Black Acres: The chickens that saved me

[blackacres]

Introducing The Sanderson Sisters. Two Black Copper Marans and a splash EE that is part Marans. They don’t come near me and I don’t go near them. The only time they are handled is when I’m checking feet and health. They only like me because I feed them.

Sarah is the splash EE, Winifred is the one with more copper on her neck and then there is Mary.

 

[blackacres]

The Friends - Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler and Joey. They are the RIRs. All very curious. All want to be right beside me but not touched.

 

[blackacres]

And the last of the biggie crew, but part of the OGs, we have Hillary Fluff, the Cream Legbar and Nosy Rosy, the Barred Rock. I’m realizing now that I need to take some new pictures of the bigs as they’ve all grown since these, especially these two ladies!

 

[The-White-Elephant]

And the last of the biggie crew, but part of the OGs, we have Hillary Fluff, the Cream Legbar and Nosy Rosy, the Barred Rock. I’m realizing now that I need to take some new pictures of the bigs as they’ve all grown since these, especially these two ladies!

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You have a wonderful flock!

 

[featherhead007]

Part Two

One day, while my husband was distracted by helping some friends clear brush, I went out to the garage an emptied a large, plastic tote and set it up on a folding table. I then threw a pet carrier in the back of my Blazer and set off to TSC. I purchased chick starter, some electrolytes, feed dishes, waterers and a heating plate. Can you guess where I went next? Yep, straight to my friends house.

We spent a while chatting about breeds and trying to decide which ones I’d like to give a go. I was very indecisive, so I settled on several different ones, 9 total. We loaded them into the carrier and I set off for home with my adorable 4 week old baby chickens screaming in the back. On my way home, my husband called. Part way through the conversation he said, “where are you? Is that chickens I hear?” I let out a nervous giggle and came clean. “Yes, those are chickens you hear and they are with me in the Blazer.” He then asks, “where are you taking then?” When I said I was taking them home, I swear the sky got dark and a tornado quickly swept through. He was not happy and he sure let me know it. “Why do you do these thing? Where are you going to put them? I told you to wait. I don’t have time for this!” Amongst many other things that were said. I told him they were only 4 weeks old and that I already had a brooder made up and ready and that would give me plenty of time to figure out their permanent housing.

I got home with my babies and set up the brooder and placed them all in. They quickly settled in and began chirping away, eating and drinking. I sat and watched them for what felt like hours. I couldn’t believe it. I finally had my chickens!

Wow! Cute

 

[bgmathteach]

Part Two

One day, while my husband was distracted by helping some friends clear brush, I went out to the garage an emptied a large, plastic tote and set it up on a folding table. I then threw a pet carrier in the back of my Blazer and set off to TSC. I purchased chick starter, some electrolytes, feed dishes, waterers and a heating plate. Can you guess where I went next? Yep, straight to my friends house.

We spent a while chatting about breeds and trying to decide which ones I’d like to give a go. I was very indecisive, so I settled on several different ones, 9 total. We loaded them into the carrier and I set off for home with my adorable 4 week old baby chickens screaming in the back. On my way home, my husband called. Part way through the conversation he said, “where are you? Is that chickens I hear?” I let out a nervous giggle and came clean. “Yes, those are chickens you hear and they are with me in the Blazer.” He then asks, “where are you taking then?” When I said I was taking them home, I swear the sky got dark and a tornado quickly swept through. He was not happy and he sure let me know it. “Why do you do these thing? Where are you going to put them? I told you to wait. I don’t have time for this!” Amongst many other things that were said. I told him they were only 4 weeks old and that I already had a brooder made up and ready and that would give me plenty of time to figure out their permanent housing.

I got home with my babies and set up the brooder and placed them all in. They quickly settled in and began chirping away, eating and drinking. I sat and watched them for what felt like hours. I couldn’t believe it. I finally had my chickens!

I love a good chicken story. I'll try to keep up. (@Fluffy Butt Acres, they are very chatty ) I'm having trouble working my way through that post, not sure I will be able to keep up with another one, but I'll try!

 

[bgmathteach]

Part 4 - the Coop search

I looked into building one and quickly realized I didn’t have that much time to dedicate as I needed them in an ample space soon. Also, the cost of building supplies is outrageous right now. So I turned to Craigslist and Marketplace. I knew the tiny pre-fab ones were not going to work for the number of birds I had so I didn’t even bother with those. There were plenty of well crafted and beautiful coops built by others but they were out of the budget I had set. So I switched gears and started looking for a shed that I could convert.

I made a post on my FB and my best friends Mom responded that she had a shed that was in excellent condition and we could have it in trade for removing some scrap furniture and old carpet they’d sat outside. They are elderly and did not have the ability to load and haul these things themselves so I was happy to help, even without the shed incentive. Boy, were we in for a surprise.

