~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[Kansaseq]

So sad to hear about your little blue pullet.

 

[Buugette]

So sorry...

 

[N&MSchroeder]

So sorry Linda!

Hawks!

 

[kathyinmo]

Awwww, dang it! Sorry for your loss, Linda.

 

[gryeyes]

I knew there would be losses, because I do let the flock range freely. It happens, sadly. The little pullet was out of the yard, onto the property behind me, so I'm sure there was no way for her to be alerted to the hawk's presence by any of the roosters or geese. I've since closed off the gap under the old fence where the "kids" would sneak out. The fence I had installed only goes two-thirds of the way around the property; there is an existing fence not all that secure around the remainder. Chicks and "tweensters" can squeeze through the 4 inch openings in the wire, and in some places, under the bottom where it skirts above the ground. Most of that old fence has vinca ground cover growing through it...

But is it fair to get a third dog, when Zorro and Dooley are my little buddies?

Since that incident - because I was home all weekend - I've noticed the flock finding good cover whenever a rooster or one of the geese sound an alert. And the geese are very vigilant, as is Carl, the dominant rooster. Of course, that's within my yard, not outside of it out of sight.

The other unpleasant incident was heartbreaking. I was given an adorably handsome bantam Cochin rooster in his adolescent phase. Horny as heck. Also very aggressive towards my other roosters, which was funny.... Until he attacked Charlie, my second in command rooster, who is a bantam buff Brahma. This was a few days ago, maybe a week. He chased Charlie down into a corner, Charlie submitted, but Roy tore into him and I had to pull him off and fling him away. The geese began to break up any tussles Roy started. Other roosters kicked Roy's butt. Then Roy targeted a young rooster, Wilbur, and did the same to him. Over and over again. It didn't look good for Roy, but after a while, the other roosters and geese continued to kick his butt.

But he was rough on the hens and pullets. I found a very young pullet dead in the coop, with her neck broken, and suspected it had been Roy's fault. Another pullet started to act "off" and when I was telling HH and Farmer Lew about her, Roy jumped her. And broke her neck. Farmer Lew culled Roy for me.

We buried Gwen, who had died mysteriously in the house before going outside to the coop, the little pullet I'd found dead in the coop, and Morticia, in a very nice grave with full honor and respect for their having given me so much pleasure while they were with me, and to smooth their travels to the Sunny Meadow, where they will always have bugs to eat and the best places to dust bathe.

Roy's carcass went into an empty feed bag and out with the garbage this morning. Dang, he was a pretty little guy, but there's no need to keep a mean rooster.

On the plus side of the weekend, Little Bit brought her four chicks out of the coop for the first time. At the old house, she'd been leading them around for some time but when we got her up here, she stayed in the coop with them for over a week. I only feed in the coop, for one thing, so she didn't have to forage for her family from coop to coop or feeder to feeder I have been filling every day on my lunch break.

The flock has been very happy at our new home. The tension Roy caused now and then is gone, so it's all good.

 

[HHandbasket]

I do not think having a yard dog to bark and scare off hawks would take anything away from your companion pooches, Dooley and Zorro, but only you know for sure whether or not you're ready to take on another dog. Dooley and Zorro sure are sweeties, and you are right, I could see them feeling awfully put-out by another canine at the house.

I am so sorry about Roy, but he was a meanie. He killed 3 chickens at our house, 2 or 3 at your house, and he just was too rough on the hens/pullets and would attack the roos he saw as competition. If he hadn't been a bantam, he'd have been soup. I just don't think it would have been worth the effort to pluck him and clean him, he was so small. He only weighed about a pound and a half anyway.

 

[gryeyes]

I so wish I'd had my phone in hand when one of Kate's minions picked a fight with my Travelocity gnome, so I could have gotten a picture of the event! He rushed the gnome, raised his hackles, danced right up to it and pecked it. Nothing happened. So he chest-bumped it. Nothing happened. So he kicked at it. The gnome did not back down, so the little RIR cockerel gave up.

I laughed so hard tears rolled down my cheeks.

Later in the day, Albert, my Mille Fleur D'Uccle rooster decided to challenge a metal rooster figurine I keep on one end of the veranda railing. I did have my iPhone handy that time. He didn't flare any neck feathers, just stood up tall to look directly into its face.

That metal rooster didn't react, so Albert decided to just perch there for for a while.

This past week I put together a coop kit for an infirmary coop, or a "time out" jail, or even for a brooder, or for whatever I may need to use it. Red electrical tape completed the construction. (There is a ramp for the kit, but I won't be using it for a grow-out coop, so that ramp is not attached.)

 

[gryeyes]

<*sigh*>
I have voluntary overtime to work this Saturday, just four hours, but that will give me six more hours of "time" on the books to use as leave credits. Time is precious. However, it's warehouse work (which I do every Wednesday until it gets too hot in there) and we have to start at 7 AM. My regular work hours are 7:30 - 5:30 during the week; I have to get up at five to make it to work by then. Getting to the warehouse by seven in the morning would be rough... And I bet I'd be awake all night worrying about oversleeping, if I went home to Somerset after work tonight.

So, I'm staying at the rental house tonight. It will give me packing time this evening AND tomorrow afternoon and evening... Because I'm gonna try to snatch up the last eleven chickens and the six ducks 'round about dusk for their trip to our new home. These are nearly feral chickens right now, even Emma, a bantam EE of laying age. The rest are youngsters. Except for Louie, my widower Cayuga drake. He still comes to me for a bit of a skritch and snuggle.

I have Monday off as my every-two-weeks third day off, and I am taking Tuesday off as a personal holiday. Wednesday afternoon (after warehouse duty) I am meeting with the moving company boss for the walk-through estimate and planning session. I hope to have my house furniture moved as close to Labor Day as possible. My landlady has said I can take care of the coops removal and back yard pond-stripping projects as I can get to them, but she would like the house empty in mid-September so the carpet can be removed and other flooring installed. I've promised to pay for that, by the way.

She's giving me an upright freezer and a rocking chair (if I want one) and I'm leaving the refrigerator I moved into the place four years ago. Plus the TV entertainment cabinet and a computer desk, both of which are made of real wood, not that particle board stuff. Heavy, large pieces of furniture which will not fit in my little house up in the foothills.

Apparently folks who live some distance from grocery stores routinely stock up on meat, vegetables, and breads so they don't have to make as many trips to get food to feed themselves.... This will be new for me. I usually stock up on.... Well, never mind, I'm learning how to live in the mountains.

I did remember to turn on the rental house A/C when I fed and watered the chickens and ducks during my lunch break. 97 degrees today down here in the valley.

 

[debilorrah]

Linda I have my guard dogs outside and my little Micro dog inside. I let him out to play with them and when I let him in, they are there, but they never even try to come in. They know their place and their job.

 

[gryeyes]

Happy birthday to me! My six female Cayuga ducklings arrived this morning and they are peeping away in their big Rubbermaid bin in the utility room. Hatched yesterday, arrived today. All six alive and well. Right now they're resting under the EcoGlow brooder, or I would have photos of them, but don't worry, I'll have some before too long.

The Wild Blue Internet installer(s) did not arrive, nor call, yesterday as scheduled. Customer Care is reducing my first bill by twenty-five bucks for my inconvenience. Next scheduled date is Tuesday, Sept. 6th. Not sure how I'll swing the time off....

So, I'm still on my iPad.