Mollie Sunshine Chronicles

A couple more pics. of the kids
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My gold laced wyandotte. I don't have a name for her yet. But her markings are coming in nicely. She's with Mr. Roo. He's one of the roosters remaining in the pullet coop. The littles and little peeps are his girls.


The silver and gold wyandotte (again) with the roo and Miss Molly Sunshine on the end. They were stretching over to see me. Probably saying, hey why do you keep bothering us! This shows how small miss Molly is.
 
Received close to a foot of snow this weekend. yaaay NOT I realized I always begin with a weather report. I think it's because I detest the winter so I have to complain about it.

Chickies coops were cold this morning. It was 18F in both coops. The runs were -2F! I was thinking about making Stella, my cochan rock, a cap of some sort. She barely has feathers on her back. There's nothing there to keep her warm. Then I thought about those aprons. I wonder if a large would be big enough for her. She's a plus size girl
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I am proud of my Stella. She is able to get back in the coop by herself now. She usually waits for me to place her in the coop at the end of the day. I went out yesterday to close every thing up and she was already in. That girl has a place in my heart.
 
Of course Stella is a Cornish Rock....were do I come up with this stuff i.e. cochan! hehe

I see many people preparing for new chicks this spring. I came soooo close to ordering another dozen from My Pet Chicken. There's so many breeds I adore. I don't want it to be a knee jerk reaction. Just because I want to. I can't always be so self indulgent. There's much to consider. It would be a bigger investment this time around. I would definately need to invest in an additional coop. I figure this time around give hubby a break and just purchase one. Whether I purchase a good size shed and convert it or buy another coop and have it delivered and set, then there's a need for a new kennel run, it becomes costly. I have to give it some thought. I really want to get a porcelain d'uccle, new jersey giant, etc. etc.
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The little peeps made their brave voyage into the great unknown this weekend! They braved stepping out from the confines of the run. It was short lived and they only went outside the door but it's a start. They are so freakin' cute they kill me
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Here is a picture of them stepping out. They do every thing in group. The rooster that stays with them most times is very protective of them! They stepped out and he became nervous it seemed. He ran out after them making his rooster sounds.


My Sir Romeo Luigi cracks me up. It was teh boys turn to free range yesterday. I always go outdoors to check on them every now and again. Of course, when he sees me he comes running, talking up a storm. He really talks a lot! Always talking. I pick him up and talk and stroke him. I put him down and head back in and he follows me up the deck. Before I know it, he's poking at the glass door, either asking me to come back out or wanting to come in. I walked away thinking he will eventually leave and join the others, Nope, there he is, just standing there peering in the door. I put my coat on to head back outdoors, pick him up, stroke him. I had to do this a few times. He really has me trained! Never in my life did I think I would have this connection.....with a chicken!
 
hmmm, so I've been reading here on BYC that perhaps it's not a good idea to allow Sir Romeo Luigi sit on my lap and pick him up and carry him around as he enjoys. He's not going to like this very much when he hears the news! You know he's going to have a lot to say about it....as he always does. I've gone through all 9 large bags of leaves that I gathered up this fall for my coops and am now raking what's in the woods on our property. He remained with me talk, talking as he always does. He really is a goofball. As expected, when I entered the house I peered him at the glass door looking in for me. When I went back outdoors with him, he was content once more. As could be heard by his continued talking.

Here he is looking in the house

By golly, I did it! My efforts have been realized!!
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The deep litter method CAN be done with a hard floor. I tried attaching the short video I did but it wouldn't take. Anyone have suggestions?
 
It's been awhile and this is the latest news on our small egg farm. Everyone for the most part is doing well. On a sad note, my last Cornish rock, Stella, died a few weeks ago. She had a good long life considering her breed. I hoped she would survive longer but God bless her. Of course it was during the coldest stretch we had and the ground was frozen. She was kept on ice, sort of speak, for a couple of days. My neighbor was gracious enough to come over with his backhoe to dig a hole for the girl.
I decided to increase my flock once again. I really wanted a Porcelain D'uccle. I ordered her, a Jersey giant and a couple green and blue egg layers....And a couple silkies for my neighbors boy. I will receive them this summer. Can't wait!
Speaking of my neighbor....Their free ranging roosters are becoming my problem. Of course I won't complain but they come into my yard. I wanted to free range mine today but I won't be able to. I can't complain especially when mine are just as guilty. They have found themselves over their property a couple of times. When they asked if they were mine I quickly said yes, and please don't hurt them! Their other neighbors roo kept finding his way in his yard and messed with their roo's. He told his neighbor that if it continued, it would be the roo's demise.....It continued and well we know what the outcome was....So now I need to invest in a fence. I don't want anything happening to my roos.
From my last post.....Yes, I'm still loving on my Sir Romeo Luigi. At the end of each day he enjoys being "tucked in" for the night. I have to go in the coop and stroke him until he's ready to roost for the night. Otherwise, he will just wait in the run making his warbling noises. This is why I am such a proponent of roo's. They really offer something special to this experience. Love my boys! There, I said it.....
 
