Mollie Sunshine Chronicles

[MollySunshine]

ooooeeeee, it was darn right chilly last night! 30! too early for that. Or perhaps it's just me dreading the inevitable. I hate winter. I enjoy the snow falling, there's a certain tranquility about falling snow. Dislike the aftermath. I hate being cold for 3-4 months, I dislike having to wear layers upon layers of clothing. Just the thought....

I placed a heat lamp with the pullets last night for the littles. I think they are much too young for that type of temperature (11 and 9 wks). When I went in the coop this morning, it wasn't overly warm, the lamp merely took the edge off. I placed one in the bachelor pad this morning too. It's supposed to get even colder tonight and tomorrow night. Yes, they appeared to accept the weather fine but I noticed when I opened the pop door no one came out. They stayed inside the coop huddled. Poor babies. Others may disagree but to me they are still young birds. They are only 51/2 mths. I don't feel bad if I give them a bit of supplemental heat their first winter. The little littles heat lamp got turned back on too. Not entirely directed inside the brooder but enough to keep them warm. They weren't in a huddle this morning so it was obviously sufficient. They were just going about their business. The only thing I don't like about the heat lamp is well, it's light. I don't know how much sleep everyone got last night. I checked on the pullets last night around 8 o'clock and they were still stirring. I will look at the black light again today. The one thought I had this morning was if my neighbors could hear my pounding early this morning they must think I'm a crack pot. I had to pound some nails to secure the heat lamps to the beams. Can't have accidents! Although, one of my neighbors would understand for they have animals they tend to early in the a.m. too. I'm just a little earlier since I have to get myself ready for work too. There's always something to do. Have to take advantage of every second the day has to offer. It was a comedy show out there though this morning. It's still dark, so I have all my tools. Oh, crap, my flashlight doesn't want to work. Shake that alive. I get inside the roo coop, where's my hammer. My trusty flashlight falls in the bedding, goes out, it's dark, crap, now where's my flashlight.

Hubby registered us as a farm and we have been accepted. Ha! I'm a farmer! No wonder I'm so darn tired at times. I have 2 jobs! We won't really be making any money of course from it. I don't know how many eggs my girls will lay when in full swing. I am thinking I would need even more chickies which would mean I would need an entirely new hen house. I am talking something that would house double maybe triple the amount of pullets I currently have. Who knows, maybe down the road.

All is quiet in chickie land. Just making preparations for the colder temperatures.

 

[MollySunshine]

My girls gave me a record number of eggs yesterday. I average 2/day. This day, 5! Thank you girls!

This dilemma about supplementing heat not supplementing heat was driving me nuts! I feel more comfortable supplying chickies a bit of heat. I"m not talking heat wave heat. I"m talking take the edge off type of heat. It's still chilly and maybe it's not moving the temperature at all. It simply gives me peace of mind. I picked up black heat bulbs and black heat ceramic lamps. I placed a black bulb in with the pullets and the lamp in with the boys. I wanted to see which I prefer. I like each for different reasons. The black bulb does emit a small amount of light at the point of direction. So when I enter the coop there's enough light to check things out. The lamp offers no light whatsoever. My question is why do the manufacturers of heat lamps for chickies only have the red lamp? It keeps them up! Everyone knows this so why is that the only type that is offered. Who do I call to discuss this hehehe

 

[MollySunshine]

It's quite chilly lately in the morning! I ordered 2 Sweeter Heaters, one for the pullets and one for the bachelor pad. I will give my assessment of them when received. Hoping they take the bite out of the cold for my chickies. I know there's a lot of debate whether to heat the coop. I'm opting to provide a bit of warmth. If the power goes out they go on generator as we do.

Pullets are laying very well. They give us at least a dozen eggs everyday. Obviously, not everyone's laying everyday. I have started to give dozens of eggs away now. I can see the progress of the size of the eggs in just a short time.

Here are some updated photos of littles and little littles.

one of the black Silkie little littles

All of the Silkie little littles huddled. They are very skittish still. Noticed that with my white Silkie pullets. It's not until now that I can touch and pick them up.

These are the littles! How they have grown. That is Norma Jean in full stance.

