Chicken Treats

I know I have said this more than about a hundred times...but we DO have the best friends and neighbors in our little neck of the woods!  There are these awesome sister that can do anything!  I mean anything!  And they are the go to people for our animals.  They have a pet sitting business...Heavenly Petsitting.  I recommend them more than highly!!  We have a nickname for them.  It is 'the husky girls'.  I know that it doesn't sounds very nice but let me explain.  When we first moved in the neighborhood we would see them walking this beautiful husky.  This is before we knew that they did that for a living.  Michelle and Leah are their real names.  They are so fun!  And they know a tons of stuff.

 

They not only take good care of the animals on our little farm when we are away...they bring them treats too.  Homemade suet cake for the girls!

Dusting Bowl

By the looks of things we may not have many flowers in the flower beds this spring and summer.  The girls seem to think they can dust anywhere they want to.  No baby, no.  Not going to happen girls.

 

I've been thinking this over.  I've searched Pinterest. and the a light bulb went off.  We have extra fence rails so why not make a dusting bowl out of them.  When we lived in WI we made a backing for a flower bed with old rails gathered up from the subdivision.   They jut seem to be gathering leaves and covering the black-eyed Susan bed.

 

So I put Pappy on it!

 

I chose this area because it is on the farm side of the backyard.  I'm going to attempt to teach the chickens that all they would ever want and ever need is in this area.  They are smart birds and it might be a little harder than I think it might be.  They are such creatures of habit.

We started out using a post hole digger and quickly figures out that out fencing needed to be cut to smaller links and just digging a trench and using a mallet to beat them in the ground.  Good stress reliever!

EffieGrace was the first one to venture over.  She peeked in and that was about all.

I tried Plan B...put food all around the edges and in the center.  They will need some gentle coaxing I am sure.  Should have thought about this when they were smaller.  They are teaching me to be a better Chickie Ma for sure.

 

So Far So Good

Empty nesting box this morning.  Yea Ethel!

And look who is out in the run this morning with all her sister chickens!  Keeping my fingers crossed that it was as easy as that.

RayJeana's Egg Song

RayJeana's Egg Song

 

And there it is...one green egg!

She is so very proud!

 

The Egg song is actually a thing.  When a hen lays an egg she will cackle and sing her egg song.  Some think that she is announcing her accomplishment to the rest of the chickens.  She is telling them that she got down to business and they had better get on the ball and add to the community clutch.  Some seem to think that she is trying to draw attention away from the egg to keep it safe.  I really don't care which way it is...I just love hearing them sing.

 

 

Ethel Is Going Broody

When a hen decides that she wants to set on a bunch of eggs...or in chicken language...a clutch of eggs this can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing.  I think in Ethel's case it is going to be a bad thing.  We have no clutch of eggs to hatch.  Ours are not fertile.

 

Yesterday I noticed that every time I check the nesting boxes she was there all puffed out and sitting not willing to move for anything.

So I went to my best chicken books, Fresh Eggs Daily and My Pet Chicken Handbook.

 

Here is what I have learned.....When chickens sit on eggs to hatch them their bodies go through lots of things.  They sit for long periods of times only getting up to eat, drink and stretch their legs.  When there are chicks involved, when they start peeping it is her signal that her body that the brooding time is over and her hormones go back in check.  If she should continue to sit there for the 21 day incubation period it could cause her harm.  Broody hens don't lay eggs during the time that they are broody.  So I am not getting those beautiful chocolate eggs that I have been waiting for.

 

I NEED TO BREAK THE BROODY SPELL.  To do this I have several options depending on how deep she is.  First I have taken all the wooden eggs out of the nesting boxes.  I have emptied the box that she likes of all pine shavings leaving her to sit in cold tile flooring.  I took her out and placed here in the run with some treats.  If she continues to be broody I need to put frozen water bottles in the nesting box she likes.  And if all those things don't break her, I will have to put her in a dog kennel inside the run with no nesting materials.  This is designed to cool her abdomen and vent area, which hopefully will help break the broodiness.  Good thing Spring Break is next week.  Looks like I might have my work cut out for me.

 

 

Egg Count For This Week So Far

My goal this week is to keep track of how many eggs each set of girls lays and total egg count for each day. Don't know why , just thought it might be fun.

 

Monday

Big Girls...4

Little Girls...5

Egg total...9

I got a great surprise when I was checking the nesting boxes.  Ethel, the s

Silver Cuckoo Marans, laid an egg right in my hand.  The first actual 'chocolate egg'.

