Brooders are Full

April is probably my favorite month of the year for my farm.  The garden gets planted, animals of about every variety is for sale in plentiful amounts, and the weather is usually pleasant.  Hatcheries and personal fowl breeders pick up their hatching production (or it seems that way because everyone goes nuts for the earlier hatches).  Kidding and foaling seasons start.  It's a glorious month. 

Today, even though it was cloudy, gave me a decent opportunity to get some pictures in.  I have SO MANY that I haven't taken pictures of before today. It may seem a bit overwhelming, but enjoy it anyway. 

The Ducklings

We started with 6 ducklings, but one sadly passed away a while ago.  She had some kind of growth on her neck, and she was sickly.  I have three Jumbo Pekins and two Buffs now.  They are so messy!  I have to clean out their bin every day.

The Goslings

 The goslings are going strong.  We have 4 Embdens, and I love all of them.  Of all the fowl, the geese are my favorites.  They have the sweetest personalities.

Bourbon Red Poult

 A single poult survived of Terry's first test hatch of an attempted six.  There are several reasons that contributed to the low hatch rate/survival, but the good news is, we have a good sturdy poult.  I'm not sure if we are selling this one or keeping it.

The Chicks

We'll start with the youngest.  This week, on Wednesday, I received a shipment of pure bred Ameraucanas from an awesome breeder. They were hatched April 12, and I ended up with 17 chicks total, 8 wheaten (a variety of wheaten, blue wheaten, and splash wheaten possible), 6 white, and 3 blues.  Sadly, a white passed away yesterday.  I'm not certain what happened, but now we have 16 Ameraucanas.

TSC Red Pullets

These two ladies came from Tractor Supplies "Red Pullets" bin, about three weeks ago.  I'm not sure exactly what they are.  I thought they were both Golden Comets, but it looks like only one is actually that.

The Outside Brooder

Here, we have several young-ons.  3 Cornish Rocks, 2 Game Bantams, 3 Black Copper Marans, 1 Speckled Sussex, 2 d'Uccles (self blue and white), a Barred Cochin Bantam, and one other bantam that I have no clue what she is....  13 total of various ages.  I bought the Cornish Rocks the same time as the two red pullets pictured above, leaving them about 3 weeks old.  The Speckled Sussex came from the 7 I got in March, so she's about 8 weeks old.  The bantams are a little over 8 weeks old also. 

I bought the Marans are about 5 weeks old now.  It looks like only two may be pullets....  Go me!  Rotten roo luck....

White d'Uccle

Self Blue d'Uccle

Cornish X Rock

Mystery Girl

 Turkeys

The two toms facing off against a rooster.

The Turkeys have been consistent since the previous update.  We still have four total: 2 Bourbon Red toms, 1 Bourbon Red hen, and 1 Black Spanish hen.  The males have always been territorial, for the most part, but one has started showing signs of aggression.  If it progresses, that particular tom will be getting a good soak in hot oil, if you catch my drift.

  

Jerseys 

My pride of my self-proclaimed homestead in training, the Jerseys.  T-Bone is getting noticeably bigger.  Annabelle is too, of course, but I'm a bit more excited to see T-Bone grow, for meat purposes.  *Mwahahaha* (end laugh).  He is entertaining to watch though.  He is a bit on the dim side, so when he runs around like a hooligan, he tends to do it erratically and without destination.  Annabelle gets zoomies and runs, but T-Bone just runs with her while looking confused.  Poor boy...  Annabelle has really taken up with T-Bone though.  They are hardly ever separated.

Goats 

They are both pregnant.  Both of them.  Bootsie looks like she is carrying triplets, her belly is protruding so far, the poor girl waddles.

Waterfowl

We have 4 adults from last year, the two Embden girls, Olivia and Peyton (named after iZombie characters) the two Buff hens.  I love the breeds, I had to get more this year, hence the first few pictures.  <3

Chickens

The chickens get to free range often, usually every day.  With transitioning some older chicks into the bantam coop, they stay put more often than not, with little free range time until they become acclimated to staying in the coop.  Tonight will be another transitioning night.  The Speckled Sussex and Marans will be going tonight so the two reds can join the others.  I need to bring in a broody hen to put where the reds are now, but that will be explained a bit more after while.

