Colorado

[Pozees]

Everything is better when my Mom gets here. I've been trying to explain to her for many years that her place is with her children and grandchildren because she's just getting too old to have to do it on her own anymore. My Dad died in '02 and everything is just too much for her. When she's with me, she can crochet to her hearts content and not worry about making dinner or the other minutiae. She is usually the one who gets to where she can't stand me and then she hides in the bedroom to get away. Seldom is it the other way around. She's never been much for being in the kitchen so I guess that's why we coexist so well. Two women living together trying to control the kitchen just never works.

Besides, now I can let her make the candles needed for the next year. I give give her a couple of hundred pounds of wax and she'll work until the wax is done. She loves candlemaking... for me, it is a necessary evil.

The chicks are chirping away. This time, I fashioned a small brooder out of an old tote, cutting out window slots and putting a screen on with duct tape. It's so much easier to clean and I have decided I like this idea best.

Nemi Jr. goes to his new home tomorrow. yay!

His hatch mate that I also thought to be a roo is now I believe a hen. Her waddle/comb is still a little larger than normal but she isn't developing the secondary characteristics of a roo. Whew. That makes me feel better.

However, my 6 month old silkie just started crowing and one of my frizzles started crowing. I had that feeling that the silkie was a male even though I had no clue how to tell. My phoenix hasn't started crowing yet and my black beauty maran doesn't crow much.

I have been getting the most beautiful marans egg the last week. They are still smallish but are a deep mahogany with dark speckles. They are, by far, the most beautiful eggs I've ever gotten from a hen. I suspect it is from the black marans hen. I've gotten 3 total so far of this color and they are just gorgeous. They are too pretty to eat right now and I just leave them in a glass bowl in the fridge so I can gaze upon their glory. Can anyone guess the eggs I'll be incubating next year once Beauty gets going for the spring? So far, Beauty is a very gentle roo. He's never attacked me nor has he raised his hackles at me. I wish he were a little more amorous toward the gals. He's do a little dance and if the gal isn't receptive, he'll find another gal who is. But he hasn't tried killing the other roosters so that's a good thing as he is almost as big as my brahma roo was. I'm hoping Beauty stays black next year when he goes for his first moult. I've heard that often black marans will moult with copper after the first one.

Does your Mom make plain candles for power outages, or are these colored/scented candles? I once wanted to make my own candles but was told it makes a mess and you have to have dedicated pots/pans for the process, is that true?

Like the idea of the plastic tote for a brooder - especially when you only have a handful of chicks it makes it much simpler I'm sure.

Your Marans eggs sound so pretty! Maybe once you begin eating them you can use the shells as candle receptacles?

 

[Mtn Margie]

I am not sure who rules the flock up here. I have a good roo, twice the size of any of the ladies, but I have seen them check him in. I was out feeding and rearranging the coop one day when I heard all of this chaos in the run. I stuck my head out the coop chicken door, only to see my roo with his head up in the air as far as he could pick it up, one hen dangling in mid-air attached to his waddles and another one, also in mid-air, attached to his comb. There were three other hens going for his back, tail, whatever they could grab onto and the girls were MAD! My first thought was that they were going to kill him and then I thought, " Wow! He must have done something really wrong!". He managed to get away, but they hassled him for about an hour. I notice that he is a bit more respectful and has not incurred the wrath of the ladies since. He was beat up and bloodied, but he still protects them and finds food for them and I guess they have worked things out. I was really amazed to witness this. I'm thinking my flock is a matriarchal flock.

 

[Pozees]

So I went out to re home my GLW today. What a fascinating time it was. This is the same place I re homed my suspected BA Roo about 4 months ago. The girl (well woman, but to me a girl) I gave him to said he hadn't crowed yet, but also was not laying eggs, but there has always been that 'I wonder if he was REALLY a roo?' question in my mind as he was only 10 weeks old when I re homed him. Well, let me tell you no longer any question, he is a beautiful roo. Long black/green saddle feathers, beautiful tail. What a good looking bird. But still not crowing.

Well, this rooster is in a flock (?) that consists of only himself and 1 lone hen, probably about 6-7 years old. She's no longer laying eggs, just a mutt chicken and not really even a good looking one. We put the GLW in the run with the both of them. 30 seconds later, the GLW runs over to the hen and attacks her. They both jump about 2 feet in the air, claws going after each other. The roo runs up and they scatter. From that moment on, it was just fascinating to watch. Wherever the GLW went, the roo very obviously, deliberately placed himself between the GLW and his coop mate. If the GLW headed in their direction he faced her off, ruffled his hackles, and wouldn't allow her near the hen.

