Grandpa Zhao chimed in, "Looks like we won't be short of eggs anymore. With this skill, we can have as many as we want."
Xu Han waved her hand generously and said, "Once these chickens and ducks lay eggs, I will prepare an egg feast for you so that you can have egg freedom. You can eat as many eggs as you want."
The Taoist priest looked at Xu Han with doting eyes, "Girl, you're really amazing. You can do everything. It seems we've saved some money again."
Lu Chuan lifted the quilt, picked up an unhatched egg, and looked at it. "Today should be the 19th day of hatching the chicks. In less than two days, all of these eggs will hatch."
"Yes, look, there are quite a few hatching eggs here whose shells have been pecked open. They should be ready soon."
Xu Han then looked through all the other hatching eggs. "We need to pay close attention to them these next few days. If any chicks are stuck, we should help them out so they don't suffocate."
"We should be more careful."
Lu Chuan asked, "What about these newly hatched chicks? Can they still be kept in here?"
Xu Han thought for a moment and said, "Let's keep them in this room for now. It's too cold outside, and they'll easily freeze to death if we keep them outside now."
Grandpa Zhao interjected, "Let's weave a bamboo mat in a bit, then use a winnowing basket to enclose a space and put it inside the house for now. That way, we won't make the house all dirty."
Lu Chuan thought about it for a moment and then agreed. It has to be said that this was indeed a good idea.
After saying that, the three of them went to cut bamboo to weave bamboo mats and winnowing baskets. The chicks were still very small, so it wouldn't hurt to leave them in the house for a few days.
Chicks are small, they don't eat much or poop much, so it's okay to keep them indoors for a few days; the smell won't be too strong.
Once the weather warms up in a couple of days, we can move them to the storage room in the backyard. When they grow a bit bigger, we can put them in the orchard.
The next day, about ten more chicks emerged. Just then, Lu Chuan and the others finished weaving bamboo mats and winnowing baskets. Xu Han brought over some food to feed the chicks, and they temporarily kept them in the house.
The two children in the family were overjoyed by the newly hatched chicks.
Mu'er is already quite sensible; every day after school, she runs into the house to see the chicks.
As for Ze'er, Xu Han dared not leave him alone in the house. If she didn't notice him, Ze'er would reach out his devilish little hand to grab the chicks.
Just then, Xu Han was cleaning the eggshells from which chicks had hatched when she heard the frightened cries of the chicks.
Xu Han turned around and slapped away the chubby little hand that was grabbing the chicks. "Ze'er, why are you grabbing the chicks again? Didn't Mother tell you that you can't grab the chicks?"
Ze'er didn't take it seriously, only finding it amusing, and reached out to grab it again.
Children don't know their own strength, and newborn chicks are very fragile; they are quickly caught and left barely alive.
Upon seeing this, Xu Han immediately picked up a small bamboo stick and struck Ze'er's chubby little hand. Although she didn't use much force, the hand immediately turned red after the strike.
Ze'er burst into tears, feeling wronged. Xu Han didn't indulge him and continued to scold him, "I told you before, you can't catch the chicks. This morning you almost killed one of the chicks. Don't you remember? If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't change at all."
As Xu Han spoke, she pulled Ze'er out of the room. This time, Xu Han was truly furious. Ze'er was too naughty, and talking to him nicely was no longer effective. She had to give him a beating, otherwise he would definitely grow up to be a bad person.
They're so small, yet they pluck the fur off dogs every day. They have absolutely no respect for the lives of chicks.
Lu Chuan, who was organizing tools in the backyard, rushed over immediately upon hearing Ze'er's cries, and the Taoist priest followed closely behind.
Meanwhile, the two students who were in class couldn't help but come out to take a look.
When the group saw Xu Han holding a bamboo stick and Ze'er covering her little hand and crying loudly, they immediately understood what had happened.
When Ze'er saw that everyone had arrived, she cried even louder. But after crying for a while, seeing that no one was there to comfort her, her cries gradually subsided.
Xu Han recounted what had just happened, which made Lu Chuan even angrier. He snatched the bamboo stick from Xu Han's hand and whipped Ze'er's buttocks twice more.
Ze'er didn't even dare to cry loudly anymore, only then realizing how serious her mistake was.
After Ze'er finished crying, Xu Han picked him up again and patiently explained to him why she hit him and what he did wrong.
The Taoist priest and Grandpa Zhao remained silent throughout the entire process of disciplining Ze'er. Fortunately, both of them were reasonable and did not interfere in disciplining the child like other elderly people, nor did they protect the child from being disciplined.
Finally, the Taoist priest smoothed things over, saying, "Alright, I just checked, the chicks aren't dead. Everyone, go about your business."
Upon hearing this, everyone went about their own business. When Ze'er followed Xu Han into the room where the chicks were being hatched, this time she simply squatted down and watched the chicks eat, no longer daring to touch them.
Xu Han said with relief: Fortunately, Ze'er is just a little mischievous, but not a bad person at heart.
From then on, Ze'er never dared to harm the chicks again, and later she would often help Xu Han feed the chicks.
Xu Han and Lu Chuan were very pleased with Ze'er's change. Thankfully, Ze'er seemed quite manageable for now.
A few days later, the first batch of ducks and geese hatched one after another.
Xu Han hatched a total of 80 eggs this time, and 54 chicks hatched. Xu Han was quite satisfied with the number she hatched on her first try.
If things continue like this, I believe we won't need to buy chickens, ducks, or goslings anymore; we can hatch whatever we want at home.
Xu Han planned to raise a large number of chickens, but the current number of chicks was still too small, so Xu Han began to hatch chicks on a large scale and also hatched another 50 ducklings.
These chicks are not easy to raise. Although so many have hatched now, there will definitely be losses during the breeding process, so Xu Han prepared more chicks.
It's already March in the blink of an eye. As the temperature rises, Xu Han has released all the chicks that hatched first into the orchard to roam freely.
They only need to be fed once in the morning and once in the evening, and there is always water in the water trough. Under normal circumstances, Xu Han doesn't take care of them much.
To prevent other animals from coming over at night, Xu Han took it upon herself to put the two dogs, Peanut and Edamame, into the orchard.
On the one hand, it was to look after the chicks in the orchard, and on the other hand, it was to keep out other wild animals.
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