Chapter 282 Hatching chicks, precautions for pregnancy
Lin Heng had just put down the bucket and was about to go out when his elder brother Lin Yue came in with a hunting rifle on his back and two pheasants in his hands.
Lin Yue said excitedly: "Brother, I was awesome today. I shot two pheasants with one shot."
This was the first time he had a harvest while hunting alone, and he was so excited.
"Awesome!" Lin Heng gave a thumbs up and asked, "Brother, where did you get them?"
Lin Yue grinned and said, "In a bush over Sanyegou, three or four pheasants were looking for food below, and I shot two with one shot."
"It seems that you can hunt independently in the future, brother." Lin Heng said with a smile.
These days, his elder brother has been trying to hunt. He spent a lot of money to buy a hunting rifle, so he naturally wants to get some harvest.
Lin Heng had no time to be with his elder brother because he had to raise shrimps. He didn't expect that he would get harvest so soon.
Lin Yue smiled happily and handed the pheasant in his hand to Lin Heng: "Brother, I heard from mom that Xiulan is pregnant, you can take this to nourish Xiulan."
Before Lin Heng spoke, he added: "Don't be polite, I'm not polite when you give me things."
"Okay, thank you, big brother." Lin Heng laughed and took it.
"Then I'll go back first." After giving the pheasant to Lin Heng, Lin Yue smiled and turned away.
Lin Heng looked at the pheasant, put it on the stone table, and then went to the back mountain to pick some sheep manure to fertilize the vegetables.
After the sheep manure fertilizer was applied, Lin Heng sprinkled some plant ash containing phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, which can effectively promote flowering and fruiting.
Now the strawberries are basically bearing fruit, and they will mature in another week. The largest cucumbers can be picked and eaten.
After fertilizing, Lin Heng watered them again.
"What are you eating tonight?"
The two dogs Xiongba and Fengshou came in first, and then Xiulan came in with Xiaoxia, looking at Lin Heng and asked with a smile.
"Big brother just gave me a pheasant. Do you want to eat it tonight?" Lin Heng pointed at the pheasant on the stone table.
"Big brother hunted it. It's amazing." Xiulan was surprised at first, then nodded, "Then let's eat the pheasant. You kill it and I'll fry it. Let's eat rice."
"Okay"
Lin Heng nodded, and after watering the cucumber, he picked the big water cucumber, washed it briefly, and divided it into three sections for each person.
"It tastes good." Xiulan tasted it and nodded. This was the first time she had eaten this long water cucumber.
While eating the completely pollution-free green organic cucumber, Lin Heng pointed at the strawberry and said, "This one will be ripe soon, and it will taste better than cucumber."
"There are so many of these. Will it really taste good?" Xiulan looked at the strawberries that looked like snakeberries and became more and more suspicious.
"I promise you will want to eat it again when you eat it." Lin Heng nodded affirmatively.
Xiulan squatted down to take a look, picked seven or eight green string peppers and said, "I'll go cut some hot and sour peppers. When you kill the chicken, remember to pluck some of the dry feathers. The chicken feather blanket is still short of some feathers."
"Okay." Lin Heng agreed.
"Dad, have you watered the pumpkins in the back mountain?" Xiaoxia looked at Lin Heng, thinking about the fruits she planted.
"Let's go water them together tomorrow morning." Lin Heng touched her little face and said.
"I want to grow big winter melons and big pumpkins, and then one for dad, one for mom, one for grandpa and grandma..." Xiaoxia waved her little hands.
Lin Heng found a bag and chatted with his daughter while plucking chicken feathers. Xiaoxia took the beautiful pheasant tail feathers to tease the big cat Jinbao, and they had a lot of fun.
Lin Heng plucked the chicken feathers and scalded the chicken. He chopped the chicken and handled the internal organs and handed them to Xiulan, and then tied the feathers to the feather duster.
Soon a colorful and beautiful feather duster was ready, showing brilliant colors under the light.
After finishing the feather duster, Lin Heng used other feathers to make two cat teasers for Xiaoxia, and watched her tease Jinbao with a silly smile.
"It's time to eat." Xiulan came out of the kitchen and shouted after a while.
"I'm here." Lin Heng stood up and went into the house to help serve the dishes.
Xiulan cooked three dishes in the evening, one dish was pheasant and internal organs, one dish was garlic peas, and one was stir-fried pumpkin tips.
