Been busy as a . . .

You fill in the blank. Seriously. Since Mother's Day it's been non stop. Too many nice days lead to getting behind in all the other regular inside chores. Hoping to have a not too hot summer so I can get more done. Seems I'm dealing with Henny Penny Syndrome right now. You know the story of the chicken, depending on which version you read has to do it all, but then everyone one wants something.

A lot of Newbies

Since last time, I've added:
Turkens - chicks
Silkies - chicks
Polish - chicks
Black Japanese Bantam - chicks
Some mystery chicks
4 Seramas - 1 rooster and 3 hens
Had 2 chicks hatch out over the last couple of days. 1 bantam, one standard.

Musical Poultry - see if you can keep up

So the Turkens are now in the hutch the Calls were in, along with the Blue Hens. The Call ducks are now in the old chicken run. There is a brooder of 6 chicks in my bathroom. The Sex links and other mixed bantams are now running with the big chickens/bantams who are now free range. The other ducks are free range, all go in at night. The NN Silkie and Show girls have their own pen inside the dog run with the Seramas. The newest pair of Seramas are in the living room. As are the pet store Silkies 3 white, 1 dark blue. The bearded Silkie is playing mama to 6 chicks. 2 that hatched here over the last couple days and the others are bantams that I bought from the hoarder.
Next weekend we are going to see The Guys and I'm getting back a pair of Guineas I gifted them last year and a black Turken chick. Oh and as if I don't have enough already. Sonny decided that he needed to order 8 Bob White Quail from the pet guy. Oy!
So I'm at around 66 chickens, 8 ducks (Dan is getting one), add 2 Guineas, 1 chick, 8 Quail, 4 goats, umpteen cats, 1 dog. Damn no wonder I'm so tired!

Seramas

So as you know Seramas have been my latest obsession, oops - interest. ; )
The hoarder had chicks listed on CL. Play some phone tag, she won't answer my calls. Hmmm, wonder why. Have to stop up there one morning on my way to take MIL to the grocery. Well she has some, but needs to wait to see what is what since she put them with the Jap bantam chicks and doesn't know what is what.
Sidebar - when I went up there, OMG, no wonder she can't tell. She's got this mixed with that in boxes in the garage. 4 bators going, the big one's. Chicks in with Quail. Not a good idea. Chickens getting into other houses that they aren't supposed to be in, think that's where my mystery chicks came from.
So I pick out a couple I think might be Seramas. End up with 12 chicks. Loose 2 the second night. They some how got wet while with Nilla and didn't make it. I'm still not sure if the one is or not, but it's cute.
Then I see another ad. Answer it. It's the guy I got my Sultans from last year. So I bought back the roo I had traded to him and got a lovely black hen.

Morgana and Poultrygeist

The other day see another ad. Bought 2 hens from a lady in MD also. She gifted me some eggs that are in the bator right now.

Banshee (who is laying and apparently was a fave, poor little bald head) and Elsa Yolkchester who should start laying any time. Elsa is named after one of my fave classic movie actresses. Elsa Lanchester who stared as the Bride of Frankenstein. First film in 1925 and last in 1980! What a career.
These 2 are out now with Zombryo and a couple of bantam crosses I want to breed later.

Hatching, maybe

So now the other bator is full. One hen is setting chicken eggs, due next week. Another is setting duck eggs. And Dahlia my bantam queen is setting a nest somewhere under one of the Butterfly bushes.
Hoping I can get Sonny to start working on that new house soon. His business is really doing well and getting him to do anything right now is, well, I did mention Henny Penny Syndrome.

Until later, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads! Be it human, feathered or furred.

Dawn aka Gothy

- All materials in this blog post are mine and mine alone. Pictures are copy write to me. You may not copy, re post or reprint without my permission.

Spring Has Sprung Part 2

The rest of the Newbies:

Better pic of hatch and some store bought babies
Sonny went down to Clayton to get grass for the goats. The guy wasn't home, so he went to the feed store I deal with for chicken feed. Well we all know what most feed stores are selling in addition this time of year.

