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More chicks May 30, 2011

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Well, so far we have a grand total of 13 chicks hatched. First batch I put in were 12 then a few days later I put in three more. So now I do not know if I had a fell hatch first or second. I guess if any more hatch I will know then.

After all of these I have six more to go in another week. Plus if broody hatches hers. She is sitting on 7 and she started after I put in mine. So she is real close to hatching also.

Good news is new coop arriving on wed. That will be great to get these chicks out of house. If broody does not hatch then she will get all of these. My big problem will be getting coop placed for ground is not level. But that is OK as I am not over worried about it being tight and secure. This one comes with a run and main coop is 4×4 which is perfect for a broody coop. Temps here are so hot I will have no problems putting chicks out in it with no extra heat in case broody does not take them.

I will have pics soon we are just busy with coop. Putting on shingles and putting in new bedding. Chickens are so funny. I changed bedding to pine pellets since we ran out of free mulch we were usiing. Did this right before dark. After ward chickens would not go into coop. I had to wait for over an hour for last 2 hens to go in. I was ready for chicken pot pie by that time and if I had got hold of them…….. But tody they all came flying out still afraid of bedding but mom and chicks. Chicks were in feeder as I open door and put fresh feed in. That got mom back in coop since chichs did not come out with her. I am sure that will get rest in to as they see feed. Chickens are jusr so silly sometimes.

bad news and good news April 15, 2011

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Well, first broody left her nest on the time eggs were to hatch. She moved to the nest next to hers which is larger and had fresh eggs. I broke the eggs from her old nest. A few were rotten some had developed some but not all the way. I am not surprised since this nest we had broken eggs in from the start of her sitting. She is not stopping yet so hopefully she gets to be a mom yet.

Second broody has been leaving nest daily to eat. Today I went out to collect eggs and count hens. I was greated to peeps in nest box. I saw one might have heard more. Threw out empty egg shell chick hatched from. Broody is still sitting tight so she has a couple more days till I remove rest of eggs. Hopefully more hatch.

Weather here has been lousy. It is either raining or windy. Today its really windy and looks like it might rain tonight. Chickens do not like it. Lots of complaints from them getting tail feather blown up over backs. Hopefully in 2 ro 3 days weather will calm down again. I do not want new chicks outside in this for they will get blown away.

Broody number two March 20, 2011

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Well, since last post our first broody stopped due to cold weather. We had a real drop here in temps 3 days after I posted. She left the nest so I cooked up eggs for the hens. Now temps have stabelized and nights are not going under 45 anymore. We also have not had any rain for a week which has been a nice break.

So for the past 3 days I have been feeding off back pourch their sunflower seed treat. I noticed one hen having problems walking. She is limping but not bad so I am keeping an eye out for her. Yesterday I had main coop door open and the wind shut it about 2pm on me. So I went out and closed it proper and open poop door instead. Now the thing is that I noticed 2 hens in nest boxes. Nothing unusally there but I was wondering if injured hen had started to stay in a nest box to recover. So in the afternoon later I went out to feed treat and did head count and was one short. So I went out to coop this was about 5pm. Sunset is now 8pm ar there after. Sure enough there was hen in same box. I did some bedding turning too see if she would move nope. So I left it at that till shut down.

Not it is 7:45pm and I went back out. Alpha and 3 hens are still out so I opened coop to see what was up with that hen. Well, she was still there in same nest box. I had a few more hens leave coop after I opened so I went in. So I went to hen in box and got growled at. Hmm, could she have gone broody was this injured hen? So I went to get egg and got pecked so I removed wood egg. I then pulled eggs from the nest box next to this one and put them under her. That was a chore. She would not get up at all. This is not usually for my hens for they stand when we collect eggs if they are in box if they have not layed yet. Not this one she held tight to nest.

This morning I open coop early 7:30am sun was not fullu up yet. Normally I open around 9 to 10 am. So I opened poop door Alpha and 5 hens came out. Boy, was he in the mood. It was funny how much he was dancing to get some. I then opened main door too see about that hen and most of the rest came out. 2 were on the perch and low and behold one of those 2 was the injured one. So that meant the one in the box was a BROODY.

So now we have another broody and I think she will stick with it. She has not come out yet even with me calling out for treats. About noon I will go out and check on her and make sure she leaves long enough to eat and poop. Some hens you just have to get them off the nest once a day for their own good. Last year I had to do that alot. When Partridge Rocks go broody they get serious. Now that one is serious I am wondering how many will follow and how fast.

Spring is here and its early March 4, 2011

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Well, flowers here are in bloom. Weather is nice but with some bad rain storms and lots of wind. Better than snow. Today coop is wide open to let it air out some. I have been down with cold and hens are laying alot.

Our broody stopped due to cold night and has not gotten back in the mood yet. Oh well, she will I sure soon. At least we will have enough too put under her when she does.

