I Built A Bridge!

[lizgarf]

That does sound worrisome, Teila! I'm glad Dusty has recovered!

 

[lizgarf]

Two chicken joys today I had to share: 1) There was a lovely sage green with purple speckles egg in the nest, meaning Jan has returned to laying 6 months sooner than last year! 2) Bettina was squeezed on to the far/high roost with Jan and the youngins at twilight! Seeing that she had the energy to jump that far up put a huge smile on my face! Love my girls!!

 

[tommysgirl]

Well Hi you guys! I have sat down to post updates a bunch of times and been interrupted by one thing or another. I have been reading along though and wanted to say:

MM I am also jealous of snow...precipitation of any form would be appreciated at this point but there is something about snow here that is so festive and makes it feel like a holiday. Sorry your flock is grumpy but a chicken mama has to do what she can to keep her flock safe.

Teila: Also thrilled that you caved and let Cilla have another go. Further relieved that you didn't have anyone drown in your storms. That was a LOT of water. Sweet Dusty...so glad she is apparently on the mend. I am sure that you have thought of this but what if you gave Blondie some of Cilla's eggs...we are all pros here with hatch with two broodies. I am sure you have reasons you don't want to do that but thought I would toss it out there. Your sister sounds like she has a great sense of humor. How is she doing?

Liz: Creepy weirdness is right...I sure hope you have no other incidences of ineffective strange protests from an unknown source. Glad you are enjoying your downtime! Have you made it up to the snow? Also so pleased that Bettina is feeling better. I love the colors in your egg carton! who lays the almost white one? Lucy's egg sure stands stands out. How often does she lay? My Marans girl, Odette, just started laying in January but she kind of stinks at it. I get one egg every 10 days or so. Do you think she will pick up the pace? I have no previous experience with them. I am going to try to hatch some Splash Marans eggs under a broody sometime this season so if Odette wants to continue living large at the Taj Ma Hen she needs to pick it up.

So here is my news: Able is a little roo..sigh...

Here are 3 of Stella's chcks. Sadly one of the 6 got crushed...I think by Buster while Cosmo was chasing him and another fell prey either to a Jay or a cat. But She has 4 left and I tried to get some good shots last week. There is a little Mottled who is for sure a Cockerel So is the little Black one with the creamy belly but the Jury is still out on the the black with the silver chest. It is sprouting some black and silver feathers between its wings and has no color to its small comb so hoping for a birchen pullet but who knows.

This one I think is a pullet lots of feathers no comb. A woman on the BYC Bantam cochin page said she may be silver penciled

The one on the left is I fear a cockerel but I still have hope for the one on the right


Same two chicks on the ground...They refused to pose nicely



Inspired by Liz I have had two...possibly 3 successes in rehoming boys. First Waylon went to his new place then Buster last weekend. I am currently trying to find a spot for a boy my Aunt's broody hatched. I have heard back from one woman who sounds good but she may live too far away to make it work. Regardless I am willing to be patient and Tom says I should start an online service called cockmatch.com lol

Everyone in my Bantam pen is laying eggs! Julie Taylor keeps getting in the nest box and hanging out but she is so far easily swayed. If I can get her to wait another couple of weeks before full on being broody she can raise my houdan chicks that are due to arrive in April. I ordered them from Urch Turnland poultry in Minnesota. They are a family farm with a focus on quality over quantity and most importantly for me anyway they only sell straight run...no vent sexing. Anyway I am hoping to be able to give those 9 babies to a mama instead of putting them in a brooder...though I have to admit that I miss the connection you get with chicks raised in a brooder, it does simplify life to have a hen do it. I am only keeping a couple of them so Liz if you get a hankering for a mottled crested white egg layer that looks like this:


Let me know.

Last year I rehomed 3 girls and I talked to their new people today and they are doing just great! That made me happy!!

My current worry is for my Chocolate Rock girl, Godiva. She is sneezing and seems to have ragged breathing but it has become better each day. She is eating drinking pooping and dustbathing like normal so I am trying not to fret too much.

IC: I do love your pictures and it is so cool that you are making a bit of feed money. I put all egg and chick sales money into little wallet that I then use to for chicken extras...and extra chickens.

Hope you are having beautiful weather!

Well there is my update. Hope you and your chickens are all are happy and healthy

 

[Teila]

Goooood morning Bridge Club

Liz I am so pleased to hear that Bettina is on the improve. What a beautiful colour mix in your carton.

I will pass on sharing my egg basket .. with Cilla sitting on eggs, Dusty molting and Blondie having an on again/off again attempt at broodiness, LuLu is the only one laying every day or second day.

The most eggs I have seen around here are the ones I purchased to put under Cilla!

Hey TG good to hear from you. Speaking about hearing from people, I hope 16 paws is OK.

Yep, the thought of giving Blondie a couple of Cilla’s eggs did briefly flash across my mind but I made sure it left as quickly as it arrived!

