Chicken Gangs – What to do when you discover the dark side of your birds.

I could not believe my eyes yesterday when I walked into the living room to check on my chicks. One of the brooder pens had a food dish that the birds flipped over onto a chick. They were taking turns standing on top of it pecking at the poor chick trapped under. 

Poor chick being bullied!





After I nearly wet myself I realized that I have to keep a close eye on them. I don’t have that type of food dish in any of the other pens thank goodness as the other pen floors are solid and the poor chick wouldn’t have any air! So if it was going to happen then it was good it happened in this pen.

The other problem I had this week is the darker colored month old chicks had started pecking at my white Leghorns. They were very nasty and did it all around their tail feathers. I couldn’t believe how fast it happened. I went to the store came back and checked on them and there my four Leghorn’s were with bloody bums!

Once there is a red target like that the other birds find it irresistible. It is a bulls eye to them that they do not have the will to resist. I had to separate them immediately to stop the pecking. I put some Neosporin on their boo boos and they seem to be doing very well. I hope this doesn’t affect their feather development.

The dogs are very happy with me at the moment. While shopping the butcher had some huge cow leg bones full of marrow that they just love. I picked up a couple of them and all I can hear over the peeps of the chicks is the dulcet sounds of … klonk… lick… crunch… klonk. The bones are rather large and make a lot of noise when they drop them. It scares the dickens out of the chicks!

 

While I was in Ohio picking up Paul we stopped by a friends house to pick up Natasha. Well, that is what I have decided to name her. Rocky is her boyfriend and while I thought about calling her Adrian it seems such a cliché. I am undecided… time will tell. Rocky instantly fell in love with her. He threw his wings to the ground and instantly started doing his mating dance for her. Poor hen however wanted nothing to do with him after a 5 hour trip in the truck! Now it is day 4 and she is very happy to follow him around and let him feed her choice bits of grass and bugs. Ahhhh… Love is in the air! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1yzIeBRh5o          

The Mallard pair that is mating in the kitchen pond (named not because it is located in my kitchen but because I can view it out my kitchen window!) is very shy and will not let me get close to take pics of them so I took a pic through my window. It made me realize I really, really need to clean said window! They instantly fly off to the big pond. I worry about the ducklings they will hatch as that pond has water snakes in it. While they won’t mess with a full size bird they will take a duckling.

I’ve been working on getting the brush cleaned away from the edges of the pond and hopefully that will make it easier for us to get into it. We really need to get some waders and get in the mucky pond to clean out some of the trash that the nasty renters before threw in there. Plus it would be good to get a lot of the weeds cleared back etc. We don’t have any algae problems there which is good but I want it nice for the 3 female Mallards that we have. Now that I have blown up the pic I took it does not seem to be a Mallard but a Wood Duck... oops!

Yesterday was really special. I know this will sound such a simple thing but it was wonderful to me. I kissed my husband in the morning and sent him off to work… then he came home from work the same day. I made a nice dinner to celebrate him no longer being on the road for weeks at a time. Salmon topped with crab, baked in parchment paper so it was nice and moist. Then roasted tatties and peas. I even had some béarnaise sauce to top it off with. YUMMY~!  It was a lovely way to celebrate my husband being home.

Now… on to my adding things to the Honey-Do list now that he is here to actually do the things on it!







They grow so fast!

March 29, 2011

Where has the time gone? I got the first new chicks on March 1st. The last of the ones to hatch was yesterday morning. It has been a month of newborns!

The ducklings were pretty much the same size as the chicks. However, they seem to grow like Edgar did. The rate seems to be double their size each week.

While the chicks have become more brave the ducklings are just terrified to bits of me. I handle them every day but it doesn't seem to matter. I think the difference is that there are three of them. If there was only one, it would bond to me. But they are social birds and I want it to be more natural for them. I want them to build their home in the pond behind the kitchen. Last week I started to clean the brush from around the pond.

Klink doesn't care for chickens!

I can honestly say this farm is riddled with an enormous amount of plants with sticky and prickly things attatched. I am forever getting scratches on my arms, hands, legs and any stray bit of skin that shows. Oh.. and my hair isn't safe either!

