Layer Update

In the morning or evening when someone would go down to tend to the chickens there seemed to always be one or more layer where she didn't belong. One day when I went down there were four layers roosting on the fence that kept the three species apart, two in with the ducklings, and three in with the broilers. It was apparent that the layers had outgrown their fence.

Yesterday we moved them outside. They still aren't in their permanent home, for the time being they are in the pen that the ducks were in. There is a "plan" for their future home. I don't quite understand it yet but it has something to do with rotating the pasture they are in so that they will always have some place that has food and bugs. We can't free range them for fear of them pecking at the tomatoes, getting eaten by the neighbor dog, or visiting the daycare. 

They respond to my (Delia's) voice. I had this fear of chickens before we brought these homes. I had this image of putting my hand under a chicken to pull out an egg and getting pecked to death. I had a goal that the chickens and I would be friends. Nearly everyday when they were just wee chicks I'd go out there and talk to them and hold them. Now when I go out to see them they come running! They allow me to pick them up and will sit on my hand looking like the king of the mountain. 

  

We think that Fluffernutter might be a rooster. What do you think? 

Piglet has grown and we can no longer  pick her out of the crowd.

Twig is growing and her funky feet don't seem to be an issue, but she can't quite scratch in the ground so we will need to keep some dirt around for her.

Saturday Journal

 

It's been a busy few weeks. First we were drenched with rain which halted everything in the garden and then the ducks and chicks needed to be moved so that took up all our time. Hopefully now that the rain has stopped and the weather man has said we will have a few days in a row of sunshine, things will get done in the garden.

The one very exciting thing, we ate a handful of pea pods! They were a bit bitter, but tasted sweet to us! 

Went to our green thumbed friend to ask a few questions about pesticide and bugs and he suggested Garden Dust from Bonide he claimed it was more natural than most pesticides, we'll give it a go and see how it goes. As it was by the time I got out there the bugs had chewed through every leaf (in a day). 

I'm not sure how the cabbages/Brussels Sprouts are going to do, they don't look well. I think it was too late in the season to plant them, or maybe it's the pine shavings? 

The potatoes aren't up. Dad dug up some of the potatoes and a few are rotten, some are growing, we are going to give it another week to see what happens.

Mom and Dad planted another garden to use some of the seeds before they went bad: carrots, squash, turnips and onions so now we have to gardens to watch. 

List from two weeks ago:

• Weed tomatoes
• Hoe between the rows
• Mulch Brussels Sprouts
• Thin the beans

What actually happened:

• Watched Brussels Sprouts, cabbages, and potatoes drown.
• Thinned beans
• Roto-tilled or hoed a couple of rows
• Trimmed tomato
• Strung peas
• Ate peas
• Planted more: carrots, blue hubbard squash, butternut squash, turnip, onions
• Weeded strawberries

This weeks list:

• Keep an eye on the bugs
• Re-plant potato, cucumber
• Fertilize onions, tomatoes, peppers

How is your garden growing?

Stomper (age 1.5) munching on pea pods

Chickens on the Move

First a bit of cuteness, well I think she's cute.

Where'd they go?

What's that in the garage?

Oh, there they are! Layers are on one side of the brood box, broilers on the other, and ducks on the other side of the fence. Everyone has room to move and grow.

Learning Curve

What a few weeks it has been. We have learned a lot in the past few weeks and, so we don't forget, I'm writing it all down.

• Ducks are messy and smelly. What this means for the porch: the porch will be wet and smell funny if they are out there. Why they are messy and smelly: Ducks poop, a lot, all over the place. Ducks spread water, a lot, all over the place. Wet poop smells bad. Spread water drips out of dog kennel and on to porch making the porch wet on stocking feet. What to do next time: put ducks someplace where smell and wetness will not be a problem. Current solution: ducks live in barn basement.
• Ducks grow fast. What this means: They will not last long in any enclosure. What to do next time: don't bother trying to house ducks and chicks together in current brood box. Current solution: ducks live in barn basement.
• Ducks will be stupid with their food and water. What this means: They will get it wet and will lay in it. They will poop in it. Current solution: keep food far away from water. 

