This is something I never really thought about before I had children. Growing up, we always wore our shoes inside, if we even bothered wearing shoes outside. After I became a mom and had babies crawling all over, I became a little more obsessive about clean floors. The thought of someone...
I'd love to have some WH ducks again and I am expecting some other ducklings this Spring. I am hoping to set some eggs to hatch around the same time my others will arrive. If you will have any available, please message me. Thank you!
Last year I bought the lot next to my house in a semi-rural neighborhood, which includes an abandoned home I intend to get rid of so that I can fence the lot in and extend my yard. This morning I noticed that a big four wheel drive truck is parked right in the middle of the lot's front yard...
I know the sire was a Speckled Sussex, but I'm not sure if the mother was a Lavender Orpington or a Welsummer. All of the other SS/LO crosses where black with various degrees of mahogany leakage. This cockerel has always been mainly this copperish color. He also isn't quite as big and stout as...
Today I combined two of my favorite things- my camera and my flock- and decided to take some pictures on this wonderfully cold day. These are three of my favorites. I had to send most of my cockerels to freezer camp last week but these three guys made the cut and will live out their (hopefully)...
Today was such a beautiful fall day that I spent most of the afternoon outside, cleaning the coop and letting my flock wander around the garden. I often like to watch them and imagine what is going on in their little chicken society. I managed to snap pictures of some of the flock and I decided...
I hatched out a few eggs from my Speckled Sussex roosters over my Lavender Orpington hens. While most of the chicks are black as I expected, one is actually a Lavender. I'm confused because I thought that the Lav gene was recessive and could only showed up if both parents had a copy. I only have...
When I went out to gather eggs today I thought I'd lost one of my hens to the heat...she was laying crumpled below the nesting boxes and wasn't yet completely stiff. Two other hens were in the coop as well and were panting but otherwise not upset. (I've been planning on getting a fan out there...
I wrote this a few years back, when I was hurting. I'm only now able to share it. I hope anyone who clicks on it will read it to the end. It is a true story, and close to my heart. I grew up on a ranch where my family bred/trained/boarded race horses. It was an ideal childhood, until the end, ...
This hen hatched out of a batch of lavender Orpington eggs I ordered. At first I though she was just speckled with dark mud since part of the run had gotten wet but as she grows older I can tell that her feathers are interspersed with black flecks. They aren't very thick or very regular...
My neighbors bought a single Tom turkey as a pet. They don't have any other birds nor do they appear to have any plans for them. They keep him in a small run with food, water and a little plastic dog house. I've never actually owned a turkey (just chickens and ducks here) but I've always...
We had our first snow of the season here in central Arkansas and I was curious to see how my flock would react. I was stuck inside so hubby took care of them and snapped a few pictures. My FBCM roo (not pictured) was, as always, the first to burst out but hubby said he stood in the snow for a...
Since I only had one Black Copper Marans hatch, I'm having trouble figuring out if it is a he or a she. If I were guessing I'd say a roo but I've also heard that BCM pullets often have large combs when compared with other breeds. Here are two pictures from a few days ago @ around 3 weeks old.
I just read this: http://www.newsok.com/article/3509123.
I'm not sure who I feel sorry for the most...the man, his neighbors, his dog or the city officials who get to keep this colorful character in line. Minus the dog dying, it would make a great movie. You don't get many scenes with a...
I wasn't going to bother with dressing up this year but my 5 year old really wants me to so I'm trying to think of something! I'm almost 8 months pregnant (although my doc says I'm measuring a few weeks bigger) so I'm pretty sure that my options are limited. I had decided to just wear orange...
So hubby and I had agreed to no more hatching eggs after my next shipment comes in. We're being careful with money and while he knows I'm happier with chickens, he also knows I tend to go overboard with all my hobbies. It sounded reasonable so I agreed. THEN I saw an auction that I couldn't...
Two of my Welsh Harlequin eggs showed pips on the same day. Apparently it was love at first sight. The next time I looked, the two had gotten out of their eggs, found one another, and fallen asleep with their heads on one another's shoulder:
From the color of their bills, I think they are a...
While I was away from home my incubator was turned off overnight and in the morning it was subsequently turned up. I came home to find the temp was 105 F! This was around day 12 of incubation. I was pretty sure I'd lost them all but I got the temp and humidity back to where they should be and...
I'd really like to have some ducks around the place and I'm partial to the WH breed. My incubator won't be open until March, however, I thought I'd start looking now to see what I could find. I'd like to buy 6-12 eggs depending on the price.
I just had to share my first ever incubator hatch! Almost every one hatched! There is Myrtle, the BO/BR cross, 5 black/splash JG babies and a whole bunch of EEs!
Get that camera out of my brooder!
Gossiping at the water cooler:
A dog, er, chick pile.
The two black ones on the right...