After awhile, the roo became interested in the GLW and would approach her, I think just to check her out. She wasn't having any of it tho, she faced him off every time. I honestly think he was already thinking...."oh boy, fresh meat'. I'm told no one has seen him mounting the old hen, but I definitely got the impression that was on his mind already with the GLW.

Anyway, was great to see in action what people talk about when they talk about the roo protecting and controlling his flock. And it wasn't subtle. And it was immediate. Such a nice thing to see. Makes me wish I could have a roo.

Wow, how cool! Thanks for telling us about it!

 

[coloradogal]

Does your Mom make plain candles for power outages, or are these colored/scented candles? I once wanted to make my own candles but was told it makes a mess and you have to have dedicated pots/pans for the process, is that true?

Like the idea of the plastic tote for a brooder - especially when you only have a handful of chicks it makes it much simpler I'm sure.

Your Marans eggs sound so pretty! Maybe once you begin eating them you can use the shells as candle receptacles?

We burn a lot of candles in the winter because somehow even when a room is coldish, a candle makes you believe it is warmer. In small spaces like a bedroom, a couple of candles can warm up the room enough to forego the vents being turned on. We make both. The scented kind and the unscented. I have Maggie who is a conure so we have to be careful of scents. I try to do the scented stuff in my room or bathroom and the unscented where Maggie likes to roam.

I've never thought of using the eggs for candles but I do believe they would work great. I'll have to try it.


Candles aren't that messy to make...no more than brownies. i do have a dedicated pan but it was a pan going to be thrown away anyways. So my Mom bent it in just the right way on one end that it pours beautifully.

I'm on my way soon to get her.

Speaking of Maggie...she keeps divebombing my dogs. So not cool. I cant' believe I have to keep yelling at her to leave the dogs alone. It's getting annoying. I have no idea how to train her not to harass the dogs.

 

[Pozees]

We burn a lot of candles in the winter because somehow even when a room is coldish, a candle makes you believe it is warmer. In small spaces like a bedroom, a couple of candles can warm up the room enough to forego the vents being turned on. We make both. The scented kind and the unscented. I have Maggie who is a conure so we have to be careful of scents. I try to do the scented stuff in my room or bathroom and the unscented where Maggie likes to roam.

I've never thought of using the eggs for candles but I do believe they would work great. I'll have to try it.


Candles aren't that messy to make...no more than brownies. i do have a dedicated pan but it was a pan going to be thrown away anyways. So my Mom bent it in just the right way on one end that it pours beautifully.

I'm on my way soon to get her.

Speaking of Maggie...she keeps divebombing my dogs. So not cool. I cant' believe I have to keep yelling at her to leave the dogs alone. It's getting annoying. I have no idea how to train her not to harass the dogs.

LOL I used to tell DH all the time that candles DO warm a room, no matter how slightly - now he is as likely as I am to light a few on the coldest evenings while we watch TV/compute!

Maggie ... conures are not exactly, uh, chicken? When it comes to dogs - they're usually very good flyers, but obnoxious enough to get themselves in trouble, and they like to play, so for her this is such a cool new game! Your choices are limited - clipping her wings could be her undoing, flight is her only real defense aside from her beak, which is unlikely to save her from a dog that loses patience with her. I guess for sure I would not leave her out when you aren't right there. Maybe you could get her things that amuse her more than the dogs to keep her in one place - does she have a mirror? It always surprises me how much some birds adore them, others don't even seem to notice them.

Maybe you could rig a perch on a harness so she can land instead of divebombing and go for a ride?

 

[coloradogal]

Maggie ... conures are not exactly, uh, chicken? When it comes to dogs - they're usually very good flyers, but obnoxious enough to get themselves in trouble, and they like to play, so for her this is such a cool new game! Your choices are limited - clipping her wings could be her undoing, flight is her only real defense aside from her beak, which is unlikely to save her from a dog that loses patience with her. I guess for sure I would not leave her out when you aren't right there. Maybe you could get her things that amuse her more than the dogs to keep her in one place - does she have a mirror? It always surprises me how much some birds adore them, others don't even seem to notice them.