Two days later, we arrived with a truck to load up the items to haul away. There was far more than just some old, broken furniture and ripped out carpet. We borrowed a skid loader to make the job easier and hooked up an old truck bed trailer so we could haul two loads at a time. In all, my husband hauled out six truckloads of rubbish and totaled nearly 20 hours of his time spanning three days. He was happy to help them, but pretty upset with me for “all this chicken nonsense.” Once the rubbish was gone, we had to devise a plan to retrieve the shed from the corner of the property. So we walked back to the shed to decide how to move it. This was the first time we’d actually seen the shed. It was in pretty rough shape and we weren’t even sure it would withstand being loaded, hauled home, and unloaded. But I was committed. I needed this shed. My chickens needed this shed. My husband needed me to not be impulsive and bring home chickens before having the shed.

In my defense, he says it was impulsive but I disagree. I’d been speaking of chickens for years, and quite frequently in the prior months. He just kept putting me off. So I kind of forced his hand. It was cruel, I know. But after 18 years of marriage, he should know I always figure out how to get what I want. Yes, I’m kind of a brat.

Thankfully we had the borrowed skid loader or we would have never been able to load this shed. I believe it’s a 6x8 and was originally a metal garden shed. They had wrapped the shed with plywood and painted it to make it more sturdy and better withstand the elements. They had been using it for goats and it had not been cleaned. The floor was nearly rotted through and it was full of straw and goat poop. I grabbed a shovel and went to work clearing it out. Then we grabbed some ratchet straps and started loading it on to the skid loader. After several attempts and rebracing the joists, we had it loaded.

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Most of the shed survived the 30 minute trip home, only losing a few roof panels. By this time it was pitch dark so we parked the trailer and went to bed. I was up early the next morning, excited and ready to get going on this shed project. My dear husband was not so eager but out to the shed we went. Somehow, we managed to get it unloaded in one piece. It was a miracle. The picture really doesn’t show how bad of shape it was in. Most of the flaws hidden by the plywood. My husband is a collector of anything he thinks he may ever possibly need in his lifetime. We had a friend that had torn down a large composite wood deck so we decided to wrap the shed again using this material. We also used this material to sturdy up the floor. My husband set off to the lumber yard to get lumber to frame the run and I went back to TSC for chicken wire and hardware cloth and several other chicken related items I decided I needed. After the shed was wrapped on three sides, (we still haven't finished the front) the building of the run was ready to start.
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Oh, my! Yes, I have used freecycle, and have learned nothing is EVER in as good a shape as people say it is,

 

[bgmathteach]

That must have been hard. I am praying for you.

 

[WallyG74]

Part 7 - Selecting the keepers, rehoming, and adding more. The start of my Chicken Math.

This part was both easy and hard at the same time. My beloved sexed Wyandotte pullets were not actually pullets. The Lavender Orpington finally grew out enough to realize that it was also a cockerel. So there’s way too many cocks in the hen house. Boots (dark Brahma) had already begun to prove he was going to be a good cockerel to keep. He’s always on high alert, rounds everyone up at bedtime and doesn’t go in himself until he’s checked the run for stragglers. I knew I wanted to keep him. So I removed the other three from the flock and sent them to new homes.

And then my friend called; again. She has 4 birds she needs to place as her full sized flock is not accepting them. All of mine had originally been brooded with the ones she wanted me to take so I obliged. Again, I loaded up my pet carrier and went to retrieve some chickens. This time, I came home with a Salmon Favorelles cockerel, a black Showgirl, and two frizzled Silkies. I didn’t want another cockerel as I’d just rid of three, but he was so sweet and loving. He and Boots worked out the new pecking order very quickly so all is well there. But they were rapidly approaching the hormonal stage so I knew I needed more pullets ASAP. I added 3 Marans and 6 RIRs. I still believe I need more, but this should get us through the winter.

Next issue at hand. The bigs have a large size difference from the bantys now and I was worried they would be picked on or injured. I put on my best attitude and approached my husband to request his skill at sectioning off part of the run and coop for the bantys. He just shook his head and said show me what you’re thinking. By the end of the day, this is what he completed.

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We then moved inside the coop to segregate the area under the poop board to become the banty coop. First we had to give them a roosting bar and mount their heat plate.

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The next and final step to this arrangement was simply to close it off from the bigs. That was done by simply adding some tin from the bottom of the poop tray to the floor.

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The bigs and the littles were successfully separated on November 7, 2021 and it has worked wonderfully to ease my mind.

He’s a keeper!

 

[blackacres]

Y’all. I’m so busted! The pair of breeder Seramas that were due to ship January 10; you know, the ones I haven’t told my husband about?! Well, THEY’RE HERE! My mail carrier showed up with them today. I had no idea he’d shipped them early. I was NOT prepared. I planned to get through Christmas and then tell my husband and acquire all the needed supplies to properly keep delicate Seramas in the Winter months. I had NOTHING. No cage, no extra feeder or waterer. No heat source. I went into full panic mode. I quickly set up the play pen, placed them in it and hopped in my car.

Off to town I went, in search of all the items I needed. Quick stop for a cage, then across town to TSC for a heat plate, feed dish and water dish. Secured all I need for now and headed home.

Got the cage set up and filled the bottom with bedding. The set up the heat plate and put out food and water. Once the heat plate was warm, I transferred my beautiful Seramas to their new home. Whew. What. A. Day.