Renegade chickens

We have 7 game mix chickens (4 are roosters) that hatched out last summer under their renegade mother hen. They were all staying in the smaller peep house they grew up in until one night when the front door had swung shut and they were not smart enough to realize the back door was still open. That night, they decided to camp out in the cedar tree just outside the chicken yard and close to the house. The next night, I made sure the doors to their house were open. They decided they liked the tree better. I tried to shoo them out of the tree with a rake. It worked, but then they just headed to the larger tree on the other side of the garden. They've never gone back to the house. Through wind, rain, snow, and ice, they roost in that tree every night. One day, I noticed the black hen was missing. I looked around and could not find her, so I figured something had gotten her. A week later, a saw her out in the yard. Later that day, she was gone again. This had been the case for a few weeks. I searched the woods looking for her. No sign of her. I figured she had gone broody like her momma had, but I could not find any sign of her or a nest of eggs. Finally, one early morning I saw her in the yard again and decided to keep a close watch. I watched until I saw her disappear under the front porch. I got the flashlight and got down on my knees to look under the porch. Sure enough, she was there sitting on a nest. I've been watching for the last week for any sign of chicks. Tonight after feeding the horses, goats and other chickens, I was heading back up onto the porch and decided to check on her. She was still sitting on the nest. Just as I was about to get back up, I noticed half of an egg shell about a foot from her. The chicks were hatching! I couldn't let her stay under there to hatch out the chicks. I knew if I did, once they were all out, she would take them off and never let me near them. With rain coming tomorrow and the next day, I knew I had to get them tonight. I took the x-large dog kennel I have and placed pine shavings in it. I placed it up on the covered front porch and placed a waterer in it. Then, my 8 year old daughter, Sarah, held the flashlight while I low crawled under the porch to get the hen. Good thing I had gloves on. She was not happy about that. I'm sure she would have pecked out my eyes had I let her. Low crawling backwards with a "mad as hell" hen in one hand was interesting. I got her out and placed her in a small animal carrier while my daughter took the initiative to crawl under the porch to start collecting the 2 chicks that had already hatched and the other 10 that had not yet hatched. We placed them in the kennel and let the upset hen in with them. She immediately went to the eggs and sat on them then called the 2 chicks over to her. With everyone settled down, we left her to watch over her brood.

Spring is near

The days are getting a little warmer. It's 62 outside according to my weather channel app on the computer, though with the wind whipping around out there, it feels like 53, which is what my indoor/outdoor weather station is reporting. On days like this, I keep a close eye on the trees on our property. We have several Virginia pines that are ready to fall. I can't believe with the ice, snow and winds, they haven't already fallen. A few have here and there, but luckily none by the house or animal areas. I have several black walnut trees around the house and animal housing areas that are very old and have dead limbs. Those are the ones I dread the most. Those limbs are heavy. I've had some fall already that have landed on fencing. I have been trying to find someone who will cut them down and remove them. Black walnut is expensive timber. No luck yet with that. I'm half tempted to climb up and cut the limbs down myself. I'll refrain for the time being. With the temps slowly rising, I am anxious to start on my various projects. I have trees to clear, new fencing to install, new housing for the chickens to build, along with chicken runs.
My chickens had started wandering over to the neighbors yard. I have 5 acres for them to wander, and they have to go next door. So, for now, I have a run attached to the front of their house. I may have to invest in the electric poultry fence. It would have been nice if this place was already an established farm when we bought it. It was an old house, but other than the neighbors cows that used to run on the property, I don't believe it housed any farm life. We've been here 3 years and have added housing and fencing as we expanded our farm. It has gone through several changes and adaptations, and this Spring, it will undergo more. I have big plans this year. Relocating all of the chicken houses is one of those. Once I build/rebuild their houses and set up their fencing, I will re-do the pasture fence for the horses/ponies. Several trees are down, more need to come down. I have my work cut out for me just with that. I plan on building a new house for the turkeys and let the goats use the current turkey house.