For one broody/hatch I have a great set up, very secure, still visible to everyone else, lots of room etc but if I go down the two hatch path it just gets a little tricker and is not fair on the second mum who ends up stuck in a makeshift kind of deal. Which Blondie had with her first hatch, playing second fiddle to Tina's hatch. Also, I have this thing where I don’t let my gals sit on a hatch too soon after the last one, no matter how determined they are; I think it is good to give them a break to build up condition etc. Cilla has not had a hatch for over 12 months. Blondie’s last hatch was only 5-6 months ago .. the Princess is just going to have to be patient

Thank you for asking about my sister, she is doing very well. The last round of surgery was successful and she is spending some time out of the chair, around the house, with a walking aid … very exciting!

Aaaw, sorry to hear Able is a rooster. I am sorry to hear about Stella’s little ones also. The surviving little ones are adorable!

Congrats on the rooster rehoming also. Forgive me for not searching that online service, not sure I would want to see the results and as this is a work computer, not sure I went them to see the results either! Lolz

So, my news …..

Dusty is feeling better; Apparently so much so that she is crowing about it! Yep, got woken up this morning by yet another of my 2 year old, egg laying hens having a crow attempt!

Dem chickens sure do be crazy!

Have I ever mention to you guys my concerns about the Crows that hang around here? They are nearly as big as my gals!

Anyways, I heard a strange sound during the week while working so I went out to investigate. A Crow had a juvenile Turtle Dove pinned down, had removed quite a few of it’s feathers and was trying to 1. eat it alive and/or 2. fly off with it!

As much as Turtle Doves are a pest, stealing seed etc, I could not stand by and watch this poor little one be eaten alive by a Crow, so I chased the Crow off. The little fella was bleeding pretty badly but I picked it up and popped it under the foliage next to the tree.

The Crow came back looking for it!

I kept an eye on the Dove during the day and while it could not fly, it was wandering around a little and drinking from the fish pond. It was kinda sad in that it’s Mum kept coming down from the tree, trying to encourage it to fly up.

By evening I thought the poor little thing was going to end up spending the night on the ground. I had been watching him for a while, turned by back to look at something else, turned back and he had gone … couldn’t see him anywhere. It was too quick for anything to have taken him or for him to have walked out of sight so I can only hope that he managed to jump/fly back into the tree.

Of course that does mean that he will be back one day to become another pesky, parasite carrying, food stealing critter!

Anyways, as mentioned, this was a juvenile dove with flying abilities and it would be at least 4-5 times bigger than a baby bantam.

My suspicions of these Crows around my chicks are definitely warranted and I will be keeping a very close eye on both Cilla’s bubs (if/when they hatch) and also the evil Crows who appear to have taken up residence!

Have a great weekend everyone … 11 days to go and counting!

 

[Teila]

Hello again Bridge Club

We had to run an errand to Capalaba yesterday and as we needed more chicken feed, called into the Produce Store on the way home. I had never been to this store before; is it just me or is there something exciting about checking out a previously unexplored Produce Store?

They had the cutest little Pekin Frizzles but I have my suspicions one was a rooster and they were running around out the back so not even sure they were up for sale.

Anyways, in the car on the way home I mentioned to Joel “It is a good job Cilla is sitting on eggs or we would be integrating a new frizzle or frizzles”. His sigh of relief was quite audible

Given the option of quarantine and integration of a new hen(s) versus hatching here; I definitely prefer option 2 but boy oh boy, they sure were cute!

Fingers crossed that out of 8 eggs at least one is a frizzle hen .. I won’t push my luck but seen as I have room for two, it would be nice if I get to keep two from this hatch

I guess because she was broody for a week before the eggs, this hatch seems to be taking a long time! Part of that is probably also the fact that Cilla is such a good broody and besides a daily check of the eggs for cracks etc, it is a bit of a ‘set and forget’ scenario.

She is the only one of my broody’s who will take a drink on the nest. For all her hatches, I offered her a tiny cup of water on the hot days and she takes a drink. I tried this with Blondie and Tina on the hot days and got screeched at for my troubles. I wonder sometimes if she is actually thirsty or if it is just a thing we have and she just enjoys being waited on

 

[lizgarf]

Liz: Creepy weirdness is right...I sure hope you have no other incidences of ineffective strange protests from an unknown source. Glad you are enjoying your downtime! Have you made it up to the snow? Also so pleased that Bettina is feeling better. I love the colors in your egg carton! who lays the almost white one? Lucy's egg sure stands stands out. How often does she lay? My Marans girl, Odette, just started laying in January but she kind of stinks at it. I get one egg every 10 days or so. Do you think she will pick up the pace? I have no previous experience with them. I am going to try to hatch some Splash Marans eggs under a broody sometime this season so if Odette wants to continue living large at the Taj Ma Hen she needs to pick it up.

Inspired by Liz I have had two...possibly 3 successes in rehoming boys. First Waylon went to his new place then Buster last weekend. I am currently trying to find a spot for a boy my Aunt's broody hatched. I have heard back from one woman who sounds good but she may live too far away to make it work. Regardless I am willing to be patient and Tom says I should start an online service called cockmatch.com lol

Thanks for the concerns, TG. No more weirdness ever since my friend put the camera in. I bought some locks to put on the coop, which I might use when I give the camera stuff back.

