my very own micro farm

[darina]

I love it!!! I have only bought already hatched chicks. I would love to observe a mother hen with her chick! Chicken behavior is so interesting. I have Easter Eggers and every once in a while I will spot one chicken pulling bits of debris out of another one's beard. The one on the receiving end holds very still and tilts her beak chin up slightly to aid in the beard grooming...

 

[birdman55]

way to go on the progress...so dissapointed i cannot be there....bummer....great job so far...hopefully this time goes faster...

 

[attimus]

I love it!!! I have only bought already hatched chicks. I would love to observe a mother hen with her chick! Chicken behavior is so interesting. I have Easter Eggers and every once in a while I will spot one chicken pulling bits of debris out of another one's beard. The one on the receiving end holds very still and tilts her beak chin up slightly to aid in the beard grooming...

That sounds pretty adorable. Its been a lot of fun watching moms raise their chicks, and still another hatch on the way. The ducklings have been a blast too getting so big. The moms can be protective gotten nipped on the hand a few times and the mom to be kelso got my forehead pretty good the other day. Got me while I was adding her eggs, low door caused me to kneel and she didn't like seeing me with her eggs. I've been joking around about safety glasses at work but I think I might just pick up a pair for all the time.

way to go on the progress...so dissapointed i cannot be there....bummer....great job so far...hopefully this time goes faster...

The momentum comes and goes. Summer gets really busy at work too so dividing my time can be tricky. Happy I have most of what I need now. Still trying to get ahold of my neighbor for sand. And Time will pass, it always does. lol. Won't be to long before you end up with a good California sun burn.

Here's the mixer. Aptly named big red.

Darina mentioned ee chicks, just found leg feathering on two of mine, single leg only tho

Its the second hatch and not sure what to think of it.
Spent a good part of yesterday here

And now today it looks like it might rain.
Had to laugh at these two yesterday too. Whatever worry I had of them getting along is long gone.

Also found this really small duck egg, regular chicken egg on the left

And got my seeds sorted out a little better this morning, all still fits in s shoebox tho.

More to the day and more to do.
Onward and upward
Attimus

 

[attimus]

I believe I have what is referred to as a duck in an eclipse molt. I'll have to get a good pick of him when I can. Have sand lined up to pick up tomorrow morning and its just down the road. Really just getting the bottom done is going to go a whole wroays with moving forward quickly with the rest of the pond. One more piece to cut and glue and drainpipe will be complete. I need to stay on top of myself to get this thing done asap.

Here's the whole family. You can kinda see the one male with dark spots coming in on the grey.

And here's the two new breeding pairs getting big and color filling out on the wh.

 

[attimus]

Newest addition to the flock. Little baby wood duck.

I can't get enough of him. Lol. Hope its a him anyways, will make for a better dynamic.

Just been trying to beat the heat here. Supposed to be over 100° this whole coming week. Plenty of shaders and cold fresh water for all the kiddies.
I'll soak a couple extra places in their garden run too for some nice moist dirtbathes in the afternoons.
Anyways To late for me goddnight byc.
Attimus

 

[darina]

I have been spraying the run on hot days too. They really seem to appreciate it! And you hit a new baby, YAY!

 

[attimus]

Update on the wood duck. Still happy and healthy, eating and drinking. Spending the morning on my shoulder .

He likes to whistle back and forth with me and I can'tsay that its nnot enjoyable either. This thing is so freaking cute. If he's a boy we are calling him qbert. I'm sure some get the reference but for those that might be to young its a character from a pretty simple video game from back in the day.

Here's my newest wind egg

Interesting spots, I'm hoping its one of the lorps, I know they are getting close to laying. That'll be nice adding 3 more eggs to the pile a day.
Speaking of lorps, at least one of the roos is gonna get the axe soon, he's been fairly aggressive with the mixed flock and some of the younger pullets. The timing works, my birthday is next month and I hate keeping meat in the freezer to long. Smells like BBQ .I should just tell everyone to get me birds. Lol. I'm sure that would go well.

Here's the silver dottes feathering coming in. Can't wait til they are full grown.

