So we bough a dozen chicks and 6 ducklings a while back and ended up haveing to put them on the porch on giant bins with heat lamps. Honey started hanging around quite a lot. She cluck at them like a momma hen would to her chicks. Really cute. Then she started sleeping next to the bins at night instead of going to roost. So I started leaving a water and feed bowl for her because she wasn't leaving her spot. After a couple weeks of her vigil, she died in the night. The boys buried her out next to where they buried the two Grannies (Dominique Hens) from when we first moved out here. Which leaves us with one original rescue hen Muffles.
It looks like of the 12 chicks we bought only 6-8 are actually hens....
Showing posts with label chicks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicks. Show all posts
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Honey trying to be a Momma
So Honey the chicken has decided to sit in a box (In May) and sit on a bunch of eggs. Yesterday 1 little chick hatched and did not make it. :(
She is still sitting on a bunch of eggs. Muffles had been dropping eggs in the box as well. So we have no idea how long this will last. We just want one little baby chick for her. She is getting old and has never had one :)
She is still sitting on a bunch of eggs. Muffles had been dropping eggs in the box as well. So we have no idea how long this will last. We just want one little baby chick for her. She is getting old and has never had one :)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Broody Strange Chickens
AnnaBelle has gone broody. And only one of the eggs she is sitting on is hers haha. It looks like there are 7 eggs.
Honey is being a bully to the babies. I guess it's her turn. The other hens were really aweful to her when we got her.
Hershey keeps to herself she's still a bit spastic but she's no longer at the bottom of the pack.
The chicks are now 3 months old. We are down to 20. Total. We figured out what was getting them when they were smaller...snakes. Last night when I opened the main door for me a snake zoomed into the hen house. Deven tried to stop it with a board and missed so I went and got Phillip. We ended up finding 2 snakes in the hen house. It was 2 dark for the bigger chickens to see them or they would have killed them themselves. They were non fanged snakes, but they were right next to chicks that wanted to nest in the hay floor instead of the lower roost. They were 2.5 - 3 ft long skinny snakes with small heads. It was too dark to see true color. I think they had stripes. We've already had 2 rat snakes in the nest boxes eating eggs this year. THOSE bite! and 2 5 ft snakes by the driveway. Last year we had a total of 2 snakes. ALL YEAR. So for us, it's the year of the snake LOL
2 of the white pullets that had hot pink "hair" as chicks are actually cockerals! We separated them out. They've been causing problems.
The other night only one chick got lost on the way to hen house to go to bed. Last night 8 decided to sit where they were?!
The little runt black cochin has pulled all her feathers out that she can reach, clear to her ankles. and when they grow back..... she pulls them out again. We call her "Nakey Butt" She just looks SO weird flapping her wings and all you see is skin.
Honey is being a bully to the babies. I guess it's her turn. The other hens were really aweful to her when we got her.
Hershey keeps to herself she's still a bit spastic but she's no longer at the bottom of the pack.
The chicks are now 3 months old. We are down to 20. Total. We figured out what was getting them when they were smaller...snakes. Last night when I opened the main door for me a snake zoomed into the hen house. Deven tried to stop it with a board and missed so I went and got Phillip. We ended up finding 2 snakes in the hen house. It was 2 dark for the bigger chickens to see them or they would have killed them themselves. They were non fanged snakes, but they were right next to chicks that wanted to nest in the hay floor instead of the lower roost. They were 2.5 - 3 ft long skinny snakes with small heads. It was too dark to see true color. I think they had stripes. We've already had 2 rat snakes in the nest boxes eating eggs this year. THOSE bite! and 2 5 ft snakes by the driveway. Last year we had a total of 2 snakes. ALL YEAR. So for us, it's the year of the snake LOL
2 of the white pullets that had hot pink "hair" as chicks are actually cockerals! We separated them out. They've been causing problems.
The other night only one chick got lost on the way to hen house to go to bed. Last night 8 decided to sit where they were?!
