We Ate Him!!

I will be so glad when this day is over.  These past two weeks have just been too jam packed with stuff to do.  And it seems for everything I get done, three more things have been added.  I am facing a three day weekend (after I wash the dogs tonight...Mike wants them clean for the trip to Mom and Dad's).  Of course, Mike will probably cook something on the grill.  It's supposed to be the best weekend so far this year, weather wise.  I do need to clarify....I did NOT actually ride the motorcycle!  We had a Ford dually with a trailer.  I was driving the truck, towing the motor cycle.  But if they had allowed me to ride that over-priced, misspent raise of mine, I'd have been all over that!

Mike has been complaining about having too many roosters lately.  We had four young roosters that he killed a month or so ago, but we thought they were hens.  They needed to go.  But we also have a few roosters that we really haven't been using for breeding.  And that's really all they are worth!  Well, we partly kept them cause they were also good looking birds!  One was Little Chicken, the first chick we ever hatched!  Just look at him!

He is such a pretty bird.  BUT.......

I came home yesterday to find out he was put into our dinner!!!  Mike put him into a Mexican Chicken Lasagna!  Don't get me wrong!  He was quite delicious.  Mike almost never makes a meal I don't like.  But he had to feel bad for killing a chicken we raised.  I know I did.  But, isn't that what they are really for?  He wasn't a pet.  He and one other rooster got took, and one is in the freezer.  R.I.P. Little Chicken!

Chicken Out!

I haven't done a chicken post in a while.  Shame on me for that.  So, I am going to try and make up for it today.  It was such a lovely weekend.  Saturday was a bit cool, but great weather.  Sunday, I was wearing a t-shirt and chillin' in the sun!  Of course, when we have days like this Mike and I spend it outdoors.  Even if there is nothing to do, we still go outside and find little projects to do.  This past weekend was no exception.  The chickens got to spend a bit of time out of the coop, as well.  I only took a few pics when they were still inside, though.  But they were getting a good bit of sun there, too.

Mike's been buying crumbles instead of pellets because we get a better price.  I throw out a few handfuls for them to scratch for, but I put the bulk of it in this feeding trough someone gave us.  It works great, but they climb on top of each other to get to the feed.

This is Little Chicken, the first chicken we ever hatched.  He's come of age and has been in with the hens.  But he's gotten mean since we took those four other young roosters out.  And since these eggs are for eating only, he got removed this weekend.

The big breasted gal in the box is one of my first.  She was full grown when we got her last February, so I don't know how old she is.  She's really a broiler, so we're not getting any eggs from these girls as of yet.  They may get the chop-chop this year.  The red headed girl is from one of the broilers and the RI Red rooster.  She was hatched early last summer, so she should start laying soon.  These girls don't have names yet.  The white stuff is lime powder.  We cleaned the "stuff" off the next boxes and sprinkled the lime to cut down on the smell.  It ain't bad, but we don't want it to get that way, either.

Dana is our sorta pet chicken.  She's got an enlarged left foot, and as far as I know, she's not layed an egg for us.  She walks with a limp and always gives me a laugh when she tries to run.  It's the funniest sight!

This was Stripey Cat's first encounter with a chicken.  He plays out back behind the coop in the small grove of pines, but he rarely pays any attention to the birds.  He just sniffed a few times then sprinted across the yard.  His attention span is still about 15 seconds cause he's so young still.  Heading out to my parent's this weekend.  Haven't been out there since the new year.  I'm sure I'll get scolded.

Today is the last day to get in on the give away!  Leave a comment, make sure I have a way to get up with you!  I'll announce tomorrow who the winner is!  Stay tuned in!

Guess What Didn't Get Done!

Laugh Out Loud!  I didn't get half of my list done this weekend.  Not by a mile!  Not that it's all that surprising.  It was such a lovely weekend.  Saturday was mid-sixties, bright and sunny.  I spent a good part of the day rearranging some of the chickens.  Our newest buff pair got moved out from under the shed, as we needed the room.  Bojangles got a bigger pen.  Little Chicken and the black star that was with him got moved into the big pen with all the ladies.  And, of course, Mike smoked the butt roast. 