Tuesday

Big Girls...5

Little Girls...5

Total for the day...10

Total for the week...19

First TOTAL SELL OUT!

My sweet neighbor, Larry wanted two dozen but I only had 18.  He said he would rather buy them from me than go to the store.  I love being his egg lady!

Wednesday

Big Girls...3 eggs

Little Girls...4 eggs

Total for the day...7 eggs

Total for the week...26 eggs

Thursday
Big Girls...2 eggs
Little Girls...6 eggs
Total for the day...8 eggs
Total for the week...34 eggs

Friday

Big Girls...zip

Little Girls...5 eggs

Total for the day...5 eggs

Total for the week...39 eggs

 

A New Hat To Go WIth My Chicken Suit

I just remembered I never showed you my awesome chicken hat.  Story...I saw one like mine on Pinterest and racked my brain as to who I could get to make me one.  Somehow I happened to mention it on FB and my friend and best chicken coop making buddy, Bill Holder of Southernchicken Coops sent me a message.  He knew someone that just might be able to help.  I friended her, KK Custom Crochet, on FB and a new chicken friendship was born.  I asked her to make it black because I thought it would go with everything.  I love it.  I met her husband in the Lowe's parking lot one evening on his way home from work.  Just saying if you ever need a chicken hat...I know someone!

 

 

 

 

Date Night

You may think we are weird ad this is the craziest thing you have ever heard but Mark and I had date night at Carneys Feed Mill.  This date has been on the calendar for a few weeks and I can't tell you how excited I was that yesterday was finally the day.  I love going to Carneys.  They are awesome and they don't let on that all my questions are crazy ones.  They are use to crazy chicken ladies.

 

We are just about the first ones there...go figure.  There's dinner and dessert, drinks and baby chicks.

They really know how to throw a party/seminar.

So come to find out that Nancy is from Lesage. (We were able to talk to her after everything was over.  Nice lady.  Love her chicken stories and she is so chicken smart...PhD.)    She noticed my Marshall hoodie and made a comment.  Love it!  And the next best thing is that Bill Holder, the awesome chicken coop builder of The Little Girls coop, Southernbuckeye Coops, came in and sat right in front of us.  Small world.   Love that man!

Interesting facts:

 

The color of the ear lobes tell the color of eggs that the girls lay.  Red earlobes lay brown eggs.

It takes 24-26 hours to lay an egg.

The greatest number if yolks ever found in a single chicken egg was nine.

Chickens have their own language.  They give different alarm sounds according to what is threatening them.

Chickens run a temp of 102-102 normally.

 

I took notes so I wouldn't forget anything.  Then I read every word in the booklet they had for us.

When we were going in Mark said that he needed a new farmer hat.  Well. look what the lucky duck won!  I tried really hard to win something but it wasn't going to happen tonight.  Bill even won a really nice self waterer for his new birds.  That's when we say the Husky Girls and the boys, Matt and Justin.  We got to talk to them for a bit after the seminar was over.  They are homesteaders for sure.  Their next purchases are more chickens, two pigs and a cow!

I was talking to John Junior about Susie and her strange eggs.  He suggested oyster shells.  So today after everyone goes home we are going to make a really cool oyster shell center for the girls...a little Golden Corral if you will.

 

Before leaving I gave John Junior my name, number and names of the blogs I write and offered to help them out theirs.  So we will see what happens.

I messed up.  I should have warm my chicken hat.. What was I thinkning...I did manage to throw on my new chicken socks.  Love them!  Yes I am the crazy chicken lady!

 

And since it was date night Mark took me to Frisch's for a piece of hot fudge cake.  Yum!  One of my favorites.  Date night $12.00  I'm cheap but tons of fun!

 

 

Almost A Full Dozen

We are so close to everyone laying an egg a day!  I will be doing backflips on that day!  I have also noticed that the colors are changing.  I see a really pretty pale pink egg.  I guess we wont be dying eggs for Easter this year.

Chuck Wagon Wins Again

They love it and so do I.  The follow me to the barn and then to the middle of the yard or wherever I decide to park the wagon.

EffieGrace doing some high stepping through the mud...oh, I mean the backyard.

Crispy doesn't like snow, water or mud on her feet.  She flies just about everywhere she goes.

Doesn't it look like RayJeana is listening for worms?

Barnyard brawl started by Esthelle.