The little runt black cochin has pulled all her feathers out that she can reach, clear to her ankles. and when they grow back..... she pulls them out again. We call her "Nakey Butt" She just looks SO weird flapping her wings and all you see is skin.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Chickie Pics for Wyatt!
Ok! They are a good 3-4 weeks old now. Some still look teeny, some look huge, some are in the ugly stage, and some are starting to look beautiful. Like Miss Fluffypants. My one and only Silver Laced Lahkenvelder died. I found her in the pen today. :( If I can ever get the pictures off my camera's minis SD card I'll post them. She was one of my favorites. The drastic up and down temps were too much I guess. Even with the heat lamps. The others seem to be doing just fine. Another thing I need to remember is Certain breeds aren't truly meant for this climate and it's a risk to raise them here. I chose a mix "Surprise" box and this happens. Next time I will choose more wisely in breeds.
So! Here come the pictures for Wyatt!
So! Here come the pictures for Wyatt!
Friday, March 13, 2009
They are growing bigger! Losing fluff, and getting feathers. Here they are snuggling.
One of the Reds tried to jump up on my head... Deven pulled her down and she got her picture taken.
Here are the big mommas taken a look at all the chickies and hoping I drop some baby food.
Yes they are speedy zippy little things now. Flapping their wings all the time! Hmm Where did Nisi, Anona and Vandy go? ;-)
Here is that hand spun I have been working on. It's finally finished! My first 2ply. It varies between worsted and DK. But not drastically. I think its pretty consitant. Flash brightened it up.
One of the Reds tried to jump up on my head... Deven pulled her down and she got her picture taken.
Here are the big mommas taken a look at all the chickies and hoping I drop some baby food.
Yes they are speedy zippy little things now. Flapping their wings all the time! Hmm Where did Nisi, Anona and Vandy go? ;-)
Here is that hand spun I have been working on. It's finally finished! My first 2ply. It varies between worsted and DK. But not drastically. I think its pretty consitant. Flash brightened it up.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
More Chicks in the Mail
Monday morning the Post Office called that we had chicks to pick up.
They sent 25!!! And they are cute. We have lost 6 this time. I assume it's normal. I am not calling them back this time. One is getting stepped on right now, so I moved her I really don't want her to die. She is a two tone Polish. This batch has several chicks with hot pink fluff on their heads. Really cool.
They sent 25!!! And they are cute. We have lost 6 this time. I assume it's normal. I am not calling them back this time. One is getting stepped on right now, so I moved her I really don't want her to die. She is a two tone Polish. This batch has several chicks with hot pink fluff on their heads. Really cool.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
More Chicken News
I called the hatchery yestery afternoon. They are mailing me 15 new chickes to replace the 13 that died. For free. And they said they were sorry. I really don't think it was their fault. I haonestly think someone shook my chicks box or dropped it along the way.
Anyway! We found homes for the 4 extra roosters. I kept the pretty black one with the pretty green/purple irredescent looking feathers. His brothers were similar with straw colored neck feathers. We hatched them last May if you remember. He's under my window clucking right now :)
Anyway! We found homes for the 4 extra roosters. I kept the pretty black one with the pretty green/purple irredescent looking feathers. His brothers were similar with straw colored neck feathers. We hatched them last May if you remember. He's under my window clucking right now :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Upset, Mad, and Happy
24 hours after the chicks have been home 13 have died. All the yellow chicks are dead and have black eyes. Concussion? 13 of 25!! It makes me think someone rattled the box along the way. That makes me so mad! We have to call the hatchery and tell them that half my chicks are dead now :(
The rest are looking good so far.
Yesterday we got a call from the Feed Store saying they have a reputable person needing 1-2 roosters. Yay! We talked to the lady. Her last name is the same as the Nursery Mom used to go to on occasion between Belton and Nolanville. Well she called back and her friend wants the other 2! All 4 roosters get a new home. YAY!!! We deliver them in a couple days. When the chicks get a littler bigger they'll move to the area the roosters have been in. Then after that will get to integrate with the rest of the hens :)
The rest are looking good so far.
