I am still amazed at how much I like it in the country, everything has changed so quickly and I still can't believe how much I enjoy all the chickens, ducks, and geese.
The ducklings started hatching a few days early, I half expected them to as hot as it was when they were shipped. We had a mishap and I was afraid that we might have accidentally killed them in the shells. We had a beautiful day and my husband opened up all the windows and turned off the air conditioning. Neither of us even thought about how it might affect the eggs. It got really warm in the house while we worked outside, which is not a good thing when your incubator was set up to run when the temperature is 78. The house only got up to 84 degrees on the Inside, however we also had a brooder with chicks in the same bathroom that the incubator is in...with a heat lamp on it. With the additional heat of the heat lamp and the house...the incubator temperature got up tp 105 degrees!
I was horrified to find the temperature was that high, I figured all the ducks and chickens would be fried in the shell. We got lucky with the ducks, we ended up with 10 out of 14 viable eggs hatching. I had to help a few out of the shells, after one died after zipping...I didn't want any more to die. I had three eggs that at one point had live ducks in them...I candled all of the duck eggs looking for movement after the heat incident all of them were alive, so we actually lost 4, I just didn't open the eggs...I candled them again, and even though I saw no movement any more, I left them to incubate several more days.
Today one of the chicks hatched, I put about a dozen chicken eggs in the incubator a few days after our rooster died. I tried to select only our Rhode Island Red hens eggs. I believe the first chick to hatch is a Rhode Island Red. A new life to replace the one lost. I have more eggs pipping, just no others have hatched yet. I also have a hen sitting on a lot of eggs, Brown Racer is a very broody girl...I hope that she passes that trait on to her offspring. We shall see how many of these eggs that could be damaged end up hatching. If nothing else hopefully Brown Racer will have a successful hatch.
Since our Rouen's started laying eggs, I collected a dozen of them and put them into the incubator. In about a week I will candle those eggs and see if they were fertile, if they are we will have more ducks in about 28 days. Ducks grow very rapidly so they should be about the size of an adult at about 5 weeks, they should do pretty well in the duck pen provided I get the new shelter built for them before cold weather hits. All of them should be old enough to start laying come spring. I have my doubts about the eggs I hatched being full blooded Khaki Campbell ducks...and I ended up with two of the eggs labeled HY hatching out yellow chicks. I contacted the lady from eBay that I got them from and they are a hybrid called Golden 300, if I remember right. She claims they are even better layers than Khaki Campbell's...and sometimes lay two eggs a day!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Our Ducks
My husband thought we needed ducks for our pond, so after raising chickens for awhile and determining that we could do it...I bought some baby ducks to raise. I was really surprised at how rapidly they grow and how messy they are. No lie...ducks and geese poop constantly and are almost full size by the ripe old age of five weeks.
Our ducks have finally gotten old enough that we can tell what sex they are. We have 2 Khaki Campbell male Drakes, 1 Rouen Drake and 2 Rouen duck hens. Because we have no female Khaki Campbell's I decided to get some Khaki Campbell hatching eggs and put them in the incubator about three weeks ago...hatch day is fast approaching, it takes 28 days to incubate duck and goose eggs. They sent 12 Khaki Campbell eggs and 4 extra eggs...I haven't got a clue what they are, they are marked H4 or Hy...so maybe a hybrid? I have been taking eggs out and candling them to see the progress of the duck eggs...we may have a very successful hatch. I am guessing duck eggs are just better for mail order eggs...tougher and can handle being shipped better than chicken eggs.
I originally got Khaki Campbell's because they are suppose to lay eggs as well as chickens do...when we had no females I was rather disappointed. We have male African Geese too, I was told they were Toulouse geese...I guess we need to learn how to sex ducks and geese so we get females when we need them. We will probably get female geese come Spring...even if I have to get hatching eggs and hatch them myself.
I got a nice surprise 3 days ago, after separating the two females and male Rouen ducks from the others...I got my first duck egg! The very next day we got two duck eggs! So my females are both laying now. I want to put a few of their eggs in the incubator too. They may be hybrids...a Rouen and Khaki Campbell mix. But, we shall see. Ducks, Geese and chickens love to eat bugs and weeds...we may need to fence more of our property so they can free range a greater area to take care of all the front part of our property...my husband believes they eat ants and I am all for them getting rid of those!
We separated the geese and two Khaki Campbell males from the others because they were picking on the Rouen male so badly, the Khaki Campbell with a white ring on his neck was constantly chasing and pecking him and one of the geese was pecking and sometimes tried to drown one of the females. They are much happier without getting pecked on and chased. The two African Geese and two Khaki Campbell Drakes are in the pen with the teen chicks who are rapidly becoming adults...they can protect themselves, but the pen is also really big and they have room to get away from each other too. We have a kiddie pool in that pen for them to get wet in, but we may end up moving the smaller 50 gallon cattle tank over into the pen. The kiddie pool only has a couple of inches of water in it...chickens can drown pretty easy.
We have not named very many of our poultry beyond the first hens and roosters. Just a few and normally we call them a name based on a characteristic...like Poofy Face, Big Red, Brown Racer from our original flock. We have a Mister and Mrs, the Speckled Sussex pair my neighbors gave me (they tend the smaller chicks), Spike the dominant Dominique mix rooster (he has a big spiky comb) and that is about it so far. I am leaning towards naming the ladies gem names like Amber, Topaz, Garnet, Diamond, Pearl...etc, but some are hard to tell apart. I have some bands to put on their legs to help ID them...but I gotta catch them first.
Our ducks have finally gotten old enough that we can tell what sex they are. We have 2 Khaki Campbell male Drakes, 1 Rouen Drake and 2 Rouen duck hens. Because we have no female Khaki Campbell's I decided to get some Khaki Campbell hatching eggs and put them in the incubator about three weeks ago...hatch day is fast approaching, it takes 28 days to incubate duck and goose eggs. They sent 12 Khaki Campbell eggs and 4 extra eggs...I haven't got a clue what they are, they are marked H4 or Hy...so maybe a hybrid? I have been taking eggs out and candling them to see the progress of the duck eggs...we may have a very successful hatch. I am guessing duck eggs are just better for mail order eggs...tougher and can handle being shipped better than chicken eggs.
I originally got Khaki Campbell's because they are suppose to lay eggs as well as chickens do...when we had no females I was rather disappointed. We have male African Geese too, I was told they were Toulouse geese...I guess we need to learn how to sex ducks and geese so we get females when we need them. We will probably get female geese come Spring...even if I have to get hatching eggs and hatch them myself.
I got a nice surprise 3 days ago, after separating the two females and male Rouen ducks from the others...I got my first duck egg! The very next day we got two duck eggs! So my females are both laying now. I want to put a few of their eggs in the incubator too. They may be hybrids...a Rouen and Khaki Campbell mix. But, we shall see. Ducks, Geese and chickens love to eat bugs and weeds...we may need to fence more of our property so they can free range a greater area to take care of all the front part of our property...my husband believes they eat ants and I am all for them getting rid of those!
We separated the geese and two Khaki Campbell males from the others because they were picking on the Rouen male so badly, the Khaki Campbell with a white ring on his neck was constantly chasing and pecking him and one of the geese was pecking and sometimes tried to drown one of the females. They are much happier without getting pecked on and chased. The two African Geese and two Khaki Campbell Drakes are in the pen with the teen chicks who are rapidly becoming adults...they can protect themselves, but the pen is also really big and they have room to get away from each other too. We have a kiddie pool in that pen for them to get wet in, but we may end up moving the smaller 50 gallon cattle tank over into the pen. The kiddie pool only has a couple of inches of water in it...chickens can drown pretty easy.
We have not named very many of our poultry beyond the first hens and roosters. Just a few and normally we call them a name based on a characteristic...like Poofy Face, Big Red, Brown Racer from our original flock. We have a Mister and Mrs, the Speckled Sussex pair my neighbors gave me (they tend the smaller chicks), Spike the dominant Dominique mix rooster (he has a big spiky comb) and that is about it so far. I am leaning towards naming the ladies gem names like Amber, Topaz, Garnet, Diamond, Pearl...etc, but some are hard to tell apart. I have some bands to put on their legs to help ID them...but I gotta catch them first.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Deaths on the Farm
We have been really lucky not to have any death's from predator attacks, we have coyotes, hawks, racoons, opossum, wild dogs and whatever else hangs around in the woods. Our dogs have not killed any of our poultry, although they have pulled some tail feathers out a couple of times.
Our first death was my favorite hen Ms Poofy Face. We went outside to let them out for free ranging and found her dead in the chicken run, she was still warm...we inspected her and found no wounds. I read up on sudden deaths in chickens and since she had no illness prior to her death, we think she may have had a heart attack.
Our second death was one of our Rouen ducks, he had some health issues, Angel Wing and a vitamin deficiency we believe. I noticed him standing in water...and not moving, in the beginning I just thought he was keeping cool. Later in the day the other ducks were pecking him and I went and got him out of the water. I read up on ducks more trying to figure out what was wrong, he stopped walking too. I brought him in the house and started giving him vitamins and Salmon cat food, he was getting better and standing up and flapping his wings and scooting around the floor making a mess. I started taking him outside and let him swim, I kept him in a cage on the back porch for a little while until my husband thought he would get more exercise if we took him to the pond. I was worried about him getting eaten by a predator or the dogs. He did well out at the pond, I would go down and call for him and he would swim to me. He was far from well, but he could get on the bank and into the water and swam pretty well. On his second week at the pond, I called and he didn't come see me like usual. I told the dogs to find him...Kensie, our lab found him. He was not moving. I could not get to where he was, but he still looked like he was in one piece. I am still not sure what happened to him, I just know he died.
Our third death was a chick. I let my hens hatch some eggs when they were broody. I had two broody hens at that time. One had three hatch and got off the eggs after three days, so I stuck the rest of the eggs under the other hen. She had five eggs hatch and then pooped on the rest of the eggs and switched to a different nest box. I took the remainder of the eggs out of the box and cleaned up the nest boxes. I left the eggs out overnight on top of the coop...it got down in the fifties that night. When I realized that I left them out I was going to toss the eggs into the compost bin but decided to do an eggtopsy. I gently cracked the eggs open...all but one were not fertile. The fertile one had a live chick in it! I made the mistake of putting the egg in the nest box with a hen, I thought it would have a better chance at finishing hatching. She promptly pecked it to death. I will not make that mistake again. I have since gotten an incubator.
We had two other chick deaths, the chicks were not healthy when they hatched in the incubator. I delt with pasty butt and bullying from the other chicks. They seem to peck on any that are not strong, natural selection I suppose. Some chicks are just small and weak sometimes...and do not thrive like the others, especially chicks from hatching eggs sent through the mail. These were both from hatching eggs that I incubated. Both times, they had pasty butt, I tried everything I could but found them dead in the morning at around 5 days old.
