Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[apteryx]

It turns out our (and NZ's) possums are very different to the US possums!

Hey, those possums are all yours! We have them in NZ, but you can have them back. It is amazing to see how the can damage some of our native forests. And yes, they are very different to the US possums, which I think look like oversized rats.

 

[vehve]

Ben, we're waiting impatiently for those pictures

Fancy, you seem to have quite a sweet setup there, I'm envious of all the buildings you've got for chicken use.

Cwrite, that's a pretty nice view. I'm not that anxious about the chickens, I just spent 2 nights at the cottage and just told the neighbors to check that the chickens are alive every once in a while. They make them mash, feed them leftovers, and even let them out in our yard for a bit. We really scored a jackpot in the neighbor department, we get chicken sitting services from one of the neighbors, and the others come over almost every evening to borrow our dogs to wrestle with their Leonberg. Now the chicken sitting ones are out getting a puppy for themselves, should be back in a few hours with a little baby Labradoodle. It will be the first one I've ever seen, but they're supposed to be pretty nice from what I've heard.

Veera had laid another 31g egg, I'll have to ask the neighbors if they've gotten any eggs while we were gone.

Since everyone else is sharing pictures, I though't I would too. I took the camera with me thinking all the birds would be showing off their offspring, but sadly the wind kept them mainly on the other side of the bay. These guys came for a visit though, and I managed to snap a few pictures.





Would of wanted some of the geese and swans as well, but geese were nowhere to be seen, and my mother told me that they think the swans have lost all of their young this year. Even the mallards had a lot fewer chicks this year than last year, which was an awesome year for them. The cold June has taken it's toll it seems.

 

[IrishAcreFarm]

Took the dogs for their walk and I thought I'd take the camera and get some pics of the sea eagles new nest. The old one got blown down in the high winds.
The dogs scared the possum up a tree and 2 river jet boats passed .

Thank you so much for the pics!!!! I live in massachusetts and have not traveled very much, so what a treat all your pics were!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thank you so much for the pics!!!! I live in massachusetts and have not traveled very much, so what a treat all your pics were!!

Glad you liked them.

 

[vehve]

I forgot to mention, I took all the eggs we had accumulated with me to the cottage and we fried them up today. There were certainly a couple of bulls-eyes visible there, so looks like one of our boys isn't shooting blanks anymore. Not bad, considering they're only 15 weeks old. I'm hoping this translates to early laying in the mutt with the same mix.

We're going to have to send one of the boys to freezer camp soon though, they've started to challenge each other. Nothing too serious yet, but I'd rather deal with the issue before we have to patch someone up. The sad part is, that Taneli, the better looking one has been challenging Karin a few times, and was a bit hostile to the neighbors kid too, while Topi hasn't made similar threats. Also, when they're sizing each other up, it seems Taneli is the first one to break. But on the other hand, he's started offering his ladies treats and is very alert if any birds (or planes) fly over. We decided earlier to get rid of Topi, but if Taneli is growing more aggressive, we might have to change our minds. Then there's still the option to get rid of both and wait for the Sussex to mature, but he really has no personality to speak of yet at least. I was sort of planning on a nice home in a pot for him too. The Sussexes have started to grow a bit better now too, after we switched to mash. I think they were a bit malnourished with the dry feed, but now their legs have gotten a bit more color and they seem to be gaining size, so Eemeli might grow into a nice looking roo still.

Tough decisions to be made in the coming weeks.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Great pics everyone! It's so neat to see the everyday things in other parts of the world, so different than our own. Yes, that possum is much cuter than our nasty rat-looking creatures. @cwrite you're not alone. I am a nervous wreck getting home after dark. I bought a radio and set it to a 24hr news channel. If I'll be home late, I set the alarm for dusk so that the human voices will hopefully keep away any predators. The chickens don't seem to mind it. I still can't be gone overnight though, I believe the raccoons, possums, coyotes, etc would figure it out that there aren't any people in the coop after a while. We live back in the woods so there are predators nearby all the time. So...this is pathetic...we go camping for a week each July. I used to have a neighbor who'd let the hens in and out each day in exchange for using our pool while we're away. Now that we have roosters she won't because they're "scary". Although all our roosters are super friendly - bad ones are in the freezer. So we now camp close enough that I make two trips each day home to let them in and out. Luckily we live close to Lake Michigan so there's a beautiful park just a few miles away.

 

[Wrightsx4]

@vehve once my roosters start becoming aggressive toward people, they just get worse. I've had some very sweet ones turn bad at maturity which is always sad. It's like the hormones take over. I never wanted to use a mean roo to breed since I want my flock to be family friendly. We've put some gorgeous ones in the freezer, they taste the same.

 

[vehve]

@vehve once my roosters start becoming aggressive toward people, they just get worse. I've had some very sweet ones turn bad at maturity which is always sad. It's like the hormones take over. I never wanted to use a mean roo to breed since I want my flock to be family friendly. We've put some gorgeous ones in the freezer, they taste the same.

Yeah, I'm sort of leaning that way too. He's just so good with his girls. He hasn't done any harm yet, just sort of challenges Karin and might give a little peck, but it's probably just going to get worse. It would free up some much needed roosting space in the coop too. I might want to let the boys grow a bit bigger still before moving them to the freezer, there's not that much to eat on them yet. The Araucana side doesn't give much size, and the Marans blood seems to be a bit slower growing. Maybe I'll put our nice new garden shears in view of the coop again to act as a determent. That got Veera laying earlier, so it might even spook her sisters into producing eggs, if it doesn't keep the boys in check

 

[Bens-Hens]

Hey, those possums are all yours! We have them in NZ, but you can have them back. It is amazing to see how the can damage some of our native forests. And yes, they are very different to the US possums, which I think look like oversized rats.

The softest thing to ever touch my face was a Possum blanket in Queenstown...makes me smile just thinking about that furry little cuddle!

@vehve once my roosters start becoming aggressive toward people, they just get worse. I've had some very sweet ones turn bad at maturity which is always sad. It's like the hormones take over. I never wanted to use a mean roo to breed since I want my flock to be family friendly. We've put some gorgeous ones in the freezer, they taste the same.

Mr Pecky was a bit that way, he would stand tall and pecked at a few hands or toes when he saw the opportunity, we would just ignore him. Some say to pick him up and hold in under control for a while, others suggest not doing that, so depends how you like your bread buttered I guess.

 

[vehve]

Mr Pecky was a bit that way, he would stand tall and pecked at a few hands or toes when he saw the opportunity, we would just ignore him. Some say to pick him up and hold in under control for a while, others suggest not doing that, so depends how you like your bread buttered I guess.

In this instance, I'm guessing the answer is going to be "With shredded chicken on top of it."

The teenager in me is giggling at holding Mr. Pecker jokes that are a bit unsuitable...

The neighbors puppy just arrived. She's a small little thing, unafraid of anything it seems. Will see how she reacts to our dogs once they're introduced to each other.