My First Flock in Years

[Callender Girl]

It's always a good thing to come back from vacation and not have any fatalities! My pet/house setter was top notch, but she moved out of state so I haven't been anywhere for more than a few hours since September. I have someone lined up for August and am hoping for the best.

Little ones change so quickly, and I'm sure they were eager to gobble up those free-range goodies! Hope Jean-Luc was just happy to see you and your treats.

I would probably have been better off over the years if Bomgaars had a six-chick minimum. It's much easier to think I can tuck in another two or three into one of the coops.

Congrats on a successful return from vacation!

 

[ihatedarkroast]

It's always a good thing to come back from vacation and not have any fatalities! My pet/house setter was top notch, but she moved out of state so I haven't been anywhere for more than a few hours since September. I have someone lined up for August and am hoping for the best.

Little ones change so quickly, and I'm sure they were eager to gobble up those free-range goodies! Hope Jean-Luc was just happy to see you and your treats.

I would probably have been better off over the years if Bomgaars had a six-chick minimum. It's much easier to think I can tuck in another two or three into one of the coops.

Congrats on a successful return from vacation!

I hope it works out for you so that you can get a vacation too!!

 

[ihatedarkroast]

Welp, the son let the dog out while the chickens were free ranging and he got a hold of another chick. This one is still alive, but it may not last the night. I brought her inside in a cardboard box and towel, setting up a mini brooder in the bathroom to see if she makes it.

 

[Callender Girl]

Hope she pulls through!

 

[ihatedarkroast]

She did not pull through.

But now, Fort Cluck is up! We moved the chickens in to their new digs tonight. They are settled on the roost bars happily. The mama broody and 5 chicks are in one of the nesting boxes. I thought the move would be more exciting, but everyone was so well behaved. Not one chicken pecked or pooped in protest! They were very calm and accepting of the change.

I should post some pics in a day or two. We are going to tear down their old coop completely. It's an ugly eyesore, and we can't wait for it to be gone!

No more back aches from stooping under too low a ceiling! No more rickety fence full of holes I had to constantly plug. No more ugly tarps to fiddle with in bad weather! No more scraping guano off the henhouse roof because the chickens refused to sleep on the tiny roosting bars! Plus, they have shade under the trees. I feel better about them being out in this hot weather.

And no more worrying about the dog, Baxter, stealing birds out to turn into his chew toys. Fort Cluck ten times more sturdy, built with solid lumber instead of flimsy fir wood, and livestock fencing with additional netting, chicken wire, and hardware cloth to keep out the hawks and rodents. It should last a while. I'm sure snakes and a bear could get in (possibly rats too), but not the dog. Also, the latches on the doors are too high for my 3 yr old to reach. So he can't wander in and leave the door open any more. He will need an adult's help to get in to the coop.

It's also further from the house, so I can't watch the chickens from the kitchen window any more while washing dishes. That's a little sad. But on the other hand, I don't have to smell them while floating in the pool either. The old coop site we are going to cover in cardboard and straw for next year's vegetable garden. I want a garden twice as big as this years. Hooray!

 

[Callender Girl]

With the exception of the loss of your chick -- so sorry -- it sounds like things are really going well.

Congrats on Fort Cluck; it sounds great! And, best wishes on that bigger garden next year!

 

[ihatedarkroast]

Hi! I wanted to give an update for the fall. The flock is doing quite well. Egg laying has slowed down quite a bit though. One of the new pullets my broody raised last year has started to lay. I believe. But it's hard to tell.

We did eat the largest cockerel as he was mating the hens and fighting his bro. He was still very tiny. He was 4.5 lbs live around slaughter. And he became curry. I think he was half Delaware.

His brother seems half Americana and is very timid and shy, much smaller. Not sure if he will ever fill out but as he is behaving himself, I'm in no hurry to cull.

His boss Jean-luc has gotten wide and tanky. He is a fabulous rooster! I love him! The only issue is that he was bullying the new chicks.

I got 6 cornish cross meaties. 1 died early on and got replaced by I think a production red. They lived in the bathroom shower in a dog kennel for 3 weeks with occasional outings. Yesterday, I partitioned a corner of the run and henhouse for them. The stench of thier guano was unbearable indoors even though I cleaned and changed the newspaper in their cage daily!

Last night was their first night in their new cozy home. They have grown tremendously in 3 weeks, and needed the extra room. If I ever do this again, I might start them this way and skip the indoor part.

They are too slow and lazy and stupid to give too much space to though. They plop down on their bellies wherever they are and can't be bothered to get up and investigate their surroundings. If they do, they get 'lost' 2 feet from the others and become pitiful for no reason. I've never seen such a thing!

Of course the exception was when they squeezed through a crack in the coop door and explored the new woodshed. THEN when I tried to catch them, they were suddenly quite lively and unwilling to be still. Good thing for them the dog was elsewhere when that happened. He has taken to jealously guarding the chicks but his intentions are not good. XD

 

[ihatedarkroast]

We have a visitor to the chicken coop! I think the mother is a feral cat I spotted a few times in our yard a few weeks ago. The chickens were sounding the alarm and circling the invader. Kitten was terrified of them. LOL. I'm afraid mama may be dead. I recently put rat poison out in the shed because the rats were so horrible and bold. One ran over my foot when I opened the coop door earlier this week! The cat was after the rats last week.

Anyway, the kids want to keep the kitten but I'm afraid the dog will do it in. So it's gotta go.

In other news, we processed the last cockerel from Beethoven's line. He was a total pill and bit me, chased the hens ruthlessly, attacked the head rooster, and bullied the chicks. Good riddance! He was 5 lbs live at processing time. We processed one of the CC meaties that developed a bum leg. It was 7 lbs live at processing.

 

[ihatedarkroast]

Hello. Just wanted to report the birth of one chick. (Likely roo). All the others perished unhatched after mama hen abandoned the nest. This little guy is doing great though. Keeping him on my porch until he is a bit bigger.

In the main hen house we had a blacksnake steal an egg. I hit it with a cultivator but it got away.

Treated Minette for a bad case of bumble foot. Yuck.

And I'M mad because the chickens keep pecking holes in the tomatoes before i pick them. Grr!

Oh yeah. Forgot to report that all meaties are long gone. I want some more. Biggest two were 10+lbs by the time we ate them. Not tough at all either. Good flavor. But i'm worried about this snake. Until we kill it im afraid to bring more chicks home.