More to come....spring is near.

Where's my eggs?

As a first time chicken farmer, there are many things I've learned and many things I'm sure I will continue to learn. When my husband first mentioned that he wanted to get chickens, I immediately had hesitations. I thought of chickens as stinky, dirty birds that would be more trouble than their worth. Well, now we have chickens and my opinion has changed. Chickens don't stink if you clean their areas properly. Chickens are not dirty, though if you let them free range in your yard, be prepared to occasionally step in their droppings. On the same note, be prepared for them to scratch and dig for juicy bugs even if that happens to be in your garden or flower beds. Our chickens have personality which kind of surprised me.
After a little reading, we found that hens start laying at about 18 weeks. So for the first 17 or so weeks, you get to do everything for them but without the profit of eggs. We started off with 4 Black Star hens which had just started to lay. They laid very well even through the cold winter months. We lost one to a fox, one to a dog we were babysitting and one to an infection. We had one left. We had picked up 3 hens that were supposed to be Speckled Sussex. Once they matured, we realized they were not Speckled Sussex. They look and act like Game hens. They lay smaller light colored eggs, but are not as good as the Black Stars for production.
This past summer, we ordered hatching eggs. We successfully hatched out Barred Rock and Welsummer chicks. We couldn't wait until they turned 18 weeks and starting producing eggs. We plan to sell hatching eggs as well as chicks. We waited, and waited and waited. 18, 19 then 20 weeks passed and not a single egg. Finally, at 29 weeks of age we got our first 2 eggs from the Barred Rock hens we paired with our Rhode Island Red rooster. These will be Black Star chicks. At 30 weeks of age, the Barred Rock hens we paired with Barred Rock roosters started laying. At 31 weeks of age, we finally got our first Welsummer egg. What happened to the 18 weeks? I happily placed 8 Black Star eggs and 2 Barred Rock eggs in the incubator. 2 more eggs are either Black Star or Barred Rock, but I forgot to note which one so I won't know until they hatch.
We had one small green egg that came from one of our Game hen chicks who we hatched out with the Barred Rocks and Welsummers. This hen which looks really close to the Welsummer hens, but is a little thinner and has the game hen tail, is the product of a mating between one of our game hens and Able. Able was supposed to be a Rhode Island Red, but after comparing him to other Rhode Island Reds, we decided he must not be one. He looked very similar to our Welsummer Roosters, but he had a rose comb. So this hen mated with our Welsummer rooster and at 30 weeks of age, started to produce green eggs. I added the first green egg to the incubator because I'm really curious to see what comes out. Sometime around February 1 or 2, our eggs should hatch. I'm excited.