Another pic of the littles. I have to take a nice picture of the Wyandotte's. Their markings are quite nice. Miss Fleur on the end (Mille Fleur L'Uccle) is a real sweet girl. Talulahbelle and her cohort Belle (Mottled Cochan Bantams) are my other sweeties. The Wyandotte's are nameless still. A name will come to me.

The 2 RIR roo's seem to have split the pullets. This one is standing guard on the little littles crate. This one has adopted the littles and little littles as his own. He stays in the coop with them watching over them most of the time. Yup, he has been seen mounting one the Mottled Cochans. He is so much larger, he squishes the poor girl. I would hate to see him mount Miss Fleur. She is incredibly small.

This is one of my Buff Orpington's enjoying the fall sun. Pretty boy.

This is one of the RIR roo's tromping through the leaves.

A RIR and Silkie roo flirting with one of the Silkie pullets in her run. They still love their girls and the girls love them. They just can't live together.
One of my Silkies foraging in the grove they love. This is one that is housed with the pullets and darned if I know if it's a male or female. Looks like a male to me but doesn't bother the pullets.

This is my Cornish Rock Stella with a RIR pullet and roo foraging in the grove they all seem to enjoy. She is the last of my cornish that I have out of the 6. I am incredibly proud of this big girl. It is odd to say but the others dying was a good thing for her. She just began venturing out of the coop away from the dinner tray. She can now be seen running with the other pullets. She can get herself out of the coop but human momma has to place her back in the coop daily. She's too bulky to walk the rise of the plank to enter. I was wondering if she would have the sense to get back to the coop. She does, she waits for me either in the run or right outside the run. I smile every time I see her out there. What can't be seen is there is a slight incline to get out of this grove and she manages it. It's great exercise for her.


Stella again just because she makes me smile. Good for her! She's enjoying life.

That's a glimpse inside my chickie coop. Life at Rise and Shine Farm....life is good

 

[MollySunshine]

What a morning. Did I happen to mention how much I dislike winter. Frost was covering everything this morning. The bulb heaters seemed to be sufficient. Although, I had a couple of layers on. I should be receiving the heaters tomorrow. What a mess out in the pullet coop this morning. They knocked over the water bucket so the surrounding pine and leave mixture were wet and frosted over. I had to remove that. Stella decided to sleep in one of the nesting boxes so I had to clean that out too. She poops the size of cannon balls and I know the girls like that particular box to lay. I'm tidying up and I bend down only to get pooped on. Good thing I had my hood over my head. I had to get water from indoors because oh yeah, everything was FROZEN! I can barely wait for the snow to arrive just to make everything more miserable. I love New England but I sure dislike the winter season.....and it's not even here yet.

I know this is a chickie thread but I've been dealing with my princess kitty cat. We are fairly certain she has cancer and I will most likely me putting her down this week. I can't think about it. She is such a spit fire. She's 15 now. I know we've given her a good life but it pains me to think about it....can't think about it....
I have to burn some sage or something. The hits just keep coming lately. But my baby girl...breaks my heart.

 

[MollySunshine]

Everything is good in chickie land. I began a rotation of when the roo's and pullets free range. The roo's range during the week and the pullets on the weekend. The reason is two-fold. The roo's get the most time out so they can rid their energy. Most importantly, the pullets only free range on weekend's because I am home and can watch them. It seems to be working out ok, all seem to be content with this arrangement. Stella never ceases to amaze me. I went to pick her up so I can place her back in the coop last night. Initially, she took a few steps away from me. Then I think she realized it was me and saw the familiar towel I use to wrap her with so she is unable to flap her wings. She actually took as many steps towards me and waited for me to pick her up. I wrapped her up, held her securely and off we went. She never flinched.

I used the Sweeter heater last night. It seemed to throw off just enough heat. No, it's not roasting in there by any means but it was sufficient. The forecaster told me it was 40 outdoors this morning but it felt much colder. I'm glad I went with my instincts last night and turned the heater on in both coops.