Grace lays the white ones. Her eggs are huge compared to how tiny she is! Maybe egg size depends on personality size, rather than body! Grace is hilarious (when not Broodzilla), and it's fun to see that Maryanne has inherited some of her spunk. Rousseau is actually my best layer, though Grace is close behind. It's a rare day without a cute little Rou egg. And, while it's hard to tell Frida's eggs apart from Rou's, I'm pretty sure she hasn't returned to laying yet! You ask about Lucy - she's not a great layer. She's laying 2 days in a row now, but she had taken about 5 months off this winter and was only laying every other day until this week, and making quite a fuss about it whenever she did! Her eggs are huge and beautiful, but that marans coating attracts any dirt around, so it's hard to keep them pretty. Still, the BCM's and their offspring are gorgeous, and I support pursuing them. Diego is lovely, but he's no Desi. I miss my big beautiful boy, but sure do appreciate how much easier Diego is! Really the flock is so easy right now, and I'm getting so many eggs, I'm definitely not planning on adding anyone anytime soon! I believe I've reached critical hen!

Bettina continues to improve, thanks for the support! Still not 100%, but getting around better and easier all the time. She keeps telling me something every time she sees me, and I'm not sure what it is, but I try to listen and chat back.

Congrats on the roo rehoming! I love cockmatch.com!!! So perfect! Cute chic pics too! That also sounds like a website name.

I did manage to make it up to the snow, thanks for asking! I went Wed-Thurs. Just a short trip, stayed at a friend's in Truckee. Reggie and I went on some lovely snow hikes, and I caught up with an old friend, who was very welcoming to Reggie, who was less than a perfect guest. I could have stayed another day - my neighbor was kindly doing chicken-duty, including putting Diego in the mancave! But, I've gotten really bad at leaving the farm and relaxing elsewhere for any extended time, especially with a challenging pup in tow. And, served me right, because I came home to bad work news on Friday. :Sigh. Such is my job. I'll spare the deets, and there's hope in other avenues for my client, but it was an extremely depressing opinion to read all the same, and I'm not looking forward to the work ahead, responding to it.

Capalaba, Teila?!? Somehow I missed that one when I was there! There is no shortage of cute names in Australia! Cute pic of Cilla! Love her fluffy behind!

Pics from the trip:






And one from home - I guess they missed each other!

 

[Teila]

Hey there Bridge Club

Liz your snow pics are beautiful! I love the second one of Reggie and the trees behind her; looks almost wolf-ish! Sorry to hear your return home was not so good on the work front.

Cilla is going strong … Day 17!

My poor baby Dusty is molting.

Just a refresher on how she looked 4 weeks ago …….







And this is today:

 

[Teila]

Just me again with a Dusty Update:

So, this morning, rolled out of bed, Joel had gotten up before me and mentioned “They are all patiently awaiting their breakfast, including Badger”. Now, I had been awake less than a minute at this point and while my eyes were open my brain was still booting up.

The thought process was something like this .. Badger? Who is Badger? [does not compute; disregard] … Black and White? [does not compute, disregard] … Bald as a [connection made, respond]

“Dusty! Surely she can’t look any worse than yesterday” … Bzzt, wrong answer.

Anyone see the Simpsons episode where Mr Burns’ teddy bear Bobo, goes missing and Maggie finds him many years later, looking a bit worse for wear? I do believe that Dusty saw that episode and has aspirations of being Bobo’s body double!

We have black feathers as far as the eye can see .. black feathers in the water container, black feathers on the lawn, black feathers stuck to the fence, black feathers on the deck, black feathers in the fish pond etc.

About the only place we do not have black feathers is on the black chicken!!

Chimee has to make another trip to the Vet next weekend for her wellness check up and vaccination/worming. After already having to endure an emergency visit to the Vet this year due to her gastro problem a few weeks back, I am sure her response to my mentioning “must remember to make your appointment at the Vet” was “Let’s not and say we did!”.

Anyways, I have lawns to mow ... the plan being if I do them this weekend before the chicks hatch, they will have a couple of weeks to get used to the big scary world before encountering the lawn mower!

Enjoy your weekend

ETA: PS. Just wanted to let you know that I have been in touch with 16 Paws and she is OK. She just has a few things going on at the moment but will be back soon. I have let her know that we were worried about her and passed on our best wishes.

Edited yet again to add some photos of Dusty today. Poor thing does not look very comfortable

 

[Teila]

This morning, as Joel was out of bed before me again, I asked him if he had checked on Dusty. He hadn’t but his curiosity got the better of him so while I prepared their breakfast, he went out and checked.

His comment on his return “Get the baster out!”.
My response: “Is she that bad?”.
Joel: “Well, she has some feathers left”.

Day 19: 12:25pm we have an external pip in one of the eggs!

 

[lizgarf]

This morning, as Joel was out of bed before me again, I asked him if he had checked on Dusty. He hadn’t but his curiosity got the better of him so while I prepared their breakfast, he went out and checked.

His comment on his return “Get the baster out!”.
My response: “Is she that bad?”.
Joel: “Well, she has some feathers left”.

Day 19: 12:25pm we have an external pip in one of the eggs!

Poor Dusty! We need pics as proof!
Congrats on the pip!!!