I know that I got incredibly boring to just about everyone (yeah, all two of you) who read my blog when all I posted about was my chickens. I decided to start an entirely new blog where I can talk about them as much as I want.
If you happen to be at all interested in my chicken ramblings, you'll see a link to it on my "links" column.
I want peacocks now, but J says I can't- he'll have my committed if I try. Funsucker.
I *DO* have some golden laced wyandotte eggs in my incubator, and it looks like I have 7 healthy chicks developing. They should be hatching on Saturday. Woot!
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Failure to hatch
Well, the eggs I set that were my chickens' final eggs were due to hatch on Thursday.
When they were a day overdue, I candled them again, and I could tell that they were not viable. Since I'm curious, I sealed them in a ziploc bag, and opened them all up.
1 egg stopped developing around day 13-14.
3 eggs stopped developing around day 10.
1 egg stopped developing around day 7
1 egg stopped around day 3-4.
I'll admit that I'm pretty upset about it. I had an emotional attachment to the idea of hatching MY chickens' eggs. It would've been nice to have a legacy. I didn't cry when I found my chickens dead and had to bury them, though I wanted to. I did cry a little when I realized the eggs weren't going to hatch. I think that it was also for the loss of the hens as well- I'd pinned my hopes on these eggs. Also, to see that they had started developing and died for some reason was difficult. I wonder if I'd done something wrong, and if it could have been prevented.
I mailed my incubator back to Brinsea today. The autoturn feature on it was broken, and they'd given me a return authorization so I could get it repaired. When the chicken tragedy struck, I wanted to try to hatch before I sent it back. Hopefully I'll get it back in a month or so and I can try again.
Once it comes back, I will do a test incubation at home to make sure it's turning the eggs ok and will hatch successfully. Then, I'll do a couple incubations at my kids' schools. I mentioned it in casual conversation, and I have three teachers at three schools who are really excited at the idea of hatching chicks in class.
I'm embarrassed to admit I'm so broken up over some birds.
When they were a day overdue, I candled them again, and I could tell that they were not viable. Since I'm curious, I sealed them in a ziploc bag, and opened them all up.
1 egg stopped developing around day 13-14.
3 eggs stopped developing around day 10.
1 egg stopped developing around day 7
1 egg stopped around day 3-4.
I'll admit that I'm pretty upset about it. I had an emotional attachment to the idea of hatching MY chickens' eggs. It would've been nice to have a legacy. I didn't cry when I found my chickens dead and had to bury them, though I wanted to. I did cry a little when I realized the eggs weren't going to hatch. I think that it was also for the loss of the hens as well- I'd pinned my hopes on these eggs. Also, to see that they had started developing and died for some reason was difficult. I wonder if I'd done something wrong, and if it could have been prevented.
I mailed my incubator back to Brinsea today. The autoturn feature on it was broken, and they'd given me a return authorization so I could get it repaired. When the chicken tragedy struck, I wanted to try to hatch before I sent it back. Hopefully I'll get it back in a month or so and I can try again.
Once it comes back, I will do a test incubation at home to make sure it's turning the eggs ok and will hatch successfully. Then, I'll do a couple incubations at my kids' schools. I mentioned it in casual conversation, and I have three teachers at three schools who are really excited at the idea of hatching chicks in class.
I'm embarrassed to admit I'm so broken up over some birds.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Great Chicken Tragedy
I've been working to get all caught up on my blog, and I have to admit this was a post that I was dreading.
On Thursday, November 3, my neighbor's daughter came over to my house, deeply upset. She is a senior in high school, and had just arrived home from school. She was going to collect eggs and discovered that 12 of their 18 chickens were dead, and 2-3 more were injured. She wanted to call her mother and share the news. She left her a voicemail. I said I'd come outside and help her.
As we walked outside, I thought I should check on my birds, just in case. I wasn't too worried, as our coop is totally enclosed. Then, I remembered, it's not. When we extended our run, we ran out of the wire fencing we were using over the top. There was a spot at the end on top, about 18" wide that didn't get covered. We'd tossed a big board over the top, but it had been a couple months. It was entirely possible that the board had fallen off.
As I got to my coop, I realized the worst had happened- seven of my hens were dead. The only survivor in the coop was Bow, my gift chicken from the neighbor. We hadn't had her very long, and I still hadn't quite thought of her as "ours". There was no sign of Sue. Then, I heard him crow. But, he wasn't in our yard- he was at a neighbor's, two doors down. As it turned out, he had a minor injury on his neck/throat area, but he was doing pretty well, other than being emotionally traumatized.
I went to the neighbor's house and saw 12 of their hens laying in their coop, mutilated. The most upsetting thing about finding them dead was that they just looked played with- they were pretty much intact, just dead. If it had been a starving animal who had eaten them, while upsetting, it would've been at least somewhat understandable. But these were just toyed with. She had a few remaining chickens who had survived, some injured, others ok. To get into her chicken run, the critter would have had to jump a 6' fence to get into her backyard proper, then jump another 6' fence to get into the chicken run. Given our somewhat-secure chicken runs, we knew this wasn't the work of a dog.
Our other neighbor, Dan, came over, and helped us bury all of the birds. He asked around, and a family of raccoons has been spotted in the area. We feel this is probably the culprit.
Jennie was very upset about the loss of her chickens. While she does love her chickens more than I do (I know, seems hard to believe, but it's absolutely true), they were also a money source to her- the money she made from selling eggs was paying for her horse AND chicken feed. I gave her back Bow. I rehomed Sue to a family who has 13 hens. I got an update from the new owner this morning, saying that he is very gentle with his new girls, as well as the owner, and seems to be a very happy rooster.
So, at this point, I have no chickens.
Back in September, I hatched four chicks and gave them to my sister in law and her family. They have had so much fun with their new babies and have really gotten attached to them (at least, that's how it's appeared from the outside looking in). However, when they heard that I'd lost all of mine, they offered to give the chicks back. I was so touched by the gesture that I nearly cried.
The same day of the incident, while I was steeling myself to go clean up the carnage, I took my final dozen eggs out of the fridge.
