fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[fuzzi]

Have you seen these web cams of the coast?
They are interesting to watch when we have storms.


Frying Pan Tower Live

WITN has several coastal cams.

https://www.witn.com/weather/cams/

Love it!

We're supposed to spend a few days at Topsail Island in October. While checking out hotels I found these cameras:

https://www.surfchex.com/cams/topsail-beach-nc/

Look at the surf!

 

[fuzzi]

I cooked a beef shoulder roast in my Crock-Pot today. When I sliced it I scraped a few fatty tidbits onto a plate...I thought the chicks might enjoy some extra protein. They loved them!

 

[NanaK]

I'll bet they ate that up. I had some extra eggs so I scrambled some this morning. They didn't last long.

There are a bunch of cams all along the coast.
I like to watch. Looks like it is boiling!

A couple on this page. Scroll to see Jeanette's Pier at Hatteras.
https://www.outerbanks.org/plan-your-trip/webcams/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Your Chickies look very happy @fuzzi

Great links @NanaK I'll have to check those out when it's not dark

Hope the storm is not too bad, Ya'll stay safe.

 

[fuzzi]

Storm Report 8:00am

So far we're doing well. The center, aka "eye", is supposed to pass just to the west of us.

I checked on the chick(en)s, saw that they were active, though staying under the tarp area.

See the "dry" line?

The A-frame roost is dry, as is the roost along the back wall. The straw in the nesting boxes is slightly damp, not surprisingly.

The Deep Litter method is working, see it soaking up the moisture so the chicks don't sink down, only heavy Giants make footyprints?

The puddle is where someone was digging a big hole...

So far the extent of "damage" is the plastic fence fell down, it was just leaning against the hoop.

I'm going to put on dry socks and make breakfast. Later!

 

[fuzzi]

I went to check on the flock. My footprints were gone, litter draining nicely. I threw a flake of straw on the ground and the chick(en)s were ecstatic.

Then I decided to check the feeder, since it was on the drip line...and as I pulled off the lid water went on top of the dry feed inside!



I didn't want to take a chance of the feed molding, so I dumped it and spread clean straw on top.


Oh well.

The feeder is currently upside down in the shed to make sure it's dry before I refill it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Bummer on the feed.
Since it was freshly wet, you could have dumped it in a bucket, added more water and turned it into mash which could be fed for the next couple of days. A lot of people ferment feed, I don't, but I sometimes do feed mash - feed that has been soaked overnight.
Just a thought to "save" feed next time if it happens.

Did you dump the feed in the run, then cover with straw? If you did, then it may indeed mold under the straw and leaves. I've found that spilled feed on the ground does mold, so you may want to take a peak in the next few days and see what's going on with that.

I haven't looked at the weather, so hopefully the storms have passed by now and you'll start drying out.
Here in the mountains the weather has been nice and sunny, cool mornings already.

 

[NanaK]

Everything seems okay here. Just wet, some limbs down. Thankfully no trees down. We have lots of tall pines. Great for shade but scary during storms. They were really swaying yesterday. Chickens stayed mostly under their shelter during the day but went in the coop a bit earlier than normal. I suppose they had enough of the rain and wind.

Haven't seen my garden yet as it is further away from the house. It's full of small plants cabbage, broccoli,, collards and my mustard has just broke through the soil. I also have a row of pole butterbeans. Hope they are all ok.

I am just barely west of you so was a bit concerned about the storm's track. Thankfully it wasn't a really bad one. It could have been so much worse.

Did you dump the feed in the run, then cover with straw? If you did, then it may indeed mold under the straw and leaves. I've found that spilled feed on the ground does mold, so you may want to take a peak in the next few days and see what's going on with that.

Yes, I've seen this happen too. I use a flat shovel to scoop it in a bucket to remove.

Since it was freshly wet, you could have dumped it in a bucket, added more water and turned it into mash which could be fed for the next couple of days.

They gobble wet feed up like a treat!

 

[fuzzi]

Everything seems okay here. Just wet, some limbs down. Thankfully no trees down. We have lots of tall pines. Great for shade but scary during storms. They were really swaying yesterday. Chickens stayed mostly under their shelter during the day but went in the coop a bit earlier than normal. I suppose they had enough of the rain and wind.

Haven't seen my garden yet as it is further away from the house. It's full of small plants cabbage, broccoli,, collards and my mustard has just broke through the soil. I also have a row of pole butterbeans. Hope they are all ok.

I am just barely west of you so was a bit concerned about the storm's track. Thankfully it wasn't a really bad one. It could have been so much worse.


Yes, I've seen this happen too. I use a flat shovel to scoop it in a bucket to remove.

They gobble wet feed up like a treat!

Bummer on the feed.
Since it was freshly wet, you could have dumped it in a bucket, added more water and turned it into mash which could be fed for the next couple of days. A lot of people ferment feed, I don't, but I sometimes do feed mash - feed that has been soaked overnight.
Just a thought to "save" feed next time if it happens.

Did you dump the feed in the run, then cover with straw? If you did, then it may indeed mold under the straw and leaves. I've found that spilled feed on the ground does mold, so you may want to take a peak in the next few days and see what's going on with that.

I haven't looked at the weather, so hopefully the storms have passed by now and you'll start drying out.
Here in the mountains the weather has been nice and sunny, cool mornings already.

Thank you both for the suggestions, I am making a mental note for if it happens again (hopefully not!).

When I checked on the flock after church I could not see any feed on the ground, they'd done a lot of scratching. It just looked like plain dirt under the straw, even the yard clippings had disappeared.

The chicks had been using the feeder that's in the back of the coop, so I brought it to where the main feeder had been, and carefully topped it off. I don't generally fill the 5 gallon bucket more than 6" deep.

 

[fuzzi]

Okay, I am confused.

The Sussex started laying first (they're 6 weeks older than the Dominiques), and I loved the pale cream eggs. Then I started finding smaller and darker tan eggs with little brown speckles, and figured those came from the Dominiques.

Today I checked the nesting boxes, found one egg in the middle, one in the left-hand box, but the right-hand box was empty aside from the plastic egg. I continued cleaning waterers, filled up the feeder, and noticed that one of the Dominiques was now in the right-hand box. By process of elimination I identified her as Tamar:

Naomi looking on...

Expectant fathers???

I left for about 15 minutes to let Tamar take care of business. When I came back all 4 Dominiques were about, and I found a nice warm egg in the box.

But it was a soft cream color?

I'd assumed all the cream eggs were from the Sussex, as they were older and started laying first. Now a Dominique apparently lays a cream egg?

Tamar's egg is on the left...