Maybe you could rig a perch on a harness so she can land instead of divebombing and go for a ride?

Usually she is just happy perching on my shoulder and hanging on yesterday she started hiding under the couch and running out after feet, both dog and human. Today she's decided that she likes the floor and bossing the dogs around. When they just ignore her, she divebombs them. I'm soooo blessed I don't have dogs that are small animal obsessed or she would have been eaten already. She was divebombing my son but he has started swatting back when she comes. Does it stop her from trying again? Oh no... she just fluffs herself out to find a better position to come at him.

I'll have to get her a mirror and see if that works. I don't want to clip her wings because she usually is happy on her Maggie ledge just watching.

I found my phoenix attempting yesterday to do his roosterly duty so I know he's mature. He just doesn't crow. I asked my brother if his phoenix crows and his doesn't either. Anyone else with Phoenixes? Are they just quiet roosters?

 

[Pozees]

Usually she is just happy perching on my shoulder and hanging on yesterday she started hiding under the couch and running out after feet, both dog and human. Today she's decided that she likes the floor and bossing the dogs around. When they just ignore her, she divebombs them. I'm soooo blessed I don't have dogs that are small animal obsessed or she would have been eaten already. She was divebombing my son but he has started swatting back when she comes. Does it stop her from trying again? Oh no... she just fluffs herself out to find a better position to come at him.

I'll have to get her a mirror and see if that works. I don't want to clip her wings because she usually is happy on her Maggie ledge just watching.

I found my phoenix attempting yesterday to do his roosterly duty so I know he's mature. He just doesn't crow. I asked my brother if his phoenix crows and his doesn't either. Anyone else with Phoenixes? Are they just quiet roosters?

Do you know she is a she? It almost sounds like nesting behavior ..

 

[WendyGeisler]

Today is day 10 of having 4 new chickies, which are about 9 weeks old.
I divided my run in half and have my 3 big girls on one side(who are 6 months old) and now my 4 little girls (9 weeks old) on the other. The girls have had 10 days to look and stare at each other through the temporary fence. At night I have been bringing the little girls into the garage and had a heat lamp for them. Also had a heat lamp in the coop too since we've had some nights drop into the 20s. Anyway.... today we went ahead and put some chicken wire into the coop to separate all the girls so I can bed them in the same place. I put all 7 inside and the big girls were trying to peck the little girls, so I figure I need to keep them separated a while longer.

 

[Pozees]

Today is day 10 of having 4 new chickies, which are about 9 weeks old.
I divided my run in half and have my 3 big girls on one side(who are 6 months old) and now my 4 little girls (9 weeks old) on the other. The girls have had 10 days to look and stare at each other through the temporary fence. At night I have been bringing the little girls into the garage and had a heat lamp for them. Also had a heat lamp in the coop too since we've had some nights drop into the 20s. Anyway.... today we went ahead and put some chicken wire into the coop to separate all the girls so I can bed them in the same place. I put all 7 inside and the big girls were trying to peck the little girls, so I figure I need to keep them separated a while longer.

I've been 2 months trying to fully integrate 2 older (but this year's hatch) hens with 5 younger pullets, and at this point I'm satisfied no one will be killed; even though the younger ones are finally about the same size as the older ones they're still afraid of the older girls and will sprint away if they are looked at, but other than a few feathers plucked here and there, no injury was incurred and I am a worry wart. That said, since I'm gone almost 12 hours a day 4 days a week and sometimes 5, there is no way I would have just thrown them together and hoped for the best, especially while there was a significant size difference between them.

Yesterday was my Sussex Sisters' first venture outside the enclosure. It didn't last long because I allowed them out only about an hour before they start settling in the coop for the night, but they certainly seemed to enjoy it, and I think from here on out they will be allowed out each evening along with the older hens. I'm hoping to get brave enough to let them free range all day when I'm home. Last time I had chickens they did so from a very young age and I only lost chickens to the neighbor's dog, and that was when they were all penned up and I had only White Leghorns (all 50 died from racing around in terror). After that I got a new, very varied flock, and had no losses to predation.

 

[Minchi]

So I decided to pop my head out and say hi, been sick and still am but missed the chats. My girls look ready to lay but with the cold weather I think they will be holding it in.

W. How is Beth doing?