The large coop consists of ten chickens.  Most have been here for about 2 years, and they are permanent fixtures now.  The only rooster in here is the BCM rooster, and he will be bred to any BCM girls I end up with out of the chicks.  He will also be bred to some Ameraucanas and the CCL for my home-grown Olive Eggers.

The bantam coop contains 17 chickens before the transition.  There are so many breeds, I will likely leave a few out, plus a couple are mixed anyway, but I have Bantam EEs, standard Polish, d'Uccle just to name a few.

 

One of my favorite chickens, a German Spitzhauben

Little Mister

  The 7 chicks that I purchased that I had no clue what all I had, 2 I sent out as a gift for a fellow chicken enthusiast.  I'm enabling her addiction because mine is out of control.  *SEG* The chicks I ended up with are 2 Wyandottes (Golden and Silver Laced),  the Speckled Sussex mentioned above, a Barred Rock, and a Crested Cream Legbar!  OH MY GOSH!  A Crested Cream Legbar is a breed I have been DYING to get a hold of, and HERE SHE IS!  I'm pretty sure she is indeed a she.  WOOT!  Of course, we also have three BCM (Black Copper Marans) chicks in the group also.

The broody story......

Most bantams have the tendency to be broody.  It is just a characteristic most bantam breeds share.  Not all, just some.  Last week, one of my girls started going broody.  Like every other time one goes broody, I give her a few days to make sure it's not just some fluke where she gets up after a couple of days and ignores the nest.  So long as she is consistently broody, I give her a small clutch of marked eggs of my choosing.  Well, the little gray girl goes broody, and I give her a clutch of 6 eggs.

The next day, I go out and find a buff bantam sharing her nest.  Well, she hops up and doesn't go back in until the evening, so I figure she is being fluke broody.  I leave her alone, but the following day, I go out and find a broken egg, the result of two broody hens fighting over a nest.

 I'm hoping everything will be okay because the transition isn't quite right for me to put gray girl in her own brooder yet.  Two days later (today) I go out to find FOUR HENS FIGHTING OVER A NEST!  FOUR!  The gray girl has been a good broody, but we have the Buff girl who has decidedly gone full-fledged broody, the Black Japanese, and a Bantam Easter Egger all in one nest.

It's difficult getting out eggs out from under a broody, let alone four!  No matter how you put your hand in, you're going to get pecked!  I'll have to take some other eggs out tomorrow and put Buff in a crate or something...  I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with the three other hens.  Gray (since the start of the blog) has been moved to an inside with her own feeder and waterer so she isn't harassed by all the others.  The eggs will have the chance to grow without getting broken, and no more fighting, at least for Gray.

SEG, It's That Time of Year

I have gradually slowed down in my enthusiasm of chicken keeping.  I still have the love of all things farm and country, but I have realized my picture-taking craze and have stopped taking so many.  Sadly, it seems my pictures have nearly stopped completely and will try to remedy that.

December we sold the three Khaki ducks and the same person took Socks.  Socks wasn't getting the attention she needed and deserved, and the couple that bought the KCs were very nice and also had two other bunnies.  I have been keeping track, and she looks very happy in the setting she is in, and I am very pleased with the outcome.  Plus, I have my brooder back for future use.  I placed an order with McMurray for ducks and geese, expected to hatch in May.  I also contacted a reputable show breeder of Ameraucanas, and I have ordered Blue, Blue Wheaton, and Wheaton Ameraucanas, and possibly whites if he gets a good hatch.  I have no clue when they will be coming in because the waiting list was filling up quickly.  No chicks 2016 resolution failed before it ever began.  #NoRegrets

January held little for our farm, only simple maintenance and care, at least where the chickens are concerned.  Meri (or Mary, however you want to spell it) has been bred to Bootsie's brother, Amos.  He's a real jerk, let me tell you, but Meri is a sweet heart.  I'm hoping Meri's temperament will pass to her kids, and I'm hoping her kids will be does (don't count your chickens but crossing fingers).

