An Unpleasant Chicken Day

Yesterday was NOT cool.  We went about two months without a dcent amount of rain.  Jim Howard and Greg Armbrect said we were getting some, but we didn't.  I'll bet Greg Fischal said we were, too.  But very little rain came if any.  Friday we were slated for a 60% chance on Monday, but by Sunday night it had jumped to 90%.  And the rains came.  My garden needed the rain, too.  I was carrying 5 gallon buckets out to water my veggies one at a time.  It's about a quarter acre, so my arms were a bit sore. 

As most of you know I had chicks hatch last week.  Some came Tuesday or Wednesday with more to follow Friday.  I never got an exact number, but I believe it was around 18 or so.  The bantam with the silkie rooster kept losing hers.  She hatched out 8 in total, but they were dying one at a time.  She still had 6 when we left on Friday.  Dustin, our neighbor fed and watered for us.  He's farmer's grandson. We got home late Sunday so the birds were left to sleep.  I didn't have time to check them before work yesterday, but when I got home I changed and went out to see.  It was still raining and all the birds were soaking wet.  The two hens were huddled over their chicks.  But the bantam/silkie only had 3 doing well with one squished in the mud!  It was the last black one.  I had to put it out of it's misery, and I was at the very brink of tears.  I didn't make Mike do it.  And I felt just awful!  Mike did tell me he pulled one dead chick from her that morning, and two from Bucky and China.  So I wrangled up the remaining chicks...three silkie/bantams and six from Bucky and China....nine in total.  I put them in the brooder box with feed, water, and some wheat straw for warmth.  Both hens clucked on calling their chicks, and the chicks peeped quite loudly from the box.  I felt awful for that, as well.  But I felt they would be safer that way.  I do have a heat lamp for them, as well. 

We also had a couple of pigeon squab hatch last week.  I think one of them is dead, too.  Mama was sitting on them and wouldn't let me check.  But I know one is still living.  I could see it moving.  Got another pigeon sitting on two eggs.  Baby pigeons are so UGLY!  Their beaks are way to big!  Glad they are pretty when they grow up. 

I haven't been commenting as much lately.  I've been busy as a bee in a clover field.  But I still pop in to check on each of you.  Just cause I don't say anything doesn't mean I'm not reading!  I'll try to get some pics up in the next day or two.  I have some, but they are still on the camera.  Have a pleasant day, all.

They're Here!!

We have all been waiting.

I had a hybrid bantam hen.  She is all white, but I have both parents.  They are both black with a tan or cream colored collar.  She was by herself, so I put a white silkie rooster in with her.  Well, they got busy, and she started sitting after laying about 15 or 16 eggs.  It seemed like forever ago when she started sitting.  We'll be away for the weekend, so I figured if they had not hatched by Friday, I was gonna throw out the eggs.  Yesterday afternoon I saw a little white head poking out from under her, but I could still see eggs.  She was still sitting, too.  Then I check in on her this morning before leaving for work.  I saw a black chick, but it wasn't moving.  I think it might be dead.  I told Mike just in case, so he can get it out if it is.  But since she was still sitting I let her sit.  I wll check back in this afternoon.  I can't wait for her to get up.  I'm curious as to how these chicks will turn out!  I will post later when they are out and about with some pics! 

Time Flies

Time flies when you are busy doing things you'd rather not be doing.  That's not the entire case for me.  I was out of town for the weekend.  Mike and I went to visit my parents since it's been nearly three months.  Shame, shame, we know.  But it was a lovely visit.  We went out Saturday morning and came home Sunday afternoon.  We took our smoker, and when we got there Mike put on two pork butt roasts.  I went to pick up my brother cause his wife was at work.  His three month old daughter, he said, wasn't much for conversation, and his two sons were already at my parents.  His wife brought home all the sides to go with the pork.  We had pork smoked over oak wood, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans.  It was pretty good.  We headed home Sunday around 4 p.m. with a rug that my mom gave us.  She bought it for her living room, but little lint balls kept rolling up on it.  I think it was just the newness, but it looks great in our living room.
When we got home Sunday evening we smelled something like an electrical fire in the kitchen.  I could hear water running under the house.  We discovered that our hot water heater went to pot!  The thermostat was melted!  There was no water damage, but it costed much more than it should have to replace to heater.  Now the new one is not working properly!  I'm not taking a cold bath....no way!!  I've been heating pots of water on the stove and carrying them to the bathroom!  Hopefully Mike and Pat will get it fixed today.
Aside from a good weekend, I've been pretty busy with work.  There's just a lot going on right now.  But I still wanted to share a few pics, so I'm sharing pics of the little coops that Mike built for the paired bantams and silkies!  Aren't they great?!

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Everyone have a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Lacking the Visual Aids

Well, Mike managed to leave the camera in my mom's car....which is now an hour and a half away.  So I cannot take any new pics or down load the ones already on the camera.  But I didn't want that to keep me from posting.  So I am posting today without any pictures to show you guys.  I have a number of hens that should be laying right now, even with the cold weather.  A friend of mine that works for the same company as I do also has chickens.  He is getting eggs from his, but I have not gotten a single egg since before Thanksgiving.  That's about a month and a half without eggs.  I have been feeding them well a mix of layer pellets and scratch grains.  I know there's not a lot of day light now, but I should be getting something!  Well, someone better start laying soon, or I will have farmer come over and dress a few for the dinner plate! 

