Illinois...

[Life is Good!]

We are partial to rare breeds, as we are also partial to old houses!
Black Java's are one of our Mainstays, but we have also added Swedish Flower Hens. And Auburn Java's too.

We start with chicks, as then you can be fairly certain of health. Adult birds, it's harder to know exactly what is going on.

But whichever you choose, make sure to treat train them...much easier for overall management.

 

[Molpet]

Thanks
Now I have a white 3 wk(5/26) old poult acting sick... its eating but trying to get under anybody to warm up...the other hens are not having it and finally a week older poult was letting it snuggle.. mom is not concerned..the others are fine
so I stuck it in my coat sleeve and fired up the heating pad... it was content in my sleeve, mind you this is the first time it ever has been picked up... happy under the heating pad in the basement brooder. Nutri Drench is the water. a drop of ND in the mouth.
poor little guy, I wonder if it tangled with the turkey yesterday too..no marks on it.
I hope its a hen if it makes it... not going to be able to process a jake I nursed

Well the little guy didn't make it
2 more in another coop ( June 4th hatch) were hunched over this morning.. mom not interested is keeping them warm very often. So I caught 5 of 6 and put them in the brooder. She still has 1 poult and 3 chicks that seem ok
I think it is the cold wet weather.

 

[Faraday40]

Well the little guy didn't make it
2 more in another coop ( June 4th hatch) were hunched over this morning.. mom not interested is keeping them warm very often. So I caught 5 of 6 and put them in the brooder. She still has 1 poult and 3 chicks that seem ok
I think it is the cold wet weather.

So sorry the little one didn't make it.

Weather's crazy here too. My garden's under water - literally. I though it would be OK after things soaked in yesterday but we got hit with several more inches. All my little plants are sitting in the middle of a 20' puddle. Nothing I can do since I can't even walk back there. Chicken tractors are also standing in giant puddles, so everyone's just free ranging with their chicks. (Except Jewel who's eggs are still hatching. I moved her to the big garage brooder = my Peck N Play) Trouble is the one who's especially naughty. She leads her chicks under the fence to the area by the house. (Strawberry garden, herb gardens, flowerbeds = chicken heaven) The chicken run was only 1/2 flooded, but the sand allowed things to drain already.

 

[chickendreams24]

Hi guys everything here is flooded too.

After rain all day yesterday we only had a 10% chance of any precipitation today. It rained all morning again.

The fields are flooded in lots of places and don't get me started on our fields of peas. The company that contracts them doesn't stop picking unless they get stuck. Which means any field that is wet when they're in it gets completely trashed and compacted from all the machines driving on it.

They had 9 or more pea viners out in our field including three that had tracks instead of tires. They still weren't able to finish our peas despite trying for two days. Two day of mostly rain I might add. There's big ruts and lots of standing water and the fields will have to be plowed as soon as they can be worked. The chickens are enjoying the missed peas and other stuff including bugs, but unfortunately are all now the same muddy color. Yep my beautiful flock now only contains muddy brown chickens for the moment. LOL

@Molpet sorry about the poult loss.

@Faraday40 how's the little white poult doing?

These two are doing very well are are so cute. I'm worried about this cold wet weather and the chicks I have in my coop. While most are fully feathered a few are not. Particularly the chocolate and chocolate cuckoo.

More later everyone.

 

[BReeder!]

Flooding... it seems like it's everywhere. The rain let up though and we got outside. My chicken run is damp but the puddles have been soaked up by now thankfully. The hens got to go out today. The were cooped up all day yesterday. Once I got into the garden the chickens started going crazy (they are in the back of the garden patch behind the greenhouse). They were rather excited to get out and run around. They enjoyed a few earthworms for the first time (that i know of). It was funny to see them go crazy for a worm.

 

[Faraday40]

Oh No!!!!
My little cherry bush was due to be picked now but we got so much rain. Today around 6pm I went out there & about 70% of the cherries are splitting! I quickly called the kids & we harvested about 15lbs tonight. I couldn't fit both containers in the fridge, so I had to pit & process about 14 cups of cherries before bed tonight. About 3 cups were made into cherry ice cream/yogurt dessert shakes for the family & neighbors. The other 12 cups were made into cherry pie filling. It's cooling on the stove now & I'll probably freeze most so I can move onto the bigger stock pot full of cherries in the morning. If I can get through it, then I can send the family out to pick more. Normally we harvest the cherries over a 2 week period. (Last pick is always July 2-4th.) I'm afraid that they may be rotting on the bush by Monday,...... so guess what my weekend plans are??