I picked out the 7 that I thought were the prettiest, and set them to incubate.
After a few days, I decided to candle them. I realized that egg #3 had a small crack in it, and realized it probably wouldn't be able to hatch the chick, so I threw it out and put another egg in its' place. I've since heard success stories of hatching cracked eggs, so I worry that I made a mistake. However, Egg #3.1 is developing great.
At day 5, I candled again. Here's one of the eggs on day 5:
At this point, it is day 10 in the incubation. It appears that six of the eggs are developing nicely. Egg #5 seems to be a quitter- I think it quit about 2-3 days into it. Eggs #1 and #2 are so dark that it's tough to tell, but I'm pretty sure I saw some veining.
This is egg #7 at day 10 of incubation:
On Thursday, November 3, my neighbor's daughter came over to my house, deeply upset. She is a senior in high school, and had just arrived home from school. She was going to collect eggs and discovered that 12 of their 18 chickens were dead, and 2-3 more were injured. She wanted to call her mother and share the news. She left her a voicemail. I said I'd come outside and help her.
As we walked outside, I thought I should check on my birds, just in case. I wasn't too worried, as our coop is totally enclosed. Then, I remembered, it's not. When we extended our run, we ran out of the wire fencing we were using over the top. There was a spot at the end on top, about 18" wide that didn't get covered. We'd tossed a big board over the top, but it had been a couple months. It was entirely possible that the board had fallen off.
As I got to my coop, I realized the worst had happened- seven of my hens were dead. The only survivor in the coop was Bow, my gift chicken from the neighbor. We hadn't had her very long, and I still hadn't quite thought of her as "ours". There was no sign of Sue. Then, I heard him crow. But, he wasn't in our yard- he was at a neighbor's, two doors down. As it turned out, he had a minor injury on his neck/throat area, but he was doing pretty well, other than being emotionally traumatized.
I went to the neighbor's house and saw 12 of their hens laying in their coop, mutilated. The most upsetting thing about finding them dead was that they just looked played with- they were pretty much intact, just dead. If it had been a starving animal who had eaten them, while upsetting, it would've been at least somewhat understandable. But these were just toyed with. She had a few remaining chickens who had survived, some injured, others ok. To get into her chicken run, the critter would have had to jump a 6' fence to get into her backyard proper, then jump another 6' fence to get into the chicken run. Given our somewhat-secure chicken runs, we knew this wasn't the work of a dog.
Our other neighbor, Dan, came over, and helped us bury all of the birds. He asked around, and a family of raccoons has been spotted in the area. We feel this is probably the culprit.
Jennie was very upset about the loss of her chickens. While she does love her chickens more than I do (I know, seems hard to believe, but it's absolutely true), they were also a money source to her- the money she made from selling eggs was paying for her horse AND chicken feed. I gave her back Bow. I rehomed Sue to a family who has 13 hens. I got an update from the new owner this morning, saying that he is very gentle with his new girls, as well as the owner, and seems to be a very happy rooster.
So, at this point, I have no chickens.
Back in September, I hatched four chicks and gave them to my sister in law and her family. They have had so much fun with their new babies and have really gotten attached to them (at least, that's how it's appeared from the outside looking in). However, when they heard that I'd lost all of mine, they offered to give the chicks back. I was so touched by the gesture that I nearly cried.
The same day of the incident, while I was steeling myself to go clean up the carnage, I took my final dozen eggs out of the fridge.
I picked out the 7 that I thought were the prettiest, and set them to incubate.
After a few days, I decided to candle them. I realized that egg #3 had a small crack in it, and realized it probably wouldn't be able to hatch the chick, so I threw it out and put another egg in its' place. I've since heard success stories of hatching cracked eggs, so I worry that I made a mistake. However, Egg #3.1 is developing great.
At day 5, I candled again. Here's one of the eggs on day 5:
At this point, it is day 10 in the incubation. It appears that six of the eggs are developing nicely. Egg #5 seems to be a quitter- I think it quit about 2-3 days into it. Eggs #1 and #2 are so dark that it's tough to tell, but I'm pretty sure I saw some veining.
This is egg #7 at day 10 of incubation:
Friday, September 2, 2011
Hatching Chicks
My daughter has been teasing me that all I ever blog about is chickens, and could I POSSIBLY be any more boring? So, I've been thinking about making an effort not to post so much about them. However, I did have something exciting happen this week, and I've had several people express interest in this post, so here goes.
I had my hen go broody a few weeks ago, but the first batch of eggs didn't hatch. My SIL wanted chickens, and I thought I'd try to hatch eggs one more time for her. I put a total of 7 eggs under Lucy. All were fathered by my Black Copper Marans cockerel. 6 were from my Easter Egger hens, and the 7th was from my white leghorn.
I candled at 8 days along, and found that the white leghorn egg was not developing at all, so I threw it out. Two of the eggs were too dark too see anything, but I was pretty sure I was seeing something in the remaining four.
I tried to not obsess too much, and only candle every few days. Considering how busy we were, this wasn't too hard.
On Saturday, I noticed the broody hen was out and about in the coop, which had me very worried. She stayed out for several hours, so I got the incubator going, just in case. Since it was so hot outside, I figured the eggs were probably ok.
On Sunday, I went to check on the eggs, and found that one had pipped! For those who don't know, a "pip" is when the chick manages to break a tiny hole in the egg. Since I wanted to properly watch everything, and I didn't trust the hen to stay in place since she'd been getting a bit fidgety. Plus, I was worried that the other chickens would kill a chick. So, I brought five of the eggs inside. The one I left outside was another one that I was pretty sure hadn't developed.
Here's a picture of my incubator with the pipped egg:
I was just sure that it was going to hatch any second, and was glued to the incubator. In a couple hours, it looked like this:
I could actually see a tiny chicken beak, and see a tiny chick breathing. Wow!! I managed to talk myself into going to bed around 11pm, after watching pretty consistently for 4 hours. I have to confess I got up several times in the night to check on it, but other than the hole getting a tiny bit bigger, nothing. During the middle of this, a second egg pipped. Wahoo! TWO chicks trying to hatch!