Also managed to band the adult mallards yesterday. The babies aren't so much babies any more and I would be afraid to mix them up for sale or culling. Hard enough to tell the difference between just the two boys and girls as it is.

Also picked up 6 buckets of sand last night for the pond. My plan today is to do some more work there and get some weed eating done. With as hot as it is I think the river might have to get thrown in there somewhere too.

Just like hanz and franz
We are going to...

PUMP...

You up!
Onward and upward
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Happy wife is a happy life. Been super busy with work and clearing the property for fire season. Had 4/5 of my kelso hatch yesterday. Putting together a third 5 gall waterer and getting ready to move everyone around. Spreading sand and rebar to be placed soon for the pond
Be fire safe
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Crazy how life can catch up with you sometimes...
Sometimes it can be a good thing and sometimes bad, for now I would say things are good.
My little girl is about to be a year old and I'm still trying to figure out where its all gone. Luckily there's enough hurriedly jotted down here over the course of the last 6 months for reference.
I did state that when summer came I would be busy but oh man what an understatement. Work has been insane; top rated on trip advisor and yelp, multiple functions a week. Essentially a promotion and a shift to manage of my own( been running some killer brunch specials).
We've also had several hatches happen in a very short period of time along with some purchased birds and a sweet rescue to bolster the volume our flock. This has all been a terrific learning experience thus far and am looking forward to sharing it with my girl as she grows.
Just two days ago I processed the two autrolorp roos, one I cooked that night the other is waiting for my grill in a few days. My wife and child were there to witness the first of what will become norm here. I already see two EE that look like possible cockerels and that's just the first hatch. Another dozen to sort through after that.
I feel good about how it went down all around. Had a station set up along the fence line away from the birds. Picked up a nice Coleman for the hot water and the Gerber machete I got for my birthday worked wonderfully to dispatch them both. The lady volunteered to watch so there was no pulling her arm and it was all over pretty quick. There's always room for improvement so the next time should see less kinks.
I've also been dealing with some feather picking issues and I see where it might have started and one is seperated but am still Leary as far as bad habits rubbing off from one hen to the next. Short of putting a camera in there at roost time its really hard to determine specifics I don't see much aggression during the day, and I'll tell ya after those lorp boys were gone the whole mood changed in my main pen. Heres to hopeful thinking.
Moving along with things, I'm still working on the pond, I think one of my biggest hangups has been trying to determine how much concrete I will need exactly to finish up the project without having to much or to little to do it all in one pour. I think I am ready tho with everything but one piece of piping in order. 2 pallets of quikcrete should do it and not to soon I might add. We just purchased a third kiddie pool to give them even more space until its all finished. Even tho the Cayuga and wh are now bigger then the mallard hatch that's a weekish older they are still bullied and are definitely at the bottom of the pecking order. Not to say that the mallard hatch doesn't get handed there P's and Q's as well. One drake imparticular has taken a disdain to all of them and I'm certain dislocated one of the younger drakes wings when it was just a wee lad, now growing out it seems more obvious. I would be a bit more concerned if busted wings name wasn't Christmas dinner lol. Wood duck qbert is doing great getting so big and keeps his perch on my shoulder. Haha. Really digging this boy. And looking forward to building a treehouse for a duck should be fun.
A lot of musical chairs with the chickens and a few smaller pens for the kelso when they get a little bigger.
One step at a time as always. Still more to weed eat and more to water. Speaking of water as I'm typing this there's been an insane lightning storm far enough off that I just barely hear the thunder, hope some water is coming with it.
Sorry to leave you all in the weeds for the last two weeks. Gotta keep pushing one post or day at a time.
Onward and upward
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Looks like the lorps are starting to lay. I'm pretty good at distinguishing my chickens egss and these are new. Athena has also started laying again too. Time to move her. I also sold my first 2 dozen duck eggs. Hope that keeps rolling and should with all the soon to be laying hens around.
Still in a constant effort to keep things wet its been so dry and hot out here. Still I need to endure.
Onward and upward
Attimus