There was no soup, but rice wine was brewed.
After the dishes were served, Lin Heng first picked up the chopsticks and rummaged in the chicken bowl, and found the chicken liver and chicken heart and gave them to Xiulan.
"Eat this, my sweetheart, it supplements iron and folic acid, and folic acid can promote the child's neurological development." Lin Heng was afraid that Xiulan didn't want to eat, so he said something corny.
Pregnant women are prone to anemia and lack of folic acid. They need to take supplements frequently and eat foods rich in folic acid and iron.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Xiulan blushed and picked it up and ate it.
"There are also peas, which are also rich in folic acid." Lin Heng said again.
Xiulan nodded. Although she didn't know what folic acid Lin Heng was talking about, she believed him unconditionally.
"Dad, what is folic acid?" Xiaoxia asked in confusion.
"It's a food substance that can make you smarter. Xiaoxia can also eat more." Lin Heng smiled and picked up two peas for her.
"Xiaoxia loves peas." Xiaoxia nodded and said while eating.
The pheasant meat tastes good. The pheasants in this season are very fat. The chicken is very chewy and has a unique flavor.
"I'll kill black chickens for you in a few days to supplement your nutrition." Lin Heng drank a sip of rice wine and said with a smile.
Xiulan shook her head and said, "Those black chickens are willing to lay eggs, keep them, the food now is nutritious enough."
Lin Heng patted her hand and said, "Don't worry, I will hatch a batch of chicks for you these days, and they will be able to lay eggs again in a few months."
"You hatch it yourself?" Xiulan was puzzled.
Lin Heng smiled and explained: "It is to use the light bulb to provide heat for hatching. The number of chicks that can be hatched at one time is more than that of hens. I will teach you how to hatch tomorrow, just in case you are bored at home."
The tungsten filament bulbs used in this era are very hot, which is very suitable for hatching chicks, and the process is also very simple.
Hearing Lin Heng's words, Xiulan became interested and nodded: "Okay, let me see how you hatch it."
"And chicken won't make you fat, just right for you to eat." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Xiulan nodded, and then curiously asked: "Ducks and geese can also be hatched this way, right?"
"Yes, as long as it is an egg, it can be hatched. I will teach you once and you will definitely be able to do it." Lin Heng nodded.
After speaking, he got up to scoop rice for them. Xiulan is now very precise in cooking, just enough for the three of them to eat. Whether it is chicken or pumpkin tips, they are very good with rice. Xiulan ate too much food and left some rice for Lin Heng, and Lin Heng ate it all in two bites with the food.
After eating, they soaked the bowls and waited outside to digest the food for a while, then washed and went to bed.
Now they have changed to summer quilts, and they will lay out the cool mats in a few days. After telling Xiaoxia a story to sleep, Lin Heng took a deep breath and lay down on the bed.
Xiulan's pregnancy is a great joy for him, but it also means that he can't have sex for a long time, especially during the early pregnancy.
"What do you think if you give birth to a daughter this time!" Xiulan hugged Lin Heng habitually and asked anxiously.
Lin Heng turned his head and touched her little face and smiled: "Don't worry about these things, I love both men and women, don't worry."
In his previous life, Xiulan gave him two children, and the second one was a son. But this life is not necessarily the same, not to mention the different pregnancy time, even if the time is the same, it is impossible to be the same as in the previous life.
Of course, he hopes to have both sons and daughters, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't give birth to a son, he can continue to give birth.
He still loves his wife Xiulan more in his heart, and children are just the crystallization of their love. He would not beat or scold a woman for giving birth to a daughter like those men in the village. Whether a woman has a son or a daughter depends entirely on the man's luck, and has little to do with the woman.
Xiulan leaned on Lin Heng's chest and said, "But I want to give you a son."
"Don't worry. Even if this baby is a daughter, we can just have another one." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Then he explained the B-ultrasound technology to Xiulan. After two or three years, Ancheng Hospital will definitely have the corresponding machine. At that time, we can just pay someone to see if the baby is a boy or a girl.
If the baby is a boy, everyone is happy. If the baby is a girl, just abort it and have another baby.
"Are you relieved now?" Lin Heng said.
"Reassured." Xiulan nodded softly.
"Then take a rest." Lin Heng nodded and said, taking a few deep breaths and falling asleep peacefully.
