New Babies on the Homestead

 

So exciting, new babies on the homestead!  Midnight hatched her first egg the other day.  Updates to follow.

Hope

 

You can't hardly get any more annoying than a sideways video, sorry!!  I thought I had this live video cued up properly, but I still have a lot to learn! Please join me in the coop as we talk about what it means to have HOPE, and what "not counting your chickens before they are hatched" is all about.  Quick surprise cameo from Dolly too!  May your day be blessed!

Dolly's Debut

 

Dolly, my parrot chicken is always coming and perching on my shoulder to tell me about her night, day, or just to chatter about something.  Her debut on a recent segment from one of our church devotionals is going to be a springboard to something new.  Now she will have a platform to visit with others. I'm not sure if she will join me, but be watching soon for something new we are currently working on.  Hopefully, it will unfold within the next few days!  May your day be blessed.

Golf Ball Eggs?

 

So are we laying golf balls now?  I think I've seen it all, LOL.  These hens this year.  I have a lot of older girls and they just aren't laying like they used to.  We have a lot of "free loaders" right now, thus the purchase and hatching of new little ones this past spring/summer.  We should be back in business by next spring.

When I saw this egg I just had to laugh.  When you have chickens, you inevitably get the odd shaped one every now and then, but I must say I have never had one quite this round and large before.  Generally a hen will lay the same shaped egg her whole life, with just a few anomalies here and there.  I'm pretty sure this is from my easter egger hatchling, Matilda, from last year.  What odd shaped or odd eggs have you seen in your flock?

July 2020 Chick Update

They look like mini chickens!  They are getting past that awkward teenage stage and growing up.  They are 4 weeks old and growing every day.  The two leghorns are really feathering out beautifully.  I still can't tell if the 4 she hatched are pullets or not.  At least 3 of them seem to be, if not all 4, but I just can't tell yet.  Would be awesome if they are all pullets!!  They are growing so fast and starting to outgrow their area a little.  I've tried to let Abigail out, but she keeps fighting with one of the lavender orpingtons.  I think I will need to move the two lavenders to the other red coop.  Easier said than done because I have the other mom with her one baby in the red coop separated and I don't want the lavenders to supersede her once she gets released with her chick.  It's a timing mess right now, but I'm sure it will work out.

The Abigail crew

I can't believe how fast they grow.  When I look at Abigail's group and then the other two moms with their babies and realize there is only about 5 days difference between the babies it is hard to believe.  The other babies that are only about 5 days younger are still quite fuzzy and not near as much feathering, but every day matters. Plus, I am thinking that the little one that is by itself in the red coop with mom is possibly a silkie mix chick (especially based on the lack of feathering).  Again, time will tell.  I am also sad that I think it might be a cockerel.

Josephine and her two cuties

I still can't imagine what it will be like when Josie's babies get bigger than her.  It will be interesting for sure.  She is just so small and petite.  The bigger they get the less of them she is able to cover when they try to hide under her or sleep at night.

There certainly has been plenty of drama this go round.  The mom in the red coop with just one baby is getting so stir crazy in their small hutch I have them in.  I let them out one day and I was certain the baby would be killed.  She wasn't doing a great job at protecting him, so I put the back into the hutch.  Then she really started going crazy and I was certain I could place the baby with Josephine or perhaps Abigail.  I let mom out and she didn't fuss too much when I took the baby away.  The baby however was screaming like crazy.  Long story short, neither Josephine or Abigail would take him in.  I ended up putting him back with his mom today.  I was glad she took him back and sorry she is cooped up.  I told her to give it at least 1 more week for her baby to get a little bigger.  I think he could make it ok if he were just a tad bigger.

How is your brood going?  Are you or have you hatched any out?  Do you separate your moms and babies from the rest of the flock? (I have found it better to separate than lose poor babies to crazy hens).

Baby Chick Time!

