Minimum Effort Farms

[m0ther_g00se]

the babies put themselves to bed today!! i no longer have to herd them in there! lol
because they now put themselves to bed, i'm going to remove the chicken wire that had been fencing them in there from the openings so the chicken house is more free choice than obligation. the fencing i have around the perimeter is plenty small enough to keep them in, and they want to go out way before i can let them out most mornings

I'm very lucky in the regard that I have to focus more on keeping my birds in an area than I do keeping things out of the bird area. There don't seem to be many predators around the property, and between my dog and my neighbours' dogs, there's plenty of non-human warning and protection systems in place.

 

[m0ther_g00se]

lol it’s been a long time since an update! let’s see here. after the last post i went to see relatives for christmas, and then my birthday, and then school… busy busy busy. and the chickens have of course been growing all the while.

mymble is still laying eggs, and is getting better at hiding her nests. I’m thinking I’ll let her go broody around mid-february, because then the ducklings will hatch in March. Also i’m tired of looking everywhere for her eggs, it’s ridiculous. lol
I got a duck from a friend at church about three weeks ago as well. She wasn’t purposefully neglecting him (she didn’t know anything about his care) but when my dad went to pick him up, he had strings from feed bags embedded in his legs. Pulling them off took some of the skin with it, so he had to be watched like a hawk to prevent infection. Proper nutrition, bathing and care turned him from this duck:

into this duck:

I haven’t named him yet, but feel free to leave a suggestion.

Sad news for the chickens- a raccoon got through a hole in the fencing that we had missed and ate one ( there are only ten now. I found it dead in the coop. We patched the hole immediately after finding it and haven’t had any problems since.
The remaining chickens are thriving and warming up to me, finally.

this one is my dads favorite, the friendliest, and the biggest pants-eater. No pair of pants have gone un-nibbled by this chicken.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Everyone looks so beautiful!! Great job on the duckee rehab! He looks like he's doing wonderfully! Did the raccoon tear a hole? Or just squeeze through? Sorry for the chicken you lost

 

[m0ther_g00se]

Everyone looks so beautiful!! Great job on the duckee rehab! He looks like he's doing wonderfully! Did the raccoon tear a hole? Or just squeeze through? Sorry for the chicken you lost

When we found the hole, it wasn't like the raccoon had bent the holes to make the spaces between the wire bigger. It looked like somebody had taken a pair of wire cutters directly to it and snipped a section out, then bent the wire outwards so that something could fit through (but the hole wasn't even big enough for a person to fit through in the first place, so...). The raccoon just took advantage of it.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

updated photos of the babies

nothing much cuter than baby ducks, seriously! <3

 

[m0ther_g00se]

oh man. you've got that right!! that was so long ago now though lol. they're just about egg laying age. time flies i guess

 

[Chullicken]

You honestly had me at 'Minimal' LOL Love it.

 

[m0ther_g00se]

thanks. lol
still no eggs. they're killing me here

 

[m0ther_g00se]

got my first chicken egg today! it's small and green. dad says he saw one of the "tufted ones" poking around the nesting boxes, and that's where i found it. i think i know who it came from, too. I lost my phone charger, so no pictures, unfortunately.

cannot convey how happy i am. and how proud i am of the chickens!! today is exactly the 20 week mark. everybody else should be following suit shortly...