The 3 largest, Gold Sex Links. "I needed egg layers", he said. Ok, he won't eat the eggs my chickens lay! He was fine with it until he started watching what they would get into when they were free ranging. So I have to buy store eggs. Kinda embarrassing when you ware wearing BYC's My Pet Made My Breakfast gear. : )

Meet Jelly Bean
Had 2 hatch out Sat. Both Silkie crosses. Put them in the brooder Sun and one didn't make it. It had "that look" when I took them out of the bator. Of course it was the really pretty one. Never fails, does it?

Jelly Bean

I still have eggs in the bator from that hatch, but I'm going to toss tomorrow. Had to remove one egg that was beginning to weep. Now if you have ever smelled a rotten egg, and I mean a real one, not just the smell they give natural gas, you will understand. I mean it will gag a maggot. Last year a hen stepped on an egg she was setting, and it was bad. All the chickens in the house were tearing up.

One of the ducks is setting a clutch due around the end of this month if they are fertile. One bantam setting eggs that I'm going to bring in tomorrow, due around the coming weekend. And another batch in the other bator due the following week. Hopefully something will hatch. I really want to get a couple of Sultan's out of all this hatching.

2 new projects in the works now. I got a steal of a deal on a dog kennel from our junk Troll. That will be used for the Runners. And then we'll be building a pallet coop for the new Silkies and Turkens.
Sonny also mentioned possibly remodeling our bath so we can use one area for storage. I asked him, where will I put my chickens? No answer. Men!

Until later,
Gothy

Spring Has Sprung

It's been crazy busy around here. Temps are finally up and staying there. Of course after Sonny buys me a new grill, it got cold again. Now the days are getting back up in the lower 70's. We actually had frost warnings earlier in the week!

Adding to the Tribe
Well we've added a few newbies.

Barnabus
We bought Barnabus from my hoarder neighbor. He kept coming up to the fence when Sonny was out. So when he started doing it when any of us were out, Sonny decided we "had to have him" she was going to sell him as a meat goat. Too friendly to have not been someone's pet before she got him.
He's a 2 year old Silky Pygmy. Oh, and he was in rut when we got him. Stinky, peeing on his leg all the time, and doing some other things that would get a person arrested for doing in public, if you get my drift.
He now has his own enclosure down by the chicken houses. Sonny still needs to finish the front of it. Adding pillars to his porch. Sonny's been so busy with the engine repair business right now, he doesn't know if he's coming or going.

Mizz Maizy
Maizy is a 2 year old Nigerian Dwarf. I found her on Craig's List. It was about 160 mile round trip to get her. The people who had her raise Spanish Goats and they were always running over her. They also had a buck that looks very similar to Barnabus, but I've already got enough of those.
Maizy currently is housed with Beanie and Bosco. She's still a bit skittish, but is getting better. Never been breed, so either we will breed her with Beanie or sometime try and find another Dwarf.
When we first saw her, she was standing next to the Pygmy and I thought she was a baby!

She was a bit underweight, but is putting some on now.

The Hatch
On Monday (2days ago) 5 chicks hatched! 4 survived. The other one I had to help out of the shell because it had gotten to dry. It was smaller and just never really came around.
3 are whitish, but their color is starting to change and the other a Splash. 2 have feathered legs. Mom is Agotha, a white black laced Turken.

ShowGirl Silkies and a beautiful White Silkie
Finally got them! They were over nighted from MI. She wasn't able to send the Serama's this time. 3 have bow ties, the other complete naked neck. The Silkie is from her prize birds. She's very, very serious about her Silkies. They haven't been washed yet. Project for another day. Didn't want to stress them anymore right away.

Bearded Silkie

Show Girls.
They are a cross between a Turken and a Silkie. Cool huh?

Part 2 to follow tomorrow.

Is it Spring yet?

I am soooo ready for Spring. We had snow flurries here today! Nothing is drying up due to all the rain and lack of sunshine. It's depressing.

Meet Bosco
Well I was trolling Craigs List like usual after midnight when the new ads show up. Saw one for a pygmy billy, price was ok, age and color perfect. Sonny called and left a message. Next day we get a call. Sonny talked to the guy a bit. Then he's like oh, didn't you buy a goat from me in Jan?  Yep, we bought Beanie's brother. He's bigger than Beanie and is more of a "guy's goat".  We think that's cause he was raised around Chris and his dad. Bosco is skittish around me, but will let Sonny pet him.