Our latest death was heat related. Our Rhode Island Red rooster. I separated the roosters into separate pens inside of a fenced area. Each of them had their own food and water. I put up shade cloth in the fenced area for shade and their kennels both have roofs or tarps over the top. My husband usually lets all of the chickens out in the mornings, we make sure the feeders and waterers are full when we put them up at night so all he does is let them out and do a quick check on them. I usually go out and check on them later in the morning...usually. I got busy and didn't check on the chickens until late in the afternoon...I found big Red face down in the dirt. He had spilled his water and was laying on a wet spot his face was covered in dirt. I bathed him in cool water and gave him droppers full of electrolytes and vitamins. I filled up his waterer with more electrolytes and vitamins and laid him on a towel in his kennel. I put a nipple waterer in his cage too...something he could not spill. I hoped he would be OK in the morning, he was standing up when I left him. The next morning, I went to check on him and he had died during then night. That is one bad thing about having so many animals...you cannot save them all when something goes wrong. We are building new waterers out of PVC pipes and hooking them up to 55 gallon or larger rain barrels or water containers now, something that they can't spill. We are learning the hard way at times how fragile life is.
Our first death was my favorite hen Ms Poofy Face. We went outside to let them out for free ranging and found her dead in the chicken run, she was still warm...we inspected her and found no wounds. I read up on sudden deaths in chickens and since she had no illness prior to her death, we think she may have had a heart attack.
Our second death was one of our Rouen ducks, he had some health issues, Angel Wing and a vitamin deficiency we believe. I noticed him standing in water...and not moving, in the beginning I just thought he was keeping cool. Later in the day the other ducks were pecking him and I went and got him out of the water. I read up on ducks more trying to figure out what was wrong, he stopped walking too. I brought him in the house and started giving him vitamins and Salmon cat food, he was getting better and standing up and flapping his wings and scooting around the floor making a mess. I started taking him outside and let him swim, I kept him in a cage on the back porch for a little while until my husband thought he would get more exercise if we took him to the pond. I was worried about him getting eaten by a predator or the dogs. He did well out at the pond, I would go down and call for him and he would swim to me. He was far from well, but he could get on the bank and into the water and swam pretty well. On his second week at the pond, I called and he didn't come see me like usual. I told the dogs to find him...Kensie, our lab found him. He was not moving. I could not get to where he was, but he still looked like he was in one piece. I am still not sure what happened to him, I just know he died.
Our third death was a chick. I let my hens hatch some eggs when they were broody. I had two broody hens at that time. One had three hatch and got off the eggs after three days, so I stuck the rest of the eggs under the other hen. She had five eggs hatch and then pooped on the rest of the eggs and switched to a different nest box. I took the remainder of the eggs out of the box and cleaned up the nest boxes. I left the eggs out overnight on top of the coop...it got down in the fifties that night. When I realized that I left them out I was going to toss the eggs into the compost bin but decided to do an eggtopsy. I gently cracked the eggs open...all but one were not fertile. The fertile one had a live chick in it! I made the mistake of putting the egg in the nest box with a hen, I thought it would have a better chance at finishing hatching. She promptly pecked it to death. I will not make that mistake again. I have since gotten an incubator.
We had two other chick deaths, the chicks were not healthy when they hatched in the incubator. I delt with pasty butt and bullying from the other chicks. They seem to peck on any that are not strong, natural selection I suppose. Some chicks are just small and weak sometimes...and do not thrive like the others, especially chicks from hatching eggs sent through the mail. These were both from hatching eggs that I incubated. Both times, they had pasty butt, I tried everything I could but found them dead in the morning at around 5 days old.
Our latest death was heat related. Our Rhode Island Red rooster. I separated the roosters into separate pens inside of a fenced area. Each of them had their own food and water. I put up shade cloth in the fenced area for shade and their kennels both have roofs or tarps over the top. My husband usually lets all of the chickens out in the mornings, we make sure the feeders and waterers are full when we put them up at night so all he does is let them out and do a quick check on them. I usually go out and check on them later in the morning...usually. I got busy and didn't check on the chickens until late in the afternoon...I found big Red face down in the dirt. He had spilled his water and was laying on a wet spot his face was covered in dirt. I bathed him in cool water and gave him droppers full of electrolytes and vitamins. I filled up his waterer with more electrolytes and vitamins and laid him on a towel in his kennel. I put a nipple waterer in his cage too...something he could not spill. I hoped he would be OK in the morning, he was standing up when I left him. The next morning, I went to check on him and he had died during then night. That is one bad thing about having so many animals...you cannot save them all when something goes wrong. We are building new waterers out of PVC pipes and hooking them up to 55 gallon or larger rain barrels or water containers now, something that they can't spill. We are learning the hard way at times how fragile life is.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Our Geese
I stopped by a new feed store one day, looking for better prices on feed and came across a cage and bins full of turkey's and geese. I had already purchased 6 ducks and they were so much fun to watch, I just stood there watching the geese until a lady who worked there told me she would make me a deal if I would buy some...she needed to get rid of them before her surgery she was having soon. They were cute, I decided to take two home with me. If the turkey's had have been Bourbon Reds, I would have bought some of them too.
It was fun taking care of the ducks and geese...they are horribly messy though and I cleaned their brooder at least twice a day. I enjoyed it a lot when I filled the bathtub a bit and let them swim around a bit. I tried to let them have time in the water at least once a day. Those little boogers grow incredibly fast! They recommend keeping them in a brooder for 6 weeks, but they outgrew everything I had! I ended up getting a large Rubbermade tank to keep them in, I had to add wire around the top to keep them in it...and at threes week old they went out to the covered and screened back porch. My neighbor said they could go out in the yard by that age, but I thought it would be better if they were bigger still...we have a lot of hawks and I didn't want them to appear like an easy meal.
The ducks and geese have their own fenced area and in addition to the Rubbermade tank that they really have to take turns getting into...I bought a 265 gallon galvanized cattle tank for them to swim in. The trouble was they had no way to get into it. In the beginning we would run around and catch them and put them in the water one at a time. Then I remembered the dog ramp that I had gotten for our deceased dog Orion...I just had to find it. Once I found it and put it on the side of the tank, I had to teach the ducks and geese how to walk up it and jump into the water. That took a little while, every time I could catch one I would set it down in the middle of the ramp...they would run down it instead of up it every time. Then I tried using food to get them to the ramp, and up the ramp...they would only go so far and then run back down the ramp. It took me several days of trying to get them to walk up the ramp to the edge of the water...then I had to get them to jump in. After we got them up the ramp, into the water, we had to teach them how to get out. We ended up moving some lawn chair close to the tank and watching them while they swam, they really loved it. But we had to catch them and put them on the ground for awhile because they just didn't have enough strength in their wings to get out on their own. They did finally get the hang of it though...and now they jump up on the ramp and walk down it most of the time.
My husband wanted ducks for the pond, the first time we tried to take them down to the pond was just plain funny to us. We each took a duck with us, just carried them...and when we got to the pond we thew our duck into the water...the ducks immediately turned around and got out of the water. We tried again, and it looked like they were going to stay and swim awhile...they started swimming across the lake. You could hear the other ducks quacking and they were answering and headed straight toward the sound...swam to the other bank, jumped out and started running toward the creek! We ran after them. I started calling the ducks and they came running to me...I always call them my babies...we have still not named them. They ran behind me and followed me all the way back to the house. We did not try again with the ducks. We did try with the geese this past week. It was the same thing...we threw them into the water and the immediately swam to the edge and got out. We walked down to a shallow spot and they followed us...we tried to get them to get into the water on their own..we thought that if they saw the fish, they would go after them. We had purchased minnows and put them in the water tank they swam in and they were scared of them. We ended up scooping some out into a big bowl and it was only after we actually started throwing to minnows to them that they actually ate them...then they put two and two together and ran to the bowl and started eating them all. They walked around in the shallow water and pulled up weeds and dug in the mud...but barely got their feet wet.
Then my sweet husband took his shoes and socks off and waded into the lake and tried to call them in...it didn't work either. He asked me to try it...so, I took my shoes and socks off and walked into the shallow water...and tried calling them...very slowly they worked their way into the water a little bit until it looked like they were floating. But still, they did not swim around. We will have to try again...but, the geese did the same thing as the ducks...they followed us all the way back to the house.
It was fun taking care of the ducks and geese...they are horribly messy though and I cleaned their brooder at least twice a day. I enjoyed it a lot when I filled the bathtub a bit and let them swim around a bit. I tried to let them have time in the water at least once a day. Those little boogers grow incredibly fast! They recommend keeping them in a brooder for 6 weeks, but they outgrew everything I had! I ended up getting a large Rubbermade tank to keep them in, I had to add wire around the top to keep them in it...and at threes week old they went out to the covered and screened back porch. My neighbor said they could go out in the yard by that age, but I thought it would be better if they were bigger still...we have a lot of hawks and I didn't want them to appear like an easy meal.
The ducks and geese have their own fenced area and in addition to the Rubbermade tank that they really have to take turns getting into...I bought a 265 gallon galvanized cattle tank for them to swim in. The trouble was they had no way to get into it. In the beginning we would run around and catch them and put them in the water one at a time. Then I remembered the dog ramp that I had gotten for our deceased dog Orion...I just had to find it. Once I found it and put it on the side of the tank, I had to teach the ducks and geese how to walk up it and jump into the water. That took a little while, every time I could catch one I would set it down in the middle of the ramp...they would run down it instead of up it every time. Then I tried using food to get them to the ramp, and up the ramp...they would only go so far and then run back down the ramp. It took me several days of trying to get them to walk up the ramp to the edge of the water...then I had to get them to jump in. After we got them up the ramp, into the water, we had to teach them how to get out. We ended up moving some lawn chair close to the tank and watching them while they swam, they really loved it. But we had to catch them and put them on the ground for awhile because they just didn't have enough strength in their wings to get out on their own. They did finally get the hang of it though...and now they jump up on the ramp and walk down it most of the time.
My husband wanted ducks for the pond, the first time we tried to take them down to the pond was just plain funny to us. We each took a duck with us, just carried them...and when we got to the pond we thew our duck into the water...the ducks immediately turned around and got out of the water. We tried again, and it looked like they were going to stay and swim awhile...they started swimming across the lake. You could hear the other ducks quacking and they were answering and headed straight toward the sound...swam to the other bank, jumped out and started running toward the creek! We ran after them. I started calling the ducks and they came running to me...I always call them my babies...we have still not named them. They ran behind me and followed me all the way back to the house. We did not try again with the ducks. We did try with the geese this past week. It was the same thing...we threw them into the water and the immediately swam to the edge and got out. We walked down to a shallow spot and they followed us...we tried to get them to get into the water on their own..we thought that if they saw the fish, they would go after them. We had purchased minnows and put them in the water tank they swam in and they were scared of them. We ended up scooping some out into a big bowl and it was only after we actually started throwing to minnows to them that they actually ate them...then they put two and two together and ran to the bowl and started eating them all. They walked around in the shallow water and pulled up weeds and dug in the mud...but barely got their feet wet.