Yesterday we got a call from the Feed Store saying they have a reputable person needing 1-2 roosters. Yay! We talked to the lady. Her last name is the same as the Nursery Mom used to go to on occasion between Belton and Nolanville. Well she called back and her friend wants the other 2! All 4 roosters get a new home. YAY!!! We deliver them in a couple days. When the chicks get a littler bigger they'll move to the area the roosters have been in. Then after that will get to integrate with the rest of the hens :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Pullets are Here!
I ordered 24 I received 27
Just a couple of quick pictures. One was dead on arrival. One has a gimpy leg, 4 are lethargic.
Several have little puffballs on their heads so there is a good chance Logan will get a "Halloween Chicken". Time will tell. But it looks like they will be Polish anyway :). 2 Look like Goldies babies did in July last year. So that means Araucanas. Then there are some more that are similar so they may be the same just a different color. Not sure though. The rest I have no clue. Will have to wait until they have fully feathered out. Then I can look in my chicken book to see what rare/heritage breeds we ended up with. How exciting!.
Just a couple of quick pictures. One was dead on arrival. One has a gimpy leg, 4 are lethargic.
Several have little puffballs on their heads so there is a good chance Logan will get a "Halloween Chicken". Time will tell. But it looks like they will be Polish anyway :). 2 Look like Goldies babies did in July last year. So that means Araucanas. Then there are some more that are similar so they may be the same just a different color. Not sure though. The rest I have no clue. Will have to wait until they have fully feathered out. Then I can look in my chicken book to see what rare/heritage breeds we ended up with. How exciting!.
Friday, February 13, 2009
UPDATE
We're all finally off of antibiotics. Hopefully we won't need any more for a long time.
Dental appts start soon for everyone but Logan. He passed with flying colors haha. He hasn't let anyone live that one down and he is the worst about brushing his teeth. He reminds me of someone else as a kid...... haha Not me.
I don't have to go to the Neurologist again until July! YAY! He was pleased with my visit. I am pleased with the 6mo instead of 3mo or 1mo visit. ;)
25 pullets will arrive next weekend. Pullet what does that mean? 1 week old? 6week old? We'll find out soon ;) Hopefully they won't all be white birds. If they are the hawks will find them for lunch in a couple months :( That has happened to all the white/whitish chickens and guineas so far this year.
Logan's ARD/IEP meeting was today. It went well. He'll be getting full Special Ed services from the school.
Craftwise I am working on a sock. I am about 1/3 of the thru it now. It might should have been a solid color. But I'm not starting over. :) They always look funny on the needles. Here is it so far.
Dental appts start soon for everyone but Logan. He passed with flying colors haha. He hasn't let anyone live that one down and he is the worst about brushing his teeth. He reminds me of someone else as a kid...... haha Not me.
I don't have to go to the Neurologist again until July! YAY! He was pleased with my visit. I am pleased with the 6mo instead of 3mo or 1mo visit. ;)
25 pullets will arrive next weekend. Pullet what does that mean? 1 week old? 6week old? We'll find out soon ;) Hopefully they won't all be white birds. If they are the hawks will find them for lunch in a couple months :( That has happened to all the white/whitish chickens and guineas so far this year.
Logan's ARD/IEP meeting was today. It went well. He'll be getting full Special Ed services from the school.
Craftwise I am working on a sock. I am about 1/3 of the thru it now. It might should have been a solid color. But I'm not starting over. :) They always look funny on the needles. Here is it so far.
Friday, July 18, 2008
What's happening today?
For starters I used the air horn to get the boys up this morning haha
Really.... I did! They hate it too. They told me it was "totally unnecessary"
I figure if they would have gotten up on time I wouldn't have had to use it :)
After two months, we got the call to come pick up the plates to the new car today.
My first handspun yarn is hanging in the shower setting it's twist.
I've reskeined 3 hanks of yarn for my Esty 2 more to go. Then I need to take pictures so I can list them for sale. Then I want to reskein some of the ones that are for sale and redo pictures. I think with the new way, they are prettier, and give a better representation of the yarn. I have one listing up that is the new way. It just needs a couple more pictures.
