~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[sutillman]

THREE silkies now!

I've moved them to their own little nursery (the white cage) with an EcoGlow20. The eggs from which they hatched are marked: W, Buff, and Bla(something) Sp. That's either Blue or Black splash, I guess.

In the large Rubbermaid brooder, the older chicks are getting more and more feisty. As I am really good at hatching roosters, I suspect my "luck" is holding with these babies too. I am NOT good at sexing chicks by sight, not at all. I'm one of those folks who simply wait for eggs or crowing. Unless it's obvious before then.

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The flock has been in heaven today, with all the rain bringing up worms and bugs. A little bit earlier, almost all of the flock - including Kate and Angus - were in the meadow, happily foraging. The rain has filled the kiddie pools, stock tank and all the bird baths brought up from the rental property. Kate just wandered past the guest room French door. That door has added so much to this room! Smudge likes to sit in front of it and look out into the side yard. When Kate passed, Smudge's ears got a little flat but he didn't move from his observation point. Those two geese have "chased" Smudge into the house more than once. No real chasing involved, just a tug at his fur and then a casual waddle after him as he gets out of their way. Smudge always seeks refuge inside the house.

John has told me he's seen more than one chicken walk up the ramp to the pet door and attempt to gain entrance.

Gotta go to Placerville and order that heater today.

Hey gryeyes, I do believe that's a JG you have there! How many hatched?

 

[gryeyes]

Hey gryeyes, I do believe that's a JG you have there! How many hatched?

Well, of 70 eggs going into lockdown (not necessarily all good eggs, I only removed the obvious 7 clears from the original 77) I had 34 hatch, one of which died after hatching.... And then I lost 10 chicks when the coop water pipes froze and exploded, flooding the coop... So I have 23 chicks left from the NYD Hatch. those 23 chicks use an EcoGlow50 and are under it at night. Which is when i am home during the week. A lot of them stay under it and just dash around during the daylight... I've not seen ALL of them out at once, yet, but they're going back out to the Chicken Kindergarten pen in the coop this weekend. With that said, I have only seen ONE chick with that feather coloration. And I bet it's a roo. The 3 silkie chicks are in another brooder...

 

[HHandbasket]

I think all but about 5 of your chicks are cockerels, unfortunately.

If they're not, they sure did have early comb development and THICK legs for girls!

ETA: By the way, do you have an install date yet for the heater??? It's going to look SO gorgeous on that wall.

 

[gryeyes]

I think all but about 5 of your chicks are cockerels, unfortunately.

If they're not, they sure did have early comb development and THICK legs for girls!

ETA: By the way, do you have an install date yet for the heater??? It's going to look SO gorgeous on that wall.

No surprise on the cockerels, as I am renowned for hatching them. But at least we now have a plan for that...... as long as I don't get too attached to the little goobers.

Bad news on the heater: the factory is out of that color. The company is looking for any dealer which may have one in stock. If not, I'll have to select another color. Which would be mahogany. Therefore, there is no install date scheduled yet.

Lessee, I came home with more bunnies than I expected to get.... I was given the ENTIRE family, Simba's partner, the doe and all five of their kits. One of them may go back to the young boy in the family who REALLY didn't want to give them all up. (His parents got annoyed with his delay at arranging for them to go..... so he lost them all.) Pardeep and his little brother are going to come visit me this weekend to see them, and may take the favorite back home.

John called and I updated him on the second skirmish in The Great Chicken War. We had quite a discussion about the latest issue. As a side note, he reiterated his hope that I would be keeping Carl - AND George. He LIKES George, the noisy little Silver Sebright rooster, who shows no fear and challenges his boots. "You ain't so tough, you big Marine! I'll take you on!"

 

[Buugette]

"You ain't so tough, you big Marine! I'll take you on!"

 

[gryeyes]

Last night, HHandbasket and Farmer Lew came over and we packaged up five of my roos to go away: Riley, Not Riley (both RIRs), Patrick and Michael (ummmm... big ol' mixes), and Albert, a Mille Fleur D'uccle. Albert has a wife awaiting him at their house, a Porcelain D'uccle named Portia. Both his and her former partners died a few months ago, so the widow and widower are perfect for each other. The other four roos are in Freezer Camp until they are ready to provide us home-raised, home processed, home cooked meals. Riley and Not Riley were originally part of Kate's group of minions, the "packing peanuts" shipped with her from Ideal Poultry. Their brother minions were very tasty.