Then my sweet husband took his shoes and socks off and waded into the lake and tried to call them in...it didn't work either. He asked me to try it...so, I took my shoes and socks off and walked into the shallow water...and tried calling them...very slowly they worked their way into the water a little bit until it looked like they were floating. But still, they did not swim around. We will have to try again...but, the geese did the same thing as the ducks...they followed us all the way back to the house.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Too Many Roos
I got the chickens originally for the eggs, started with 6 straight run chickens that were about 3 months old. It is a learning process, I had no clue what straight-run was. I do now.
After figuring out 2 of my original 6 were Roosters, I decided to get 4 more...but laying hens. I had 3 Easter Eggers, 3 Rhode Island Reds and now 4 Dominique hens. It was coming up on winter when I got them...those crazy hens slept outside on the roost all winter, I did wrap the run in heavy canvas and put a heat lamp out for them, but they have continued to sleep out on the run.
When Spring rolled around, I ended up with broody hens...the first time, I didn't let them sit on any eggs. You can break a hen that insists on sitting on eggs by locking them out of the nest boxes, they need to be cooled off and some people dip them in cool water or put them on a wire bottom cage with no bedding. The second time, I let two hens sit on eggs at first I got eggs from my neighbor, none of them hatched, then I used eggs from my chickens and had tiny little chicks, 7 black chicks hatched out and one yellow chick. During that time my favorite hen suddenly died, I only had one egg from her that hatched...it was the blond chick. My Rhode Island Red Rooster was the Daddy to all of these chicks. I had loaned my Easter Egger Rooster to my neighbors so none of the first batch were his. It seems like there is close to 1/2 and 1/2 on the sexes of the chicks. I ended up with 3 males out of 8 chicks with that hatch. But my hens actually stayed broody and sat on two clutches of eggs...they sat on eggs for 45 days total. They looked rough...so after they hatched the babies and took care of them for a week, I took the chicks away so they would eat and drink and gain back the weight they lost. Once my hens gained strength and started laying again, it was not but a month and the same two went broody again! I let them collect some eggs and sit again...but I had bought an incubator since the last hatch. I wanted some different breeds of chickens, so I bought some hatching eggs and substituted my hens eggs for the purchased eggs...and put my hens eggs in the incubator.
I had to separate my two roosters after my Easter Egger Roo came back from the neighbors house, he was beat up pretty bad when one of their roosters attacked him. I bought some chicks from Tractor Supply after my first failed hatch in the incubator, they told me they were all pullets...one was a rooster. I ordered chicks from a hatchery too, I purchased one rooster for each breed and a Dominique rooster for my Dominique hens. I found out that if you have any non-barred rooster and mate it with a barred hen, all of the females will be black, and all the males barred like their mother. I have a lot of little barred roosters running around, and about an equal amount of little black hens...but I can tell by the shape of their heads that a lot of those are fathered by my Easter Egger Rooster, they have beards! Lol, I hope I get some green or blue eggs out of the hens. I hate to say it...but most of the barred roosters will be dinner when they get older, they can be quite mean at times. They attacked me when I would try to change their water and feed them. The meanest will go first. I believe that I have about 20 roosters at the moment, but some are just too young to tell yet.
I just came in from outside and cleaning up the brooder on the back porch...I got all the 3 week old chicks outside in that brooder now, so just 4 chicks left in the bathroom for the next two weeks...until the ducks hatch, and a few days later a few chicks too. But, my little hen Brown Racer is at it again...she is still in the nest box from yesterday, yep she is broody again.
After figuring out 2 of my original 6 were Roosters, I decided to get 4 more...but laying hens. I had 3 Easter Eggers, 3 Rhode Island Reds and now 4 Dominique hens. It was coming up on winter when I got them...those crazy hens slept outside on the roost all winter, I did wrap the run in heavy canvas and put a heat lamp out for them, but they have continued to sleep out on the run.
When Spring rolled around, I ended up with broody hens...the first time, I didn't let them sit on any eggs. You can break a hen that insists on sitting on eggs by locking them out of the nest boxes, they need to be cooled off and some people dip them in cool water or put them on a wire bottom cage with no bedding. The second time, I let two hens sit on eggs at first I got eggs from my neighbor, none of them hatched, then I used eggs from my chickens and had tiny little chicks, 7 black chicks hatched out and one yellow chick. During that time my favorite hen suddenly died, I only had one egg from her that hatched...it was the blond chick. My Rhode Island Red Rooster was the Daddy to all of these chicks. I had loaned my Easter Egger Rooster to my neighbors so none of the first batch were his. It seems like there is close to 1/2 and 1/2 on the sexes of the chicks. I ended up with 3 males out of 8 chicks with that hatch. But my hens actually stayed broody and sat on two clutches of eggs...they sat on eggs for 45 days total. They looked rough...so after they hatched the babies and took care of them for a week, I took the chicks away so they would eat and drink and gain back the weight they lost. Once my hens gained strength and started laying again, it was not but a month and the same two went broody again! I let them collect some eggs and sit again...but I had bought an incubator since the last hatch. I wanted some different breeds of chickens, so I bought some hatching eggs and substituted my hens eggs for the purchased eggs...and put my hens eggs in the incubator.
I had to separate my two roosters after my Easter Egger Roo came back from the neighbors house, he was beat up pretty bad when one of their roosters attacked him. I bought some chicks from Tractor Supply after my first failed hatch in the incubator, they told me they were all pullets...one was a rooster. I ordered chicks from a hatchery too, I purchased one rooster for each breed and a Dominique rooster for my Dominique hens. I found out that if you have any non-barred rooster and mate it with a barred hen, all of the females will be black, and all the males barred like their mother. I have a lot of little barred roosters running around, and about an equal amount of little black hens...but I can tell by the shape of their heads that a lot of those are fathered by my Easter Egger Rooster, they have beards! Lol, I hope I get some green or blue eggs out of the hens. I hate to say it...but most of the barred roosters will be dinner when they get older, they can be quite mean at times. They attacked me when I would try to change their water and feed them. The meanest will go first. I believe that I have about 20 roosters at the moment, but some are just too young to tell yet.
I just came in from outside and cleaning up the brooder on the back porch...I got all the 3 week old chicks outside in that brooder now, so just 4 chicks left in the bathroom for the next two weeks...until the ducks hatch, and a few days later a few chicks too. But, my little hen Brown Racer is at it again...she is still in the nest box from yesterday, yep she is broody again.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Chickens Everywhere!
I know my family members probably think I am crazy...moving to the country in the middle of nowhere, raising chickens, ducks and geese...having a large garden...husband working 6 days a week and me taking on almost everything by myself. It is hard. I am tired once the sun goes down, but...I am losing weight, gaining muscles and building up my stamina and feeling pretty good most of the time.
At the moment I have duck eggs in the incubator and added some chicken eggs, 3 plastic tubs in my front bathroom with chicks in them, 8 chicks on the back porch in a brooder and around 60 in the pens and coops out back. My first chicks hatched back 2 days before Easter are pretty much grown, at least one has started laying eggs. I will be happier when all of the hens start laying, I am excited to see what color of eggs I get from all the different breeds. My Cream Legbars are suppose to lay blue eggs, I have Black Copper and Blue Splash Marans that are suppose to lay a chocolate brown egg, the Easter Eggers can lay blue, green, pink, brown and sometimes a lavender color...it will be a little while though...the other hens lay light brown and a few will lay white eggs. Since some of my chickens are only 4 days old and most breeds of chickens don't start laying until at least 5 months old...I have a while to wait.
I only have two female Rouen Ducks, 1 male Rouen and 2 Khaki Campbell ducks...I have read they don't start laying until they are about 7 months old. Both of my African Geese are males...we need to get a couple of females. Today I stopped by the feed store that I got them from, I may be able to trade the lady who works there a male for a female, but we will have to see what hers look like, if they are not healthy, I won't do it.
Today we let the ducks and geese into the chicken area, we opened the front door to the coop and let the babies explore. Geese are protectors and hung around the babies a bit, but they were mostly interested in the bugs and tall grass seed heads. We are hoping that by letting the geese into that area, they will handle the tall grass and weeds so we can stop mowing in that area...we shall see.
It is fun interacting with all the different aged chickens, they all have different personalities. At this point the youngest in the coop still look at me as their Mother for protection, it is funny how they hide behind me or swarm around my feet if they feel they are in danger. My neighbors gave me a male and female Speckled Sussex pair, they have been watching after the babies in the coop when I am not around. I have watched them through the window hovering around them while they were eating or drinking and they will attack other chickens who try and scare off the babies. Ahhh, life as a chicken mommy...don't knock it if you haven't tried it...it is a form of therapy.
At the moment I have duck eggs in the incubator and added some chicken eggs, 3 plastic tubs in my front bathroom with chicks in them, 8 chicks on the back porch in a brooder and around 60 in the pens and coops out back. My first chicks hatched back 2 days before Easter are pretty much grown, at least one has started laying eggs. I will be happier when all of the hens start laying, I am excited to see what color of eggs I get from all the different breeds. My Cream Legbars are suppose to lay blue eggs, I have Black Copper and Blue Splash Marans that are suppose to lay a chocolate brown egg, the Easter Eggers can lay blue, green, pink, brown and sometimes a lavender color...it will be a little while though...the other hens lay light brown and a few will lay white eggs. Since some of my chickens are only 4 days old and most breeds of chickens don't start laying until at least 5 months old...I have a while to wait.
I only have two female Rouen Ducks, 1 male Rouen and 2 Khaki Campbell ducks...I have read they don't start laying until they are about 7 months old. Both of my African Geese are males...we need to get a couple of females. Today I stopped by the feed store that I got them from, I may be able to trade the lady who works there a male for a female, but we will have to see what hers look like, if they are not healthy, I won't do it.
Today we let the ducks and geese into the chicken area, we opened the front door to the coop and let the babies explore. Geese are protectors and hung around the babies a bit, but they were mostly interested in the bugs and tall grass seed heads. We are hoping that by letting the geese into that area, they will handle the tall grass and weeds so we can stop mowing in that area...we shall see.
It is fun interacting with all the different aged chickens, they all have different personalities. At this point the youngest in the coop still look at me as their Mother for protection, it is funny how they hide behind me or swarm around my feet if they feel they are in danger. My neighbors gave me a male and female Speckled Sussex pair, they have been watching after the babies in the coop when I am not around. I have watched them through the window hovering around them while they were eating or drinking and they will attack other chickens who try and scare off the babies. Ahhh, life as a chicken mommy...don't knock it if you haven't tried it...it is a form of therapy.
Monday, August 18, 2014
I Need Coffee
I wake up pretty early most days, sometimes as early as 3:00am. I don't set the alarm any more, when we moved to the country it was basically for me to be able to do things like garden and get back into doing things I wanted to do. The quiet time of the day...is when I first get up, I fix coffee first thing. I usually don't sit down long to drink it though, a few sips and I usually start in on chores. I am dead tired by the end of the day so I usually leave the dinner dishes until in the morning. I start cleaning the kitchen and doing dishes and wiping down counters and such. Then I rest a few and drink my coffee.