Anona gave me some beautiful wool roving she dyed. I would like to get prepped and start spinning on. Many shades of purple.
I've let the 3 white guineas out of the brooding area, and now they are hiding from me! I can't find them. They are "hopefully" under the truck or in a bush. I can't hear their trill.
We lost one of the newest chicks. It drowned in the last rainstorm. Grandma was right when she said they were so dumb they could drown in a tsp of water. haha. It was pretty windy and may have gotten separated from Goldie (momma hen) . She has 2 chicks left.
I finished a sock at lunch. The boys dyed the yarn for me with kool aid when we first moved here. I need to start the mate to it soon. It's really neat looking. But I won't ever do the pattern again as I am doing it now. I am in a knitting challenge where you use microgauge. 10 stitches or more per inch. That is killing me & my hands (we won't tell Phillip ;)). I have been able to keep gauge. Yay. Normal gauge doesn't bother me, but this micro gauge UGH! The way around it is to knit is short stints.
A while back I started a project for Aunt Shirley. Perfect yarn/perfect pattern. Hah! the yarn was pooling in a way that you couldn't see the pattern at all. So that got frogged. I found a new pattern. Hopefully it will turn out better. (crosses fingers). I'm not saying what it is yet. But it is in Summer 2006 Interweave Knits You'll just have to guess ;)
Time to go do the boring stuff like laundry and make sure Derek loaded the dishwasher. So I can do the fun stuff
Really.... I did! They hate it too. They told me it was "totally unnecessary"
I figure if they would have gotten up on time I wouldn't have had to use it :)
After two months, we got the call to come pick up the plates to the new car today.
My first handspun yarn is hanging in the shower setting it's twist.
I've reskeined 3 hanks of yarn for my Esty 2 more to go. Then I need to take pictures so I can list them for sale. Then I want to reskein some of the ones that are for sale and redo pictures. I think with the new way, they are prettier, and give a better representation of the yarn. I have one listing up that is the new way. It just needs a couple more pictures.
Anona gave me some beautiful wool roving she dyed. I would like to get prepped and start spinning on. Many shades of purple.
I've let the 3 white guineas out of the brooding area, and now they are hiding from me! I can't find them. They are "hopefully" under the truck or in a bush. I can't hear their trill.
We lost one of the newest chicks. It drowned in the last rainstorm. Grandma was right when she said they were so dumb they could drown in a tsp of water. haha. It was pretty windy and may have gotten separated from Goldie (momma hen) . She has 2 chicks left.
I finished a sock at lunch. The boys dyed the yarn for me with kool aid when we first moved here. I need to start the mate to it soon. It's really neat looking. But I won't ever do the pattern again as I am doing it now. I am in a knitting challenge where you use microgauge. 10 stitches or more per inch. That is killing me & my hands (we won't tell Phillip ;)). I have been able to keep gauge. Yay. Normal gauge doesn't bother me, but this micro gauge UGH! The way around it is to knit is short stints.
A while back I started a project for Aunt Shirley. Perfect yarn/perfect pattern. Hah! the yarn was pooling in a way that you couldn't see the pattern at all. So that got frogged. I found a new pattern. Hopefully it will turn out better. (crosses fingers). I'm not saying what it is yet. But it is in Summer 2006 Interweave Knits You'll just have to guess ;)
Time to go do the boring stuff like laundry and make sure Derek loaded the dishwasher. So I can do the fun stuff
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
It's been one long hot weekend
First off. Phillip is 44!!
It's not a very good picture but here are 3 two day old white guinea chicks! They are cute and hornery. They are in the baby chick pen but separate at the same time. We were afraid they would get hurt. This way they are "together" and can be put in with the rest when they are bigger. Later they will probably roost in the pecan tree. But can stay in the hen house if they want.
This is Honey. She is one of 3 new laying hens. She is a Red Production hen. She looks a little weird at first glance. That is because her beak is so short. When she was born the hatchery she came from chopped it off :( She's really friendly and isn't afraid of Priss like some of the others haha.