Last week I had my first crisis with the chicks. Two of them I noticed had a sneeze. One of the two was actually gasping for breath. I was certain it would not last the night. I went online to try and get some advice at midnight from BackYardChickens.com. I happened to have some antibiotic I could treat them with. After a week of treatment all was well.

Must...sleep...now!



 Tonight I heard one of the chicks I received on Tuesday sneeze. I'm glad I couldn't sleep and I caught it. It seems to put them in distress very quickly. The chick happens to be in with the new hatches from Jonesey. This is of extra concern to me as the youngest is just 24 hours old. At first I thought it was because the ducklings were being kept in the same area and they splash so much water that it can cause respitory infection in the chicks. But I removed the ducklings.

Today I did let the ducklings loose and they hung out in the living room close to the chickens however they did not have access to any water to splash and they were nowhere near the container with the new babies. Could it be the smoke from the wood stove? I've started the new babies on antibiotics just in case. I've never had to give any of the adult chicks antibiotics and only believe in giving them if actually needed.

I wish I knew what was causing the problem. For now I will do what I can to make sure it doesn't spread to the little ones.

A Very Late March 14th Post!

March 14th

Poop, eat, poop, drink and then poop some more. I must admit this is exactly what it feels like when you have 22 baby birds in the house. I spend an excessive amount of time cleaning after them and making sure they have food, water and are warm enough. Most importantly, I have to make sure that Lucky & Zoe don't mistake them for tapas. Lucky noticed right away they make the perfect bite size snack. He even tried to pop one in his mouth. 

Today I put some water in the tub and let the ducklings have a play in the water. I received a work call and had to make a bunch of reservations... I could hear them splashing about and having a nice time. Next thing I know they let out an alarm call. Lucky had wandered into the bathroom to watch them and I'm sure it was too much of a temtation so I had to firmly discourage him from plucking them out of the water for lunch. Bad Lucky!!!!

Three days ago another hawk came for a visit and killed my Bantam Buff Brahma hen. I find it so odd that only the Buff Brahmas were killed. Out of my bantams they are the largest and blend into the background far more than my teeney white bantams. It seems they stand out so much more and since they are smaller would be a more desirable target. It could be more to do with the natural pairing up of the hens with the roosters. For example the head rooster is Fergus. He also happens to be the oldest. I can't imagine a better example of a rooster than my little Fergus. He is very protective over his two girls, the white banty hens. He stays with them even when they are laying an egg. When they are bent over in the fields eating he is on high alert looking for predators.

Jonesey is the largest of the roosters but he is also the youngest. Five of the 6 Red Devils hang out in his harem. He does keep a watchful eye but the problem is that his hens have a huge independant streek. They will go where they please without giving him any notice. They also have no problems wandering around the farm on their own. That I find very odd considering they have seen of their flock "murdered" before their very eyes! Some women are too strong willed for their own good!
 

There are wild Jonquils that are cropping up all over the fields and they are finally starting to bloom. They are just lovely. They make me think of my mother. Yesterday was her birthday and she always loved the Jonquils and Daffodils. They are the flowers of spring, a sign that the long hard winter is finally over. I miss her so very much and I always will.
 

We had the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Mt. Nebo on Saturday. I was really surprised at how many people were there. I decided to take Zoe with me to the end of the driveway to watch the big excitement. I think next year I will have to participate in the parade with travel banners on the side of the truck or something. I'll think on it...

So far I have 4 Black Sex Link hens, 4 White Leghorn hens, 4 Ameraucanas, 4 Production Red hens, 3 Silver Wyandotte. The shipment of the 2 Ameraucana hens, 2 Welsummer hens, 2 Ancona hens, 1 Black Copper Maran rooster & Speckled Sussex Rooster will arrive this week. I can't wait for the end of the summer when the new hens start laying eggs. Did I really just say I wanted to rush summer? Smack my hands!!!

Lions lying down with lambs.