Some days I don't even get half of my coffee down...because when I have baby chicks I start checking on them, cleaning the brooders, filling their waterers and food up. Right now I have 14 chicks less than a week old in a brooder in the bathroom of our office. I have a double decker brooder that I built on the back porch with 12 chicks in each section. Today I am writing before checking on them, but soon I will get to work on everything...after I finish this cup of coffee.
My husband use to work for a very large Corporation, he likes the finer things in life...when I met him, he had this coffee maker that you basically set the timer, filled a hopper with coffee beans and water, then in the morning it would grind the beans and brew the coffee and be waiting for you when you got up. It is the best coffee I ever had, we experimented with different brands of coffee and found one we really both like, it is chocolate raspberry flavored. I look forward to my cup of coffee every morning, sometimes I will drink it and watch the sun come up and listen to my roosters crow.
I prepared the coffee maker last week, filled it with water, put the beans in it and turned it on...then because I had cleaned the kitchen before bed, I started my daily chores with the chicks. I didn't get the coffee myself. The coffee maker had sprung a bit of a leak and I had a tray underneath it to catch the leak. I came in the living room after feeding, watering and changing out the bedding for the chicks, turning the eggs in the incubator and candling a few to see the progress of the egg development. I rested. My husband walks into the kitchen and hollers "Honey"...and I immediately think I forgot to turn on the coffee pot, or put coffee beans in the hopper...but, that was not the case...I knew I did both this time. He said come here for a minute...so, I did.
There was a big mess everywhere. The basket to the coffee maker had sprung out sometime during the process. I am glad the tray was under the coffee maker. But now we had coffee grounds and coffee in the tray, the drip basket was full and a mess was on the counter. He tried pushing the basket back in...it did not stay. He cleaned it up, but we knew the coffee maker was done, over, finito...no more good coffee. I pulled out the Mr.Coffee and ground some beans and started a new pot of coffee.
You get spoiled sometimes, you get use to things you like and you don't want them to change...good coffee is one of them for me. The coffee out of the Mr. Coffee tasted weak, it was also slightly bitter...neither of us enjoyed it. We thought we would just live with it, the coffee maker that failed was a luxury item. Since we moved out here we have pretty much eliminated luxury items. So, all week I tried to make the coffee taste better. Ground more beans, experimented with trying to make it less bitter, more bold flavor, used different water...filtered verses tap, cold from the fridge, room temperature from the Berky water filter. It finally started tasting a bit better...then the Mr.Coffee quit working...it stopped pumping the water. I ordered a new Grind and Brew like we had...in the mean time, I am drinking coffee that is not so great tasting made by pouring hot water through a filter basket.
The new coffee maker should be here today.
Some days I don't even get half of my coffee down...because when I have baby chicks I start checking on them, cleaning the brooders, filling their waterers and food up. Right now I have 14 chicks less than a week old in a brooder in the bathroom of our office. I have a double decker brooder that I built on the back porch with 12 chicks in each section. Today I am writing before checking on them, but soon I will get to work on everything...after I finish this cup of coffee.
My husband use to work for a very large Corporation, he likes the finer things in life...when I met him, he had this coffee maker that you basically set the timer, filled a hopper with coffee beans and water, then in the morning it would grind the beans and brew the coffee and be waiting for you when you got up. It is the best coffee I ever had, we experimented with different brands of coffee and found one we really both like, it is chocolate raspberry flavored. I look forward to my cup of coffee every morning, sometimes I will drink it and watch the sun come up and listen to my roosters crow.
I prepared the coffee maker last week, filled it with water, put the beans in it and turned it on...then because I had cleaned the kitchen before bed, I started my daily chores with the chicks. I didn't get the coffee myself. The coffee maker had sprung a bit of a leak and I had a tray underneath it to catch the leak. I came in the living room after feeding, watering and changing out the bedding for the chicks, turning the eggs in the incubator and candling a few to see the progress of the egg development. I rested. My husband walks into the kitchen and hollers "Honey"...and I immediately think I forgot to turn on the coffee pot, or put coffee beans in the hopper...but, that was not the case...I knew I did both this time. He said come here for a minute...so, I did.
There was a big mess everywhere. The basket to the coffee maker had sprung out sometime during the process. I am glad the tray was under the coffee maker. But now we had coffee grounds and coffee in the tray, the drip basket was full and a mess was on the counter. He tried pushing the basket back in...it did not stay. He cleaned it up, but we knew the coffee maker was done, over, finito...no more good coffee. I pulled out the Mr.Coffee and ground some beans and started a new pot of coffee.
You get spoiled sometimes, you get use to things you like and you don't want them to change...good coffee is one of them for me. The coffee out of the Mr. Coffee tasted weak, it was also slightly bitter...neither of us enjoyed it. We thought we would just live with it, the coffee maker that failed was a luxury item. Since we moved out here we have pretty much eliminated luxury items. So, all week I tried to make the coffee taste better. Ground more beans, experimented with trying to make it less bitter, more bold flavor, used different water...filtered verses tap, cold from the fridge, room temperature from the Berky water filter. It finally started tasting a bit better...then the Mr.Coffee quit working...it stopped pumping the water. I ordered a new Grind and Brew like we had...in the mean time, I am drinking coffee that is not so great tasting made by pouring hot water through a filter basket.
The new coffee maker should be here today.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
First Batch is grown up...
If you have never had chickens, you don't know what you are missing. I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I do, but I love their personalities, their sounds and even enjoy the roosters crowing. The first batch of babies is reaching maturity now, they are crowing and the hens should start laying soon. There are 4 roosters and 10 hens, they get to forage all day in the fenced area around the new coop we built, they are still basically living in the grow out pen. We moved the hatchery chicks to the coop and as soon as I can put wire on the outside so they can't go under the chicken coop...they will get to go out and play with the older juveniles. I call them my teen chicks at this point...not quite old enough to be called adults, but almost there.
I have another big batch of chicks on my back porch, I think there are 24...6 of those are the Cream Leg bars, 1 a Blue Splash Maran I hatched in the incubator, the rest are chicks from my original hens...and a lot of them are roosters. My Dominique hens bred with my Rhode Island Red rooster so I can tell that any of the chicks that have Barred feathers are males and may be considered as Rhodebars, the pretty much solid black are females called Sex Links. I was disappointed not getting but one Maran out of the hatch...so I tried again, I bought more eggs off of eBay.
I had a more successful hatch this past week, but still not great. I have 14 new chicks in my brooder in the house...but that is out of 48 eggs. I did get a few unusual chicks out of that batch, 1 a Golden Laced Polish, 4 Blue Laced Barnevelder, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, I believe 3 Blue Splash and 1 Black Copper Marans...then a Rhode Island Red, a New Hampshire Red and 2 Blue Andalusians. Because all but two of the Black Copper Marans eggs were infertile they sent me more eggs...they are still in the incubator and I hope to get at lest a few more out of that. I candled a few of them yesterday and it appears chicks are growing in them.
I hope that by this time next year that I have around 60 hens laying and a lot of different colors of eggs. I can breed a Marans Chicken with a blue egg layer and get an Olive colored egg...and my Easter Eggers should be laying so a variety of colors with them, and dark browns with the Marans, the Cream Legbars lay blue eggs...I look forward to that. I ordered a book on chicken breeding, so I can learn about traits and how to get different breeds out of my base chicken stock.
I know my family probably thinks I am crazy, chickens are a lot of work but I enjoy watching them, hearing them coo and chirp, they make happy sounds. My husband and I have chairs set out under the trees in their pen and we enjoy watching them and taking them treats. It is funny having them all come running when you go out to feed them, or bring them treats it is cute seeing all those little legs moving, seeing them hopping up trying to fly to you faster, get to you first. Even when they are adults they make the cutest sounds when they are happy...and there is no feeling like finding your first egg from a hen you raised, or a baby chick you hatched out.
I have another big batch of chicks on my back porch, I think there are 24...6 of those are the Cream Leg bars, 1 a Blue Splash Maran I hatched in the incubator, the rest are chicks from my original hens...and a lot of them are roosters. My Dominique hens bred with my Rhode Island Red rooster so I can tell that any of the chicks that have Barred feathers are males and may be considered as Rhodebars, the pretty much solid black are females called Sex Links. I was disappointed not getting but one Maran out of the hatch...so I tried again, I bought more eggs off of eBay.
I had a more successful hatch this past week, but still not great. I have 14 new chicks in my brooder in the house...but that is out of 48 eggs. I did get a few unusual chicks out of that batch, 1 a Golden Laced Polish, 4 Blue Laced Barnevelder, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, I believe 3 Blue Splash and 1 Black Copper Marans...then a Rhode Island Red, a New Hampshire Red and 2 Blue Andalusians. Because all but two of the Black Copper Marans eggs were infertile they sent me more eggs...they are still in the incubator and I hope to get at lest a few more out of that. I candled a few of them yesterday and it appears chicks are growing in them.
I hope that by this time next year that I have around 60 hens laying and a lot of different colors of eggs. I can breed a Marans Chicken with a blue egg layer and get an Olive colored egg...and my Easter Eggers should be laying so a variety of colors with them, and dark browns with the Marans, the Cream Legbars lay blue eggs...I look forward to that. I ordered a book on chicken breeding, so I can learn about traits and how to get different breeds out of my base chicken stock.
I know my family probably thinks I am crazy, chickens are a lot of work but I enjoy watching them, hearing them coo and chirp, they make happy sounds. My husband and I have chairs set out under the trees in their pen and we enjoy watching them and taking them treats. It is funny having them all come running when you go out to feed them, or bring them treats it is cute seeing all those little legs moving, seeing them hopping up trying to fly to you faster, get to you first. Even when they are adults they make the cutest sounds when they are happy...and there is no feeling like finding your first egg from a hen you raised, or a baby chick you hatched out.
Success!
I planted my gardens sort of piecemeal and late this year, with all the rain we had I just didn't know if anything would actually produce crops. I stay pretty busy around here and with working on the new chicken coop and all the baby chicks that have hatched I have not really paid a lot of attention to my gardens.
Well, we finished the chicken coop enough to put our chicks that I got from the hatchery out there and I started paying more attention. I had to weed. Note to self: I will need to give myself more room if I am going to use the tiller between rows to do it next year! I had to use a hoe to weed and a hand cultivator...and just my gloved hands to pull the weeds that looked more like small trees...and there are a lot of those. It is going to take a long time and a lot of maintenance to keep the weeds out.