Todays chickens treat will be cooked eggs. I am getting 8 eggs a day now. Although I am collecting sporatic due to being sick. So 8 is just I think number as most time it is more than one days worth I collect. Temps at night are still low 30’s and high 50′ to 60’s. So not worried about eggs going bad.

Coop need spring cleaning bad but that will have to wait till I and hubby feel better. I was able to find someone that has a willow tree that will give me cutting so we shall be getting that this next week. With all the rain the area in front of coop is real soft. I was able to buy a weeping pussy willow which I thought of pitting down at coop. But after reading it will only get to 6 feet that will go out front of house. I took off a small broken branch and the chickens attacked the catkins pussy puffs on it. That was funny too watch them chase each other for one. Willow from what I read I am guessing leaves will make eggs darker. This comes from a french site on Marens breeders. They plant them near coop for that reason it seems. I will put that too the test this year.

Chickens are out now from early morning till about 6:30pm. It is not even full dark before the go to bed. With all the rain I am sure they have been munching on earthworms. I have been tring to keep them away from front of house so they leave hostas that are coming up alone. It will be another month for hostas here to emerge but chickens love the growing bids on them. They were eating my daylilies but now ignore them that they are up more. There is just too much green stuff to eat now comeing in. Well, off I go to see what the racket is about. Alpha is reall taking control of flock.

My fault September 13, 2010

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Well, we lost another hen this weekend. It was my fault for being lasy. We were out late did not get back till after 1am. I looked at the coop from back pourch saw all was OK and went to bed. In the morning the ramp was down so I knew we got hit. Whatever it was killed a hen ate the eggs and my last wood egg. Found the hen looks like a fox got her. She was one sleeping in the nest box. The broody got out of hers in time it seems for she is fine. She must of made it to the perch. Only those that stay on the floor of the coop get taken.

We have had one big hawk stop by every day for the past 3 days. Yesterday we were cleaning out the coop and the nest boxes when he flew over. He kept flying over fo a good 10 mins before he left. I think he is in area right now for crows are here. Chieckens are still locked up will be letting them out around noon. Doing that hoping that eggs are laid in boxes and not outside.

We are getting 2 eggs right now that I know of. One is fertlie so I will be collecting soon to gather for a hatching. Caught beta taking care of business yeterday. So both of them are servicing the hens. Unfortunaly we have the 3 in moult one that is broody and the other about to go into moult. So out of the 12 total 4 are the new ones 3 are in moult 1 is broody and another is going into moult. So that leaves just the 2 laying. Not used to having so few hens now. Coop looks empty and so does the yard when they are outside.

Oh, we went to the farmers market at the apple orchard this weekend. We bought 2 huge long pumkins for $3 each. These thing must weigh 25 or more pounds. Bought one a couple of weeks before even bigger for same price. Will go back this weekend for more. This will make great feed for the chickens this winter. Yesterday we ate the last of our corn on the cob. They got the cobs and any dried out ends and a few full cobs. Also friend gave my some tomatoes that were not good enough to eat. Nice big ones that I fed to the chickens. The loved them and went to sleep afterwards. Never heard a peep out of them nor saw them for the next couple of hours. Guess they were full and content. Today they will get watermelon rinds and old popcorn. I just love this time of year. lots of good food for us and the animals.

More picutres September 10, 2010

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Below are pics of Beta and some of the gals. Also Alpha and head shot of Beta.

correction and what is happening now September 10, 2010

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I have to make an apology to all of you. I have given some bad infomation on my long broody. She has broken from being a broody. Not sure when but I know it has been over a month. She has a leg band and i did not bother to check after I found out she was broody if she was still the one being broody. Turns out she had stopped and another took her place. Problem when one has chickens that look so close alike. I have had one or two broody all year. When one breaks another is replaceing them. Right now I belive the mother of the chicks is now back to being a broody. She is not banned but I do a few that are not yet.

At this time we are at a total of 14 chickens. That is including the new babies. Of those I have my ones that I wanted to breed still with us. As of now I have 3 in molt and 5 taking a laying break. I am collecting 3 eggs a day but I am not sure if there is a nest outside of coop or not. Weeds are just to out of control here. Next week that might not be a problem any more as hubby wants to rent a bush hog.

I am now really counting the days till I can start saving eggs to put under our broody. Now that temps have dropped down to low 80’s and Alpha is doing his thing it should be soon. I have one batch of eggs left to sell and then I start cracking and watching who is fertile to put some in nest. I will be keeping this more updated and will be getting new pictures in soon of the flock.

Broody chicks update July 22, 2010

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Sorry I have not posted of late. Things here are a bit crasy since hubby is in training for CDL’s. I will charge camera today so i can take pics too.