Here are the other 2 new babies. They are Pullets. I forgot to ask breed. But they look like Araucanas to me. LuLu is the white one, and the Black one is Anna Belle. LuLu wasn't here 2 hours yet and she found a snake over a foot long, killed it, and had it for lunch! She's definately a keeper :) They are a bit on the shy side still.
Here are our babies. I know Wyatt likes to see them :) It's hard to see, but the black ones really do have feathers. They're just black!. The other one there is one of 6 Rhode Island Red chicks. They've had a HUGE growth spurt. There is only supposed to be a few days difference in age between them.
Here is Derek with "Red". Can you say Spoiled Chicken. haha The boys are amazed at how soft the feathers are.
This is Deven holding one of the baby red chicks. It's trying to "take off"
The next two pictures are out of order. We found a "studly dude" for Nona. I named him Rosedale. We call him Dale. He's very nice looking for a goat. Here they are together. It was really funny when we finally got him out of the truck. He wouldn't come out. This is after their hellos. They were making "smoochey" faces at each other! Curled lips and everything! Who knew. It was so cute. Nona is no longer lonely. Dale is from East Texas and 3/4s Spanish Boer. I think we got great deal for $45,
Here is Dale chilling in the back of the truck
Lastly we no longer have Colonel Sanders the Rooster. Now the other hens can grow their feathers back and maybe start laying eggs again. The man we bought Dale from is the new owner of Colonel. I swear it was love at first sight. I'm glad.
It's not a very good picture but here are 3 two day old white guinea chicks! They are cute and hornery. They are in the baby chick pen but separate at the same time. We were afraid they would get hurt. This way they are "together" and can be put in with the rest when they are bigger. Later they will probably roost in the pecan tree. But can stay in the hen house if they want.
This is Honey. She is one of 3 new laying hens. She is a Red Production hen. She looks a little weird at first glance. That is because her beak is so short. When she was born the hatchery she came from chopped it off :( She's really friendly and isn't afraid of Priss like some of the others haha.
Here are the other 2 new babies. They are Pullets. I forgot to ask breed. But they look like Araucanas to me. LuLu is the white one, and the Black one is Anna Belle. LuLu wasn't here 2 hours yet and she found a snake over a foot long, killed it, and had it for lunch! She's definately a keeper :) They are a bit on the shy side still.
Here are our babies. I know Wyatt likes to see them :) It's hard to see, but the black ones really do have feathers. They're just black!. The other one there is one of 6 Rhode Island Red chicks. They've had a HUGE growth spurt. There is only supposed to be a few days difference in age between them.
Here is Derek with "Red". Can you say Spoiled Chicken. haha The boys are amazed at how soft the feathers are.
This is Deven holding one of the baby red chicks. It's trying to "take off"
The next two pictures are out of order. We found a "studly dude" for Nona. I named him Rosedale. We call him Dale. He's very nice looking for a goat. Here they are together. It was really funny when we finally got him out of the truck. He wouldn't come out. This is after their hellos. They were making "smoochey" faces at each other! Curled lips and everything! Who knew. It was so cute. Nona is no longer lonely. Dale is from East Texas and 3/4s Spanish Boer. I think we got great deal for $45,
Here is Dale chilling in the back of the truck
Lastly we no longer have Colonel Sanders the Rooster. Now the other hens can grow their feathers back and maybe start laying eggs again. The man we bought Dale from is the new owner of Colonel. I swear it was love at first sight. I'm glad.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It's Chickie Day!
I got up this morning and checked the calendar. Yep Miss Priss is going to be a momma. She's been sitting on 15 eggs for 21 days as of today. When I got up this morning to let the chickens out I checked on her. I heard peeping!. So far there there are 5 partially hatched peeping chicks. and she's helping them! As soon as she hears peeping coming from an eggs she pokes a hole or two in in it. 3 of the chicks are half out and I think she's eaten 1/2 of their shells. the ones I saw when she got up to get a drink and stretch her legs were still curled in the shell. They looked black.
More pictures later today
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