So with all that in mind, he (my friend) was asking how many hens I have that should be laying.  I didn't have an accurate count, so I grabbed a note pad and tried to count them.  If I'm not missing anyone I have counted 9 roosters and 35 hens.  But some of the hens are not of laying age quite yet.  I have 22 hens that should be of laying age, including 5 or 6 Black Sex Links (known good layers).  With 22 hens of laying age, shouldn't I be getting a couple of eggs a day? 

Here's about what I have:
Silkies: 1 white rooster; 1 white hen; 1 blue rooster; 1 blue hen (white hen lays, blue hen is one-eyed and may not lay)
Orpingtons: 1 buff rooster, 1 black rooster, 5 buff hens; 1 black hen (all laying age)
Sex Links: 6 black hens (laying age)
White Cornish Rocks: 5 white hens (laying age)
Rhode Island Red: 1 rooster (pea comb)
RI Red/ White Rocks: 5 hens; 1 rooster (Little Chicken)
RI Red/Buff: 5 hens (not laying age)
Dominique (I think): 1 rooster
Cuckoo Maran: 1 rooster (Bojangles)
Mixed Bantams: 1 rooster; 5 hens (2 laying age)

Just a Few Words

Nothing special about this past weekend.  We were going to visit my parents, but we figured with Thanksgiving coming up this week, I will have a four day weekend.  So we stayed home, deciding to venture out in that direction later this week.  Henry, our nieghbor, made a grill for us out of an old water heater.  It turned out a lot nicer than I expected.  We bought some pork butt roasts, and Mike put them on the grill Saturday morning around 8:30 a.m. to smoke over some oak wood.

I haven't taken a pic of the finished product, but it turned out pretty nice.  We smoked the butt roasts for eight hours, and they turned out wonderful.  We invited our friends Les and Robin over.  I've never been to Les and Robin's, but Mike has.  They have a lot of chickens.  But Les lets a lot of his free range.  They just had a baby in September and he is so adorable.  I was holding him, and it made me wish I had a baby.  I've always loved kids.  I think they are a lot of fun.  I once worked for Head Start (3-5 years old) and most of those kids were a blast.

We are down to just two kittens.  One Henry is taking to his house for his son's 9th birthday next week.  So we will have just one kitten.  I think Mike has decided to keep him.  His name is (of all things) Black Kitty. 

He's so funny, though.  Black Kitty races up and down the hall like a bolt of black lightning, barely visible as he slips through your feet. (I'm dreading putting up the Christmas tree).  Then, when he tires out, he climbs right up on your lap, or sometimes up your chest uner your chin, and falls fast asleep.

We did drag out the Christmas decorations this weekend.  I put together the tree, but I have not put out any decorations, except a few that I could just set around the house.  Sunday was pretty much a do-nothing day.  I did talk with my brother, who works at an egg farm.  They have eleven huge hen houses with around 300,000 hens in each house.  He's only worked there a little over a month, and they have already put him in charge of his own house.  Kudos for him.  He's working Thanksgiving day, but he will be there at my folks home in the evening.

One more pic for the day.  I have to share this pic of my bantam hen that I got from Henry as a little chick. 

She has turned out so pretty.  I'm considering mating her with Bucky.  They would have some pretty chicks, I'm sure.  I love her fan tail.  She almost looks like a Japanese bantam.  She may have some in her, but she comes from mixed bantams.  Her original flock belongs to Farmer, that farmer that lives behind us.  (Mike just calls him farmer)  But that's about it.  More to come later this week.

MORE CHICKEN CRAP

It seems that there are just never enough hours in a day.  I always have so much more to do than I have time to do it all in.  I did go to the flea market this weekend.  I sold 14 of my chickens.  I sold 6 white leghorns, 4 black sex links, and 4 bantam chicks.  I'm okay on hens right now.  I still need to get rid of some roosters.  I have 5 black orphinton roosters, 1 barred plymouth rock, 1 dominique, 3 bantam, 1 rhode island red, 1 aracona (or whatever it is), 2 silkie roosters, Little Chicken, and 13 young chickens that I haven't sexed yet.  But that's still 14 roosters.  Anybody want a few?  LOL 

I didn't buy anything at the market.  I did look around a little, but I didn't see anything I really wanted at the few booths I visited.  Mike found a guy selling fresh seafood, so we bought some oysters.  Of course, when we got home I was opening the oysters with an oyster knife, like you're supposed to do.  But they were being difficult, and the knife slipped.  It jabbed right into the lower part of my left thumb.  It hurt pretty badly, especially since that's the thumb I broke in four places about three years ago.  It was a small cut, so no need for stitches, but it must've been deep.  My whole thumb went numb, and I could feel pain in my finger tips and wrist.  It's much better now, though.  It really only hurts now when I bump it.