Now, to explain the butt roast.  I can't believe all you pervs and sick-o's!  See, here in the Carolina's we love our barbeque.  It ain't Texas BBQ.  They have brisket and beef ribs with red, tangy suace.  Here in eastern NC we do pork.  Pulled or chopped, on or off a bun, cole slaw, french fries, and the sweetest iced tea!  The best part of the pig to use for such (though other parts can be used is a Boston Butt.  It is a large hunk of meat that comes from the upper part of the shoulder.  I don't know why it is called a butt, but it is perfect for smoking.  We put it on the grill with oak or hickory wood chips (a few weeks ago we used apple wood).  Mike soaked the wood in water to make it burn slowly, but hot.  Our butt roast smoked for nine hours on Saturday!  Then we used a blend of secret herbs and spices mixed in a gallon of apple cider vinegar to barbecue sauce.   Mmmm...mmmm...mmmm...mmmm!  Good stuff!

Sunday, Mike helped Pat clean and partially paint a trailer he bought to haul his lawn mower and other stuff around.  That took up a good part of the day.  I was working on the double-decker pen.  Little Chicken was in the lower part of the dbl decker.

Isn't it amazing how big he's gotten!  He's the first chicken we hatched in the incubator!  He's RI Red (rooster with pea comb) and White Cornish Rock (meat hen) mixed.  He's a gorgeous bird.  He and the little black sex-link were moved in the all the other hens.  We cut out part of the floor of the dbl decker to make it into a more sturdy pigeon coop.  They need something better than what they are in, really.

It was a productive weekend.  We ended it with my nephew, Joel's birthday part at Pizza Inn.  While we were there a nasty thunderstorm blew in (because it was 72 degrees according to the weatherman).  The wind blew at over 40 miles per hour.  But it was a nice party  Happy 6th Birthday JJ!

Got more pics for later this week.  I got the camera back from Mom at the party. 

Chicken Pics

My Blue Splash Silkies.  The hen got Mereks when she was a small chick and lost one eye.  She's still pretty young, but seems to be doing okay.  Her name is Blueberry.  No name for the rooster yet.

This is Dana.  She's a White Cornish Rock.  She was being raised for Perdue, which sells chicken in the grocery market.  I have a few others, but she has a messed up foot.  One foot is bigger than the other.  She walks with a limp, but gets around just fine.  Very sweet, gentle, and loving.

One of the five little silkie chicks.  They are so fuzzy and cute.  They have huge eyes!

This is Little Chicken!  Can you believe you big he has gotten!  He's about 8 months old now and is just starting to get his pubescent, sick-sounding crow.  He's a biter, but I think he's just an eater.  He loves to eat!  He's turning out to be a beautiful rooster, though! 

More chickens later, y'all!!

Worked to Death!!

I'm back into the swing of things at work, now. But I'm not lovin' the "swing of things". I like my job, but with the economy the way it is we don't really have the help we need. And we're not likely going to get it any time soon. So that means, as my boss so neatly put it, "We are just going to have to do more with less." That is simply translated as my work load will multiple, but my pay check will not. It's getting very hard to keep up with everything I have to do. And that gets frustrating. Sometimes I feel like those Sunday comics where the inbox is full to overflowing, and the outbox is empty. My theme song is from the show "Scrubs". "I can't do this all on my own. I'm no superman."

Now that I've vented, gotta mention my chickens. I got out Little Chicken yesterday, and he wanted to stay right by his pen. He was being quite sneaky, though. I threw in some cucumber slices to all my hens, and he stuck his head in through the wire and stole a few slices. I had to laugh. I got a couple of SILKIES!! I got a blue rooster and a white hen. The man I got them from said I can get a splash hen and a white rooster, too, if I want. But I don't have room right now. I've never been to auction which is 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, so I'll prolly got in a couple of weeks, just to see how it all works. Then I will try to sell off some of what I've got. Then I want to get into pure breeds for show!! I've got some buff reds mixed that are only three weeks old. I moved them out of the bitty box yesterday into a divided pen, next to a couple of white reds mixed that are about 2 1/2 months old. This morning when I went to feed the little ones had gotten in with the bigger ones. No one was fighting, but I will have to keep an eye on them. Don't want the babies to get bullied out of food.