After the initial head butting they are getting along great. Now snack time and feeding is a different story. Soon as one finishes his "salad" the other is over trying to help out. Same with their grass. Of course one has tastier feed than the other.
I was watching them the other day. Bosco wanted to play. So he would butt Beanie in his behind and push him. They went all the way around the pen doing this. Beanie was not amused.
They are polar opposite personality wise. Beanie is very laid back. Bosco is a more run and jump around goat.
Eventually we will add a doe and a pair of registered ones.
Now get this. My neighbor, the animal horder, started raising goats to sell for meat. Well, shortly after I started chickens. She got chickens. This has lead to ducks, geese, guineas, Emu, a couple of horses, mini donkeys, a passel of very noisy dogs and now, yep Pygmy goats! She also has a dwarf. Is this really necessary?

New Incubator
TSC did replace the broke one, even tho I had thrown my receipt away. So I set it up on my desk with Sultan and a couple of eggs from I don't know who in the Foo Foo house. It's funny, the 3 hens who aren't Silkies in there lay their eggs on the roosts! They are like corner shelves. Well at least they are clean. Should start hatching late this weekend. Monday is day 21.
I have been having problems getting the humidity up to where I want it. So I decided to order a new thermometer/hygrometer. Decided on a digital one. Turns out my other thermo is about 10% off on the actual humidity.
After searching my favorite site next to Ebay, Amazon I found a company called IncubatorWharehouse.com. I highly recommend them! Service is really fast. My order got here before it was supposed to. They have great customer service. And they sent me a coupon for either a free egg candeler or $5 off a $25 order. And they take Pay Pal. Oh and it included the battery!
Ordering my second incubator from them this eve and going for the free candler. It got great reviews. I figured the cost of one from TSC, then having to pay taxes, gas to MD, I'm getting a way better deal doing it this way. I love online shopping!
Now I'll be able to start eggs in one and finish in the other if necessary. Have to do some major rearranging on my side of the room, but it will be worth it.

Congrats Guys!
A special Congrats to my friends Dan, Matt and Sergio on their wonderful hatch of Jungle Fowl. WTG guys! And congrats on your new Pygmy Casper. Can't wait to get over there to see him. He's so cute in the pics, all white. Casper The Friendly Goat! LOL!

Until later,
Gothy

The Hatch

Well 2 little chickies hatched a week ago, Friday and Sat. I was in the puter room when the first one made it out. It was fast. When I got up Sat morning, Sonny told me another had hatched.

Both have blue legs and feathered legs/feet, but only 4 toes. Silkies have 5. These cuties are Silkie X D'culle. So it will be interesting to see how big they get and if they get fuzzy.

1 and 2 days old.

Now a a week and a half.

Dan and Sergio came by today and took the white one home.

I also had my bator going. Well it took a crap a couple of days after these guys hatched. TSC is replacing it. Just waiting for a call saying it is in.

Still have 2 Silkies and on banty settin eggs. I gave the larger Silkie, Lauren 5 Sultan eggs. So hoping something will hatch. Originally I had given Lauren 2 eggs from the Big House. A couple of days later one was missing. So she "stole" an egg from the other girls!

New Year, New Start

Happy New Year!

The last few months have basically sucked. Lost more ducks and chickens to the evil foxes and disease. Now the foxes have disappeared and the chickens are feeling better.
Of course I am no longer free ranging the birds, at least for now. That sucks the most. I loved going outside or just looking out a window and watching them.
Replaced the ducks. Of course 2 of the 3 turned out to be drakes, so ordering more Runners in the future.

RIP BELA
Lost my beloved Bela Eggosi in December. He was the best rooster.
He would eat feed out of your hand and be so gentle about it. A couple of years ago before we had a bad snow storm, he rounded up everyone and stood guard outside the house until I put them up. The next morning we measured snow in feet!

I did have 4 Turkens hatch this year. Sergio has one pair and I have the other 2. Koko is going to look just like Bela, but not sure yet if roo or hen.