Inez just making a mud hole.  My prediction for the yard this summer...not much grass.

Susie just strutting around like she owns the place.

Dixie's frostbite looks better.

Trying To Help An Old Woman Out

About every other day I am in my 'chicken suit' on my hands and knees with my rubber gloves crawling into the Little Girls run to change the water and replenish their food.  The winter wasn't too bad when everything was frozen.  But let me just tell you that it is not pretty at all when it is wet in there.  Not to mention I am breaking my back.  I asked Mark if he could come up with something where I wouldn't need to climb in the run.  And he did.  Yesterday we did away with the cool galvanized steel waterer and feeder and added....some new chicken essentials.

 



A new sleek and clean gravity feeder.

The Little Girls love it.  No learning curve here.

I didn't even need to explain it to them.

And the new watering nipple system.

So I'm thinking they will take right to it.  NOT!  I even got in the run and showed them how to do it.  Gave three of them a hands on demo.  Nothing.  We let them out to stretch their wings and they ran right to the regular watering container.  We tried sticking one of the 'chicken sticks' in and dripping the water....they just drank it off the ground.  It has been almost 24 hours later and I haven't seen any takers.  I know that they are looking for water because they are all huddled up where the waterer once sat.  And by the looks of it now someone may have tried to perch on it.  Not sure what to do.

I finally was able to hang the chicken swing in the Big Girls Run.  And since Susie's foot is better I put the little roost in also.



 

Happy St. Patty's Day

I was a little disturbed to find this.  Figured out from reading and asking my expert bird guy, Lester, that it is a calcium deposit.  No real danger.  But the shell is really thin on one end.  Then yesterday there was another.  I think Susie may have a calcium deficiency.  Making something to take care of that today.

No matter what the weather The little Girls lay 6 eggs just about everyday!  Those Big Girls need to get on the nest!

St. Patty's Day in the coop today.  Two green eggs!

How They Weathered The Storms

The rabbits were all snug in their boxes filled with hay.  Only problem...some days I would have to go out four times to replenish the water bottles because they froze solid.  I was thankful for my little snow plowed paths.  At night I would bring the water bottles in and sit them by the heat vent so they would be thawed and warm by morning.

We ended up putting cones over all the water and food containers to help keep the snow out.  And the water heaters did just great...except for the -30 night.

The Big Girls only have a small place to keep dry other than in the coop so we put a tarp over half the run and added straw for some insulation on the cold ground.  You have to be care their feet don't get frostbite.

Once he paths started to show dirt some of the girls ventured out for some treats...even when it was snowing.  What some of them won't do to get a little extra treat.

Once there were brown patches in the yard they ventured out a little bit further in he yard.  Still they didn't like the feel of the cold wet snow on their feet.

Mark broke out some of his bird suet for them.

One week I had a little extra cash in the egg jar so I splurged and got a big block of treats for them.  They were various leery of that brown block in the middle of the yard.

But once I added a little of their regular treats to the top it became something they all wanted to check out.

Susie

 

Inez

 

Esthelle

 

Inez again

 

Ethel

Susie spreading her wings.

Judy

Sunny

Inez the camera hog

Dixie walking the railroad tie so she doesn't have to step in the snow.

Crispy flying from one brown spot to another.

Susie in her favorite spot.

Chicken foot prints in the snow.

EffieGrace

Ethel looking for Chickie Pa.

And just look who thinks she is Queen of the treats.

The figured out that the ground was softer over by the fence where the snow had melted and they could find worms.

Just to change it up a bit so they don't get bored I put their treats in he little red wagon so they had to do a little work to get something good to eat.

Love those chicken legs.

And once again...

Better move over Susie here comes Keithetta Renetta.

RayJeana just sweeping the yard for worms or anything good to eat.

Some need to stand on tippy toes to get a treat.

Muddy feet

Second in command

Our little want to be mother, Ethel.  She loves to sit on eggs.  They could be hers or others or even the fake eggs in the nesting boxes.

I have already decided that The Girls will be getting their own little ghetto pool for the hot days of summer.

She doesn't like muddy feet.  I don't either because they get the eggs all dirty when they go in the nesting boxes with mud on their feet.

Just a little refreshing drink.  Today I added the water from cooking last night.  So they had some broccoli/pasta water.  I'd say my girls are just a little spoiled.  But the way I have it figured if they supply me with all the eggs I could possibly want and use, they should be rewarded for all their hard work.