The next morning, Lin Heng got up early and looked at the knowledge about pregnancy in the barefoot doctor's manual again.
"What are you looking at so early?" Xiulan asked curiously after waking up.
"You can read it too." Lin Heng handed the book to her. He had read it once, so he could read it very quickly.
"Then I'll study it slowly later." Xiulan nodded and got up.
"Don't wear tight clothes in the future. Wearing loose clothes is good for your body." Lin Heng reminded again.
Xiulan agreed: "Okay."
After getting dressed and getting up, the two of them continued to exercise as usual. Even if they were pregnant, they still needed to exercise properly. Lin Heng now began to teach Xiaoxia how to exercise.
After the exercise, he brought a bowl of wheat bran and corn paste to the female musk deer, which was cooked yesterday.
"The little musk deer are so cute!" Xiaoxia wanted to reach out and touch them, but the little musk deer all shrank into the corner one by one, and were a little afraid of people.
These guys look very smart and really cute. Lin Heng reached out and grabbed one for Xiaoxia to touch. If you touch them more, they will not be afraid of people. They will come over as soon as you call them, just like the lambs next to them.
After milking, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia to water the pumpkin, winter melon and cucumber. The vines are now full of small flowers. The two boxes of bees from Lin Heng's family are actively pollinating. I believe that in a few days, there will be too many to eat.
After watering, he also picked up three eggs.
When he got home, Lin Heng boiled two eggs, and Xiulan and Xiaoxia would have one every morning.
"You don't boil them yourself, there are a lot of eggs." Xiulan blamed.
"I like to eat potato cakes." Lin Heng smiled.
"No, I won't cook in the morning in the future, I will just eat eggs and milk." Xiulan shook her head and added another one.
"I really don't like it." Lin Heng was helpless.
After breakfast, Lin Heng and Xiulan began to count the eggs at home. If you don't count, you won't know. If you count, you will be shocked.
"We still have more than 80 eggs at home!" Xiulan said in shock.
The eggs at home are buried in the grain. If you don't turn them out, you really don't know how many there are.
"It's really a lot." Lin Heng nodded. Although the chickens usually lay a lot, they also eat a lot.
In addition to Xiaoxia's daily consumption, they often scrambled eggs and brought some to their parents.
"Let's hatch 20 eggs for the first time to see how it goes, and then hatch them later when they are ready." Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said.
"Okay." Xiulan nodded, and Xiaoxia also looked at him curiously.
Lin Heng took the 30 eggs that he had picked up recently and took them back to the bedroom, then covered the three of them with a sheet and used a flashlight to check.
"Look, the ones with black spots inside are fertilized eggs that can hatch chicks." Lin Heng said as he verified them one by one.
In the end, only two were infertile eggs without black spots.
"Generally speaking, fertilized eggs that have just been laid within a month can hatch, and it's useless to wait longer."
After putting the eggs in the basin and inspecting them, Lin Heng asked Xiulan to wash the eggs with warm water, and he prepared to connect the light bulb.
Lin Heng found a wooden box for clothes and started to modify it. He laid some insulation cloth around it, and then made a small rack for eggs with bamboo.
After getting these done, he found an electric switch and connected a light bulb to the box. After connecting it, he first tested it with a 25-watt light bulb.
After the light bulb was powered on, put a teacup of cold water in the box, and then covered the box with a small quilt. After waiting for half an hour, he put the mercury thermometer in to measure the temperature. It was only 35 degrees, which was a bit low.
Then he changed to a 30-watt light bulb, waited an hour and measured it again. The temperature reached 38 degrees, which was the right temperature.
"It's time to start hatching." Lin Heng said to Xiulan who was picking peas outside.
"I want to hatch chicks too." Xiaoxia ran in first.
Lin Heng touched her little head: "Just watch, I'll let you hatch chicks by yourself when you grow up."
"Then I want to grow up quickly." Xiaoxia tilted her head and said.
Xiulan brought the eggs and asked curiously: "How do you hatch them next?"
Lin Heng took a charcoal pencil and drew marks on the eggs. This is not superstition, but it is convenient to distinguish them so as not to forget to turn them over when turning them over.
"It's very simple, just put the eggs on the shelf at the bottom of the box, make sure the water doesn't dry up, and then turn them over three or four times a day. Let's put the eggs in now, and turn them over every six hours, three or four times a day, each time turn them over 90 degrees, and you don't need to turn them over in the later stage."
