I've been asked what her name is, our fowl-ish friend who diligently sits on those eggs. Gertrude is seen here with her daughter Gilly. Gertrude will not rise except for at the end of each day where she trots out and gets a sip of water and a bit of feed. I've been taking her treats of fruit and veggies each morning to keep her going through the day. Gilly has taken on some of the eggs. However, the eggs she is sitting on are "OLD" and will not hatch.
Gilly is shown here cooling herself off as it is very hot these days in Arizona. About 109 daily with no reprieve. Today however we have had some nice breeze without to much dust. Each day we have been sneaking in and taking the "OLD" eggs away from Gilly. She is down to the last two which we will leave for her to keep warm and learn how to become a Mother. Gilly gets off her eggs each morning and each evening to eat and get water.
We are hopeful for Gertrude's eggs to hatch, as we know that at least 2 of them are viable. However the status of the Gander is very questionable. The Gander's name is Hissler because he constantly is hissing at people. This is a typical Gander trait but in all other ways he is more like a Goose...so will those eggs be fertile? We will find out in about 1 more week.
Here is Hissler in his/her finest mood. Batya, my daughter thought he was a duck because she has never seen a white and orange goose before. She named him because no matter what she does he hisses at her. In this picture he is coming in to check on the ladies and see what I'm up too. We pray that he is truly a Gander and we will have babies.
Gertrude needs to be a Mama again. She amazes me in her pursuit of Motherhood. I can not imagine if I'd were to lay an egg and then have to sit on it for 14 to 21 days for life to emerge. Having a baby is so much more of a connection...in my opinion.
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