It's been awhile and as you all know, making changes/improvements are a normal fact to chicken keeping. What's that saying, the more things change the more things stay the same. Always striving for homeostasis. I made the final decision to remove the last 3 roosters from my pullet coop this week. Their new home has been ordered and should be delivered in the weeks to come. The first thing my husband said when I told him of my decision was, "I'm not building another coop!" Fortunately, I was prepared. I already had a coop maker in mind. I'm still torn about the idea. These 3 have developed into great protectors. The alpha and second in command are gentle with the pullets from what I have witnessed. There's always one! I think because he is the last in the pecking order in regards to the cockerels (or as I call them, roosters) he takes advantage when he can. The pullets are afraid of him. Which brings me to my final decision. One of my RIR pullets is so nervous now she hides most of time. I can't allow this. As soon as I open the coop at night she comes flying over to me. I place her next to the food and water to be certain she has enough. She's good as long as she senses me hovering over her. But if she hears the roo's she scrabbles to the nesting boxes to hide. I often find her hiding in the nesting box where the little peeps (silkies) sleep at night. Yes, I allow it. I know it won't be forever. They will roost as the others did in time. For now, they're just "babies" and it's a nice corner where they decided they prefer to huddle at night. Second reason for separating the roo's from the pullet's is because my girls are becoming quite ragged looking! The silkies have come of age now so even their head feathers are becoming thin. Molly Sunshine.....she's a favorite. She has no feathers from her head down to her tail feathers. I will try allowing them to free range together in time. See how that works out. Maneuvering between 3 coops will be my new normal
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It's official, my first set of pullets and cockerels are officially hens and roosters. When I look back over the past year so much has transpired, it's hard to believe it's only been a year. There's a lot compressed in that amount of time. We all got through our first winter unscathed!

Recent happenings: all of my roosters are out of my hen house. I placed the last 3 remaining in a "holding" coop I purchased from Tractor Supply. It's the same design that someone here on BYC has modified. I don't love it so I purchased a new coop. I waited weeks for it to arrive and the roosters still are in the holding coop. One of my RIR hens was having a terrible time in the hen house. The continuous mounting of the roosters made her continually cower and hide. Which perpetuated the situation because I think the roosters mistook her actions as being submissive. Her timid actions in turn has caused some of the hens and pullets to view her as weak(?) They began pecking at her. Not allowing her to get food and water. There's more than enough feeders and waterers for all, they don't need to be possessive. They wouldn't be anywhere near them but if they saw her at one, they would run over and peck her away from it. I had her tested for parasites's etc.; she is healthy so they weren't doing it because she is ill. So, needless to say, when the new coop came it became her refuge. I placed her in it with one of the silkies she brooded with. They are doing well together. I have 4 bantam types arriving this summer and I will place these girls with them. I will still free range all the girls together. There is plenty of room for them to stay out of one each others way. The 3 boys will get their new coop before winter sets in.
 
It's been a while I guess you can say :D Had some technical difficulties that needed to be worked out and I thank the folks that work this forum for doing what they needed to do to get me back on line. So much has happened since last posting.

So, Lucy Lou as I call her (Lucy Ball her official name) is living happily in her coop with Ellie May and they have been joined by 6 others. 4 Partridge Silkies, 1 Porcelain D'Uccle and an Easter Egger my neighbors kids hatched and gifted to me. She is one week younger than these littles and they all brooded together so they are happy together.
My coops are truly officially closed! This integration of the latest little peeps with Lucy and Ellie May is turning out to be a long process. The last 3 I did went without a problem. I was nervous about the littles over powering Lucy. She's so timid. Turns out she's quite aggressive with the littles. Initially, she chased and pecked at them and I would save them. With a little time, she simply chased them. I thought this is ok. Until it wasn't.....One night I went in to close the coop and there lying in the corner of the run was one of my Partridge Silkies. Oh no, was all I could say as I picked her up. She was almost lifeless. I was so angry with myself for putting my guard down. But everything seemed to be going well. There were no problems for the past few days with them all together. I brought the little into the garage and checked her wounds. The back of her head had a huge gash that extended to her neck. At this point, I didn't want to cause her more trauma so I let her be. I sprayed vetiricyn on the wound and placed her in a cozy dog crate for the evening. I told my hubby I didn't know which way this was going to go. I was so surprised the next morning when I saw she was up and moving! I offered her food and water and before I knew it she was interested in both. Now my goal was to keep the infection at bay.
Precious, as I call her, is doing well. She is back in the coop with the others. They accepted her readily as if she had never left. Although, that night as they huddled to sleep, one of them discovered her cut. The gash was once again bleeding. She is now still in the coop but in a small separate crate. The other littles are in the medium crate.
Every morning Lucy and Ellie May get booted out to the run so the littles can roam the coop in peace. Precious remains in her crate until the cut heals. They see her, I am hoping she will once again be part of that brood with no problem.
My intent for this integration is to place Lucy in a crate so she understands she is not to harm the littles. Ellie May is no problem with the littles.
That's all of a story I have time for currently. I will fill you in later on other happenings since last posting! with pics!
 

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