• Broilers and Layers should not be house together. Why is this a problem? Layers jump, flutter, and perch, but broilers should never do these things. Hard lesson learned: I believe a broiler died due to jumping (but it could have been another ailment?) Current solution: broilers now live in the barn basement.
• Broilers get big fast. Really, really, fast. They weigh quite a lot, a lot more than the layers
• Layers can "fly". They can "fly" out of their brood box and perch on the edge. 
• Chickens get shavings into their water. What this means: the waterer will fill up with shavings and they won't be able to drink anymore. What to do next time: get the hanging waterer in there ASAP
• Chickens huddle for warmth and will squish each other to death. Hard lesson learned: chicks pig-piled and one got smothered. What to do next time: put something in corners so that no one gets stuck and make sure brood box temp is checked more often.
• Chickens are distracting. What this means: chicken loving people may get "stuck" out on porch watching chickens a lot. Current solution: none, I enjoy it quite a lot!

This is the broilers and ducks new home. Actually, right now the fence is going in the other direction due to the torrential amount of rain we've had the past few days. The basement flooded much to the delight of the ducks and the dismay of the chickens. 

Name the Chicken Breed

We call this little fluff ball Fluffernutter, she was in the box of broilers Jason brought home. We believe that s/he is a Buff Cochin Bantam. But we won't know for sure until she is fully feathered out. She is not as big as the other chickens and has feathers on her feet. She's so tiny! Can't wait to find out what she is!

Saturday Journal

• Planted seeds: beets, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, beans, and sunflowers
• Planted onions
• Strung up peas
• Bought more chickens (fluffy white ones), this time broilers and one mystery chick
• Thanked God: for the rain to water the garden, the coolness to help the cabbage and Brussels sprouts take root, and the overcast sky so that the tomato plants didn't get scorched.

On Monday Jason came home and said to me (Delia) in a mischievous voice: "I have something for you!" To which I responded, "It better not be a puppy or I'll kill you." He took me to the porch and presented me with a box of fluffy, yellow, peeping chicks. "They are broilers! Meat birds."

That night we constructed a new home for the ducks, a dog kennel wrapped in wire and cardboard, and put the new little chicks where the ducks once lived.

For a few days everything was fine. Then the Reds got bigger. Bigger and flapping. Flapping, jumping, and perching on the water jars. Flapping and jumping to get over the gate to visit the new chicks. I said to my Mom, "One of these days we are going to go on the porch and a Red is going to be with the Broilers."

Sure enough later that day Mom went out on the porch and a Red was laying down with the Broilers.

I worried that the Reds would get hurt trying to get over the fence, so I removed it. Everyone is happy, healthy, and getting big and strong!

This week in the garden we hope to:

• Weed the peas
• Mulch the strawberries
• Plant pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, potatoes, watermelon 

They're Coming

Tomorrow, tomorrow, they'll be here tomorrow!

15 Chicks and 4 Ducklings

We cannot wait!

Brood Box: Before & After

The chicks brood box. 

Looks nice doesn't it?

 But it hasn't always looked so nice.

A few weeks ago it looked like this.

Dad found the box in the barn/basement and Jason wanted to keep it for his truck, but then the urge for chicks struck. Dad needed something to do while he boiled sap so a brood box project seemed like a good idea. Dad spent some time with the box in his shop and now the box looks cozy. More than enough room for the 19 little fluffly bodies coming to live in it in a couple of months.Best of all, Dad had most of the pieces here, the lumber is all reclaimed from other projects or broken objects.

The box features a hinged top is hinged for easy access, four handles to make it easy to lug around, and a little door if we decide to take it outside and let the chicks roam supervised when they get big enough. 

Can't wait!