March 5, 2011



Well.... not exactly lions or lambs for that matter but more like chickens and ducklings. Day three with the babies has come to a close. I am really surprised that the chickens and ducklings are quite content to cuddle together in one large pile. At this stage they even sort of look alike with their coloring, the black and yellow combination. However I as I've watched them I'm sure I can see little quote bubbles form over individuals heads at times. For example one of the chicks was watching, transfixed as the ducks were doing their very messy ritual with their food and water.

To the untrained eye it looks like they are just crazy messy fowl going back and forth between their water dish and food dish. They are also very noisy while doing this. They first go to the water and rapidly run their beaks back and forth like they are eating the water. Then they turn to the food dish where I'm sure they drop buckets full of water (really only a drop or two) into the feed. They make their own sort of mash mix. when all three of the ducklings are doing it at once it is something to behold!

Why ducks? To be honest, I just really miss Edgar. He had such an amazing personality. I wouldn't want to replace him even if I could. It just seems a nice fit since the farm does have 3 ponds on it. They aren't sexed so I've no idea if they are all boys or girls or a mix. We could never figure out how to sex Edgar for that matter. We did try once. Edgar was very put out with us over the attempt. It required him to be in a very undignified, un-goose like pose. He was very firm in his expressing how much he disliked what we did we just never bothered to try again. It didn't really matter in the end if he was a boy or girl, Edgar was "his" name, end of.

The goslings were quite taken aback when I stuck my hand in the cage and one of the chicks flapped it's tiny wings and flew up to a perch. They all stopped at once and stared at the little chick up on the perch. You really can see the gears turning.

There really are a couple of different things that I missed without realizing... I miss the peeps and squeeks that Edgar made his whole life with us. For months after I would be walking or driving and I could swear I heard his soft little peeps calling me. Once he became an adult he did realize that his mom and dad slept inside the house while he slept outside with the dog. He would do this thing when he couldn't see us for a period of time, he would let out a call. It was just a couple of honk, honk sounds. I would answer back, "honk, honk" and he knew we were still close by. Aside from the odd proper honk it was always these constant, soft peeps and squeeks.

One of the other sweet things the ducks do that I adore is turn their head sideways to look at you. They do this mostly so they can just get a good look at you since their eyes are really on the sides of their heads. I prefer to not think of it as a thing they must do to see me well but would prefer to think of it as curiosity and understanding of what I am communicating to them. Hey... you live in your world, and I'll live in mine!

I forget how rapidly the chickens wings develop. It was just Wednesday they were little fuzzy nubs. Now they have proper feathers. It's amazing really. You can see them if you look close at some of the pictures.

Though I did not actually forget how much their little poopies smell I can say I did block it out of my mind. When I walked into the house yesterday afternoon I could swear I smelled sour milk. Nope... it was the wood shavings mixed with the water the ducks splashed and the feed and poop. That was the end of the wood shavings in the tray. I thought the pine shavings would have a nice smell. I was wrong. I did fold up a puppy pad and place it in the back. The cage I have them in is wire and I worry about them having to stand on it all day. I wonder if it hurts their ity-bity feet.

I'm sure I will continue to fuss over them for the next few weeks. I hope I can place these four chicks with the rest of the flock in the next couple of weeks so that I will have plenty of space for the arrival of the 8 chicks that I ordered. Plus..... I hope to have success finally with the fertilized eggs I have collected in their new incubator. Note... while I was willing to hand turn the eggs originally I realized it wasn't practical for me to stop whatever project I was working on outside to run in the house to turn the eggs. The automatic turners do it for me and I don't constantly lower the temperature by opening and closing the lid to the incubator. Automatic egg turner is as essential as the incubator itself.

It's 530am and I think I can drift off for a little nap. The sound of the water dripping in the living room is finally manageable. I'm sure that among the other constant projects that need doing, we will need to build an ark for all the rain we have received. The roof needs to have the new aluminium panels installed and that is something I just don't know how to do. Plus I think it actually needs to stop raining for a bit so that Paul can climb up on the roof and start installing them.

