sydalicious, you really MUST turn the eggs at LEAST two times a day during the hatch. Three is best, but no less than two for sure. Otherwise you just aren't going to have a successful hatch--the turning keeps the developing chick from sticking to the inside of the shell and dying. You don't want to go to all the effort and then have nearly fully developed chicks that die in the shell just short of hatch, do you? Of course not. Just turn the eggs before and after school. It only takes a minute. :) I personally don't candle my eggs, because my hens lay eggs with darker shells that are impossible to see through--also, I am concerned about handling the eggs too much and either dropping them or letting them get too chilled. So I just wait and see what comes out on hatch day. :) I figure if I'm already doing everything I can, and correctly, me candling isn't going to do me any good since I can't see through the shells. But if you get some light-colored eggs and want to candle, by all means try it--here is a site with candling info and great pics: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/b1166-w.html I use great big cardboard boxes for brooder boxes, and just throw them away when I'm done with them. I've got info and pics on my site about how I do my brooder box setups. I just use a large piece of chicken wire for a top (unless you have small children, cats or dogs that might get to the chicks, then use something sturdier) that I can lift on and off. I also like to cut a window in the side of the box and hot glue a piece of hardware cloth over it so the chicks can see out--being n a box for weeks without being able to see out is BORING! And overcrowding and boredom in chicks can lead to pecking, which is a bad thing. Basic brooder box setup: I use a couple of bricks to elevate my food and water containers, it keeps them cleaner by helping keep shavings out of them. Using either a quail waterer (see it in the pics, it has a smaller drinking ring area--or adding marbles to a chick waterer is a MUST--chicks can and do easily drown in water dishes. For heat I use a gooseneck desk lamp with a 75 watt bulb in it, and just adjust the head of the lamp up or down--if the chicks are huddled under it and peeping, they are too cold, if they are avoiding it in a big circle and gasping, they are too hot. In action! :) Here it is from the outside, Millie my Belgian d'Uccle is visiting the chicks: You can easily use wire to partition off a large box: In this case I had three 3 week old chicks and was going to add newly hatched chicks. Velvet ~:>

I know what you mean about it not being around in stores so much down south...back when I was in your neck of the woods I didn't see it around either. Glad the surprise worked. Now if only I could say that the time it took to finally get around to sending it was motivated by such intentions. lol Sorry it took so long! :)

It's growing extremely slow. Checked for root root, it does not have that. I'm thinking that it is growing slow because it is indoors? I keep lamp on it for most hours of the night, and put it in the window in the south-east part of the house first thing in the morning. The reason that I am concerned, is because I cut one of those fronds off very low. I'm hoping that this does not effect the plant. My questions are; My sister lives in Palm Springs, CA and she said that I should not use soil. However, I came across some soil, should I use it, or should I listen to her? The main question is, Is this palm even still alive? Fronds were cut within the past week. Comments: The reason that I am concerned is because at the base of the new frond, it's pretty white/tinted yellow an extremely light green, it looks like it is turning darker green but I guess only time can tell.

Annie.... Ashley was just asking a logical question wasn't she LOL! But it's so true that tourists....often strong German men.....underestimate the strength of the undertow on the open Atlantic and there are drownings here, of either swimmers or people being swept off rocks when they get closer than they should. I just came back from a little walk down to a lookout point near our house and as it's late in the day, I caught an evening cloud over the volcano, as well as a look over the edge to one of the downtown beaches. Here's the volcano,and here it is 6 minutes later, taken from another vantage point. The clouds have totally changed formation. (Click will enlarge.) Here's the view looking downtown to one of the beaches and the developed pool area with nightclub in the centre of the artificial lake, all together called The Lido, then a closeup of same. (Click will enlarge.) In the second photo you can see that the waves are still very large here as the islands are all on 'orange alert' which is one step below red alert or extreme danger from the seas. And in a calmer note, I decided to make better use of the lovely little two-tiered Moroccan cake plate I bought at Laura Ashley, since we buy cake one piece as a time, so I put it into the little tree outside my computer room window where the birds congregate every day. I filled it with dry cat food and set my camera up on my desk. Only had to wait a few minutes before they noticed that their food was now up in the tree! I hope to get some wild bird feed for the smaller birds and wild canaries as they also abound here. They came to check out the cat food but the biggies chased them away. The kibbles are too big anyway for small birds. (Click will enlarge.) SharonCb