep. He is back to work full time. We all got good gifts, everyone was pretty happy. I think this is the best organized I have ever been. Ready to go to bed by midnight! Everything was done. I was sure I forgot something, to be done so early. They did morning chores, let me sleep in until 9A. Great present right there!

I HAVE BABIES! I just got back a few minutes ago from being gone several days. Went right out to check the box, and just as I got there mom came flying up. My heart leapt! I peeked in very quickly, just long enough to see some fluff; didn't want to take the time to count. (It's a deep nest and I have to use a little dental mirror to even see down inside it.) Any luck w/ you yet sagrinin? Thanx again to everyone for your encouragement and reassurance!

Yes remove the nest (save it in a ziplock bag in case you ever need to do a nestchange). You can move the box or you can simply make it face a new direction. My sister had a HOSP attack her blue eggs once. She removed the eggs/nest, turned the box and the blues came back and rebuilt and had a successful nesting. As for the wren guard. I use the heavy cardboard that computer paper boxes are made out of, it has never turned to mush in even heavy rains and lots of rain. Sides make it much more stable and prevent the front from blowing in and out wint the wind. I also screw the piece of carboard that is taped to the roof of the box to the roof of the box because sometimes with duct tape, when it gets wet in will loosen up some. I do use water proof duct tape now but I like the screw in the top for added stability. Good luck! Donna