It's that time of year when I am wondering why some of my momma hens aren't going broody (want to hatch eggs) and then suddenly they are and then suddenly (actually 21 days later) we have chicks!  I needed more pullets (female chicks) so that I can increase my egg layers.  I am not able to fill my current egg orders, LOL.  I had more hens last year and got rid of a bunch because I did not have egg orders and had too many eggs.  So many of my hens are older now and not laying much but they are also pets to me and my son is attached to several of our earlier brood.  The solution, more chicks!

Abigail and some of her brood

Before all was done and said, I ended up with 3 broody moms and 13 chicks!  I ended up buying 6 pullets so I would be sure to have egg layers and the rest were hatches.  Abigail, one of my trusty moms hatched out 4 eggs, and then she took in the 6 I bought.

Josephine, my banty, sitting on two chicks

It's been a challenge housing them all, but I think I have it worked out at this point.  I have Abigail and Josephine sharing the brooder space in one of my coops and then another new mom with just one baby in a separate cage in another coop.  I have successfully let moms raise the babies and integrate them just fine into the main coop, but I have also lost chicks allowing them to do this.  I lost one this time too and it was a special one for me.  I have made the decision to never again let my moms hatch outside of the protection of a separate cage.  My plan at this point is to try to acquire some simple rabbit cages that I can put in two of my pens to be able to comfortably and safely house multiple broods.

Chick hatched by my new mom. Look at those fuzzy legs/feet!

There are some pretty and cute chicks hatched this time.  I cannot wait to see how they will feather out.  They change so much and often have a completely different color pattern as they age.  It's also amazing at how fast they feather out.

Another cutie that I am pretty sure is an easter egger mix.

It's been a lot more work having 3 mommas at the same time, but I think things are working out.  As the chicks grow it will no doubt get more interesting.  They'll start to outgrow their areas and I will be forced to let the moms integrate them into the flock. Hopefully, they will be a couple months old or older by that time.

They Are Easily Amused

I installed an upgraded version of their summer water jug this morning and you would have thought it was Christmas.  Silly chickens are so easily amused and they were loving and playing around with their new waterer.  We have found that these sideways nipple waterers are the best and least wasteful.  Very little if any water is spilled out and it of course stays clean and cool in the cooler.  We add ice or ice jugs in the hot hot summer which is pretty much upon us now.

The problem I currently have is that I don't really have the freezer space right now for the freezer jugs (we use 1/2 gal milk jugs filled 3/4 of the way full with water).  The freezer jugs are awesome in the 100-degree weather!  I have an ice maker machine on order because our current refrigerator is absolutely awesome in every way except the ice maker!  It is the worst ice maker EVER!  Something gets jammed or the sensor fails or something and we often run out of ice because it just isn't making any.  The tray is very small to begin with and when it stops making ice because it THINKS it's full, then it is a long time before we actually have any ice.

I'll keep you updated on the ice machine as to whether or not it solves our problem.  From the reviews I've read I am a little concerned that I might be in a similar situation in which we are short on ice.  The machine can make I think about 26 lbs. of ice in 24 hours, but it doesn't store that much and it evidently takes time to produce each batch of ice.  With no place to store the ice that is made, I might have a problem.

On to more projects for the day.  Hope your day is blessed!

Springing to Life

The weather has held fairly well lately and all the plants are just blooming and growing like crazy.  We've had a lot of rain too so that has boosted growth.  I was able to get one spraying in on the fruit trees but not again since all the rain.  Will hopefully get to spray again this weekend since there isn't supposed to be more rain for at least a week or more.  The plum tree is loaded with fruit as is the nectarine and peach trees. We have never been able to harvest any plums since I always forget to spray on time and the bugs always win.  Looking good so far this year.

Broccoli

The broccoli grew overnight with all the rain and I just harvested our first head tonight.  It was pretty decent in size.  About double or triple what it was in this picture barely over a week ago. We are currently harvesting about 3 quarts of strawberries a day and the asparagus continues to produce.  I have got to get canning.  Gotta get strawberry jam and strawberry rhubarb jam and hopefully, pie filling put up.