New Borns?

I think I have some new born Bantams. Bucky's woman, China, has been sitting in her little 5 gallon bucket for the last three weeks (I think it's been that long) on about 10 to 12 eggs. This morning when I was feeding them I thought I heard some peeping from under her. But she was not going to get up for me to see. And Bucky is one mean little bloke (I used that word for you Brits :) I am anxious to see them. He's black with a light tan neck collar and so is she. I have a couple of bantam cockrels and one small hen that are about 4 months old. I thought one of the cockrels was a hen because of a small comb at the time. I am getting another hen, but Henry won't take the cockrel back. Grrr!! Maybe I can give him away. Little Chicken, who now needs a good rooster name, has finally starting trying to crow. He is so funny!! He sounds like an extremely hoarse rooster with larengitis!!

I finally got a picture of Minnie! She's camera shy. It's probably because of her weight. She loves to eat.....and it shows. She should be about 15 pounds. She did weigh 26 pounds, but has lost down to about 20 pounds. We're working on it. Now that we have moved out of that apartment she gets a little more exercise. And you have to feel bad for her when she gets in trouble, because she runs and hides. And if you yell at her (which is a very rare occasion for all the activists) she wets herself. She's my baby girl, even though I sometimes call her pork chop. LOL

I didn't really have a lot to say today, but I wanted to post anyway. Maybe China will have her chicks out this afternoon, and I can get some pics of them for tomorrow (if I wasn't imagining things ;-P) I want a catchy saying to end with, but whilst I chew on that cud, y'all have a good one!!

Weekend's Here!!

I do love my weekends. The good thing about summer is the longer days. It's nearly 6 p.m. when I get home from work. That means I still have a couple of hours to work outside. Of course, I try to run a couple of miles first. Then it's on to the chickens, garden, yard, whatever is outside. I prefer to be outdoors. I am just an outdoors person. If I don't have anything pertinent to do, I will let the chickens out in the yard, or I will go sit and talk with my nieghbor. But in the winter time I have to drive home from work with my head lights on. That means little gets done outside till the weekend. Even with the longer summer days I wish I had more time to work outside. That's why I like my weekends.

This is my shed. I spend a lot of time here. It's covered in the back and the chicken coop is back there, too. I keep the lawn mower in the back (which will get put to good use this weekend). The feed is in there. And I found a horse shoe that is hanging over the door. When we moved in Pat and Mike painted it to match the house. The roof is green. Just to the right is my big Magnolia tree. I want to put in a patio, but I'm not sure where. Should I put it by the Magnolia? Or should I put in behind the shed, under the pine trees. I want to put a hammock there with a little sitting area for drinks. I even thought of putting an outdoor kitchen there.

Elvis and Prissy go back there a lot. Elvis prefers to stay during the day, and cats around all night. His favorite place to chill is on my bed. During the winter he will come inside at night. He doesn't much care for cold weather. That's something we have in common. He hasn't been feeling well this week. He didn't go outside at all for three days. That's not like him. And I had to bring his food and water into the bedroom. Last night he peed on the bed. Elvis has never done that. He eats, drinks, sleeps, meows, all the things cats do. He's just acting really strange. I don't know what's wrong with him. These are my babies. On the left is Little Chicken. He's about 5 weeks old. He follows me all over the yard. And he runs to me when I call him. In the center are the bantams I got from Henry. They were hatched by their momma. It took a few days, but they have warmed up to me. I added one more to them yesterday, but I don't have a pic yet. And to the right at the five bitties we hatched in the incubator (just like Little Chicken). The five plus Little Chicken are a mix between my Rhode Island Red rooster and my White Leghorn hens. They are so much fun.