The product Dookaishi seems to be working well for me too. I currently have a mixture of pine shavings and leaves and this Dookaishi. I haven't cleaned out my coop in at least a month. I honestly don't recall when the last time I did it. I do add additional leaves on occasion and bagged some for the winter. I like this idea because they break down more readily than the shavings. I give a quick toss 2x a day. Just something I like to do to keep everything mixed. Especially in the morning since all the pullets have been roosting and pooping all night. Of course when the door to the coop is initially opened in the a.m., it smells poopish, but once I turn it the odor dissipates spontaneously. If I begin smelling the slight odor of ammonia, I sprinkle more Dookaishi as directed. Hopefully, I can get this deep litter method going on a hard floor. Of course, the bachelor pad is more simplistic. I added the shavings, leaves and Dookaishi and haven't had to do anything in the same amount of time. There's only 12 roo's in there.

I fear that the little littles will take a bit of work to integrate. The littles were so easy. These gals have absolutely no desire to leave the crate or mingle with the others. I left the door open yesterday to see what they would do. Nothing.....The littles by this time were ready to bust out! I suppose there's no apparent rush, I don't have others waiting to be moved out of the brooder and to the crate.

 

[MollySunshine]

Went out to do the chickie chores early this morning and I noticed as I was giving the bedding a quick toss that there was heat being emitted from it! Yay!! That means it really IS acting like a compost and things are happening.

I couldn't be more pleased. Chickies are laying good now. I'm up to a dozen plus/day. I thought the amount would decrease now that day light is limited but it seems to have surged. Maybe it takes a while to decrease? There's too many eggs coming for my own consumption. I have begun passing out dozens to coworkers. I plan on placing a cooler out in the front yard to sell at a minimal cost beginning this weekend.

 

[MollySunshine]

Did I get a surprise this morning! Went out early to do my usual chickie chores and as I'm about to turn around to exit the pullet coop I hear that familiar sound of a rooster crowing for the first time. You know that sound, not fluid, more like a stutter. Full of uncertainty. I do the scooby doo neck spin with a hrrrruuuh, where did that come from! I pass my flashlight over the roost. I see nothing odd. There's one rooster in his usual spot with the pullets. On the other side of the coop is rooster #2 in his spot with the littles. I'm confused. I begin to head out of the coop once again. There it is again....the stutter crow! I swing back around and direct my handy dandy flashlight over the little faces on the roost. Now their part of a line up. Where's the culprit! Right down the line but no extra rooster is seen. I go back to the beginning of the line.....one rooster.....pullets.....two roosters.....pullets. I direct my flashlight to the other side of the coop....three roosters! What! 3 RIR roosters! When did this happen! Was it during the super moon! When did she turn into a he! I thought about this on my way to work this morning. I have to do a head count of the rooster's in the bachelor pad. There better be 12! There has to be 12 I'm thinking because they've been separated from the others for a while now. I don't that one would be living so peacefully with the 2 that have been in the pullet coop. I have to watch this interaction of the 3rd roo in the coop. I don't know how aggressive he will be with the pullets. Just when I thought I didn't need a 3rd coop for the remaining roo's....now it's back on the table. arrrrggh....make it stop!

Overall, things are good in chickie land.

 

[MollySunshine]

It was a very successful weekend, I must say. Very satisfied with myself. I completed winterizing both runs (bachelor pad and pullet). I wasn't certain how I would hold the sheets of plastic on the sides of the fencing. I simply bore a slight hole in the plastic and fastened it with some small bungee ties and stapled the 2 ends that meet the coop. What I don't like about it? The runs face one another so the pullets and roo's can see and flirt with one another. The plastic claims it is clear but it is opaque. I bought a couple of clear shower curtains that I figured I could attach to the plastic somehow. I thought I would be able to simply tape then staple the 2 together. In my mind it works perfectly. I got as far as taping the 2 together. In theory it should work. I have to work on it some more. Fortunately, I didn't make any cuts in the plastic.