Some New Faces and some Not So Much
After losing the Runners, The Guys got me some replacements. 1 Black - Nyght, 1 Blue- Azur and 1 Chocolate- Ghiraradelli.
Before they got here Quaker Jack was really lonely, so I got back 2 of the then ducklings I gave to The Guys. Thelma and Louise. Still have to get pics of them. T and L look like Blue Swedish. But they are RouenXPekinXPekins! They are both setting nests right now. Not sure if eggs are fertile or not. Should know around the end of the month. The run is so muddy right now it looks awful. Between rain, rain, no sunshine, rain, freezing, on and on.

House Finally Done!
Sonny finally got the one house done. Yeah! I have the Silkies, Polish, 2 Turken and some other bantams, and mutts in there. 1 house down 1 more to go.
We are also going to add a pen for the ducks.
Also going to be adding a pen along the wall that I can divide for chicks, breeding and a pair of Sultans recently purchased.

Eggs under chickens, Eggs in bators
Well I borrowed a bator from The Guys because I was supposed to be getting hatching eggs. Well, same deal as before.
So they gave me a bunch of theirs and Pheasant X's. The chicken eggs should hatch in a couple of days. Took them outta the cups today. That bator is on my desk.  Since the Pheasant eggs take longer, they are in my bator in my closet. Well, hey it works. I also added 8 eggs of my own to that one.
This is my first time using a bator. Bought thermometers that also have a humidity gauge on them.
I have one Silkie who was setting air, so I gave her an egg. And another one and Dirty Bird got sneaky on my. They are sharing a nest in the new house. Found it accidentally one morning while feeding the tribe. Not sure how long they have been setting.
Getting a new heat lamp tomorrow. Probably end up having to buy another tub also.
Will be ordering chicks most likely around March for meat birds. Not for us, but to sell. I still buy my chicken from the grocery. And will continue to do so until they can make a chicken that only has white meat. : )

Meet The Newbies
I had seen this pair of chickens on Craigs List for awhile now. Sonny decided "I needed" them.

Berkey is the rooster, top pic. And Minel is the hen. They are Sultans. Still waiting for an egg!
Until the weather breaks enough to build them a pen, they are in the living room.

CocoBean aka Beanie Baby
Here we go again with that damn Craigs List.
Sonny fell in love with The Guys pygmy goats. Well, guess what I got for Christmas? Yes, I got the Vault Collection of Humphrey Bogart movies and The Thin Man collections. Oh, and a Pygmy goat!
 Not every woman would appreciate getting livestock for Christmas, so be sure to ask first.

This is Beanie when we first got him, he's just over 2 months old now. He's a Chocolate. He's a hoot! I take him for walks, he get's his daily treats and is a great little guy. No he is not fixed or will be debudded. Currently looking for a buddy for him. Later will be looking for a doe. Thinking about breeding him next year. This year I have so much to do with the birds, I want to deal with one project at a time.




Looking towards the future
I'm on a waiting list for Serama chicks. Will be ordering ducklings unless I can find Runners locally.
Hopefully will have one house done before Summer for meat birds.
Have figured out who not to by from locally. Lost too many no so cheap birds that came from the same person this past year.
Hoping to make it to at least 1 chicken exchange this year.

Will post if anything hatches. I think this 3 day wait is going to seem as long as the 2 week wait I had before I was able to pickup Beanie!

Later,
Goth

First Fox Fatality and The Population Explosion

Fall is almost here. Yay! My favorite time of the year. August was pretty quiet. Spent a good deal of time getting ready for the school year. Got thru the earthquake and Irene with no damage.

This is Dragon Run Creek that runs on the one side of our property. It was creeping into the dog's run due to Irene. Never lost power or anything here thankfully!

Even tho I had no plans of adding babies this late in the season. Well, ya know.

POLISH and Population Explosion Part 1
Gotta love this one. The lady I bought them from runs a poultry group I'm in, one of many. She said they were "rare, polish - pronounced as in furniture polish". They are freakin Polish as in Poland. We should know. Sonny's Grands came over on the boat from Poland! Some of you know me as Mondz, well that's short for Mondzelewski. Can't get much more Polish than that. And rare, I don't think so. Color combo's maybe.
I bought 3 of the little darlings, 1 week old, pullets.

Here at 2 1/2 weeks. Going thru that Don King phase! LOL!