Strawberries and Asparagus

The chickens are laying fairly well and I think I have a hen that just went broody.  She is sitting on some eggs and seems to be serious this time.  Maybe we'll have some little fuzzy chick butts in about 21 days from now, time will tell.  The bantams, Claudette and Josephine, are adapting fairly well.  They are so cute!!  I was hoping they might want to sit some eggs for me so time will tell there.  Neither of my main broody hens has shown any interest yet in sitting.  I have a Black Copper Marans and Buff Orpington that regularly sit eggs for me but not so sure this season.  Again, time will tell.

Our sweet outdoor kitty, Katerina, likes to hang with us when we are out working or playing and when we were working on some projects last weekend she gladly helped guard the yard cart.  We finally dug the maple saplings up and got the ones transplanted on the property line that we had planned on last year.  It's nice to have them in, now if they will just survive.  We should have planted them much earlier so we shall see.

Guard kitty

Maple saplings

The clematis is really going crazy and the Peonies are just gorgeous.  Were just gorgeous.  They just don't last very long and this last rain has already taken them out.  So glad the clematis blooms all season long.  Now if I can just learn how to propagate it and have success.  Hopefully future updates on that.

Clematis

The peonies smell so good!

There's still so much more to do but isn't there always.  There's always another project to do around here.  Still so much garden work and upgrades to chicken and duck areas.  The front walk remains a huge project undone.  Hopefully, we can begin to tackle it again this weekend.  Happy planting to you!

Best Mother's Day Present!

Meet Claudette and Josephine.  Our oldest daughter and her fiancé gifted me with these adorable sweeties for Mother's Day.  They are Sablepoots or "Booted Bantams."  They are so cute and tiny.  We are slowly acclimating them to our coop.  I have always wanted a chicken like these, small and mille fleur colored. Mille Fleur translates to thousand flowers (the white in their feathers looks like LOTS of flowers).  I thought all chickens like this were Mille Fleur d'Uccles, but I learned about the Sablepoot after I was told they were Booted Bantams.  They are supposed to be good mommas so hopefully, they will sit eggs for me!

Speaking of eggs, here is our first banty egg!  I was so excited.  Glad they are settling in and feeling safe enough to lay an egg. I'm sure you will see more about them in future posts.  A nice bright spot in the middle of all this Covid19 mess.  Hope you are all staying safe and well.

A Little Help From My Friend

Not a very becoming picture, but a daily reality in my world.  I scoop the poop in my chicken coops daily.  This helps keep this fresh, clean, and hopefully disease free.  Lately, I have had a little helper.  One of my new hatches from last summer. Her name is Matilda (Tildy for short) and she is a mutt easter egger.  Pretty sure her dad was one of my mixed barred rock roosters and her mom was most likely one of my easter egger hens.  She is a sweetie and very curious about everything.

She has now decided that my "poop" bucket is a fun place to investigate in the mornings.  It makes for a challenging task of trying to clean the coop.  I get so tickled with her.  She wasn't always so curious and generally didn't want anything to do with me until she got a jealous streak with her "sister" Dolly.  Dolly is my personal "parrot."  Dolly is another mixed breed hatch from last year, the same hatch as Matilda. Completely different parents as Dolly came from a different coop than Matilda (different parents).  Dolly has been my personal buddy since she was a chick.  She is the one that loves to fly up or over to my shoulder and just perch and hang out.

My perch buddy, Dolly

Matilda decided one day that the extra attention might be kinda nice.  She started coming over every time that I would pay attention to Dolly.  Before you knew it we were friends too and now she will actually come over when I call her by name.  If you have chickens and want them to be "pet" friendly, aside from certain breeds that tend to be pet friendly, you just need to spend LOTS of time with them when they are chicks.  When I touch and pet my chicks on a daily basis, I tend to get more pet-friendly results.  If I miss a day or two, they seem to quickly revert back to wildness.  Chickens are funny, curious creatures and I doubt you would ever regret trying them out should you ever feel the urge to get some.  They provide wonderful eggs, meat if you choose to slaughter them, and endless entertainment.  Laughter is good for the soul.  Bless you today!