Well, I'm outta here for the weekend. Got lots to do. Y'all have a good one. Talk to you nest week!!

A Bit on the Gang

Well, I'm not where I can start posting pics yet, but I suppose I can at least give you some wordage about the gang. Mike and I live on a small plot. It's a little over a half acre, I believe. We have a nice neighbor on one side, Henry. He's divorced with kids that stay with him part time. He's a good guy. He's always offering to lend us things like a hoe for the garden, scratch when we run out before I can get to TSC or things like that. On the other side used to be Ron and Susanne, but they, too, are divorcing. They put their house on the market and moved away. Now the home is empty and up for sale. Don't know much about the folks across the street. Mr. Wade lives across the field behind the house. He owns the field. This Spring he plowed a few rows for Henry and us to plant. I have squash, canteloupes, watermelons, okra, tomatoes, beans, radishes, eggplants, corn and cucumbers growing. Sometimes I let the hens out and have to watch them. They try to get in the garden to scratch.

We have two dogs, Max and Minnie. Max is a Toy Poodle. He's smart and loyal. He's a good dog and very "motherly". Minnie is a Rat Terrier mix. She's over weight. She loves to eat and eats almost anything. I try to keep her on a diet, but she sneaks in bites of cat food and everything. We have two cats, Elvis and Priscilla. Elvis is about 6 years old and all black. He spends a lot of time outside. He's fixed and has no front claws because he was supposed to be an indoor cat. But he wouldn't let that happen. Prissy is a gray tabby. She had kittens in April, but there was no way we could keep them in our little place. I tried to find homes for them, but no one would take them. They went to the pound. I hope they were adopted out, but I'm not going to ask. Prissy stays inside a lot and is still young. She's not even a year old. She was way too young to have babies, anyway. We have a Quaker parrot. Her name is Becky. We got her as payment for a debt. She used to be so mean to me. She tried to bite me every time I walked by. She's changed lately, though. I can't pick her up, but she lets me change her food and water and pet her head. We also have a couple of fish tanks. One has a bunch of Fire Belly Mickey Mouse Platys in it. The other has two African Cichlids, two Opaline Gouramis, and an African Brown Knife.

Then there's the chickens. We have four roosters. Perogi is the first rooster we got. He's a Rhode Island Red. He is so mean. He will spur you in a New York minute. He even tries to spur or bite me through the fence when I feed him. He's by himself at the moment. Bojangles is our Dominique rooster. He's very young. He's in a round with a buff hen, but he's not messing with her. Bucky is our Bantam rooster. He's pretty fiesty, too. Mr. Wade brought us a bantam hen for him. Hopefully she will start sitting soon. She had nine eggs this morning. Henry's bantam started sitting at 13 eggs. Then we have Col. Sanders. I don't know what he is. I don't even know if it's a he or a she. I thought she layed an egg once, but someone suggested it was left from the white hen that had been in the round. Mr. Wade swears it's a rooster, but he don't crow. We have four Buff hens that don't have names (yet). We have 10 black Sex Link hens (also nameless) that are still a bit young for laying. And we have 13 White Leghorns that were rescued from Perdue that lay very large brown eggs. One leghorn has a gimp foot. She doesn't lay. Her name is Dana, after a high school friend also with a gimp foot (lol). We have two bantam chicks that we got from Henry, and should be getting one or two more from him. I think one is a rooster, but I would prefer if the others were hens. I have a small Red/Leghorn mix chick that we hatched in the incubator. His name is Little Chicken. He follows us everywhere and comes when we call. Yesterday her rode around on my shoulder. His sister died in an escape attempt their first night outside. And we have five bitties that just hatched this weekend.

That is our gang. Yeah, I've put a lot up here. But it's a necessary introduction. Hopefully I can start posting pics soon. Hope you like what you have read, and will stick around for a while!!