The Old Folks Home

[7 Biddies]

It was almost 'spring like' here. Not warm enough for the bees to be active, but warm enough that my dogs got panting after relatively short runs. I have 15 or so bird houses set up down at the beagle club, and today the first tree swallow arrived 'home'. He was circling HIS box and dived me as I walked by. By his apparent possessiveness, I am guessing that he is the resident from last year. Hope there's enough flying insects for him to feed on or that it warms up quickly so that they become active.

It's been absolutely GLORIOUS here in the N. GA Blue Ridge Mountains! Spring has finally arrived and just in time for Spring Break. So, I'm having a great week off from school. I've got the chickens tilling the garden and I'm trying to catch up on some yard work and getting some early veggies planted. The housework will wait for rainy days.

 

[ronott1]

It was almost 'spring like' here. Not warm enough for the bees to be active, but warm enough that my dogs got panting after relatively short runs. I have 15 or so bird houses set up down at the beagle club, and today the first tree swallow arrived 'home'. He was circling HIS box and dived me as I walked by. By his apparent possessiveness, I am guessing that he is the resident from last year. Hope there's enough flying insects for him to feed on or that it warms up quickly so that they become active.

It was plain hot here yesterday I do believe we completely skipped spring and have gone straight to summer.

It's snowing here,they say we could get 6 inches. It should blow over and be gone in a day or two.

Quote: It is 53 degrees here at 9:19AM. The wind is gusting up to 50 miles per hour. Oddly, there was snow last night at 4500 feet......Gotta love Northern California in April and May.....We are going to have temps in the 80s by Wednesday.

 

[ducklucky]

Haven't been on in a long, long time, but always read. You guys are all too funny, and bring a smile to my face with your stories. Things have been crazy around this homestead, thank goodness winter is slowly departing. Wasn't that bad really, right fellow Mainers? Just makes us all, north, south, east and west, appreciate spring all the more. Hub was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and he cannot tolerate the oral medication, so super diet revisions. We are trying the Paleo diet with changes to meet his other dietary restrictions. What a job it is to start a new way to eat, but it will be healthy for us both. No grains, no gluten, no sugar, no bad carbs,no chocolate, no caffeine, etc.,etc. Will say, he has lost 30 pounds over the past 6 weeks, and he needed to. More to go, but he is behaving and not cheating. Can't really, there's no bad stuff in the house. Just have to smell his breath when he comes back from the general, make sure there's no cookie odor LOL!

Anyway, I have a story to share with you all, especially the duck lovers out there. We have 5 Pekin ducks and a drake, and they live for now on the screened porch off our living room that has been wrapped in plastic for the winter. Very content there and we can watch them out our window. Have one that jumps up on a crate and pecks at the window when they want something, she will sometimes sit up there and watch TV. So one of my girls decided to go broody, and we all know Pekins are not good brooders. She had 15 eggs, all fertile, and knitted herself a beautiful nest in her box and tended to her eggs like a good broody chicken would, constantly tending to them. The others left her and her clutch alone, and were somewhat protective of her. If I went anywhere near her nest she would come flying out of there sprouting horns and spitting fire. Pretty much left her alone, and didn't even candle until after the second week. All were viable. I was so excited, and hoped nature would do a freak thing and make her take things to the hatch.

Yesterday, she was in there all morning, knitting away, tending to things. In the afternoon, she went out to the other end of the porch to have some social time with the others. It was pretty chilly yesterday. She spent all afternoon out there, they were all gathered together, talking amongst themselves. I was concerned she was away for so long, she never does that. At the end of the day, heard some commotion and watched out the window a few feet away as they all came marching in to their nesting area, she was in the lead. She plopped herself down in front of her nest and the others gathered around her. Suddenly she stood up and started rolling eggs out of the nest, and the others attacked them, carrying them off and eating them within seconds. I was so shocked and disgusted, went right out and shooed them away. Gathered up the surviving eggs and brought them in and candled them. Six were viable, but very, very cold. Put them in my sweatshirt pouch and wrapped a heating pad around. Took a good half hour to warm them up, they were that cold. Candled them again, and they were doing cartwheels in their shells. Probably close to 20 days, and appear to be very healthy. They are in a box with a heating pad under and wrapped in a warm fuzzy old blanket, and they all survived the night. Sprayed them with warm water this AM and turned them, but think they are pretty close to making their entrance, so will just handle them very sparingly and hope for the best.