So You Want to Get Some Chickens?

I don't know about where you are, but around here it's chick season again.  It's the time of year people are ready to start their flock or add to their existing flock.  If you are new to chickens then you might be wondering where you should start.  There is so much information out there about raising chickens and you will soon find that we all have our "opinions" on the best way to go about doing it.  My best initial advice is to research, research, research.  Then research some more!  Seriously, the more you can find out the better you will be at deciding what works best for you and your "farm."

Be on the lookout for a series of articles coming up where I will try my best to share what I have learned over the past 6 years of raising our chickens.  We started with just 8 straight run chicks and a small 4' x 8' coop and have now upgraded to 5 coops of various sizes and generally 45-50 chickens at any given time.  Oh, and we added 2 ducks last year.  It has been an educational and fun ride and I now understand the meaning of "chicken math."

Egg Basket Time

Its that time again.  Spring is in the air, the daylight hours are longer, the weather is warming (sort of), and the chickens are starting to lay more eggs.  It takes roughly 23-26 daylight hours to form an egg.  I have had a rare occurrence where a hen laid 2 eggs in one day, but it was also due to the timing from when the egg before that was made.

I'm pretty sure one of the new pullets we hatched is going to be an olive egger.  Her eggs seem a little more olive than blue or lighter green.  We'll see how that progresses.  I never take for granted the awesomeness of being able to walk into my back yard and collect delicious eggs from happy hens.

We had to cull another rooster and I also gave another rooster away with 5 hens this weekend.  We are now down to 47 chickens (40 hens and 7 roosters) and 2 ducks.  The next day the crew were all upset enough that they only laid about half the eggs they usually do.  There were a few more eggs today, so hopefully, they have settled back down.  If you don't already have chickens and you have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend them!

Decisions

Raising chickens is fun and relaxing, but when you raise them for eggs and meat, there comes a time when decisions have to be made.  It's the part I don't like.  My chickens are my pets to some degree, but they are also farm animals that have a purpose.  We have some that indeed are our pets and will be with us until they perish of natural causes.  The rest serve a purpose on our farm.  They provide my family with eggs and meat.  They live a good life and I know what goes into them that then goes into feeding my family.  They are processed humanely and we appreciate their sacrifice to feed us.  We are blessed to be able to have them and provide good food for our family.

When I first started with chickens, I had no idea I would become so hooked and that they would also provide us with peace and entertainment.  There's something to be said about just going out and spending time with them.  They are not only calming but also quite comical.  They have provided us with many laughs over the past 6 years.

This past year produced way more roosters than we need and now it has come time to cull a few more.  We processed a few about a week or so ago, and I was hoping to be able to keep the other two, but it looks like they will have to go too.  Maybe someday I can have a rooster sanctuary where I can keep a few extras, but not for now.  My heart breaks a little when I get so attached, but I also realize all the more how much I appreciate their provision for our family.

Hello Dolly

Here's my buddy, Dolly, again.  She just loves to jump up on my shoulder or back while I clean the coop.  She wanted to share a selfie today so I obliged, LOL.  She is the sweetest thing and so petite right now.  She is a Brahma mix. so I suspect that over the next year or so she will grow fairly large.  Brahma's are definitely slow to mature and fill out, but they are so beautiful when they do.  Her sister is I believe an Easter Egger mix and not quite as friendly, but cute nonetheless.  I think I created a monster because it is cute to a point that she likes to jump up on me and spend time with me.  Not so cute and fun when she has poopy feet!!

Roosters

Roosters, what's not to like?  So many people are so misinformed about these enchanting animals.  Enchanting?  Try terror, crazy, psychotic!  How many people do you know who have been around animals that have a "rooster" story to tell you.  People are afraid of roosters because of what they have either been told or personally experienced.  The problem is that while roosters have a job to do and aggressiveness is generally a good trait, they can be the sweetest things in your flock.