OK, so no cute pics of kids picking cherries, but I can show you the large pot of pie filling:

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh No!!!!
My little cherry bush was due to be picked now but we got so much rain. Today around 6pm I went out there & about 70% of the cherries are splitting! I quickly called the kids & we harvested about 15lbs tonight. I couldn't fit both containers in the fridge, so I had to pit & process about 14 cups of cherries before bed tonight. About 3 cups were made into cherry ice cream/yogurt dessert shakes for the family & neighbors. The other 12 cups were made into cherry pie filling. It's cooling on the stove now & I'll probably freeze most so I can move onto the bigger stock pot full of cherries in the morning. If I can get through it, then I can send the family out to pick more. Normally we harvest the cherries over a 2 week period. (Last pick is always July 2-4th.) I'm afraid that they may be rotting on the bush by Monday,...... so guess what my weekend plans are??

OK, so no cute pics of kids picking cherries, but I can show you the large pot of pie filling:
View attachment 1441062

DH2B is over here drooling. His favorite pie is cherry pie. LoL he jokingly asked where are cherries are on our little brand new this year cherry bush. LoL

 

[Molpet]

Oh No!!!!
My little cherry bush was due to be picked now but we got so much rain. Today around 6pm I went out there & about 70% of the cherries are splitting! I quickly called the kids & we harvested about 15lbs tonight. I couldn't fit both containers in the fridge, so I had to pit & process about 14 cups of cherries before bed tonight. About 3 cups were made into cherry ice cream/yogurt dessert shakes for the family & neighbors. The other 12 cups were made into cherry pie filling. It's cooling on the stove now & I'll probably freeze most so I can move onto the bigger stock pot full of cherries in the morning. If I can get through it, then I can send the family out to pick more. Normally we harvest the cherries over a 2 week period. (Last pick is always July 2-4th.) I'm afraid that they may be rotting on the bush by Monday,...... so guess what my weekend plans are??

OK, so no cute pics of kids picking cherries, but I can show you the large pot of pie filling:
View attachment 1441062

my black raspberries are getting ripe.. when they get a lot of rain at this stage they are plump, juicy and totally tasteless... water and seeds

 

[Molpet]

Well the little guy didn't make it
2 more in another coop ( June 4th hatch) were hunched over this morning.. mom not interested is keeping them warm very often. So I caught 5 of 6 and put them in the brooder. She still has 1 poult and 3 chicks that seem ok
I think it is the cold wet weather.

well I had a couple near disasters with poults in the stock tank/wooden screen on top brooder.... wild broody poults do not take kindly to it...it's like putting a true wild bird in a cage..
one got out last night and I could not catch it. So I thought to open the outside basement door. It is 10' up a ramp and another 15 feet straight to the chicken yard... I THOUGHT it would go straight to the yard... it flew up the ramp made a right turn went about 70 feet (across a ditch) and disappeared into the tree line about 50' up Since there was no way to see it much less get it down I figured it should come back since it can hear it's flock.. after a never racking hour waiting in the house...it wasn't back and I didn't hear it. I walked the long way around and was looking in the tress and ground... Then I could hear it on the ground about even with the house 20' out. So I walked (through the poison ivy) so if it ran from me it would head towards the flock.. it did and is safe

So this morning, while sneaking food into the brooder, 2 more got out and I couldn't even find them in the basement... So I brought 'Dinner' in, since they know him. After an hour of Dinner having the run of the basement, they were not impressed and didn't move from wherever they were, or make a sound. So I put up a fence and let the flock out by the door.. after an hour of the one still in the brooder calling and mama calling her other poults/chicks, one came out and the other was at the window. I could catch him... so I put the one left in the brooder out too.. he seems ok.. figured let them die happy and not terrified stuck in the house.
So the thought of not handing the babies, so it would be emotionally easier to process, has definitely resulted in wild birds.. I will have to get some meal worms and sit out there with them.

 

[Faraday40]

DH2B is over here drooling. His favorite pie is cherry pie. LoL he jokingly asked where are cherries are on our little brand new this year cherry bush. LoL

You're welcome to come over & pick & pit with us! I used about 4 c and made some cherry crisp today. (rest got vac sealed & frozen) Then I headed out for a walk to each neighbor with my pan & spatula. (Easier for everyone if they use their own plates & don't have to return mine.)

It's also a way for me to mention the "visiting rooster" we have this week. That Spitzhauben boy (Poof Poof's boyfriend) loves to crow, so we're keeping him inside the garage. Poor Poof Poof doesn't like being confined, so she's upset about the situation too.

@Molpet
My white turkeys from you were not skittish. I didn't hold them too much but they did need some TLC in the 1st week or 2. After that they bonded with the broody hen well enough. I never had a problem catching them but they didn't follow me either. They did cry a lot, though. When driving them up to @chickendreams24 they were too scared in the box. I had to hold them on my lap or in DDs's to quiet them. (Yes loose poultry while driving in the car. Quite an adventure!)

The new turkeys are doing well. They only know the hen as mama, but they will let me pick them up. The white one is smaller than the browns but I'm not sure is it's the breed, gender, age difference, or the herniated navel. (The navel is now a scab that should fall off by next week. The other smaller white one from the 1st hatch had the same thing and was fine.)