So, the next morning about 7:30, I check again. The hole is a bit bigger now, maybe as long as a dime. I texted my SIL to tell her that the hole was bigger (she'd come over the evening before to check it out). Then, the chick really goes to work. After I finished texting her, I look up and see the hole is twice as big:
(this was around 7:34)
Then, at 7:36:
7:37:
I'm sending her these pictures, and she's freaking out, trying to hurry and get her girls ready for school so they can stop by and see.
Then, at 7:39:
She got there a couple minutes later, and we oooh'd and ahhh'd over the baby. Meanwhile, the other egg, not wanting to be outdone starting doing the same thing. By 7:55 am, a second chick was hatched, and my nieces and younger kids got to watch.
Within an hour of those two hatching, two more eggs pipped. That evening, my SIL, BIL and their kids came over. The third chick hatched obligingly for them. Still nothing from the last egg.
The fourth chick hatched around 5:30am. I know it was at 5:30 because about that time, I was woken from a deep sleep to "CHEEEEEP CHEEEEEP CHEEEEP CHEEEEP" and I was just sure one of the existing three chicks (whom we'd moved to a brooder box) was in deep trouble. I stagger out to see what's going on, and it registers that the cheeping is coming from the wrong direction. Yep- we've got a fourth chick!
I let the final two eggs incubate for another day, but then decided they were duds. I sealed each in a ziploc bag (just in case they were really smelly or exploded) and cracked them open. The egg under the hen had never developed, like I thought. The one in the incubator had started to develop, but died around day 10 or so.
Here's two of the chicks:
That evening, SIL and BIL took their babies home. I went over to their house last night, when they were 2-3 days old, and took a picture of J holding all four.
I had my hen go broody a few weeks ago, but the first batch of eggs didn't hatch. My SIL wanted chickens, and I thought I'd try to hatch eggs one more time for her. I put a total of 7 eggs under Lucy. All were fathered by my Black Copper Marans cockerel. 6 were from my Easter Egger hens, and the 7th was from my white leghorn.
I candled at 8 days along, and found that the white leghorn egg was not developing at all, so I threw it out. Two of the eggs were too dark too see anything, but I was pretty sure I was seeing something in the remaining four.
I tried to not obsess too much, and only candle every few days. Considering how busy we were, this wasn't too hard.
On Saturday, I noticed the broody hen was out and about in the coop, which had me very worried. She stayed out for several hours, so I got the incubator going, just in case. Since it was so hot outside, I figured the eggs were probably ok.
On Sunday, I went to check on the eggs, and found that one had pipped! For those who don't know, a "pip" is when the chick manages to break a tiny hole in the egg. Since I wanted to properly watch everything, and I didn't trust the hen to stay in place since she'd been getting a bit fidgety. Plus, I was worried that the other chickens would kill a chick. So, I brought five of the eggs inside. The one I left outside was another one that I was pretty sure hadn't developed.
Here's a picture of my incubator with the pipped egg:
I was just sure that it was going to hatch any second, and was glued to the incubator. In a couple hours, it looked like this:
I could actually see a tiny chicken beak, and see a tiny chick breathing. Wow!! I managed to talk myself into going to bed around 11pm, after watching pretty consistently for 4 hours. I have to confess I got up several times in the night to check on it, but other than the hole getting a tiny bit bigger, nothing. During the middle of this, a second egg pipped. Wahoo! TWO chicks trying to hatch!
So, the next morning about 7:30, I check again. The hole is a bit bigger now, maybe as long as a dime. I texted my SIL to tell her that the hole was bigger (she'd come over the evening before to check it out). Then, the chick really goes to work. After I finished texting her, I look up and see the hole is twice as big:
(this was around 7:34)Then, at 7:36:
7:37:
I'm sending her these pictures, and she's freaking out, trying to hurry and get her girls ready for school so they can stop by and see.
Then, at 7:39:
She got there a couple minutes later, and we oooh'd and ahhh'd over the baby. Meanwhile, the other egg, not wanting to be outdone starting doing the same thing. By 7:55 am, a second chick was hatched, and my nieces and younger kids got to watch.
Within an hour of those two hatching, two more eggs pipped. That evening, my SIL, BIL and their kids came over. The third chick hatched obligingly for them. Still nothing from the last egg.
The fourth chick hatched around 5:30am. I know it was at 5:30 because about that time, I was woken from a deep sleep to "CHEEEEEP CHEEEEEP CHEEEEP CHEEEEP" and I was just sure one of the existing three chicks (whom we'd moved to a brooder box) was in deep trouble. I stagger out to see what's going on, and it registers that the cheeping is coming from the wrong direction. Yep- we've got a fourth chick!
I let the final two eggs incubate for another day, but then decided they were duds. I sealed each in a ziploc bag (just in case they were really smelly or exploded) and cracked them open. The egg under the hen had never developed, like I thought. The one in the incubator had started to develop, but died around day 10 or so.
Here's two of the chicks:
That evening, SIL and BIL took their babies home. I went over to their house last night, when they were 2-3 days old, and took a picture of J holding all four.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 21
Day 21
So today is day 21 for most of my eggs, and tomorrow is day 21 for the rest. Regular gestation (? Is it gestation if it's not a mammal?) for chicken eggs is 21 days.
I went camping in the high uintas last week, and wasn't around to obsess at all over the chickens last week. I left my neighbor in charge of my chickens. I told her to collect and eat any eggs the chicken left. She decided to give me one of her rhode island red pullets, Bow, because it was being really meant to her other chickens. Awesome! I don't have a chicken that lays an egg that color, I'm thrilled. Anyway, during the acclimation period, Bow broke through my separation area to keep poor Lucy in peace. My neighbor fixed the breach, and thought nothing of it.