In my 6 years of raising chickens, I have found my boys to be some of my favorites.  I have learned that sweet and aggressive can go together and make a darn nice protector of your flock.  The catch is just who or what they are aggressive towards.  I have learned that if I have an aggressive cockerel (young rooster) or rooster and I cannot appeal to their calm side, then they get culled i.e. freezer camp).  No questions asked.  Any rooster that chooses to repeatedly challenge me or cause harm to my family is just not worth having around.  There are too many good ones out there.

Aggression along with many other traits is genetic in animals, chickens included.  If you find an aggressive streak in either your hens or roosters, you will most likely not want to use them in your breeding program.  I don't have a program currently to produce purebred offspring (for the most part_ so the chicks I brood are considered barnyard mixes.  We have had some very pretty results and so far I have had good egg-laying progeny in my pullets.  The bottom line is to be sure to only continue your lines with well-behaved roosters.  

If you haven't tried roosters before and you would like to hatch your own eggs then I would encourage you to find someone who has a direct hand in raising their young like I do and follow their suggestions on which one might make the best leader for your flock.  Happy hatching!

Free Range Paradise

It's been too long again.  I have gotten behind on my posts.  It has been a very busy holiday season around here.  All is well, just crazy busy schedules.  One of the many projects hubby and son and have completed lately included removing leaves for a dear friend from church.  I asked them to please save and bag the leaves so we could empty them into the chicken yards.  I was so excited when they came home with a LOT of bags!

The chickens are in heaven enjoying scratching and pecking through the piles of leaves.  I still have more to put into the 3 run areas I have, but they have a lot in there already and they are loving it!  I can't free range them due to the population of neighborhood dogs that frequent our property.  It was like bringing the forest to them.  It is almost as good as them getting to free range for right now.  It is helping to keep them occupied and from getting bored and picking on one another.  It's also a wonderful substrate that will compost well in the run areas.  I have 7 juvenile roosters growing up and the barnyard has been in quite a tiff lately.  We will hopefully cull a few roosters this weekend and I hope to get 6 or more pullets rehomed (plus one rooster) very soon!

We are up to 57 chickens right now and that is just a few too many.  We had 3 separate hatches this past year that added 13 new chickens to the flock but 7 of them were roosters!  There is more peace when there are not so many.  Two of my three run areas have a good amount of chickens but my main run area has 41 and that is just a few too many.  Rehoming the 7 and culling a few will help a lot to restore some peace.

I need to get back to a regular schedule again and I still hope to have more informative and specific posts.  I will begin my regular homeschool curriculum reviews again soon.  I believe my first one is due in the first week of January.  Blessings to you as we prepare to begin a new year.

Water Please!

 

The youngest group of chicks are growing up so fast and they are such characters!  Every night when I go to remove their water they come running out from under/around mama and demand to have one last drink.  Little stinkers!  It is so comical.  They are so big now they don't really fit "under" mom anymore.  They mostly just huddle around her and under her wings.  She has been so good to them.  I have really enjoyed this batch of chicks and am so sad that most of them seem to be cockerels.  I sure hope I am wrong.  I do know that the two Barred Rock mixes are both cockerels for sure.  Buddy and Dolly continue to be my best buddies.  I can't seem to keep Dolly off my back.  She is constantly trying to jump on me.  She's a sweetie.  Time will tell how many pullets and how many cockerels.  May the rest of your week be blessed.

Meet Buddy and Dolly

Meet Buddy and Dolly.  Two of my six youngest littles right now.  Sassy my tried and true broody mom is raising them with their four other siblings.  I'm a little scared of how many roos I might have this time.  I am so hoping I am wrong and that only two of them are roos.  Buddy (Barred Rock mix) and his barred rock mix brother are definitely both roos.  I am so hoping that Dolly (Buff Brahma mix) and the other three are pullets.  That being said I am reminded that I am also pretty sure that the brown one whom I named Brownie is probably a roo too.  That makes it three for three, ughhh.  I just hate getting attached to them and then having to cull them.  It's so hard to rehome roosters around here and we do raise them for eggs and meat.

