Fugly Farm

[N F C]

View attachment 3305484

Janie, I have Part 1 to your funny...

 

[igorsMistress]

I went out to check food and water for the littles and found mama had them out in the big yard again. They were all the way out the compost pile.

Mornings are chilly, in the low fifties by sunrise, so she keeps them in until it’s warmer. What a good mom The rest of the crew pretty much ignore them now and she seems to be integrating back into the flock.

Tomorrow they’ll get fresh straw in the nest box after I clean up the coop a little bit.

 

[N F C]

I went out to check food and water for the littles and found mama had them out in the big yard again. They were all the way out the compost pile.

Mornings are chilly, in the low fifties by sunrise, so she keeps them in until it’s warmer. What a good mom The rest of the crew pretty much ignore them now and she seems to be integrating back into the flock.

Tomorrow they’ll get fresh straw in the nest box after I clean up the coop a little bit.

It's nice she's such a good mom to the chicks...how old are they now?

 

[igorsMistress]

It's nice she's such a good mom to the chicks...how old are they now?

October 15th was when we found the first hatchling. So roughly two weeks give or take a few days. The hatch was pretty spread out, roughly three days from start to finish, but they are all doing great. I only had to help a few chicks to bed for a few nights and now they’re all able to get in and out of the coop as well.

FWIW, Elvis had to have stints on his legs when he was a chick. He grew up with a duck for a buddy because it was a late Hatcher and none of the mama ducks wanted it. When he got here it was obvious he was a little bit weak in the legs, probably because he was kept in a pen indoors a lot because the kids didn’t think he was ok out in the heat. So he had a rough start, but he’s obviously come through all of that and his offspring are fine. Little troopers really, they never cease to amaze me, those tiny little things.

Sorry, blah blah blah

 

[Shadrach]

 

[igorsMistress]

Coop has been straightened up, nest boxes are out and Stella has a pile of straw to nest in. Put a block on the floor in there for the chicks so they can drink from the waterer while it hangs. It’s ridiculous the amount of bedding that gets in it on the floor and I’m tired of having to make sure it’s always clean. The block is big enough to also hold a tray for feed for them. They spend the majority of the day out with the bigs already, but there’s lots of cover from the trees and shrubs to keep them mostly hidden. The front of the coop is now completely covered to keep the cold breezes out. In a week or so I’ll put the nest boxes in the small coop but don’t want anyone getting the bright idea to sleep in there.

 

[N F C]

Coop has been straightened up, nest boxes are out and Stella has a pile of straw to nest in. Put a block on the floor in there for the chicks so they can drink from the waterer while it hangs. It’s ridiculous the amount of bedding that gets in it on the floor and I’m tired of having to make sure it’s always clean. The block is big enough to also hold a tray for feed for them. They spend the majority of the day out with the bigs already, but there’s lots of cover from the trees and shrubs to keep them mostly hidden. The front of the coop is now completely covered to keep the cold breezes out. In a week or so I’ll put the nest boxes in the small coop but don’t want anyone getting the bright idea to sleep in there.

It's getting to be that time of year for sure. Glad the littles are doing well. Guess we won't be able to call them littles a lot longer!

 

[igorsMistress]

They’re still little, but they do grow so fast!

A few snaps from today. In the next to last pic the chick on the bottom left is a rooster.

 

[N F C]

Is that a type of willow tree your NN is checking out IM?

 

[igorsMistress]

Is that a type of willow tree your NN is checking out IM?

Yes, it’s a Willow Acacia. The bigs love to eat the leaves so I put the chairs near the low hanging fruit so to speak.