South Carolina

[huckleberryfarm]

Yes, it's cold! BRRRRR! I took 13 Oliver Egger chicks and 6 silkies out to the farm yesterday. They were starting to fly out of their boxes and had to go! I checked on them this morning and they were all huddled up under the heat lamp. I closed all the windows in the coop. My other chickens were out and about. I don't know how! It's so cold. Dang.

Yesterday, my three dogs somehow managed to crawl under the fence and through the barbed wire to get into the pasture with the goats and sheep. We were only gone for an hour. They killed my 5 favorite goats, including one that was due with twins any day. They ripped her babies out and were eating them. It was horrible. My kids cried and cried. That's not the first time those dogs had tried to get into the pasture. We thought it was secure since we had run barbed wire at the bottom. The dogs were cut from the wire but it didn't stop them. The dogs are no longer with us (hard decision but we can't have predators of our own on the farm!). So the kids cried more.

Rotten day all around. But we did get a new kitten so she was a bit of a bright spot on an otherwise disgusting day.

I have 8 lav silkie eggs in the bator. I have 2 RCom King Suro 20 incubators. Not cheap but foolproof! I love them. I still have 13 week-old silkies in the dining room. They are too small to move to the farm. Especially in this cold.

Have a great day, everyone! I need to go water the chickens but I"m hoping it will get above freezing soon, so I'm waiting!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Ewww! I hate to hear about your goats but totally understand your decision. I did not get another Doberman after my last one because I know they may not get along with the chickens. My DH loves Boston Terriers but we didn't get one of those either because of the chickens. We have a Great Pyrenees now and she is wonderful! I can stay out later at night doing errands and not worry about predators and hawks are chased if they even look at our property. I highly recommend a LGD for a farm. But I didn't get a puppy either so my experiences may be different.

Too blasted cold for me but my "kids" beg to go out every day so I put my Silkie hen with her 3 babies out in a pen with a dog crate if they want to get inside it. All my bantam Cochins expect to go out so I put them all out in their pens and I have chicks that are 6-8 weeks old going out when they want to but their coop in the shed has a heat lamp so they can stay under it if they want to. most of the Silkie babies stay in there but my Mille Fleur Cochin kids just go out and stay in the sun all day. I so worry over them!

Everyone try to stay warm. It is supposed to warm up into the 50's this weekend and rain but you know how that can go!

 

[huckleberryfarm]

My coops are always open to the run. I checked last night and a whole bunch of my chickens were sleeping outside! Fools! I have a heat lamp in the middle coop because I have 4 and 5-week old chicks. They weren't even in there. Half of my chickens go in a coop and the rest don't. I don't understand it but I assume if they're cold, they'll go in!

Have you seen next week? Nights around 10 degrees! ARGH!

 

[juliette2009]

Quote:
OMG Susanne, what a horrible experience for the entire family! I'm soooo sorry to hear this! My dobe is just fine with my chickens, walks with them and doesn't bother them a bit. I have a new German Shepherd puppy, and I'm trying to get him used to the chickens as MINE, not his, so we'll see how that goes...

How nice the kids have a new kitty, they're always a breath of fresh air...I guess the timing was good, too...

Juliette

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have to close all my guys up at night if they are not in a secure tractor. I still fear any predators and don't know why. But most of mine are not open to a run, only 4. I do have about 15 tractors, probably more (I suppose I should count them!)
I won't leave the pop doors open for my chicks at night because I try to keep the warm inside. The walls are insulated but I only have the one heat lamp going in that shed.
Most all my chickens and ducks have been going to bed early since it got cold. Let it be a bit warm and they want to sit outside well after dark, drinking Co cola and offering advice to one another. I am glad they go up early since I can often close a few up before I run out Christmas shopping. I always put the penned birds up since they are used to sleeping inside the shed and I don't want them to get upset when they can't get in. All I really do is open the door or top to their pen and they go up by themselves anyhow. I love my smart kids!

 

[thewilson6]

Oh Susanne! That is horrible. I love your blog and was looking forward to seeing the baby goats. That is just so sad. I'm so sorry.

I don't know how the poor chickens are surviving this weather- it is nuts. I have been having to go out and give them fresh water several times a day bc it keeps freezing. I am thinking of getting one of those heated dog bowls for them but really, I don't mind going out there to do it so we'll see. My Buff Orpington is still broody- I got the 2 eggs that she had under her away from her but nothing since then. So, she'll still stay on her nest even without eggs on it? I don't know what to do about her. I hate to make her stop. And one of my EEs laid a green egg this weekend! I was so excited when I opened the door to the coop on Saturday and there was a green egg! But nothing else since then so we'll see.

 

[snick]

Oh I am so sorry about your goats....I have a guard llama who patrols the pasture....they tend to think of the herd as their responsibility and protect them at all costs...surprising what a llama can do to a dog attacking "his" herd. My chicks are in and out of the coop but as it gets dark I usually find them reposed in the coop on the rest or snuggled down in the hay. I have 3 frizzle young uns in the laundry room having a slumber party...I can't bear to think about putting them out in this cold weather. What I can't figure out is why my laying hens (have 8) are producing 6-7 eggs a day in this weather...DON'T THEY KNOW IT'S COLD?????

BTW this is the first time I will be hatching out in an incubator...and I may get a bit highstrung...LOL feel free to tell me to settle down!

 

[snick]

Don't know where to put these so I figured I would post them here...these are my babies in the laundry room....

 

[huckleberryfarm]

So cute! I love a good Frizzle! My main guy is a big ole Frizzled Cochin. Such a sweetie! Everyone who sees him is fascinated!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

So cute!
I love the Frizzles and Sizzles. Mine would love to be in my mud room right now but with 30 +/- chicks I don't think they will fit well.
You are so lucky that you get to snuggle yours often! I was down in the brooder room until 8:30 last night playing with some of my babies. I can't keep my hands off the sweeties!