Dolly, I'm hoping pullet and I think she is from Olivia my Buff Brahma

I already have two extra roos in this main (blue) coop from my second hatch earlier this year.  I have another extra roo in the 4H (red) coop from the first hatch of this year.  I am hoping to keep him as he looks pure Black Copper Maran (but is a mix).  My Black Copper Maran roo is with my head rooster (his dad) Junior in the 4H (red) coop.

Couple of cuties, Dolly (on my shoulder) and Buddy

I have been working very hard with this group and handling them every day.  A couple of them still don't like me but Buddy and Dolly have become my buddies.  I have to be careful to not lean over or this happens.  They roost on my shoulder, back, or arm, whatever they can land on!  They are both so sweet and I am enjoying their friendship.  I hope it continues as they mature.  I've had so many in the past that I have tamed, but then things get busy and before I know it they don't want anything to do with me, LOL.

Baby Chicks Are Growing So Fast!

The babies are getting big and growing so fast!  Still not sure how many boys and girls.  I know for sure one of the six is a rooster and am suspecting there may be a few more.  Hoping for more pullets, but time will tell.  They are all strong and healthy and momma Sassy is doing a good job raising them (as usual).  I am so excited about the little Brahma chick and hope it is a "she."

Brownie front and center :)

 
Essentially they are all mutts since they are mixed, but I love genetics and how things play out.  Even with a barred rock cross rooster, some of the traits are so strong.  Two of the chicks are plainly easter eggers and look just like a pair you would buy in the store. I suspect my little brown chick, Brownie, is also an easter egger cross (Easter Eggers are already a mutt breed to begin with but they do breed true if you cross an EE rooster with an EE hen). 
It's fun to watch them grow and I can't wait to see what we end up with.  Hopefully more girls!

Our weather has been crazy lately and last night was no exception.  We went from 80 degrees one day to a low of 35 last night!  Poor molting chickens were not too amused. I actually turned on the radiant heater panel for any who might need the extra warmth.  I have a few going through a pretty hard molt and without the feathers to keep them warm they will get chilled pretty easily.  It also didn't help that it rained most of the day so it was wet, cold, and pretty miserable!  How is your weather?  Do you think we wil at least get to enjoy a short fall?  I hope so!   I love this kind of weather.

Baby Updates

The babies are doing well.  They are now 4 days old (5 when you read this) and growing fast.  It always amazes me how fast they grow and mature.  This batch seems to be extra bold so it will be very interesting to observe them as they grow.  Of the 6 I think and hope only 2 are roosters (or none!).  I am absolutely in love with the brown chick.  We have never had a brown chick before and she is gorgeous.  A kind of chocolatety brown with some black mottling.  She was the weakest at first but seems to have pulled through just fine.  We didn't lose any chicks that hatched.  Of the unhatched eggs there were at least 3 that had developed but not fully enough to hatch.  Mom, Sassy, is doing a great job as usual.

LOVE the color of this chick!

 I am trying to be sure to take the time to handle them as much as I can, but I always seem to be in a rush so, not as much as I'd like most days. The teens in the red coop are doing well and I really need to do an update on them.  The rooster is looking really good.  Hope he continues to do well the head rooster in that coop.  I'd like to keep them both.  If trouble begins I'm not sure who will get to stay.  Probably the new roo since he looks more purebred Copper Marans than the other.  The other babies who are now tweens in the blue coop are also doing well and growing.  I think we may have 2 roos and 1 pullet though.  Not so happy about that but it is what it is.

She's such a good momma

It's hard to believe that the first official day of fall begins tomorrow.  Our weather has been too hot here for me to think fall, but we should have a cooler week this week until the heat hits again over next weekend and throughout the following week. How are your temps?  Are you ready for fall?