Lin Heng said to Xiulan while putting the eggs in. He drew four beams on the eggs, marked one, two, three, and four, and just turn one beam up each time.
"I understand." Xiulan nodded, feeling very curious. She had heard people hatch eggs in a quilt before, but this was the first time she had seen such a method.
Xiaoxia said happily, "I understand too."
"Xiaoxia is really smart. She will definitely be able to hatch eggs by herself when she grows up." Lin Heng touched her head and said.
After covering the quilt, they walked out of the study. It was just noon, and it was still early today. Lin Heng drank a cup of tea and took a break. He had nothing to do at noon, so he took out a book and started reading. He also answered some questions from Xiulan's barefoot doctor manual.
"Husband, let's postpone the physical examination for a few days. The book says that it is best to have a physical examination a week later."
Xiulan finished reading the book and said to Lin Heng.
"No problem, then we can go in a few days." Lin Heng agreed.
Xiulan said again, "Then let's go to the hospital to pick bamboo shoots in the afternoon. I saw that they were coming out a few days ago."
"Okay." Lin Heng did not restrict Xiulan's freedom. If she could only stay in the house when she got pregnant, she would be bored.
At 4 pm, when the sun went down, the three of them carried their backpacks to dig bamboo shoots in their own bamboo forest.
When they arrived at Shiban River, the three of them soaked in the river water wearing sandals. The river water was very comfortable at this time, and the sun was already very hot.
After playing for a while, they came to the bamboo forest. As soon as they entered the bamboo forest, Xiaoxia cheered: "Wow, there are so many bamboo shoots."
"It's so tall, we're late." Xiulan shook her head.
"There is water in this place, so it must grow faster than other places." Lin Heng said.
"Then you break it, and I'll peel it." Xiulan said, breaking one casually, and using a kitchen knife to peel off the shell of the bamboo shoot in two strokes.
Lin Heng took Xiaoxia to break bamboo shoots nearby. Xiaoxia wanted to break it but didn't have the strength to break it, so she could only wait for Lin Heng to break it and hold it for her mother.
There were many bamboo shoots in the bamboo garden, but Lin Heng only broke those under half a meter, and generally 20 to 30 centimeters at most.
When they were almost broken, he helped to peel the shell, and finally got two backpacks back home. Except for some of these bamboo shoots used to make pickled pepper bamboo shoots, the rest are all used to dry bamboo shoots.
Lin Heng was helping to cut bamboo shoots, and Caiyun and Lin's mother pushed open the unlocked door and came in.
"Congratulations, sister-in-law, I brought you cherries, which I picked in town." Caiyun ran in with a bag of cherries and said.
"Aunt, I want to eat!" Before Xiulan could say anything, Xiaoxia rushed over and hugged Caiyun.
"Why did you run out to pick bamboo shoots?" Lin's mother blamed Lin Heng a little.
"Are you okay?" Xiulan said with a smile.
"It's better to be careful, what if you fall." Lin's mother came over and took the kitchen knife from Xiulan's hand to help cut bamboo shoots, "I'll cut it, you go eat cherries."
"Okay." Xiulan could only agree.
After cutting the bamboo shoots, Lin's mother put them directly in the pot to cook, then took them out and soaked them in cold water, and took them out to dry tomorrow.
Then when Xiulan turned the eggs, Lin's mother Caiyun became interested and went to watch curiously, listening to Xiulan's hatching skills that she had just learned from Lin Heng.
The next day, after getting up, Lin Heng went to Hongfeng Mountain to see the green shrimps and then drove to the town. He first checked the situation at the purchasing station and then bought a ton of cement and some sand and gravel.
He also looked for plastic bags for silage. But he didn't find any suitable ones after searching around the town.
Although he didn't find a suitable plastic bag, there were many cherries for sale in the town, so he picked the best ones and bought some back for Xiulan and Xiaoxia.
"Here, I bought some more cherries." Lin Heng drove home and handed the cherries to Xiulan.
Xiulan looked at the scale in the truck bed and said, "Why did you bring another scale back?"
"It's for you to weigh. Recording this information can determine the condition of the fetus." Lin Heng explained with a smile.
"I see, I see." Xiulan nodded.
Lin Heng parked the car and took the scale back to the house. This is an old-fashioned mechanical scale with weights. There are still few electronic scales in this era.