I have had good success with my tomatoes, I planted San Marzano, Arkansas Traveller, Black Krim and Sweet 100's...I have to pick tomatoes every couple of days and get all of the ones that are just starting to turn red, if I don't the bugs and birds will eat them. I have used zero pesticides on my gardens and really have not had to worry much about bugs...but, there are ants that will cover the overly ripe tomatoes that fall...and the ones that touch the ground. I will have to come up with a better method than tomato cages and stakes...the weight of the tomatoes bent, broke and pulled the tomato cages out of the ground. I think I planted about 20 tomato plants, and even with all the bad tomatoes I still pick around 10 to 15 pounds or better when I pick them every time. I have canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and hot sauce. I pick around a gallon of fresh green beans twice a week, have picked enough jalapeños to can a couple of pints and make 12 pints of hot sauce, brocolli has been harvested 4 times and each time it is enough for a couple of meals, pinto beans...a little over a quart but I doubt I will plant them again, I harvested my corn and even though the cobs were small and the birds pulled out a row and a half we got probably 60 ears. My herb garden is doing pretty well, the mints are huge, basil and oregano did well, Stivia is so so, dill almost non-existent (weeds crowded it), Cilantro died. I put pickling cucumbers in the herb garden and have had a good crop...made a lot of pickles for the first time, Kosher, sweet hots, and even am fermenting 3 gallons at the moment. I had to uncover my strawberry plants and blueberries...they are doing better now...it took a few days of weeding to find them. Oh, I harvested some bell peppers too. I am sure once the weather starts cooling off everything will do better especially if I keep up with weeding.
When you buy all your produce at the store you never realize how bland it tastes compared to home grown...the taste difference is remarkable and so much better. I think this years garden was a success, even with all the set backs. I have watermelon and cantaloupe on the vines too...just trying to wait patiently to be able to see how they turned out. Now, to figure out what to plant for my fall garden.
Well, we finished the chicken coop enough to put our chicks that I got from the hatchery out there and I started paying more attention. I had to weed. Note to self: I will need to give myself more room if I am going to use the tiller between rows to do it next year! I had to use a hoe to weed and a hand cultivator...and just my gloved hands to pull the weeds that looked more like small trees...and there are a lot of those. It is going to take a long time and a lot of maintenance to keep the weeds out.
I have had good success with my tomatoes, I planted San Marzano, Arkansas Traveller, Black Krim and Sweet 100's...I have to pick tomatoes every couple of days and get all of the ones that are just starting to turn red, if I don't the bugs and birds will eat them. I have used zero pesticides on my gardens and really have not had to worry much about bugs...but, there are ants that will cover the overly ripe tomatoes that fall...and the ones that touch the ground. I will have to come up with a better method than tomato cages and stakes...the weight of the tomatoes bent, broke and pulled the tomato cages out of the ground. I think I planted about 20 tomato plants, and even with all the bad tomatoes I still pick around 10 to 15 pounds or better when I pick them every time. I have canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and hot sauce. I pick around a gallon of fresh green beans twice a week, have picked enough jalapeños to can a couple of pints and make 12 pints of hot sauce, brocolli has been harvested 4 times and each time it is enough for a couple of meals, pinto beans...a little over a quart but I doubt I will plant them again, I harvested my corn and even though the cobs were small and the birds pulled out a row and a half we got probably 60 ears. My herb garden is doing pretty well, the mints are huge, basil and oregano did well, Stivia is so so, dill almost non-existent (weeds crowded it), Cilantro died. I put pickling cucumbers in the herb garden and have had a good crop...made a lot of pickles for the first time, Kosher, sweet hots, and even am fermenting 3 gallons at the moment. I had to uncover my strawberry plants and blueberries...they are doing better now...it took a few days of weeding to find them. Oh, I harvested some bell peppers too. I am sure once the weather starts cooling off everything will do better especially if I keep up with weeding.
When you buy all your produce at the store you never realize how bland it tastes compared to home grown...the taste difference is remarkable and so much better. I think this years garden was a success, even with all the set backs. I have watermelon and cantaloupe on the vines too...just trying to wait patiently to be able to see how they turned out. Now, to figure out what to plant for my fall garden.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Babies!
Ok, it was only in April that I let my hens hatch out some babies. Well, I once again have broody hens. Yep, Brown Racer is broody for the third time in a year! Ms McCluckinson is broody for the second time. I figured it would be a good time to buy hatching eggs of a couple of breeds I wanted and let them hatch the chicks. The other hens laid eggs in the nest boxes for a few days and I let them keep them while I searched for chocolate egg layers and blue egg layers from eBay.
I got the eggs in the mail about a week later but the blue eggs were damaged and I sent the seller a message telling them they needed to pack differently, the eggs were smashed from too tight of packing materials. I sent pictures. I pulled all of the eggs from my broody hens and put them in the incubator. I put half of both kinds of eggs under each broody hen...now it is just a matter of waiting 21 days! But, because of the packing problem the seller on eBay was sending replacement eggs!
In the mean time, two of my Dominique hens go broody too! Well, I only have 7 hens laying...when a hen goes broody and sits on eggs, they stop laying eggs. But because the seller was shipping replacements I was glad for one more broody. Well, until they started rotating nest boxes. When the other eggs came in I split them too. I only have four nest boxes though...when you have four broody hens and four nest boxes, you need more nest boxes for the other hens to lay their eggs in...or they will get in the nest box with the broody hens and lay. Then at one point it looked like I had six broody hens! The Dominique hens kicked Brown Racer out of her nest box so she climbed in with Ms McCluckinson. Then Ms McCluckinson climbed in with a Dominique. They all started stealing eggs! They would get into a nest box and roll one out and over to another, I guess 6 eggs each was not enough...so I left the eggs being laid in the nest boxes.
I think it was last Monday that I heard the first chick in the incubator...I had not done lockdown yet and the egg turner was still in the incubator...and a chick had hatched! I wasn't really ready for it, I thought I had a few more days. So I set up a brooder for it and took out the eggs and candled them. Took a few out that were not fertile, and put the rest on lockdown. I have had two eggs a day hatch all week. I am up to 16 babies now in the brooder.
Yesterday I went out to give the Momma hens sitting on the eggs some watermelon and grapes and saw an eggshell in the run. I decided to check under the hens to see if a chick had hatched...no chick found. Since I was down to three eggs in the incubator, I decided to confiscate all of the eggs from the hens and put them in the incubator to finish the hatch. It has been really hot out lately and the hens were not drinking enough water...I didn't want my hens to die, I took them all out of the nest boxes and put them outside. I closed the coop after I did that because brown racer ran back up and sat on the empty nest.
After the eggs sat in the incubator for a few hours I went and checked on them, two of them had bubbles coming out of them...trashed them before they exploded. I woke up this morning and one of my remaining three eggs had hatched. The ones I took away from the hens should start hatching tomorrow if the hens didn't damage them too badly.
I got the eggs in the mail about a week later but the blue eggs were damaged and I sent the seller a message telling them they needed to pack differently, the eggs were smashed from too tight of packing materials. I sent pictures. I pulled all of the eggs from my broody hens and put them in the incubator. I put half of both kinds of eggs under each broody hen...now it is just a matter of waiting 21 days! But, because of the packing problem the seller on eBay was sending replacement eggs!
In the mean time, two of my Dominique hens go broody too! Well, I only have 7 hens laying...when a hen goes broody and sits on eggs, they stop laying eggs. But because the seller was shipping replacements I was glad for one more broody. Well, until they started rotating nest boxes. When the other eggs came in I split them too. I only have four nest boxes though...when you have four broody hens and four nest boxes, you need more nest boxes for the other hens to lay their eggs in...or they will get in the nest box with the broody hens and lay. Then at one point it looked like I had six broody hens! The Dominique hens kicked Brown Racer out of her nest box so she climbed in with Ms McCluckinson. Then Ms McCluckinson climbed in with a Dominique. They all started stealing eggs! They would get into a nest box and roll one out and over to another, I guess 6 eggs each was not enough...so I left the eggs being laid in the nest boxes.
I think it was last Monday that I heard the first chick in the incubator...I had not done lockdown yet and the egg turner was still in the incubator...and a chick had hatched! I wasn't really ready for it, I thought I had a few more days. So I set up a brooder for it and took out the eggs and candled them. Took a few out that were not fertile, and put the rest on lockdown. I have had two eggs a day hatch all week. I am up to 16 babies now in the brooder.
Yesterday I went out to give the Momma hens sitting on the eggs some watermelon and grapes and saw an eggshell in the run. I decided to check under the hens to see if a chick had hatched...no chick found. Since I was down to three eggs in the incubator, I decided to confiscate all of the eggs from the hens and put them in the incubator to finish the hatch. It has been really hot out lately and the hens were not drinking enough water...I didn't want my hens to die, I took them all out of the nest boxes and put them outside. I closed the coop after I did that because brown racer ran back up and sat on the empty nest.
After the eggs sat in the incubator for a few hours I went and checked on them, two of them had bubbles coming out of them...trashed them before they exploded. I woke up this morning and one of my remaining three eggs had hatched. The ones I took away from the hens should start hatching tomorrow if the hens didn't damage them too badly.
Ouch
We got the new chicken coop framed, it took two weekends. My husband started taking off at 5 this past week and we worked on the coop when he got home from work. We put up the sheathing on the sides and I hauled materials using our lawn tractor to the job site. Well, until I hurt myself anyway.
The sheathing is a semi-structural board, we attached it to the outside walls of the chicken coop. I thought I would get the metal siding loaded and brought over to the coop and start putting it up on the bottom sections. The metal was in our Tuff Shed,kinda buried under the decking I had gotton for the roof. I had to move the roof decking one sheet at a time and stack them close to the door so I could put them back. I actually leaned the 4'x8' sheets against the door to keep it open while I got the metal siding out of the shed.
Everything was going great, I got the metal all loaded into the dump cart hooked up to the lawn tractor and started to move the decking back into the shed. Everything happened so fast that I am not quite sure how what happened next happened...but, as I started to move the first piece of decking the whole stack of 8 sheets decided to come forward onto me! Maybe the wind caught it? Maybe I didn't have them at a good angle against the door? Not sure...they fell forward toward me though, and knocked me back into the metal sitting in the cart. I hit my elbow on the metal and tryed to get out of the way of the falling wood before it fell completely. I pushed on it to keep it from sliding down my legs and lost my ballance, fell forward onto the doorframe and landed on my hip on the threshold of the door...that is when I noticed blood dripping down my arm and tried to get up. I grabbed my shirt at stuck it to my arm putting pressure on my elbow. I just left everything out and went to the house to inspect the damage to my arm.
My shirt had a nice big wet spot of blood, my glove was wet with it and I was a little afraid to look at the cut. I got a washcloth and proceeded to clean it up and continued the pressure on it while I looked for butterfly bandages, quick clot, gauze and antiseptic.
Then I decided to look at my elbow. I could tell I needed stitches, I hoped I could put two or three butterfly bandages on it and continue working. It had stopped bleeding, well...until I tried to put on the first butterfly bandage it had. When I put that on and pulled it to close the wound tighter, it kind of opened it up and blood squirted into the sink. I am thankful at this time that my Mom always used me as her assistant when putting on butterfly bandages on my siblings when I was a kid...also that I had boys who gave me the opportunity to see some injuries and know how a lot of blood would make me feel. Gross huh? At least I didn't faint or panic! But, I did dread calling my husband to come take me to the hospital for stitches.