Well, I got home Saturday night, and of course wanted to go check my eggs. I get counting, and realize that instead of five eggs, there's SIX!! Sometime during the week, Blondie managed to sneak over and lay an egg in Lucy's nesting box. Whoops. I have no idea how long the egg is sitting there, so I take it inside, and stick it in a glass to see if it floats or sinks. It sank, which means it is fresh. I left it on the counter and went back out to candle the five hatching eggs.
I used a very powerful mini LED flashlight. I found it worked much better than the other thing I rigged up. So, I'm candling eggs, and just not sure what to think. They're much more opaque, but I still don't see veining or anything else. So, I'm pretty sure they're duds My neighbor came over to watch the candling, and I'm thrilled to have someone else to give their opinion. After seeing those, I said I'd go get the rogue egg, so she could see what a fresh egg looked like, so she could give her opinion on whether or not the other eggs were duds.
So, I went back and grabbed the egg, and took it out. I put the flashlight up against it, and we IMMEDIATELY see a little shadow in there, and we can see it moving allllll over the place. Oh. My. gosh. It is so cool to watch! I never saw anything like that with the other eggs, which leads me to believe that the other five are definitely not going to hatch.
I'd hate to be wrong though, so I think I'm going to let them sit under the chicken for a couple more days. After that, I think I'll crack them open. I'm a little scared they'll really stink, or, even worse, I'll find mostly ready chick.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
My attempts at "Candling"
Unfortunately, we're down to five eggs. My black copper marans egg got stepped on and broken. Lucy is in the favored box (read: only nesting box that really counts), so the other chickens keep trying to step over her to lay. Never mind there's five other perfectly good boxes. We went camping for a couple days, and my neighbor chickensat for us. While gone, my neighbor was getting 1-2 eggs a day in the other boxes, and figured they weren't laying much because of the heat. Then, Sunday morning, she realized there was a broken egg under Lucy, so she went to clean it up. She found a DOZEN eggs there that weren't supposed to be hatching! Poor hen was trying to sit on 17 eggs.
I've never really been known much for my patience. When I heard that it's possible to "candle" an egg, I was all over that.
I've been trying to rig something to candle the eggs, but I don't think I've been entirely successful. I don't think the light is quite bright enough. The only egg that I feel like I'm getting much luck with is the white egg.
This is what I saw yesterday, which would be around day 7:
That definitely looks like more than just a plain, unfertilized egg. However, I don't see any veining, and I don't see any independent movement, like I've seen some of on youtube.
Today, after finding two different chickens sitting on poor Lucy, I decided to try and separate the henhouse so that she'll be left in peace. I used our chicken wire/fabric, and just tacked it up. Lucy still has access to food and water, but she can't get out of the coop. She hasn't wanted to, so I only feel a little guilty about that. On the plus side, so far, no other chickens have gotten in.
When I was trying to rig it up, Blondie kept trying to sneak past me into the nesting box so she could lay. She was such a pain that it was like having a 2 year old out there "helping" me. I finally got the net up enough to where she couldn't go in, and she finally gave in and went to a different box and laid.
I have the highest hopes for eggs 1 (white) and 4 (green). #2 is so dark I can't see inside. I think I can see a slight shadow in 2 and 4. 5 seems quite porous to me, and I can't see any air sac, so I'm pretty sure it's a dud. However, I'd hate to crack it open and discover I'm wrong, so I'm trying to sit tight.
I've never really been known much for my patience. When I heard that it's possible to "candle" an egg, I was all over that.
I've been trying to rig something to candle the eggs, but I don't think I've been entirely successful. I don't think the light is quite bright enough. The only egg that I feel like I'm getting much luck with is the white egg.
This is what I saw yesterday, which would be around day 7:
That definitely looks like more than just a plain, unfertilized egg. However, I don't see any veining, and I don't see any independent movement, like I've seen some of on youtube.
Today, after finding two different chickens sitting on poor Lucy, I decided to try and separate the henhouse so that she'll be left in peace. I used our chicken wire/fabric, and just tacked it up. Lucy still has access to food and water, but she can't get out of the coop. She hasn't wanted to, so I only feel a little guilty about that. On the plus side, so far, no other chickens have gotten in.
When I was trying to rig it up, Blondie kept trying to sneak past me into the nesting box so she could lay. She was such a pain that it was like having a 2 year old out there "helping" me. I finally got the net up enough to where she couldn't go in, and she finally gave in and went to a different box and laid.
I have the highest hopes for eggs 1 (white) and 4 (green). #2 is so dark I can't see inside. I think I can see a slight shadow in 2 and 4. 5 seems quite porous to me, and I can't see any air sac, so I'm pretty sure it's a dud. However, I'd hate to crack it open and discover I'm wrong, so I'm trying to sit tight.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Broody Hen!
So, on Sunday night, I decided to give Lucy the four eggs that were laid that day (well, the fourth egg was one of her own, and from a day or two earlier). Then, I decided to give her three eggs that were laid Monday. I didn't bother giving her an egg from the silver laced wyandotte because she is so mean to Sue that I seriously doubt her eggs are fertile.
The eggs that I decided to let her try and hatch are all marked with a marker because the other chickens keep trying to lay eggs in the box she's sitting in, so when I go to collect eggs, it could get very confusing. Here are the eggs I have given Lucy to try and hatch (one of the white ones went into the cheesecake).
Anyway, from what I've read, chicks hatch in about 21 days, so I figure around August 8 or 9th, we could possibly see some babies!
When they have been sitting under the chicken for 7-8 days, I can try "candling" the eggs, and I should be able to tell if there is a chick developing. I'll have to try and find a really powerful flashlight and try it out in a week or so.
Here is Lucy sitting on the nest. Doesn't she look MEAN? So far she hasn't tried to peck at me, but she makes a weird growling sound whenever I root around, trying to find eggs that I haven't earmarked for her.
I may get her on video getting mad at me. It's kind of funny.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Chicken Update
First, Lucy, the black copper marans, saw her replacement (more on THAT later) because we had all of the chicks outside in our time out coop, and started laying again. Same big, beautiful eggs, 3-4 a week. Because of that, there's been a few times when I've gotten an egg from all seven hens in one day!