So now have to get an incubator as I never want to see that mass murder ever again. Isn't it very bizarre tho, it's almost like they sat around all afternoon planning the whole thing, and it was perfectly executed. I was so angry with them they did not get their peas last night. Bad ducks, bad dogs, why can't we all just get along LOL!!!

Just wanted to share that with you and wonder if anyone has ever seen anything like this. I've let chickens hatch perfectly, but most hens are very good mothers. Poor pekins just have had it all bred out of them, what a shame. Have a good week everyone, and hope you can smell spring wherever you are!

 

[sourland]

ducklucky, be very, very careful if you notice them 'eyeing you up.' "Just sayin'."

 

[dsqard]

duckylucky do you have a broody hen right now that can finish up the incubation for you?

 

[Cynthia12]

With all the AF brats on here, anyone live in Orlando (Pinecastle AFB) in the early 1950's; 1954-1955? How about Homestead AFB in 1955 to 1959? After coming home from Korea, my dad activated those 2 bases into SAC bases. Then, on to Griffiss AFB in Rome NY in 1959 - 1960. He retired when they said his next assignment was activating Minot.

I'm an AF brat, but it was the early 60's when we moved to Fernandina Beach.

 

[wolftracks]

I would have been an AF Brat if I had known my dad back then. Instead I was a Navy brat, which is how I ended up in California when I was 4.



My co-broodies have hatched out 4 chicks so far. The wind is to much for me right now, but they still have 7 more eggs out there.

 

[ducklucky]

Thanks guys, no I have no broody hens now. I have to get myself a rooster soon, been without for over a year now. Think the girls actually miss him, he gave his life to a fox to save them, and he was a fine, friendly, super handsome RI Red, huge! Sometime when I go to the coop, especially if I have red on, the will get into "the position" like I'm a rooster coming to mount them. Will have to get another, plus miss that cock a doodle big time! And babies too!

Yes, I will watch my back, but they know if they misbehave, pea time is over LOL!!! The eggs are doing fine, put them out by the wood stove and they are at a very pleasant temp, and even hear a slight pipping every now and then. Will leave them be but to check on temp and humidity. Darn cannibal ducks, they just look at me with those innocent eyes and I could wring their necks.

 

[Wisher1000]

Lucky, look at the ingenious contraption in this thread, it may work for you.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750468/new-australian-hatching-mystery-egg-at-home

Post # 7

 

[gryeyes]

Perhaps I am just justifying my odd choice of allowing Punkin to brood inside the house in "her" dog bed (it is definitely hers NOW), but it's been very interesting watching a broody pullet in action right up close.

There's a whole lot of inaction, too, as she's in the broody trance most of the time, flat on those eggs. She didn't come off the nest at ALL yesterday. I gave her a can of cat food (Friskies, with the sliced bits of meat) today and she's been working on it with some gusto.

Her usual afternoon habit was to come off the dog bed in a rush, all puffed up and chittering the broody war cry, to RUN to the utility room to drink from the dogs' water dish. If I opened the door right there for her, she'd dash outside to poop, scratch in the dirt, take a quick dust bath, then demand to come back inside. She then snatches a bit of dog kibble, then run like the devil was after her into the office where I have two brooders of chicks. Drink more water, eat some feed, then run outside to the enclosed garden for a bit more scratching, then back inside. If I'm on the sofa when she re-enters the house, hops onto the arm of the sofa, walks along the back to come scream at me. I think the broody scream and chittering are her only means of communication right now. She let's me skritch her breast for a moment, then she hops down and gets back into the dog bed.

Watching her move those three eggs around is fascinating. She rearranges them frequently. She also rearranges loose feathers she has plucked, tucks this one or that one into specific locations. She messes with those feathers a great deal.

Nuthin' like being a hick with a chicken settin' on some eggs in the living room under the TV set.