I kept calm, called my husband...told him what happened, that it wasn't that bad...just in a bad spot. Have you ever had a bad cut on a joint? It moves a lot, I am very right handed and the cut is on my right elbow. I have too much to get done to let a little cut stop me. He said he was on his way, and I decided to try my doctors office and see if they could stitch me up before having him take me to the emergency room. My regular doctor couldn't, but another o e would be waiting for me to get there.
I ended up getting six stitches and a tetanus shot. I have about a 7 inch bruise on my left forearm and a very ugly black bruise on my left hip...yep, it hurt worse the second day...oh, it still hurts. My arm is swollen from the tetanus shot too. The shot also had the Whooping Cough vaccine in it and the past few days I have been coughing...why? Who knows? It may be allergies, either that or maybe the shot made me have it. I have to take antibiotics and the stitches have to stay in at least ten days to two weeks.
The sheathing is a semi-structural board, we attached it to the outside walls of the chicken coop. I thought I would get the metal siding loaded and brought over to the coop and start putting it up on the bottom sections. The metal was in our Tuff Shed,kinda buried under the decking I had gotton for the roof. I had to move the roof decking one sheet at a time and stack them close to the door so I could put them back. I actually leaned the 4'x8' sheets against the door to keep it open while I got the metal siding out of the shed.
Everything was going great, I got the metal all loaded into the dump cart hooked up to the lawn tractor and started to move the decking back into the shed. Everything happened so fast that I am not quite sure how what happened next happened...but, as I started to move the first piece of decking the whole stack of 8 sheets decided to come forward onto me! Maybe the wind caught it? Maybe I didn't have them at a good angle against the door? Not sure...they fell forward toward me though, and knocked me back into the metal sitting in the cart. I hit my elbow on the metal and tryed to get out of the way of the falling wood before it fell completely. I pushed on it to keep it from sliding down my legs and lost my ballance, fell forward onto the doorframe and landed on my hip on the threshold of the door...that is when I noticed blood dripping down my arm and tried to get up. I grabbed my shirt at stuck it to my arm putting pressure on my elbow. I just left everything out and went to the house to inspect the damage to my arm.
My shirt had a nice big wet spot of blood, my glove was wet with it and I was a little afraid to look at the cut. I got a washcloth and proceeded to clean it up and continued the pressure on it while I looked for butterfly bandages, quick clot, gauze and antiseptic.
Then I decided to look at my elbow. I could tell I needed stitches, I hoped I could put two or three butterfly bandages on it and continue working. It had stopped bleeding, well...until I tried to put on the first butterfly bandage it had. When I put that on and pulled it to close the wound tighter, it kind of opened it up and blood squirted into the sink. I am thankful at this time that my Mom always used me as her assistant when putting on butterfly bandages on my siblings when I was a kid...also that I had boys who gave me the opportunity to see some injuries and know how a lot of blood would make me feel. Gross huh? At least I didn't faint or panic! But, I did dread calling my husband to come take me to the hospital for stitches.
I kept calm, called my husband...told him what happened, that it wasn't that bad...just in a bad spot. Have you ever had a bad cut on a joint? It moves a lot, I am very right handed and the cut is on my right elbow. I have too much to get done to let a little cut stop me. He said he was on his way, and I decided to try my doctors office and see if they could stitch me up before having him take me to the emergency room. My regular doctor couldn't, but another o e would be waiting for me to get there.
I ended up getting six stitches and a tetanus shot. I have about a 7 inch bruise on my left forearm and a very ugly black bruise on my left hip...yep, it hurt worse the second day...oh, it still hurts. My arm is swollen from the tetanus shot too. The shot also had the Whooping Cough vaccine in it and the past few days I have been coughing...why? Who knows? It may be allergies, either that or maybe the shot made me have it. I have to take antibiotics and the stitches have to stay in at least ten days to two weeks.
Friday, June 27, 2014
The Big Chicken Coop is started.
When we first decided to get chickens, they were just for us...for eggs. But out of the first 6 we got, two were roosters. After getting so few eggs the first winter, we decided to get more hens. We had to wait awhile, but we started getting more eggs and then ended up with two broody hens! Well...broody hens don't lay eggs...they sit on them with the full intension of hatching them, they want babies. I let them hatch eggs the second time my Rhode Island Red went broody. Her name is Brown Racer, her partner in crime is an Easter Egger named Ms McCluckinson. They were so intent on being Mothers, I got eggs from my neighbor and let them sit on them...they didn't hatch, and my hens laid eggs in the boxes, so I let them keep laying eggs after letting my Rhode Island Red out for fertilization. After sitting on those, they both became Mothers! Those chicks are teenagers now. They were born just before Easter. The same two hens are broody again...and they had just started laying!
I have made a double Decker Brooder to house the baby chicks. I made a grow out pen to house the Teen Chicks...but I still need more places to put full grown chickens. So, we are building an 8'x16' coop with a 16'x16' covered run. So far we have semi-leveled a spot to build it, and made the base of the coop so far. I do have most of the materials ready to go, but I have been getting help from my husband on this project and he only has a little bit of time working six days a week. The materials are pretty heavy and some of the wood I just can't move by myself without my husband and the truck, there are also large sheets of decking and the siding is metal and heavy also.
I am hoping this weekend to get the framing materials moved to the build site, and possibly getting the framing started. Because, now I have two hens sitting on eggs, eggs in the incubator, chicks from almost 4 weeks old (19 of them), chicks 6 weeks old (7 of them) and my teen chicks are about 11 weeks old and there are 13 of those! I need the coop built before they start laying eggs!
I am looking into selling the eggs, the chicks and possibly selling hatching eggs too. I need to do more research on it and maybe get some egg cartons. I stopped by the Farmers Market yesterday and no one was selling eggs!
I have made a double Decker Brooder to house the baby chicks. I made a grow out pen to house the Teen Chicks...but I still need more places to put full grown chickens. So, we are building an 8'x16' coop with a 16'x16' covered run. So far we have semi-leveled a spot to build it, and made the base of the coop so far. I do have most of the materials ready to go, but I have been getting help from my husband on this project and he only has a little bit of time working six days a week. The materials are pretty heavy and some of the wood I just can't move by myself without my husband and the truck, there are also large sheets of decking and the siding is metal and heavy also.
I am hoping this weekend to get the framing materials moved to the build site, and possibly getting the framing started. Because, now I have two hens sitting on eggs, eggs in the incubator, chicks from almost 4 weeks old (19 of them), chicks 6 weeks old (7 of them) and my teen chicks are about 11 weeks old and there are 13 of those! I need the coop built before they start laying eggs!
I am looking into selling the eggs, the chicks and possibly selling hatching eggs too. I need to do more research on it and maybe get some egg cartons. I stopped by the Farmers Market yesterday and no one was selling eggs!
Planted my gardens but...
I have three gardens planted now. I started seeds thinking that if they were started the birds could not eat the seeds...I was wrong! I lost a row and a half of corn and about the same with the green beans...they just pulled all of the plants up and out of the ground. I bought some plants and after tilling again, got them planted too. I have all kinds of stuff growing now, not sure how much of a harvest I will get, but I have stuff planted.
I am going to assume that the soil is fertile in my gardens, I actually have 4 garden plots...only three are planted because when we get a lot of rain half of one floods. Weeds grow really well in my gardens, it is hard to keep up with weeding them. The tiller I got can go between the rows, but it has no reverse and next year I will need to remembr to leave more space between the fence and the planted rows...so I can use the tiller to weed!
I have harvested Mexican Plums and Dewberries. I made jelly with those, my first attempt at jelly making...so I ended up with more of a Dewberry syrup instead of jelly. After talking with a local lady, she said that it is always trial and error. My plum jelly turned out really good, jellied like it was suppose to. Dewberries and blackberries don't have any pectin in them so it takes much, much more...drives me crazy that none of my Dewberry jelly is really jellied.
The only other thing I have harvested is green tomatoes. My plants got so heavy it broke the metal tomato cage on one. I also saw a number of tomatoes with blossom end rot an deformed tomatoes from the way they laid on the ground. I have a bunch sitting on the counter now some starting to ripen. I dried my eggshells and ground them up to a powder and added some Epsom salt to an old huge Parmesan Cheese shaker and mixed it up really good and sprinkled the mix around all of my tomato plants. I hope the calcium and magnesium works wonders and fixes the problems. I need to apply fertilizer to the rest of my gardens, that is where my chickens come in handy.
I am going to assume that the soil is fertile in my gardens, I actually have 4 garden plots...only three are planted because when we get a lot of rain half of one floods. Weeds grow really well in my gardens, it is hard to keep up with weeding them. The tiller I got can go between the rows, but it has no reverse and next year I will need to remembr to leave more space between the fence and the planted rows...so I can use the tiller to weed!
I have harvested Mexican Plums and Dewberries. I made jelly with those, my first attempt at jelly making...so I ended up with more of a Dewberry syrup instead of jelly. After talking with a local lady, she said that it is always trial and error. My plum jelly turned out really good, jellied like it was suppose to. Dewberries and blackberries don't have any pectin in them so it takes much, much more...drives me crazy that none of my Dewberry jelly is really jellied.
The only other thing I have harvested is green tomatoes. My plants got so heavy it broke the metal tomato cage on one. I also saw a number of tomatoes with blossom end rot an deformed tomatoes from the way they laid on the ground. I have a bunch sitting on the counter now some starting to ripen. I dried my eggshells and ground them up to a powder and added some Epsom salt to an old huge Parmesan Cheese shaker and mixed it up really good and sprinkled the mix around all of my tomato plants. I hope the calcium and magnesium works wonders and fixes the problems. I need to apply fertilizer to the rest of my gardens, that is where my chickens come in handy.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Fenced and Ready to Plant!
I know I am running way behind on getting things planted in my gardens...but, after being tilled we had rains and freezing temperatures. My 4 garden areas had to be tilled again and I ended up buying a rear-tine tiller to help with weeding and small areas. I also had to fence the gardens so the dogs would not have access to them. The dogs would follow behind me as I tilled, and they ate all the grubs! Really gross, but I would have collected them and given them to the chickens.