Patrick was a rapist and chased pullets into corners, never taking "no" for an answer. Michael was just unlucky, having been hatched a roo. I have had to reduce the number of crowing roosters in my flock. Including Michael in that group was painful for me. I loved on him some before we boxed him up for his trip to live with a bunch of bachelors and eat some really good food for a while. He likes having his comb and wattles massaged. Farmer Lew will sing each of them a Native American Traveling Song before they leave their bodies to forage in the Sunny Meadow. Their bodies will nourish us.

Roosters which will always have a home with me are Carl, Charlie, Nugget, Frick, Wilbur and Hitchcock. Probably Bernard, too. He is a large buff Brahma and hasn't crowed yet. I would like to re-home Cardigan, Joey and Ross (all brothers, from eggs laid and hatched by my bantam dark Brahma Little Bit) if at all possible. They're larger than their mother and Nugget, Frick (both bantam Cochins) or Charlie, a bantam buff Brahma, could be their daddy. George and Alex, Silver Sebrights, NEED to be re-homed, despite my affection for 'em. They're LOUD crowers. <*sigh*>

John's going to measure for the deck tomorrow and go shopping for lumber and other supplies to build the deck off the side of the house where the new French door opens. After the deck is completed, he'll enclose my front porch with mosquito screen and install a screen door at each end. (My flock will be allowed access on the new deck, instead, as it will be easier to clean.) In our telephone discussion this evening, he said "You know we're going to win every single battle in The Great Chicken War." When I mentioned he might be missing his nail gun some day, he sounded confused. That's because HE knew I would need the air hose from the compressor and I forgot that fact. It would be pretty lame of me to threaten somebody with a hunk of metal that wouldn't do anybody any harm unless I threw it at 'em.

We discovered we both thought Rocky & Bullwinkle were the best cartoons ever created; we each have copies of some of them in our video collections. Reminiscing about Frostbite Falls, Boris and Natasha Badinov, Bullwinkles university: "WhatsaMatterU, and various other details about the series made us both laugh with each new "Yeah! I remember that!" Hysterically funny adult humor. We both recall, as kids, missing much of the humor until we saw the episodes again, later in our lives.
Our favorite commercial from the past is the one where the two squirrels high-five each other after causing auto accidents. He said he's SEEN squirrels on the side of the road planning those maneuvers.

I believe him. <*snicker*>

The 23 chicks are going back out to the Chicken Kindergarten this weekend. They're currently free ranging in my guest room. Four of the BO chicks apparently forgot how to get back into the brooder during the day; when I opened the door to the room, those four came out from under the daybed where they'd been sleeping under a flap of the bedspread the dogs had previously dragged partially off the bed. They were in a cozy little cave under it and emerged, stretching. REALLY cute. Zorro has been chastised for lunging at any chick on the floor and is now ignoring them. Mostly. He gets a wistful look on his face and then gets on the daybed and goes to sleep. Dooley simply avoids the guest room and burrows into blankets on the sofa in the living room until I emerge from the Den of Chicks.

Right now, because the light is on and they're active, the JG chick is scratching on a paper bag on the floor. It's a little Chicken Dance. A BR chick is standing on the warm adapter for the EcoGlow. A BO and a Delaware chick just faced off in a mini-battle before they went scampering off around the brooder bin. I pick them up and put them back inside it, they jump to the edge and balance before hopping out again. I put them back. They jump out. It's great fun. I keep a roll of paper towels handy.

It's time for me to gather errant chicks and put them back into the brooder one last time. I'll turn the light off and close the guest room door immediately afterward.

 

[hemet dennis]

Ask John if he has a cordless airgun (they make them now).
And maybe you can get John to take some chickens home for a couple days for your "inspection".

 

[Buugette]

John sounds like a very sweet, strong, smart man. Not too many of those around.

I love reading this thread.... Linda, you could write a book.

 

[Casey3043]

She already HAS written a book! If all these posts were bound up together and published, they would be the perfect How-To manual for anyone looking to find their own little fixer-upper in the country where they could settle in, raise a few ducks, geese and chickens (well, maybe more than a few) and deal with neighbors, both friendly and not. They'd need a good handyman and helpful friends. Every time Linda prevails against the powers that be, I holler, "You go, girl!"

I've enjoyed reading this whole thing, and look forward every day to what's new on the mountain, er foothill.

 

[EweSheep]

That neighbor has nothing better to do!

Yes if you can, enclosed that porch so they don't get to perch into the living quarters. Maybe make a hitching posts out for them, all lining up on the front porch area but not so close. Maybe one day, you will get a rider and horse and the hitching post would be ideal for any horse to be tied up! With all those chickens lining up on the post, you can be sure they are watch dogs!