I still don't have a camera.  I'd really like to get one, but I've got too many other demands right now.  Soon, I hope. 

TGIF!!

I am so glad that it's Friday. Work has been insane, and I am so ready for a couple of days off. This credit crunch has left us hurting for help because we cannot hire. That means that I am having to extra work for no extra pay. We are not allowed overtime, either. My mom wanted me to come for a visit before I go to Florida, but I have so much to do at home, not to mention gettting ready to go. I spoke with her today, and she assured me that she knows I still love her even if I don't visit when she wants. We we gonna meet half way for dinner tonight, but my dad has to work. So we agreed to wait till I get back.
My brother is staying with us. He moved back from Texas a few weeks ago, and is now job hunting. Till he can get himself settled he will stay with us for a while. He just called me a few minutes ago to tell me that Bojangles, the Dominique rooster has escaped and has gone missing. I'm not home, so there's nothing can do about it. I'll have search when I get home this evening.
I got to count the bantam babies yesterday afternoon. There was 11 of them. A short while later I found one dead in their little coop. I'm not sure if Bucky killed it or not. He's a little bit of a hyped up one. Just to be on the safe side, He got put by himself for a few weeks. He is close by, so hopefully he will get used to them.

This is China. She has finally come out into the sunshine! Well, what she could find. We had some nasty thunderstorms yesterday. But the babies were all running about. I had to pick one up. They are so incredibly tiny!! And adorable. Of course one of my bantam pullets is all white, and one of Henry's friends wanted a white one. So, I guess if I get a white hen out of the three white ones, I will have to give it to him. Unless I give him my white pullet. Then I could breed one of my white ones to the cockrel (full grown rooster by then) that I now have. Whatever. I'm digressing just now.

I have so many jalapenos! Mike makes those jalapeno things with the shrimp, cream cheese, and bacon. I love those things. But I have never made jelly. (at least not on my own...I have helped others when Iwas a kid.) So I was searching for some recipes on the internet today for jalapeno jelly. I have four recipes...one for hot jelly, one for mild jelly, one for mint jalapeno jelly, and one for raspberry jalapeno jelly. If any of you have any recipes you'd like to share, please feel free to e-mail them to me. mikenran@gmail.com .

Y'all have a most wonderful weekend. I'll blog at ya later!!

One Moving Day

I got home from work yesterday and went out to feed the birds. I have five bitties (not quite old enough to be cockrels or pullets yet) that have been in a bitty box. But they were getting a bit big for the box. So I had to move them. But I had to divide the coop for the three bantam teens first. So while I was doing all that I decided to let the ladies run around the yard to eat grass, bugs, and whatever else they thought would make a great snack. Those buffs are something else. They are quite sneaky like John Gray's little ducks. I turned my head for a moment and they were gone. Of course, they haven't found a favorite place yet. Sometimes they slip past the short pines into the garden. Occasionally they go around the side of the house to the front yard. Yesterday, they went behind Henry's shed into his back yard. And they do not like to go back into the coop for the evening, either. But I finally got the new coop set up for the bitties, and they loved it. They discovered dirt and went straight to fluffing their feathers in it. The bantams didn't like having to share a coop, but they sure were interested in checking out the new neighbors!! And, yes, China did have her babies. She's not letting them out, yet, though. She barely lets them out from under her wings! I have a pic here, but it's not a clear one. I had a half lid on it to keep the

wheat straw in, so I took it off yesterday to encourage them to come out. She will get hungry soon, and they will follow her out, I guess.

I suppose I better get some work done. I'll be back later. Y'all have a good one!!

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!!

Chicken Fever

My first blog will be just a little history. Mike and I moved into our first owned home together in November 2008, just before Thanksgiving. There was a dog pen in the back yard we didn't know what to do with. We joked about putting chickens in it. Then, Henry, our neighbor, got some Buff hens and a Buff rooster. So we started talking a little more seriously about it. Of course, neither of of knew a thing about "chickening". We started looking. Then Mike surprised me. One night about 9 p.m. I heard a truck pull up in our back yard. It was Henry. He had found some White Leghorns that were raised for Perdue. They were escapees, so we got a good deal on them. We had 14 hens and a Rhode Island Red rooster that he got the farmer to throw in for us. I started getting frustrated because we initially got them just for the eggs. It took 10 weeks before they started laying. Then Henry got some bitties and raised them. Just recently, we bought all of Henry's chickens from him. He bought his for his kids, but they had little interest in them. He hatched our first 2 in an incubator 5 weeks ago. One died after trying to escape at 2 weeks old. So we have on left, a small speckled rooster. We had 5 more hatch on
Sunday, and there seemed to be one more trying to hatch this morning. Our fingers are crossed. We now have 13 White Leghorn hens, 4 Buff hens, 10 Black Sex Link hens, a Rhode Island Red rooster, a Dominique rooster, a funny looking something (not sure if it's a rooster or hen. Looks like a rooster, but doesn't crow), a mixed bantam rooster and hen, and all our little bitties. It's pretty fun. But this is what I'll be blogging about. Our little chicken farm.