Putting the scale against the wall, Lin Heng weighed himself first. 135 kilograms, which is about the same for his height of 175 cm, not too thin or fat.
"Dad, I want to weigh it too." Xiaoxia stood up second.
Lin Heng simply measured her height as well. She weighed 21 kilograms and was 84 cm tall, which is very healthy data.
Finally, it was Xiulan. She weighed 108 kilograms, which seemed a little thin compared to her height of 168 cm.
"You've gained a lot of weight. Last year, it was only 98 kilograms." Xiulan said.
"You are not fat at 120 pounds." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"That's too fat." Xiulan shook her head, not accepting herself being so heavy.
Lin Heng didn't know what to say, so he took a notebook to record the data, and then said: "Just test it once a week in the future."
"I made noodles at noon, and it's ready to eat." Xiulan said.
"I haven't eaten it for a long time." Lin Heng said with a smile, and went to the kitchen to bring out noodles and whistles. The cold noodles tasted very comfortable.
After dinner, Lin Heng took three large plastic bags and walked towards Hongfeng Mountain. Cement and gravel would be transported in the afternoon.
Walking on the road, the village started planting rice in the past two days, and the early rice seedlings planted by his family were all green. In two days, he could go catch eels again.
When he came to Hongfeng Mountain, he first looked at the fish pond. After the last fertilization and disinfection, the water quality that originally looked very clear gradually turned green.
He experimented and found that the visibility was about 40 centimeters, which was still a little short, but there was still nearly a month before the shrimp fry were released, so it should be almost there by then.
After looking at the fish pond, Lin Heng came to the warehouse. His father had chopped all the grass today and spread it on the ground to dry.
At noon, Lin's father was sawing wood in the warehouse. Seeing Lin Heng coming, he smiled and said, "Son, we can cover the roof of the musk deer pen and the pig pen in the afternoon. We have enough wood."
"Then start in the afternoon. I went downstairs to buy some cement and gravel this morning, and I will bring them over in the afternoon."
Lin Heng said, turned around to look at the shrimp, then took a sickle to the pasture to cut a few bundles of grass, broke them up with a lawn mower and put them in a plastic bag.
"Son, what are you doing?" Lin's father asked in confusion.
"Making silage, feeding cattle and sheep, it is more nutritious than hay." Lin Heng explained to his father.
He is also doing an experiment now, because making silage requires isolation from oxygen, and lactic acid bacteria will ferment the silage to reduce its pH value so that it can be preserved for a long time. Without a revolving door machine or vacuum cleaner, he could only use manpower to compact the grass.
The plastic bags he used were originally used to pack biscuits. He took them back from the store. After making them, he sealed them and stored them in the warehouse. As long as there was no rotting after ten days, it meant that they were successful.
After making three bags of green storage, Lin Heng went to help his father. When the sun was a little smaller at around three o'clock, he started to build the roofs for the pig pens and musk deer pens.
The pig pens were semi-enclosed, and only a general roof was needed. The musk deer pens were fully enclosed, just like building a normal house.
The reason for doing this was to prevent musk deer from running away. These creatures have strong jumping abilities and can jump out of walls four or five meters high.
The ventilation holes Lin Heng left on the wall were all brick-sized holes. Even if these musk deer were powerful, they could not escape from here.
The two had just nailed the rafters and had not yet put up the tiles when the sound of a horn came from outside.
"The truck drivers are here. I'll ask them to unload the goods." Lin Heng said, and went out from the roof.
Asking his mother to help sweep the grass on the road to one side, Lin Heng went out to open the gate and brought in the tractor.
"Hey, your breeding base is well done, so beautiful." Every tractor driver who came in was shocked.
"It's okay, unload the goods at the innermost." Lin Heng pointed to the cement floor where the film paper had been laid.
"Don't worry, I promise to do it for you." The driver grinned and backed the car down to move the goods.
After a while, the cement was unloaded, and Lin Heng and his father continued to build the roof. In the afternoon, sand and stones were also brought in one after another. These added up to cost Lin Heng another 400 yuan.
"Finally it's done."
In the evening, Lin Heng looked at the roof and took a deep breath.
"The next step is to pick a day to move the musk deer here." Lin's father nodded.
Lin's mother also asked on the side: "Son, when are you going to buy piglets?"