I began integrating the little littles Saturday. I knew they had no intentions of leaving the safe confines of the crate so I opened the crate and allowed the others to enter their domain. They didn't like it one bit. They huddled in a mass. Little buggers. They seemed too stressed so I took the pullets out and closed the door to the crate. They were quite content. In the afternoon I tried it again. They didn't love it but they did well. The pullets couldn't care less about them. They didn't bother them so I left the door open and went about my business checking in every now and again to see what was happening. The little littles eventually found themselves roaming cautiously in the coop. That night I used more tough love and removed their water from the crate so they were forced to leave the crate once again. They had no problem using the nipple waterer that the big girls use. This morning, the only thing I left inside the crate once again was their food. I think I can say it was another successful integration

When I left the house this morning they were making their happy peep sounds. In the crate they look so big but against the other pullets or even the littles they appear so small. I'm very proud of my little littles. My intentions are to remove the crate completely this weekend. They like to huddle when they sleep so I will do as I did with the original flock. I will set up a corner spot for them that is cozy. Lots of pine shavings etc. so they can dig themselves in. It's almost official, I have no more babies/chickies....I'm seriously thinking about expanding my flock in the spring/summer. I will have to purchase a new coop of course. It's just a thought at this point. That is how much I am thoroughly enjoying raising chickens. I have learned so much in a short amount of time and of course have much more to learn. They are work but it doesn't feel like work. I enjoy being with them. crazy stuff....

My roo, Sir Romeo Luigi....his name keeps growing....he cracks me up. His latest thing is to not enter the coop at night until I do. If I am closing the pop door for the night he will get off his roost and come out or try to. I usually catch him before he gets out but when I don't I have to pretend I am going in the coop too. He will head in through his door. He sees I'm exiting and he's high tailing it for his door. Arrggh....They other day they are all heading in from free ranging and he doesn't want to go in because he sees me. I open the door to enter the coop thinking he is going to follow me. What does he do....he flies on my head! Romeo what are you thinking.....this boy....he truly is unique....

 

[MollySunshine]

The weather I dread the most is upon us. This morning was quite challenging to say the least. First, I would like to clear up some misnomers about heaters in the coop. I have placed in both the pullet coop and the bachelor pad a Sweeter heater. It was an agonizing decision for me since all the veterans here on BYC, whom I have the utmost respect for, are steadfast against it. I felt as though I was betraying those who have helped me along the way when I reached out. Since this is a place for information, I will lend my experience with these heaters, albeit short lived. As I have noted in the past, they merely take the edge off. My chickies still need to acclimate themselves to the cold weather. These heaters are not furnaces nor do they claim to heat an entire space. I have taken every measurable step to ensure the health and well being of my chickies to get them through the cold weather. I have covered the coops and runs with plastic, incorporated proper ventilation etc. etc. I have meticulously followed every direction the more seasoned chickie owners have recommended to do. To prove my point of the capabilities of these heaters, I went out early this morning to do my usual chickie chores, prior to showering to head off to work as I normally do. With flashlight in tow, I head to the pullet coop first to see how the little littles are doing in this cold (now known as the little peeps). I notice they are huddled in a corner keeping each other warm. I check the water bucket to see how much water I need to pour into it. Crap! the water is frozen! I check the thermometer inside the coop. It's a measly 10 degree's F inside the coop. Do you see where I'm going with this? Rather than below zero as it is outdoors, it's 10 degrees F inside the coop. I had to go indoors at one point because my hands were absolutely frozen! I am in full favor of heating the coop if it is going to make your chickies more comfortable by one iota. Done in a safe manner of course.

 

[MollySunshine]

Happy New Year!

Let's begin the new year with some new pics. of some of my chickies

These are 4 of the little littles now referred to as the little peeps. There is one more black one off to the side that I didn't capture in this photo. They are getting so big! They found their way into the run. They are usually the first to enter the run in the morning. They are so freakin' cute!



Some of my boys in thier run. They are so handsome! Love my boys



These are my 2 mottled cochan bantams, Talulahbelle and Belle. They are hanging out on their coop heater keeping their toes warm. Sweet girls.



This is Norma Jean. We bought her as a day old at the local county fair this summer.



Ahh, my Mille Fleur D'uccle otherwise known as Madame Fleur. She is a sweet girl. A little peanut. She's so small but a real beauty.



One of my Rhode Island Red pullets. Here's lookin' at you kid.....


A crescent moon and a couple of stars over my bachelor pad the other night. There is peace in my valley.....



I placed a plastic "skirt" around both coops this weekend in an attempt to hold in some heat. Hopefully it will eliminate the wind from blowing underneath the coops. It seems to be working. The coops have been holding at ~10 degrees higher than the outdoors the past couple of days. The real test will be later in the week when temps fall back down to the teens.