Second, much as I hated to admit it, Foster/Sue seemed to have a much redder and more developed comb than I thought a pullet ought to have. Sadly enough, he started crowing, and is most definitely a rooster. He was kind of picking on a rooster my neighbor had, and she got fed up with it, and kicked him out. We put him in the time out coop, and she kept her chickens in her back yard.
Here's a video of him crowing from a month or so ago:
And here's a picture of him taken just a few days ago. I think he seems to have grown into a very handsome boy. His crowing has improved, but I haven't taken video of it recently.
We are in the process of making the chicken run about 3x as big as it was before. We did most of the work today, we just need to get some more chicken wire to complete the project.
Once that's done, we'll probably have Sue join the girls. As it is now, he's still separated from them because he hasn't quite asserted his dominance yet. He did manage to, um, not be a virgin anymore. That was awesome- we had our friends and their six children over when that happened. However, there's still a couple hens picking on him. He is bigger than all of them now, and that really helps. In the beginning when he was smaller, he just ran away like a big old chicke... well. Yeah. Anyway, we'd been calling him Foster up to that point. But, we decided to go back to Sue, following Johnny Cash's philosophy in "A Boy Named Sue".
I think he was shocked because his nestmates adored him. They followed him everywhere, and he basked in their admiration.
They still remember him, and recently when he was free ranging, the saw him on the other side of the fence and went running over to visit. It was funny.
Friday, April 15, 2011
a new chicken
I'd been mulling over this problem for a few weeks, when in mid March, my neighbor called me excitedly. My chicken fever had spread, and she's bought eight Rhode Island Red chicks. I was thrilled for her, but a plot immediately hatched (ha ha ha).
I asked her if she would be willing to "foster" a chick for me, so that I could get another chicken, and only ONE more chicken. I offered to buy a 50 lb bag of starter feed, as well as a small bag of medicated feed, since one of her chicks seemed to need the medication.
I found a local breeder who was selling Black Copper Marans chicks that were about the same age as my neighbor's chicks. I picked out an adorable chick that looked to be a couple days older than the neighbor's chicks. I suspect she/he was hatched on 3/12 or 3/13. The breeder isn't able to sex for gender, but she was trying an experiment this year. I picked out a chick that we both suspected were pullets.
Here's the chick at 5 days old, give or take.
Initially, I was going to name her Suzie, after the breeder. However, my neighbor has called the chick "Foster". Since I worry (ok, obsess) that this chick is actually a cockerel, Foster seems to be sticking.
Foster is now almost 5 weeks old. I'm still really hoping that it's a pullet, but I'm just not sure. If it's a rooster, I've kind of decided it's not the end of the world. Roosters really are gorgeous, much prettier than hens. It would also give me the opportunity to hatch eggs- a Copper Marans Rooster with an Easter Egger hen could make some cool offspring, particularly their egg color.
Unfortunately, chickens get really, really ugly once they lose their fuzz, but before they're grown up. I've said that Foster looks like a velociraptor that has been drizzled in honey, then dipped in feathers.
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Fools' Day 2011
My big joke for 2011 was the following surprise the kids got when they went to collect eggs:
They thought it was very, very funny.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
There's a blizzard a 'comin
There's a huge blizzard predicted today, and I don't feel ready. Last night, I watched the weather report, and the meteorologist started off his portion by saying, "Now, I don't want to SCARE you, but...." Hmm. That's not a good sign. All of the school districts have canceled their evening activities, and some schools are even releasing kids early from school.
Winds are at 40 mph here right now. Hope my pine trees don't blow over and ruin my beautiful new roof. I made J drive his big truck to work this morning, in case the snow started before he was able to get home from work. He rolled his eyes, but must have decided it wasn't worth the fight and did as I asked. I love that guy.
Now, you can laugh at me here, but now that J is in a big safe truck, and will probably leave work early, what has me most worried is my chickens. I normally wouldn't fret too much, since we've insulated their hen house, and with the light, it stays pretty warm in there. Unfortunately, the hens got in a fight last night. Injured worst was Clover, the white chicken. J was out there putting heat tape on the water dish, and things were great. He went out a half hour later, and she was bleeding pretty badly from her comb, and a spot in back of her wings. She kept shaking her head, so there was droplets of blood on her feathers, making it look much worse.
I checked on them at bedtime, and they all seemed to be getting along again.
This morning, as soon as it was light, I went out again. Clover's comb was scabbed over, but the spot in back was bleeding again, and a new spot towards the front was also looking a bit plucked and bloody. She looked pretty bad. She's never been a friendly bird, and has never let me pick her up. I was able to catch her a bit easier than expected (though she still put up a pretty good fight, which gave me hope).
I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I've been told in commercial chicken farms, they have red lights so that the chickens don't see the red of blood, and that they debeak the chickens so they can't peck each other to death. I've heard that if they see any blood/injury on a chicken, often they will peck at it until they've pecked the poor chicken to death.
Just in case this is true, I moved Clover to our small chicken tractor that we originally built for our chickens before chicken math/multiplication took over. However, it hasn't been used since we got rid of the roosters, and I haven't insulated or prepared it for winter at all. This morning, I added a ton of bedding to the box area to help insulate.
Clover was NOT happy to be moved away from her sisters. She did lay a nice, large egg for me today, but stuck on her nest for several hours. She's been out pecking and scratching for a good hour now, so I am hoping she's feeling a bit better.
When J gets home from work, he'll help me move the tractor to our now dormant garden, so she'll be right next to our chicken run. That way, she can see her sisters, but they can't hurt her. We can also run power to her little run and put a light out there to keep her warm and hopefully protect her if this storm turns out to be as big as they say.
Winds are at 40 mph here right now. Hope my pine trees don't blow over and ruin my beautiful new roof. I made J drive his big truck to work this morning, in case the snow started before he was able to get home from work. He rolled his eyes, but must have decided it wasn't worth the fight and did as I asked. I love that guy.