The missing hen

It was Wednesday, Dec 9th and we were expected to have a cold and rainy night. I had gone to an after school event for the girls and by the time we got home the sun was already going down. After getting the girls settled inside and changing into my farm coat and boots, I went to go check on the animals and secure them for the night. I started with the furthest hen house and worked my way closer to the house. When I got to the last hen house, I noticed I was short one hen. I didn't remember seeing the Barred Rock hen in any of the other houses. Just to be sure, I checked and rechecked each of the four hen houses. No sign of her. I went on to secure the turkeys in the turkey house and fed the goats and horses. No sign of this hen anywhere. I went inside to get my heavy duty flashlight and let the girls know I would be back in soon. I searched now through the dark in the light rain. Under the front porch, on the front porch, in the garage, in all the hen houses, again, in the barn, in the girls playhouse, in the garden, to the edge of the woods... no hen. I was starting to believe something must have gotten her. No sign of a struggle, no feathers about, but it could have been a bird of prey. I searched everywhere again. No sign of her. I reluctantly gave up the search and went in for the night. Some of my birds get out of their yards and wander around, but they always go back to their houses for the night. I assumed this hen was gone for good. It rained hard all night. It was a cold freezing rain. Other than Penny, my stubborn Bronze turkey hen who decided to spend the night perched on the fence instead of going inside the newly built turkey house with the other turkeys, all the animals had shelter. The next morning before getting out of bed, I looked out the window to see if there was any sign of the hen. None. I did see Penny still on the fence. Silly bird, I thought. I went downstairs and poured my coffee. I looked out at Penny to see that she had jumped down off the fence. Then I went to the other kitchen window and looked out towards the hen houses. The hen! She was out there wandering back and forth just outside the chicken yards. I put on my rain boots and farm coat and headed out there to get her. Other than being wet and cold, she seemed to be fine. I talked to her and brought her back to her house. I opened the door just enough to put her inside then closed it again. Too early and nasty for them to come out yet. I looked around trying to find some sign of where she had roosted that night. No sign. I guess I'll never know where she had been, or why she had not gone back in with the others. I'm just glad she's back safely. Later than morning after getting the girls on the bus, I headed back out to feed the animals. I heard some crows fussing. As I came around the corner of the house and looked up into the walnut trees in the chicken yards, I saw two crows sitting on either side of a large bird. At first sight, I thought it was a buzzard. We have many around this area. I soon saw the white head and realized it was a bald eagle. I wanted to run in and get my camera, but just stood there in amazement watching. After a couple of minutes tops, it flew off over the creek area followed by the two crows. That was an amazing sight. Good thing my chickens were still in, but I was very grateful for the opportunity to see such an amazing bird.

Chicken Eggs for Hatching

We ordered some fertilized eggs off Ebay. We have 7 Welsummer and 7 Barred Rock. We hope to have mostly (all would be great) hens. We picked up 2 barred rocks a week ago. They are supposed to be 12-14 week old Barred Rock (BR) hens. One may be a rooster (lighter and larger than the other). Hens are supposed to be darker. The darker one seems to be smaller than I'd imagined. I hope it's not a bantam barred rock. They won't begin to lay until about 18 weeks of age. Our hope is for them to breed with Able, our Rhode Island Red rooster that we picked up a week ago. If successful, we will have Barred Rock roosters (male chicks) and Black Stars (female chicks). They call them sex-links because you can determine their sex by their color. We hope to incubate the eggs today once the temperature gets about 95 degrees in the incubator. Two of the eggs (one of each) we will let Pearl (Sussex hen) incubate. She is very broody. I placed one BR egg under her a little while ago and it seems she does not mind that it's not her egg. In a little while, I will add a Welsummer egg to Pearl's nest. We hope she'll hatch the eggs and raise the chicks as hers. If so, we may keep her as our brood hen. I'd love to have a couple of Buff Orpingtons for that job. We should expect to have chicks in 21 days. That would be June 9th. We'll let you know how it goes

This morning after feeding and watering the animals, I decided to let Penny (my Bronze Turkey hen) in the pasture with the goats. She has a nice sized yard now, but she always seems to want out. She likes being around people. I walked around the perimeter of the fence trying to find out where Martha and Spotty (Pygmy and Mini-Nubian) occasionally get out. Yesterday they got out once, then Martha got out 2 more times. I finally confined them to the pen which is a 6 ft tall chain link enclosure. I found the spot I believe they had used and blocked it with a large walnut branch. I walked further down the fence line and stopped at the back to look down the hillside. I saw movement and to my wonderful surprise, I saw two wild turkey hens at the bottom of the hill. I couldn't believe it. I turned around and looked at Penny and tried to get her to talk to them (my turkey language needs practice). They disappeared in the brush just as Jessie (my shep/collie mix) made his noisy approach outside the fence. I wish I'd had my camera, but the picture of them is still in my mind. I hope they stay on my property and away from the turkey hunters. I think it's still turkey season and I know my neighbor beside me and on the backside of my property would love to hunt them. I don't know if both hens and toms are hunted or just toms. I did not see a tom, but would have loved to. The only hunting I do is with my eyes and camera. We only have just over 5 acres here so any wildlife I see is wonderful. I even love to see the foxes as long as they stay away from my animals.