Oh... did I mention that I had a revelation in bed last night? Yep... I sure did. I rolled over, cuddled my husband and whispered.... "I don't think the coop you built is big enough now". Please keep in mind the coop was built in January. Never mind... there is plenty of room inside the barn to expand it as we need to. I feel like hwy 62 in Minneapolis... obsolete before construction even began.

New Babies In Da House!

Ok... just a couple of quick photos of some new additions to the family. I have 4 black sex link hens and 3 mallard ducklings. I got them all from Tractor Suppy. They are having Chick Days going on and it's a great time if you have considered chickens to stopy by and learn more. Also... I would be happy to talk about pros/cons of having a small flock.

The Red Devils are trying to do away with me!

March 1, 2011

I've said it before and I'll say it again... If April 1st is April Fool's Day... can March 1st be mandated as Yell At A Fool Day?

Good Hen

  



What crazy weather we've been having! I have even felt a bit like Dorothy the last couple of weeks...but instead of flying monkeys I have flying chickens. It is not often I get angry with my chickens but I can honestly say I got angry yesterday. In all fairness though, it is not all the chickens I'm angry at... just the Red Devils. They really do go out of their way to think up ideas to torture me. This week it is the square hay baler. Yep... they are now conspiring with farm machinery to see how much I can take.

You wouldn't think they could be very smart to look at them. They really do have small heads so they must have a small brain. Which leaves me to wonder how much of their brain do they actually reserve for their diabolical thoughts?

I want to start off by saying we (me, Paul & Uncle Wayne) built them a lovely coop inside the barn so they could be safe, warm and dry. It is quite nice and for the first month everything seemed to be working out just perfect! I believe they have tried their hardest to express how much they really do love their new home. But... the Red Devils must have gotten bored and decided to stir things up a bit.

Bad Red Devil

We have kept the square hay baler in the barn over the winter. One night one of the Red Devils didn't make it into the barn. I just could not find her. It was my fault for going outside to "put them to bed" after dark. After doing a bit of searching with the flashlight I glimpsed a movement from inside the baler. Sure enough the hen was tucked inside the baler in a nice pile of hay. I picked her up and put her in the coop with the others. I really thought that would be the end of it.

It wasn't.

She clearly decided she liked the spot and would commit it to memory. At some point over the past few weeks she decided to lay her eggs there as well. She neglected to tell me this and to make matters worse she decided to share the spot with some of her BFF's.

What tipped me off is that over the past few weeks when all the snow melted they all decided it was safe to go back to free ranging all day long. Normally when they do this they produce more eggs. Like me they suffer from SAD in the winter months. We are kindred spirits me and the girls. When they are suffering from SAD they just don't lay very many eggs. So when I went out to collect eggs yesterday at the end of the day... I expected to have at least 5-6 eggs waiting for me. There was two. Two, teeney weeney banty teaspoon size eggs. 

Where on earth were my full size eggs? And so the great egg hunt began. After about 20 minutes I discovered over a dozen eggs tucked away inside the baler. Hmmmm... well how in the heck am I supposed to get myself inside there to get them out??? I stretched myself across the baler and over the row of "nails" to get my arm inside to get them. When I told my friend Jonathan about it he said he wouldn't have been able to do it for fear it would turn into a Steven King movie. Indeed... if ever there was a moment for the Red Devils to band together and collectively wish me ill, that was the moment!

As I am still able to type you will have surmised that I narrowly escaped with my arm intact. Not so much my jeans however which did suffer a slight mishap.

They jump out of the hay loft!

I put up a plank of wood to block off their new nest and I thought myself so clever. And this afternoon I was proven wrong again. My ability to be clever in no way nears their ability to think up new ways to vex me. They are masters at it!  So today I also had to go on another great egg hunt around the barn. The rotten hens were leaving them EVERYWHERE!  I literally had to climb into the loft and through all of the hay bails to pull out their secreted stash.

Might I mention I got a huge fright when one of the Red Devils decided to fly out of the loft hatch to avoid capture? I thought for sure she would be a flattened pile of feathers on the ground but nope... these things are worse than cats for lives!





A good Red Devil





Tomorrow is a new day and I must come up with a new plan to out smart my free range Red Devils.

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