Now, you can laugh at me here, but now that J is in a big safe truck, and will probably leave work early, what has me most worried is my chickens. I normally wouldn't fret too much, since we've insulated their hen house, and with the light, it stays pretty warm in there. Unfortunately, the hens got in a fight last night. Injured worst was Clover, the white chicken. J was out there putting heat tape on the water dish, and things were great. He went out a half hour later, and she was bleeding pretty badly from her comb, and a spot in back of her wings. She kept shaking her head, so there was droplets of blood on her feathers, making it look much worse.
I checked on them at bedtime, and they all seemed to be getting along again.
This morning, as soon as it was light, I went out again. Clover's comb was scabbed over, but the spot in back was bleeding again, and a new spot towards the front was also looking a bit plucked and bloody. She looked pretty bad. She's never been a friendly bird, and has never let me pick her up. I was able to catch her a bit easier than expected (though she still put up a pretty good fight, which gave me hope).
I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I've been told in commercial chicken farms, they have red lights so that the chickens don't see the red of blood, and that they debeak the chickens so they can't peck each other to death. I've heard that if they see any blood/injury on a chicken, often they will peck at it until they've pecked the poor chicken to death.
Just in case this is true, I moved Clover to our small chicken tractor that we originally built for our chickens before chicken math/multiplication took over. However, it hasn't been used since we got rid of the roosters, and I haven't insulated or prepared it for winter at all. This morning, I added a ton of bedding to the box area to help insulate.
Clover was NOT happy to be moved away from her sisters. She did lay a nice, large egg for me today, but stuck on her nest for several hours. She's been out pecking and scratching for a good hour now, so I am hoping she's feeling a bit better.
When J gets home from work, he'll help me move the tractor to our now dormant garden, so she'll be right next to our chicken run. That way, she can see her sisters, but they can't hurt her. We can also run power to her little run and put a light out there to keep her warm and hopefully protect her if this storm turns out to be as big as they say.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Patience paid off
I have tried to keep my chicken ramblings down here a bit. I suspect I haven't been entirely successful, but hey, it's MY blog. S's teacher finds it FASCINATING, and has requested I bring eggs into class and talk to the kids about it. In fact, she wanted me to bring in an actual chicken, but I vetoed the idea. I thought it sounded very messy, chaotic, and traumatic. If the chickens get boring, skip this post. So there.
Lucy, my Black Copper Marans, laid her last egg on Sept. 3. I suspected she was molting, although she didn't look nearly as ragged as other molting chickens are reported as being.
This afternoon, I went to collect eggs (wahoo! 3 were waiting- a light brown, a white, and an olive), I caught Lucy in her favorite nesting box. Interesting. She hasn't even bothered peeking in there since she went on strike.
I went out an hour and a half later, and look what I found?
I also found a lovely sea green egg, but I didn't take a picture of it. Yay!
Before, she was laying every other day like clockwork. After a molt, chickens often are less productive layers, so it'll be interesting (to me) to see if she keeps up her prior pace or eases off.
Lucy, my Black Copper Marans, laid her last egg on Sept. 3. I suspected she was molting, although she didn't look nearly as ragged as other molting chickens are reported as being.
This afternoon, I went to collect eggs (wahoo! 3 were waiting- a light brown, a white, and an olive), I caught Lucy in her favorite nesting box. Interesting. She hasn't even bothered peeking in there since she went on strike.
I went out an hour and a half later, and look what I found?
I also found a lovely sea green egg, but I didn't take a picture of it. Yay!
Before, she was laying every other day like clockwork. After a molt, chickens often are less productive layers, so it'll be interesting (to me) to see if she keeps up her prior pace or eases off.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Bountiful Baskets Oct 23
I know I haven't done a Bountiful Basket in forever, but this week they were offering pomegranates and tortillas as add ons, so I simply had to do it. We got a 24 lb box of pomegranates for $18.50, which is an amazing bargain. I also got a MEEELION tortillas for $10. I love these tortillas.
So, here's what my $15 basket was for this week:
I still have tomatoes and pears coming out my ears, so those parts were less than enthusiastically received, but I'm really happy with the rest. I've never cooked parsnips before, so that'll be a fun new thing to try.
In other news, I have confirmation that two of my Easter Egger chickens have begun to lay. I got both of these eggs today:
The interesting thing about the speckled egg is that when it's dry, the brown spots are more beige, and almost unnoticeable. The egg was a little dirty, so I washed it off, and it went speckled. Too cool!
So, here's what my $15 basket was for this week:
I still have tomatoes and pears coming out my ears, so those parts were less than enthusiastically received, but I'm really happy with the rest. I've never cooked parsnips before, so that'll be a fun new thing to try.
In other news, I have confirmation that two of my Easter Egger chickens have begun to lay. I got both of these eggs today:
The interesting thing about the speckled egg is that when it's dry, the brown spots are more beige, and almost unnoticeable. The egg was a little dirty, so I washed it off, and it went speckled. Too cool!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Another cool egg
Today I got another two eggs! One of them is obviously Clover's. I'm not sure if the other one is from the same chicken from yesterday's chicken. It's also green, but a distinctly different shade of green.
The egg from yesterday is in the middle, the egg from today is on the left.
The egg from yesterday is in the middle, the egg from today is on the left.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
First Easter Egger Egg!!!
It finally happened!!!
This afternoon, I went out to collect Clover's egg. I noticed that she and Mabel weren't with the other chickens, and figured they were probably in the hen house. I opened up the left door, and sure enough, Clover is sitting in her favorite nest box. I can see she's already laid her egg, so I was a little surprised she was still there. Mabel was standing up, but watching her pretty intently. After a minute or two, Clover began singing the egg song, stood up, and left the hen house. I grabbed my egg and went inside.
I decided to go back outside to see if *maybe*, just MAYBE one of the other chickens had laid. In the last week or so, four of the five younger chickens have been willing to "squat", and they've all recently become much friendlier, even allowing me to pet them. I'm told those are signs that a pullet is about ready to start laying eggs.
I was disappointed to see the favored box empty, but decided to check the other side, just in case. I found the most beautiful olive green egg there. I am so tickled!
