Hi, everyone!
Been such a long time since I've been able to be active here! This has been my toughest and most stressful semester with the classes I was in, but it looks like I made it through and actually passed them all (although I'm still waiting on my grade for Physics to know for sure). I'm just relieved to have a few weeks to relax now! Phew!
Some of you might remember that over the summer, my family built a predator-proof covered deck on the front of the coop. This has been the single best addition to the coop to date! Over Thanksgiving break, my mom and I wrapped the south and west walls in plastic sheeting, and so far the deck has been snow free and much warmer just for having the wind blocked from it! The girls have been having a blast with all that extra snow-free space, and I haven't had to worry about predators or the sparrows and starlings getting in and mooching feed! I love this deck!
The girls, obviously, are not as impressed, but they're always full of complaints when they're snowed in.
I also think I must have gone insane, but I have my incubator running right now.
My darling little silkied Cochin bantam, Cordelia, fell ill and after a month or so of fighting for her life, she sadly passed away. My mom and I had been discussing it and decided that it would be best to hatch more silkied Cochins as soon as possible since Donna is my only pullet left. If anything were to happen to her, I wouldn't have any easy way of getting more of them, and I just adore them. So Donna and Roscoe have been separated in their own pen (in my room, but that's another story), and I gathered up 5 eggs and popped them in the incubator, due January 5th. I can't wait!
I hope it's okay if I post a few pictures from over this semester.
I missed sharing here!
My precious Dorking, Elda, expert at chicken therapy.
I don't believe I would have survived the semester without her.
Flury the LF Splash Cochin. Dorkings are definitely my favorite breed, but Cochins have secured second place in my heart.
My sweet Lavender Orpington, Rooska, takes third place for her breed.
She was pinning me down by perching on my boot so that I had no choice but to give her my full attention.
Here's Donna, my silkied Cochin bantam pullet. Such a sassy little chicken! I love how big and sweet and fluffy the LF Cochins are, but there's just something about that bantam attitude that I find irresistible!
Cazzie, LF Blue Cochin, not looking impressed by the snow. This was the first dusting of snow--she's REALLY not impressed now!
Some of you might remember my accidental Brahma cockerel who was supposed to be a pullet, Umru. Here's a size comparison of him now next to my adult Campine hen, Ihi, who shortly after this shot gave Umru a good flogging.
Sassy girl.
Reuben, my Silkie rooster. So proud of this boy! Before the flock was snowed in, we had a hawk stalking the flock for a few weeks. One day, the hawk flew in while the girls were free-ranging, and by the time I got outside, Reuby had them all safe and sound under a fallen tree and was standing just far enough out from under the branches to keep an eye on the sky. Such a good boy he is!
Hey, I finally got some 'Snowy' Call Ducks!
Malcolm and Trudi were not as amused by this as I was.
And then there's Crashie, just as loud as ever.
I also had an amazing close encounter with a Downy Woodpecker a month or two ago. She hit one of our windows hard enough that she was stunned. The girls free-range in that area, so I went out to make sure she was okay, and she let me pick her up and warm her back up before shaking it off and flying away.
Looking forward to catching up and posting more often here!
And it's hard to carry everything out there in the morning.... (poor me) So.... I started doing something different when it gets - and stays - extremely cold. I have set up a light bulb to keep the top part thawed. I put it on a dimmer switch and can raise or lower the wattage according to need. Or not turn it on at all. When I originally did it I used a 100 watt light bulb dialed down very low. Probably about 1/4 so about 25 watts. Then I realized that I had a 75 watt RED heat bulb (like you use for lizzards) that I could keep on low at night and the room would stay dark. I'm now using the red bulb at less than 1/2 on the dimmer switch. Anyhow, thought I'd share that FYI. My waterer is inside within a dog kennel pen so I have the light in a heat lamp reflector attached to the OUTSIDE of the kennel pen. It is triple attached 3 different backups in case one fails. It is just enough to keep the bottle thawed when the temps dip so low.