Anyway, we lost one male chicks. The smallest to a hawk a couple of weeks ago. The other two are doing great as well as the 2 females. I can not believe they are only 2 months old, they are so big. I would say these chicks raised by moms free range are much larger than last years one at this time I raised. Right now they are hald the size of the largest of them. Sometimes I look at one of the new girls and I think it is tailless since she is so small.

The 2 roos are real looking good. Almost like Rock and Captain in body size. I think both of these are more like Captain in body type than Rocky. He was leaner not as wide across the back. These 2 are wide and tall. Once has a higher tail set than the other. Right now I have named them Alpha and Beta. These 2 have always hang out together. Done alot of chest bumping ect. Right now they are ranging with a couple of hens and the pullets. Sometimes together sometimes not.

We are lucky that we have not lost anymore. Most of these 10 that I bought I lost in coop. That was due to hens landing on them at door. Even with coop open before they were out of coop we had this problem. Moms kept chicks inside coop for about 2 weeks. I had it open so hens could come in and lay. We lost our first two the start of the second week. I noticed it when I open the coop for the day and did a chick head count. Found the bodies right at the door.

I will be adding a broody section to the coop. I know I mention doing it before along with a fence. We never got around to do it. Now I am not sure hubby will be able too because of CDl training. But after he hits the road I can hire someone to do it for me. I want another 8 feet added. 4 to each side so flock as more perch space and broodies have their own side.

Oh speaking of broodies. Our impossible to break broody is still going. I think this make like 6 months now. This is with snakes in coop eating eggs. Heat over 100 and cold wet nights. She will just not stop being broody. I know I should get eggs under her but right now I am leaving her alone. She is not in bad shape at all. She has kept at least one of my wood eggs from being eaten by a snake. We killed one snake that ate a wood egg but now another has done it. Do not know where it is but it will not live. So I wait till baby roosters mature to do their job and she will get eggs to sit on. Only 2 more months I hope they make it.

Our mower is in shop so everything is over grown that did not get cut last time. This is providing lots of cover for chicks. The one that got taken by hawk was always off be itself. It was also much smaller than the other 2. Those two have learned to keep close to house. They stay around are AC unit that has a large thistle growing near it. Not too mention brambles. So they are well protected there. This is right next to our back pourch where I toss food from. Of late all these want to do is eat feed instead of range. Problem is I think they already ate most of the bugs. I have not seen any grasshoppers or crickets this year unless it was in chickens beak. They are eating the blackberries that they can reach and soon the pokeberries will be ripe too. Things are ripening early this year very early. Well, I am off to shuck some corn cobs for them. We did not eat it fast enough so it got a bit dried out. Lucky chickens getting sweet corn this year.

Boy do we have broodies. April 19, 2010

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Well, i knew this breed Partridge Rock was known for being broody. It is one reason I bought them. So now on top of the 1 we already have we now have 3 more. That means all the nest boxes are full.

Good news is I got a date of new chicks. They will be arriving May 10. Wish it was sooner but that is OK. We are going to have to either expand the coop or get rid of some chickens. Right now our freezer is full so I guess I will have to sell some if we do not expand the coop. Luck has it I have 5 for sure I want gone before we have new roosters in to breed. I am sure I will have more with new chicks comming in also.

Hubby and I both are hoping that the straight run is at least a 50 split. I need at least 3 roosters here since these gals range so well. So when we have those picked out Captain will be leaving us as he cant defend against others. He does not even like being out of coop now so much. Ofcourse that could be because of the broodies.

Things have mostly all greened up here. Dogwoods and redbuds are in bloom still. Not sure hostas will make it. Seems I have a few hens that like thier tops. Grrr Need to fence them off asap. Ticks are out too found one on dog last night. Hopefully chickens will make short work of any that survived winter. Well, I am off to collect eggs. Next post will be when chicks arrive with pictures.

chicks ordered April 6, 2010

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Yes, that is right as of today we have chicks coming again. Hubby and I did some run around and stopped in our local feed store where I got my last batch. Order was going in tomorrow so I place mine for 5 but hubby said to get 10. Gotta love a hubby like that. 🙂

TSC is having there chick days but they are only carrying a few breeds and non I want. Ours is carrying BO, production reds and barred rocks. The rocks were a temptation but it is easier just dealing with the one color for now. Funny thing was this year they practical have the chicks hidden as they are all the way in the back. Rabbits are up front this year. Everything use to be in the middle.

Anyway plan is for now to use the broody. I plan on putting chicks under her at night since she is on eggs. Eggs are not fertile but she doesnt know that. I will just put a few to start in case things go wrong and she attacks them in the morning. I have read others doing this with no problems. If it works she will get the rest over a few days. Note to self need more hay for that box. It is rather low in there so if I raise it for chicks should be able to come and go out of it. Right now the would have a big jump for those tiny legs. Tomorrow I will know when they arrive. Fuzzy butt pics when they get here.