Here it is:
I am thrilled to get an olive egger- you don't find them too often, and it's the next hot thing. People are cross breeding blue laying hens with dark brown laying hens to get them. To get one from my EE is very exciting for me. J just rolled his eyes when I came up looking like Christmas had come early. M is the only one who has even a fraction of my enthusiasm for the eggs (well, maybe S can muster some, sometimes). When he got home, I showed him. He thought it looked like the same color as Lucy's eggs, but smaller. -sigh- Being color blind just is no fun.
This afternoon, I went out to collect Clover's egg. I noticed that she and Mabel weren't with the other chickens, and figured they were probably in the hen house. I opened up the left door, and sure enough, Clover is sitting in her favorite nest box. I can see she's already laid her egg, so I was a little surprised she was still there. Mabel was standing up, but watching her pretty intently. After a minute or two, Clover began singing the egg song, stood up, and left the hen house. I grabbed my egg and went inside.
I decided to go back outside to see if *maybe*, just MAYBE one of the other chickens had laid. In the last week or so, four of the five younger chickens have been willing to "squat", and they've all recently become much friendlier, even allowing me to pet them. I'm told those are signs that a pullet is about ready to start laying eggs.
I was disappointed to see the favored box empty, but decided to check the other side, just in case. I found the most beautiful olive green egg there. I am so tickled!
Here it is:
I am thrilled to get an olive egger- you don't find them too often, and it's the next hot thing. People are cross breeding blue laying hens with dark brown laying hens to get them. To get one from my EE is very exciting for me. J just rolled his eyes when I came up looking like Christmas had come early. M is the only one who has even a fraction of my enthusiasm for the eggs (well, maybe S can muster some, sometimes). When he got home, I showed him. He thought it looked like the same color as Lucy's eggs, but smaller. -sigh- Being color blind just is no fun.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tour of the Coop
I've had a couple people ask to see pictures of my chicken coop, so I am going to give you a grand tour.J designed the setup himself after looking at a lot of peoples' designs.
Here's the back of the coop with our brand new roof.
Across the back, you'll notice some doors, which latch shut for safety, but open up for easy access to the nesting boxes, where the chickens would hypothetically lay.
Here's the inside of one side of the nesting boxes. We have a total of 6, though only one is used. You can see that Clover has laid an egg for me here. I am using a fairly fine hardware cloth to keep the bedding in the boxes when I open the door to collect eggs.
This is the back side of the coop, the side the chickens have access to. You'll see that there's a large door so that I can access the inside, as well as provide good ventilation during the summer months. There's a smaller hole for me to stick a light in so that as the weather cools off, I can supplement their light so that they continue (START?!) to lay all winter. I close the door at night and latch it shut. This coop is not really designed to keep out a determined predator, but I figure latching that door shut will help protect the chickens from large dogs, which would be the most likely culprit.
This is the access for the chickens to access the coop.
Here is the back side of the coop with the enclosed run. There's chicken wire on top and all sides. It's held in place by boards. A determined critter could burrow beneath the boards, so the coop isn't particularly ideal if you have skunks, raccoons, dogs, wolves, coyotes around. We generally don't, so I haven't worried about it too much.
Now we have the inside of the coop. You can see the nest boxes below. Paula is in the popular box, showing us what it would look like if she were to ever lay an egg. The chickens generally either roost on top of the boxes or on the branches I've put in place. The floor also has hardware cloth. In the summer, we leave it exposed, but as it's gotten colder, we put OSB board in, and covered it with shavings. I've also bought some 1/2" styrofoam insulation that I've cut to fit the back and side walls of the chicken coop. However, I put it out there, and the next morning found they'd been pecking at it. I'm going to have J cut some very thin boards to the same shape and sandwich the insulation between the boards so the chickens will leave it alone.
Why the golf balls, you ask? Supposedly, they show the chickens that it's acceptable to lay eggs in nesting boxes other than the popular one. Clover is the only one laying, and thus far, she's only laid in that second box in.
This is how we shut the door to the run.
Here's a close up of our chicken feeder. It's nice to be able to put a large amount of food out at a time so that if we go out overnight, we don't have to worry about feeding and watering our flock. The water is set up the same, except that we had to seal the lid on, and cut a small hole in the top and plug with a drain plug to create a suction situation.
The chickens do get to go foraging around outside of the run/coop, but I only let them do that when they can be supervised, so it's usually only for an hour or so at a time.
Here's the back of the coop with our brand new roof.
Across the back, you'll notice some doors, which latch shut for safety, but open up for easy access to the nesting boxes, where the chickens would hypothetically lay.Here's the inside of one side of the nesting boxes. We have a total of 6, though only one is used. You can see that Clover has laid an egg for me here. I am using a fairly fine hardware cloth to keep the bedding in the boxes when I open the door to collect eggs.
This is the back side of the coop, the side the chickens have access to. You'll see that there's a large door so that I can access the inside, as well as provide good ventilation during the summer months. There's a smaller hole for me to stick a light in so that as the weather cools off, I can supplement their light so that they continue (START?!) to lay all winter. I close the door at night and latch it shut. This coop is not really designed to keep out a determined predator, but I figure latching that door shut will help protect the chickens from large dogs, which would be the most likely culprit.
This is the access for the chickens to access the coop.
Here is the back side of the coop with the enclosed run. There's chicken wire on top and all sides. It's held in place by boards. A determined critter could burrow beneath the boards, so the coop isn't particularly ideal if you have skunks, raccoons, dogs, wolves, coyotes around. We generally don't, so I haven't worried about it too much.
Now we have the inside of the coop. You can see the nest boxes below. Paula is in the popular box, showing us what it would look like if she were to ever lay an egg. The chickens generally either roost on top of the boxes or on the branches I've put in place. The floor also has hardware cloth. In the summer, we leave it exposed, but as it's gotten colder, we put OSB board in, and covered it with shavings. I've also bought some 1/2" styrofoam insulation that I've cut to fit the back and side walls of the chicken coop. However, I put it out there, and the next morning found they'd been pecking at it. I'm going to have J cut some very thin boards to the same shape and sandwich the insulation between the boards so the chickens will leave it alone.