The Turken is Coco. Named after my fave character on Foster's Home for Imaginary Pets, it's a cartoon. The Polish starting with the Gold Laced - Hershey, the middle one - Zasu, named after Zasu Pitts, she was an actress way back in the day. Not sure on her color yet. And the what I think is going to be Blue is Lola.
They are now in our living room.
Coco was a surprise hatch and the only one. She's about a week younger than the others.

The Polish were bought on a Friday. That following Sunday we went to visit The Guys. And I was given Perky to rehome. He's no Pepito thankfully! Whom I still have scars from by the way.

He's free ranging now. Bela still gives him a hard time, but he's slowly working his way into the tribe. Quaker Jack the drake gave him a hard time for awhile also. But now they seem to have some bromance thing going. They are spending a great deal of time just hanging in the yard.
Perky is a 6 mo old Silver Laced Wyandotte. He's getting some girls of his own in the Spring. He makes the coolest noises and still on half crows.

The next day, Monday I got an email from a young lady who had some rescue chicks that I had given up on getting. She brought them over that eve. Not sure what they are, but the consensus the larger is a Cornish cross. This chick has to weigh at least 2-3 lbs and is 7" tall head to foot already.

Ginger Snap and Checkers aka Chubbs. Coco hatched the same day these got here. They are out in the Foo Foo house now along with Sugar Pop.

The 2 Turkens went to live with my friend Sergio. Sugar Pop in front.

Ok, so in 4 days 7 chickens.

Population Explosion Part 2
Fast forward to 9/10.
Went to visit The Guys again and to pick up my gifted rooster Victor.
While getting ready I get a call from my neighbor. She's at a mutual acquaintances house. We all by chickens from him. He has a trio of Black Silkies, breeders, would I be interested. Well, what do you think? Is there a 12 step program for chicken people?

Humphrey and Lauren

Bette
And they girls were kind enough to lay a few eggs, now under a broody.

My Gift
The Guys bought me Victor. A Blue Polish Roo.

If all this wasn't enough, it is ever? We found a clutch of 14 eggs that morning! One of the Turken hens had been gone for a couple of days and I had given up on her. Second time during the Summer. We also found the first clutch and that is where the first 2 Turken chicks came from. So they are under 3 hens, plus the Silkie eggs.

The Invasion Begins
Don't know about you, but we were invaded by Stink Bugs last year. And so it has already started this year. Tony has been catching them in the house and feeding them to the chicks. Elvi get's excited every time he see's Tony now. LOL! Elvi is a roo turns out. He's a house chicken tho, so we can deal.
We've also had a Praying Mantis invasion this year. It's nothing for us to count a half dozen on the Butterfly Bushes in a day. And that's just the one's we can see from the front windows!

I knew that was a bad omen. We are also being invaded by spiders of every shape and size. Yuck! I don't mind them outside, but in the house, I don't think so. I try and live by the Wican Creed of "do ye no harm", but sometimes it's easier to play squish the bug.

First Fox Fatality
I took my MIL to the grocery today. Soon as I parked the van I noticed something red running across the yard. Yep, a fox. Of course this is the day I have on my regular shoes the kind that have a 1" sole and 2" heel. I chased that mf to one side of the trailer and back to the other. We don't have underpinning. Finally it ended up in the dogs run. It and the dog went at it. I yelled, they both stopped and looked at me. The fox took off under the fence. I've got the spot covered up now. I was afraid that the dog being on a chain that could lead to problems.
Went to do inventory. Lost one pullet, just starting to lay. And what really pisses me off is the gdamn fox left it! I mean total waste of a young bird. Found feathers a few feet from the house also. So I'm guessing it came thru the fence, went down by the houses. Caught Peanut Butter (she always hung out down there) and chased her into the house. Feathers everywhere and she was in there. I just pray it was fast.
Took care of her Viking style this eve so the damn thing didn't try and dig her up. With any luck it will end up like the others we can here at night. Squishy on the side of the road.
Peanut Butter was the last of the chicks I had ordered in the Spring. Breed unknown, just started laying last week.
Pricing pred lights tonight. Also looking into a high powered pellet gun. A fox tail would look really nice next to my large Grim Reaper on my bulletin board. Yes, my side of our computer room looks like Halloween on crack all year round.

Until next time, take care all!

Gothy