I got my highest garden plot planted with purchased tomato, pepper and brocolli plants. I have started more seeds since my original plant starts were frozen to death. We had eight inches of rain and everything is like a marsh that is on the lower area of my pasture. My land is on a hill and only parts are semi-terraced. I went ahead and am starting some corn plants and green beans in starter pots again. I am going to have to till again! Weeds grow really well in tilled soil. My husband and I got the two largest gardens fenced weekend before last and yesterday I tilled (again) and fenced the smaller garden. One side I sunk up to my ankles in mud...but the blueberry plants I put in it seem to like the wet ground. With the 8 inches of rain I have decided I need to create a collection trench to control the flow of water through the garden. I will probably have to mound dirt up too. I will have to keep in mind the swampy areas when planting and make sure only the higher water requiring plants are planted there. The smaller garden area will be for blueberries, strawberries and herbs...maybe asparagus and onions if there is room. The bigger gardens are for corn, green beans, sunflowers and then one for vining plants. Walt at Tractor Supply informed me some people have planted seed three times because of the late freezes, so I am doing pretty good...I didn't loose but one batch and they weren't planted yet. I just need to realize that the temperatures on the news are for Shreveport...and we are always cooler in our area.
I have harvested wild blackberries from around my house and backyard, and Mexican plums! Making Jam or jelly is on my to-do list. But so is getting the two large garden areas tilled and planted is my priority now...or it will get to hot for some things to produce well.
On the baby front...my Toulouse Geese and Roeun and Khaki Campbell Ducks are almost completely feathered out now. My 14 baby chicks are growing out of the brooder, I have 7 smaller chicks in the inside brooder that after being over the hatch date a week, hatched! I think because that area of the incubator did not get as hot...it is the only thing I can think of. I waited several more days to see if any more would hatch but I believe because that side of the incubator registered 105 degrees after our power came back on, they must have cooked inside the shell. I opened the remaining eggs...all but one had fully formed, but dead chicks in them. So I don't think them dropping down to 80 degrees before they hatched hurt them...I think it was when it came back on and the fan stopped working that did it...and the the humidity getting up to 80% after the 8 inches of rain. I think hens hatching eggs is the best way to go, especially with the Sprng storms and erratic electricity in our area. But, I may have My hubby show me what to do to hook up the solar for use in those situations...because it went out for about half an hour yesterday and it wasn't even raining!
I got my highest garden plot planted with purchased tomato, pepper and brocolli plants. I have started more seeds since my original plant starts were frozen to death. We had eight inches of rain and everything is like a marsh that is on the lower area of my pasture. My land is on a hill and only parts are semi-terraced. I went ahead and am starting some corn plants and green beans in starter pots again. I am going to have to till again! Weeds grow really well in tilled soil. My husband and I got the two largest gardens fenced weekend before last and yesterday I tilled (again) and fenced the smaller garden. One side I sunk up to my ankles in mud...but the blueberry plants I put in it seem to like the wet ground. With the 8 inches of rain I have decided I need to create a collection trench to control the flow of water through the garden. I will probably have to mound dirt up too. I will have to keep in mind the swampy areas when planting and make sure only the higher water requiring plants are planted there. The smaller garden area will be for blueberries, strawberries and herbs...maybe asparagus and onions if there is room. The bigger gardens are for corn, green beans, sunflowers and then one for vining plants. Walt at Tractor Supply informed me some people have planted seed three times because of the late freezes, so I am doing pretty good...I didn't loose but one batch and they weren't planted yet. I just need to realize that the temperatures on the news are for Shreveport...and we are always cooler in our area.
I have harvested wild blackberries from around my house and backyard, and Mexican plums! Making Jam or jelly is on my to-do list. But so is getting the two large garden areas tilled and planted is my priority now...or it will get to hot for some things to produce well.
On the baby front...my Toulouse Geese and Roeun and Khaki Campbell Ducks are almost completely feathered out now. My 14 baby chicks are growing out of the brooder, I have 7 smaller chicks in the inside brooder that after being over the hatch date a week, hatched! I think because that area of the incubator did not get as hot...it is the only thing I can think of. I waited several more days to see if any more would hatch but I believe because that side of the incubator registered 105 degrees after our power came back on, they must have cooked inside the shell. I opened the remaining eggs...all but one had fully formed, but dead chicks in them. So I don't think them dropping down to 80 degrees before they hatched hurt them...I think it was when it came back on and the fan stopped working that did it...and the the humidity getting up to 80% after the 8 inches of rain. I think hens hatching eggs is the best way to go, especially with the Sprng storms and erratic electricity in our area. But, I may have My hubby show me what to do to hook up the solar for use in those situations...because it went out for about half an hour yesterday and it wasn't even raining!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
No Chicks Hatched!
Well, hatch day was suppose to be yesterday. I have no chicks running around, no happy peeps...no sounds from any eggs or pips seen. I have consulted with members of Backyard Chickens, they told me to give them additional time...don't give up yet. I had already ordered some chicks though. I may have more chickens than what I know what to do with by the end of the month. But, I ordered some of the same kind I was trying to hatch, Easter Eggers and Silver Laced Wyandottes...and additional Buff Orpingtons...and Blue Andalusians. They call it chicken math, it is kind of like Lays Potato chips..you can't stop at just one! Oh, I ordered a Dominique Rooster and roosters of those kinds too!
I picked up cement and posts and some of the floor joists for my new coop, but it has rained a lot since I got them, so no work done on it yet. It will be tall enough for me to walk in, crawling around in a chicken coop or run trying to make repairs, fetch eggs, or clean is no fun! I am going to make an attached covered run too, so the chickens can be out even when it rains. I hope to have windows for ventilation and a solar attic fan to help with cooling. Maybe a skylight, so I can see in the building. I ordered a six bin nest box, but I may need more, it is suppose to be good for 24 hens to lay. I have 7 hens now, 14 chicks that I don't know the sex of and will have 15 more hens coming with my order of eggs. I can make a few more I suppose. Oh yeah, and even if I don't think any of the eggs in my incubator are going to hatch, if they do...there is the slight possibility of about 15 more.
I am looking forward to getting more eggs, I am hoping the Easter Eggers will lay different colors. I already have a Rooster for the Easter Eggers and a Rooster for Rhode Island Reds, of which I have at least two of now, along with 2 chicks that could be hens. With the addition of the Dominique Rooster, I should be able to breed chickens and keep them pure. The chicks I have now are Rhode Island Red and Dominique's mostly...not pure bred, but they may be meaty egg layers...lol. I will probably get mostly brown eggs.
On another note, the wild blackberries are getting ripe now and I have collected about 6 1/2 pints in the past few days. I am putting them in the freezer for now, but blackberry cobbler may be just around the corner!
I picked up cement and posts and some of the floor joists for my new coop, but it has rained a lot since I got them, so no work done on it yet. It will be tall enough for me to walk in, crawling around in a chicken coop or run trying to make repairs, fetch eggs, or clean is no fun! I am going to make an attached covered run too, so the chickens can be out even when it rains. I hope to have windows for ventilation and a solar attic fan to help with cooling. Maybe a skylight, so I can see in the building. I ordered a six bin nest box, but I may need more, it is suppose to be good for 24 hens to lay. I have 7 hens now, 14 chicks that I don't know the sex of and will have 15 more hens coming with my order of eggs. I can make a few more I suppose. Oh yeah, and even if I don't think any of the eggs in my incubator are going to hatch, if they do...there is the slight possibility of about 15 more.
I am looking forward to getting more eggs, I am hoping the Easter Eggers will lay different colors. I already have a Rooster for the Easter Eggers and a Rooster for Rhode Island Reds, of which I have at least two of now, along with 2 chicks that could be hens. With the addition of the Dominique Rooster, I should be able to breed chickens and keep them pure. The chicks I have now are Rhode Island Red and Dominique's mostly...not pure bred, but they may be meaty egg layers...lol. I will probably get mostly brown eggs.
On another note, the wild blackberries are getting ripe now and I have collected about 6 1/2 pints in the past few days. I am putting them in the freezer for now, but blackberry cobbler may be just around the corner!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
The Pen and the Brooder
I was not really prepared very well when I got the baby ducklings, I had to use things I got for the chicks I was assuming would hatch from the eggs my chickens were sitting on. I have gone back and gotten more supplies for each week. I had 8 chicks hatch and left them with their Momma's for their first week of life. On one of my trips to get supplies I heard of another feed store and went to check them out, there is where the kind lady talked me into buying a couple of her baby Goslings. I kept the ducks and geese in the guest bathroom for a couple of weeks, but I had never been around baby waterfowl and did not realize how quickly they grow.
The baby chicks that Ms McCluckinson hatched followed Momma's lead and decided to leave the nest box and go into the general population...this was not good. The chicken tractor's ramp was to steep for them to get back up the ramp by themselves to get back into the coop. The wire on the bottom of the chicken tractor was too big, being 2 inches by 4 inches, to keep the chicks contained. I figured that the dogs would get them, or a hawk, or some other animal. I had to do something quick. So, I made a double decker brooder box. I put Ms McCluckinson in a very large dog crate with her two babies as a temporary solution. The bars, I soon found out, were still not close enough to keep the chicks from danger...they could run straight threw them! I found this out when the dogs came out the door and frightened the Momma hen, the babies ran out the side away from the dogs. Once I got the brooder box completed, I moved both Mother hens and their chicks into the separate brooders.
My mistake was getting some new chicks from Tractor Supply and trying to put them in the same box with my Mother Hens. That was not good, they pecked the poor new chicks...so I took the Momma hens and put them back into the coop without their babies. So now I have 14 baby chicks in the brooder box and have eggs in the incubator due to start hatching tomorrow.
I made the ducks and geese a new pen because they had grown out of their tub, their tub is what they have as a swimming hole now. I made the duck pen so that I could take it apart to move it fairly easily. I put a dog house as their shelter and have shade cloth across a bit over half of the pen. If you know nothing about geese and ducks, they poop a lot...a whole lot. They ate all the grass within a couple of days and the poop got thick on the sandy soil, I thought I would be able to rake it up, but ducks and geese keep everything wet with all of their splashing around and dipping their food into the water. I had to move the pen, two days later it is again a mess...but over 5 inches of rain may have something to do with that.
Today is Mother's Day, everything is just sopping wet still. My husband and I went and raked up a bunch of pine needles and put them in the duck pen and the chicken tractors run. There is a high probability of more rain the next four days and today it has showered on and off a few times. I am hoping the pine needles will help keep the chickens, ducks and geese a bit dryer this week. We need more time for it to dry out, but...we needed the rain too.
The baby chicks that Ms McCluckinson hatched followed Momma's lead and decided to leave the nest box and go into the general population...this was not good. The chicken tractor's ramp was to steep for them to get back up the ramp by themselves to get back into the coop. The wire on the bottom of the chicken tractor was too big, being 2 inches by 4 inches, to keep the chicks contained. I figured that the dogs would get them, or a hawk, or some other animal. I had to do something quick. So, I made a double decker brooder box. I put Ms McCluckinson in a very large dog crate with her two babies as a temporary solution. The bars, I soon found out, were still not close enough to keep the chicks from danger...they could run straight threw them! I found this out when the dogs came out the door and frightened the Momma hen, the babies ran out the side away from the dogs. Once I got the brooder box completed, I moved both Mother hens and their chicks into the separate brooders.