Why the golf balls, you ask? Supposedly, they show the chickens that it's acceptable to lay eggs in nesting boxes other than the popular one. Clover is the only one laying, and thus far, she's only laid in that second box in.
This is how we shut the door to the run.
Here's a close up of our chicken feeder. It's nice to be able to put a large amount of food out at a time so that if we go out overnight, we don't have to worry about feeding and watering our flock. The water is set up the same, except that we had to seal the lid on, and cut a small hole in the top and plug with a drain plug to create a suction situation.
The chickens do get to go foraging around outside of the run/coop, but I only let them do that when they can be supervised, so it's usually only for an hour or so at a time.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Pink Eggs?
Clover has been laying eggs for three weeks now. In those three weeks, she's only skipped three days. Pretty amazing!
I've put her eggs in my egg carton. I noticed that her eggs aren't the bright white that my store bought eggs were.
As you can see, it's not a dramatic difference, but it's a definite difference.
I got thinking about it, and looking at Clover. I knew she wasn't a purebred bird because her lines aren't quite right, plus, she has a few black feathers. Not a lot, but a few.
I conferred with my chicken bulletin board, and they all agreed that she must be some mix that makes the slight variation in color.
The eggs are almost pink. The last egg she laid was a definite pale pink, and had white speckles. Unfortunately S was so excited when she saw it that she grabbed it and dropped it on the tile floor, shattering it. I was very sad.
The Easter Eggers and the Silver Laced Wyandotte are still not laying. My Black Copper Marans is still molting. I think that can last a couple months. We're at one month since last egg.
I've put her eggs in my egg carton. I noticed that her eggs aren't the bright white that my store bought eggs were.
As you can see, it's not a dramatic difference, but it's a definite difference.
I got thinking about it, and looking at Clover. I knew she wasn't a purebred bird because her lines aren't quite right, plus, she has a few black feathers. Not a lot, but a few.
I conferred with my chicken bulletin board, and they all agreed that she must be some mix that makes the slight variation in color.The eggs are almost pink. The last egg she laid was a definite pale pink, and had white speckles. Unfortunately S was so excited when she saw it that she grabbed it and dropped it on the tile floor, shattering it. I was very sad.
The Easter Eggers and the Silver Laced Wyandotte are still not laying. My Black Copper Marans is still molting. I think that can last a couple months. We're at one month since last egg.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Clover's First Egg!
Here's my girls out free ranging.
I am so excited! I sent M out to check for eggs today, and he found one! And, even more exciting, it's a white egg, so it's not Lucy's. I am 99.9% sure that it's Clover's, since she's supposed to lay white eggs. I guess it's theoretically possible it's one of the easter eggers, but since they're barely 20 weeks and Clover is 24, I think it's unlikely.
This photo shows the egg along with store bought "large" eggs. It's the slightly smaller one in the middle. It's actually quite big, especially for a first egg.
Close up of the egg.
I wish I could show you a picture of it next to Lucy's egg, but Lucy went on strike, and hasn't laid an egg in 8 days. She was laying every other day like clockwork, and now, NOTHING.
Our chicken coop has 6 nesting spots. Lucy always used the same spot. M found Clover's egg in the same nesting box. I thought that was kind of funny.
I am so excited! I sent M out to check for eggs today, and he found one! And, even more exciting, it's a white egg, so it's not Lucy's. I am 99.9% sure that it's Clover's, since she's supposed to lay white eggs. I guess it's theoretically possible it's one of the easter eggers, but since they're barely 20 weeks and Clover is 24, I think it's unlikely.
This photo shows the egg along with store bought "large" eggs. It's the slightly smaller one in the middle. It's actually quite big, especially for a first egg.
Close up of the egg.
I wish I could show you a picture of it next to Lucy's egg, but Lucy went on strike, and hasn't laid an egg in 8 days. She was laying every other day like clockwork, and now, NOTHING.Our chicken coop has 6 nesting spots. Lucy always used the same spot. M found Clover's egg in the same nesting box. I thought that was kind of funny.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Another egg!
Lucy laid another egg today! Even more exciting, she laid it in the nesting boxes we made.
I thought the first one was amazingly huge, at 2.5 ounces. Today's egg was even bigger though, at 2.75 ounces.
Wow!
The first egg has a one on it, and the second egg is next to the mountain dew. I felt like it would provide better perspective than my hand.
I thought the first one was amazingly huge, at 2.5 ounces. Today's egg was even bigger though, at 2.75 ounces.
Wow!
The first egg has a one on it, and the second egg is next to the mountain dew. I felt like it would provide better perspective than my hand.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Our first Egg!!!!!!!!!
I've been starting to fret and obsess over the fact that our new hen, Lucy, hasn't laid an egg yet. I think J was too- between the two of us, we're checking almost every hour.
This morning, I was starting to worry that she was egg bound (basically means an egg is stuck, and can be fatal to chickens). I even posted to a forum worrying about it. They convinced me that I should palpate her belly and figure out if I could feel something in there.
So, I headed out to the coop to see if she was ok or not. Before I got a chance to molest her, I happened to see that she was most certainly NOT egg bound! I am so excited!
I took a picture of her egg, and put a grocery store "large" egg next to it for comparison. My egg is 2.5 oz, which is considered "jumbo".
Isn't it beautiful?
Now I'm thinking about trying to incubate it, since odds are really good that it's fertile.
This morning, I was starting to worry that she was egg bound (basically means an egg is stuck, and can be fatal to chickens). I even posted to a forum worrying about it. They convinced me that I should palpate her belly and figure out if I could feel something in there.
So, I headed out to the coop to see if she was ok or not. Before I got a chance to molest her, I happened to see that she was most certainly NOT egg bound! I am so excited!
I took a picture of her egg, and put a grocery store "large" egg next to it for comparison. My egg is 2.5 oz, which is considered "jumbo".
Isn't it beautiful?
Now I'm thinking about trying to incubate it, since odds are really good that it's fertile.
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