Breeding time for Flicka

A few days ago, my husband noticed our Nigerian Dwarf doe, Flicka was in heat and called Mary at a local farm to see if she had a Nigerian Dwarf buck. She indeed had one and we arranged for me to pick him up. Sarah and I drove to the farm to pick up Zeus. He is beautifully colored and similar to Flicka in that he is crème and white. The other wonderful coincidence is that they both have blue eyes. I used the GPS to guide me to the farm. For some reason, it took me the very long country road way. It took longer to get there than it should have, but it was beautiful farm country. I did some drive by photography on the way. At one point, I pulled over and reset the GPS because I thought it was taking me to the wrong location. It was really strange that it took that route. I finally got to the farm and Sarah and I were greeted by the dogs. One in particular lets you know you’re not welcomed unless invited. Not overly aggressive, just protective, like a good farm dog should be. I’d forgotten Mary’s phone number, but luckily the dogs alerted her that we were there. She let us in the fenced yard where we were then greeted warmly by the dogs. She told me someone had just called and asked if she could bring one of her does by for a quickie with Zeus before we took him home. I said I didn’t mind waiting. We walked to the back pasture and Mary led Zeus out of his pen and back up to the front. We waited for the other lady to show up. After what seemed to be a long wait, the lady showed up with her two daughters and a beautiful chocolate and white doe. The doe and Zeus were introduced, but even to me, it was apparent that the doe was not in heat. After 10-15 minutes, we discussed other options. I offered to let them bring their doe to Zeus at my farm when she was in heat. They were unsure, so I left my offer on the table, we loaded Zeus into the back of my SUV and I gave Mary my address and number. I told her if they changed their minds, they could call her and she could contact me. After paying the $40 stud fee, I left with Zeus. We kept the windows down all the way home and we took the shortest route back. As you may well know, bucks stink. Luckily he did not poo/pee in the SUV and he did wonderful on the way back to our farm. We got home and put a collar and leash on him and let him out. I led him to the pen to meet everyone through the fence, while my husband closed off the pen and opened the pasture gate. I led Zeus into the pasture and my husband lead Flicka out of the pen and into the pasture with Zeus. It was very evident that Flicka was in heat and she allowed Zeus to do his thing. It did not help that he was too heavy for his size and seemed to have a difficult time, but Flicka was patient. I can’t say I observed the act, but stayed near for awhile to make sure they would be okay. I left them alone in the pasture and headed to the house leaving the other goats to look on and wonder what this new boy was doing in there. Later, I came outside and opened the pen back up to the pasture. No aggression from Zeus, just warnings that he’d staked his claim on Flicka. We are keeping Zeus for a month to help ensure a successful breeding. In the meantime, if Martha, who is now around 5-6 months old, comes into heat, Zeus will breed with her as well (if he isn’t too heavy). Martha is a Pygmy goat and very small. I don’t know if she can support the weight of Zeus, who is 9 years old and almost as big as our Nubian, Dilly. Mary said this would be Zeus’s last breeding season. I’m not sure what that means as far as his future, but if he could neutered at his age, I’d love to have him. He would have made a beautiful whether. I definitely don’t want a buck of my own unless I can fence off another area further from the house and provide him shelter. The goat shed we currently have is too close to the house, especially with a musky buck. We hope to have some baby goats by March. They, no doubt, will be beautiful. My husband had gone grocery shopping with Emily and had dinner ready by the time I’d finished with the goats. We ate soft tacos. I checked on the goats a few times and realized I’d have to find a way to shelter Zeus and Flicka separate from the rest of the goats, because Zeus would stand by the entrance and the other goats did not want to come in. Luckily it was not supposed to be too cold this night, so if they were left to sleep out in the pen, they’d be fine.