My mistake was getting some new chicks from Tractor Supply and trying to put them in the same box with my Mother Hens. That was not good, they pecked the poor new chicks...so I took the Momma hens and put them back into the coop without their babies. So now I have 14 baby chicks in the brooder box and have eggs in the incubator due to start hatching tomorrow.
I made the ducks and geese a new pen because they had grown out of their tub, their tub is what they have as a swimming hole now. I made the duck pen so that I could take it apart to move it fairly easily. I put a dog house as their shelter and have shade cloth across a bit over half of the pen. If you know nothing about geese and ducks, they poop a lot...a whole lot. They ate all the grass within a couple of days and the poop got thick on the sandy soil, I thought I would be able to rake it up, but ducks and geese keep everything wet with all of their splashing around and dipping their food into the water. I had to move the pen, two days later it is again a mess...but over 5 inches of rain may have something to do with that.
Today is Mother's Day, everything is just sopping wet still. My husband and I went and raked up a bunch of pine needles and put them in the duck pen and the chicken tractors run. There is a high probability of more rain the next four days and today it has showered on and off a few times. I am hoping the pine needles will help keep the chickens, ducks and geese a bit dryer this week. We need more time for it to dry out, but...we needed the rain too.
Nasty!
Yesterday was the day I had to perform the lockdown procedure on the eggs I am hatching. I took the egg turner out and set it down and candled each egg to make sure they actually had something in them. I put all of the eggs that I could see completely threw into the sink and all the others payed gently into the incubator. One egg stuck to the turner, so I figured it was cracked and not good. I took the egg turner into the kitchen to run some warm water on it to see if I could get the egg off without breaking it.
When the water hit the egg, it basically exploded! It smelled so nasty, I was gagging. So e of the stuff that came out of it looked like hard boiled egg yolk, some was greenish black nastiness. The smell permeated the whole house. It was pretty gross. I put all of the egg shell outside in the trash after rinsing it off. I scrubbed the kitchen sink and washed up the egg turner trying to get the broken bottom of the shell off. 11 of the thirty eggs were not fertile and are sitting in the bathroom sink as I write this. I am afraid to touch them again. I should have candled all of the eggs earlier in the process, but I only did a few. I guess I will need some rubber gloves and a container to put them in, I am hoping no more eggs explode.
We had bad storms roll through the area two days in row. Our house experienced a lot of power surges, but the lights stayed on and just flickered during the surges. I was afraid the incubator would go off and I would have to figure out a way to keep them warm, I got lucky. I think I like broody hens a whole lot better than trying to incubate eggs. You have to make sure they eat and drink, but you don't have to worry about the eggs too much. The hen takes care of the temperature and humidity.
When the water hit the egg, it basically exploded! It smelled so nasty, I was gagging. So e of the stuff that came out of it looked like hard boiled egg yolk, some was greenish black nastiness. The smell permeated the whole house. It was pretty gross. I put all of the egg shell outside in the trash after rinsing it off. I scrubbed the kitchen sink and washed up the egg turner trying to get the broken bottom of the shell off. 11 of the thirty eggs were not fertile and are sitting in the bathroom sink as I write this. I am afraid to touch them again. I should have candled all of the eggs earlier in the process, but I only did a few. I guess I will need some rubber gloves and a container to put them in, I am hoping no more eggs explode.
We had bad storms roll through the area two days in row. Our house experienced a lot of power surges, but the lights stayed on and just flickered during the surges. I was afraid the incubator would go off and I would have to figure out a way to keep them warm, I got lucky. I think I like broody hens a whole lot better than trying to incubate eggs. You have to make sure they eat and drink, but you don't have to worry about the eggs too much. The hen takes care of the temperature and humidity.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Time for Lockdown!
Today is the day that I am suppose to take the eggs in the incubator off of the egg turner and stop turning them altogether. I have candled a few eggs and it looks like there is something on there...just a couple more days until they start hatching (if they will). Monday is 21 days, so maybe I will get to see my first chicks hatch out from the incubator.
I bought hatching eggs off of eBay, Easter Eggers and Silver Laced Wyandottes. Since my hen poofy face died I have been missing the bluish green egg I use to get every day. I am hoping that some of the Easter Eggers will lay some eventually. I would have liked some Marans for their chocolate colored eggs, but I will have to wait and see what happens with these. It is tough trying to keep the humidity and temperature correct in the incubator, so I am not sure anything will hatch. I still have not started on the new chicken coop, and my other chicks are getting pretty big for their brooder...so if I get a good hatch rate, I will have to see how quick I can get it done. I have to have a place to put all my chickens soon, the chicks can spend the first week in the house, but then it is out to the brooder boxes on the back porch. I am hoping that the ducks and geese will be fully feathered by the time the older chicks get too big for the brooder, then I can move them into a fenced pen and use the duck pen for the older chicks, and put the new chicks in the brooder on the back porch.
It has been a juggling act the past month, and I have been really busy trying to take care of all the babies, building pens and brooders, yard work, tilling, planting and trying to take care of the normal household chores. I have neglected a lot of chores and myself, somewhat...been working outside a lot and not drinking enough water, now I may have a urinary tract infection. So, today I am going to the doctor for a test. I am too busy for this mess...but I will try and do better taking care of myself.
I bought hatching eggs off of eBay, Easter Eggers and Silver Laced Wyandottes. Since my hen poofy face died I have been missing the bluish green egg I use to get every day. I am hoping that some of the Easter Eggers will lay some eventually. I would have liked some Marans for their chocolate colored eggs, but I will have to wait and see what happens with these. It is tough trying to keep the humidity and temperature correct in the incubator, so I am not sure anything will hatch. I still have not started on the new chicken coop, and my other chicks are getting pretty big for their brooder...so if I get a good hatch rate, I will have to see how quick I can get it done. I have to have a place to put all my chickens soon, the chicks can spend the first week in the house, but then it is out to the brooder boxes on the back porch. I am hoping that the ducks and geese will be fully feathered by the time the older chicks get too big for the brooder, then I can move them into a fenced pen and use the duck pen for the older chicks, and put the new chicks in the brooder on the back porch.
It has been a juggling act the past month, and I have been really busy trying to take care of all the babies, building pens and brooders, yard work, tilling, planting and trying to take care of the normal household chores. I have neglected a lot of chores and myself, somewhat...been working outside a lot and not drinking enough water, now I may have a urinary tract infection. So, today I am going to the doctor for a test. I am too busy for this mess...but I will try and do better taking care of myself.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
How Big of a Garden?
Our first year moving to the country, I wanted a vegetable and herb garden. We didn't actually get moved into the house until late May. I made a quick raised bed garden that was only about 8'x10' and I used the cinder blocks we brought from the house in Sachse. We bought plants, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe and a couple of pepper plants. It was really too late for the watermelons, but the tomatoes, cucumbers and cantaloupe did well. I want to be able to can enough to supplement our groceries about 8 months of the year and eventually not have to buy fruit and vegetables from the grocery store.
This year, trying to figure out how much garden space we need...and what I want to plant. I actually have to large garden plots that are about 65'x25' and two smaller ones about 30'x30'. How did I come up with that? Well, I want some separation of vining plants, tomatoes and peppers, corn and beans, fruits and herbs. I expanded my original garden and planted tomatoes and peppers in it....so far. The other smaller plot I am planting blueberries, strawberries, herbs and onions/garlic. I got both corn to eat and corn for feeding the chickens, and sunflowers...and will plant green beans with those. Then cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, and squash in the other. We will see how that goes.
I actually had dug one of the 30'x30' plots...broke my pitchfork trying to turn the dirt over. It is the only spot I have cleaned all the rocks out of. I still need to rake and clean the others. I picked up a lot of rocks out of them already...but have not raked them yet.
I am late doing all this, but my neighbor said they would till for me...and didn't. Then my husband traded another neighbor, computer work for tilling...that is how I got the other three plots. I let them sit too long and he came and tilled again. We had a late freeze and my plant starts were on the porch and all died. So I am planting some plants I bought, and trying to plant from seed on the ones I know will grow quickly.
We have not had much rain the past few weeks and we have very sandy soil. I will have to water a lot if it doesn't rain. We have planted fruit trees, peaches, apples, pears and plums. Because of the late freezes we will get no apples or plums. But I also planted blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. So, I figure if I plant enough of a variety, we will have something in the way of fruit. I want to get pecan trees too.
Monday, May 5, 2014
We Have Babies!
Ok, I will admit it. I love having baby animals. So...it started with the ducks, then I found some Toulouse geese at a new feed store, then just before Easter, some of the eggs my chickens had been sitting on started to hatch...and now I have 30 eggs in the incubator! We have 8 baby chicks that hatched out of our eggs, that our hens sat on...then I passed by the baby chicks at Tractor Supply and they talked me into taking 6 home with me at a discount. Well, hey...they wanted me to take all of the chicks in one bin for half price, so I got out light with just the 6.
I really am going to have to come up with a plan for a chicken coop, the 14 baby chicks will only be about 4 weeks old when the eggs in the incubator start hatching. I did make a double decker brooder box, but I can tell right now that many chicks are not going to fit in it for very long. The ducks and geese grew so fast, I had to make a pen for them pretty quickly too. I got a 368 gallon cattle tank for them to swim in, but that won't get filled until we move it to it's permanent area.
We had a tradgety occur too...my favorite hen Ms Poofy Face died suddenly. I am happy that one of her eggs hatched and it looks like her offspring may have a poofy face too! It is a cross between an Easter Egger and a Rhode Island Red and at the moment looks more like a Rhode Island Red. Maybe, just maybe she passed the blue egg laying gene onto her baby. My Rooster, Mr. Poofy Face...the one I loaned to a neighbor was brought back to me in rough shape. He was attacked by another Rooster and had a good cut on his comb and would not open his eyes, eat or drink for days. I forced vitamins, electrolytes, antibiotics and VetRx down him and he has made almost a full recovery. He still will not open one eye, but that doesn't stop him from doing what roosters do.
I really am going to have to come up with a plan for a chicken coop, the 14 baby chicks will only be about 4 weeks old when the eggs in the incubator start hatching. I did make a double decker brooder box, but I can tell right now that many chicks are not going to fit in it for very long. The ducks and geese grew so fast, I had to make a pen for them pretty quickly too. I got a 368 gallon cattle tank for them to swim in, but that won't get filled until we move it to it's permanent area.
We had a tradgety occur too...my favorite hen Ms Poofy Face died suddenly. I am happy that one of her eggs hatched and it looks like her offspring may have a poofy face too! It is a cross between an Easter Egger and a Rhode Island Red and at the moment looks more like a Rhode Island Red. Maybe, just maybe she passed the blue egg laying gene onto her baby. My Rooster, Mr. Poofy Face...the one I loaned to a neighbor was brought back to me in rough shape. He was attacked by another Rooster and had a good cut on his comb and would not open his eyes, eat or drink for days. I forced vitamins, electrolytes, antibiotics and VetRx down him and he has made almost a full recovery. He still will not open one eye, but that doesn't stop him from doing what roosters do.
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