February was much the same as January for the chickens.  The count is exactly the same since the last post, Meri is probably pregnant since she hasn't come back into heat since her boyfriend left her. On February 20, we were presented with an opportunity I couldn't pass up.  We bought a 5 month old Jersey heifer.  YES!  I got my dream calf!  The seller is very nice, I get tons of information and advice, and, and, AND!  Get this....  This girl (Annabelle) has been worked on being halter broke and trained to tie.  I can mess with her legs, touch her all over, pick up her feet, and she is FINE with it!  Oh man!  I rave over her, I love her so much.  Perfect for a beginner bovine enthusiast such as myself.  She was born October 5, 2015 (turning 5 mo old on Autumn's third birthday *SQWEE*)

Of course we couldn't make her be lonely, so we bought her a  2 week old bull companion we named TBone, soon to be castrated for easy management and to be butchered around 1.5 years old.  

He was born February 14, 2016, still taking the bottle twice a day.

February (cont'd), I brought home some chicks on the 27Th.  They were so cute sitting in Tractor Supply, I just had to get them.  Bantam grab bag!  No pictures, sorry, but I brought home 6, and I know for sure one is a White d'Uccle, one is a Self Blue d'Uccle, one is a Bantam Barred Cochin, and the other three, I have no clue....  Maybe Bantam Welsummer or Bantam Speckled Sussex (though less likely).  I have been doing great at not buying any chicks, but now the dam is open, and there is no stopping the flood....  

March has also brought in chicks....  7 of several breeds on March 3.  Some are 3 weeks old, some are probably closer to 4 weeks old.  Yesterday, I picked up 6 Black Copper Marans chicks.  I'm up to 20.  GO ME! *SEG*   

I might get some pictures if the rain lets up this weekend.  I need to clean the coops when the rains stop, and that needs to come first.  The large coop tends to retain enough water to cake the poop and hay together, creating a yucky flooring that begins to stink.  It's a problem that needs to be fixed eventually, but not a priority.

Ginger (Ms Serious) and Nala (F.K.A. Kat)

5 Months...

Time has flown by this year...

I just finished reducing my flock from about 40 to 21. Woot!




My current number/breeds are as follows: (ahem)

(Roosters)
1 BCM
1 (mystery) bantam I named Little Mister

(Hens)
2 Ameraucanas
2 Barred Rocks
2 Phoenix
2 Olive Eggers
1 Barnyard mix
1 Tolbunt Polish
1 Silver Laced Polish
1 Buff Laced Polish
1 Spitshauben
1 Black Tailed Black bantam
3 bantam mixes
2 EE bantam

(I've still got three bantams to sell, though aside from two of the mixes, I haven't decided which will be the third.)



Other fowl:
4 Bourbon Red turkeys
1 Black Spanish turkey
2 Embdens geese
2 Buff duck
3 Khaki Campbell ducks (selling)
2 Muscovy ducks (suspect one is a mix)



Once I get the ones I want to sell gone and get our turkeys down to a pair (hooray for holiday dinners), our feed bill will dramatically decrease. Yes! I already see a difference in the amount I feed. I was going through 2 bags of layer pellets, plus a bag of starter/grower every two weeks, plus a bag of scratch a month. The past two weeks are almost up, and I still have most of the one bag of starter, and about a half a bag of layer pellets. Looks like I am going through a bit more scratch as the turkeys are gaining weight, but I can deal. I mean, we are planning to eat them, sooooo.....

"Why did you sell half your chickens?" may be the question of the day.  The answer is quite simple, really.  Firstly, for having so many hens, I didn't get a good number of eggs.  I had over 20 hens able to lay, but I would never get more than 9 a day.  Ridiculous numbers, if you ask me, and with the other young hens not expecting to become production breeds, we had to make a change.  Secondly, I needed the room.  My large coop is only big enough to comfortably accommodate about 20-25 chickens. As it stands, I will be close to that capacity when the large fowl grow and integrate with the large coop, there will be 16, and if I plan on adding more, well...  At the time I needed room.  Before getting on the selling binge, there were 29 in the large coop.  Talk about cramped.  Then the little coop is supposed to be for my bantams.  I will need another coop at some point for breeding purposes, but I'm not really in a hurry for that.

The goats are little pigs, that's for sure. If eating the "other" fowl food wasn't enough, Mary has figured out how to get the chicken feed straight from the coop (#goatshaming).  What's that?  I haven't introduced the goats yet?  Well!  Let's remedy that right now!  We have two young Pygmy girls Mary and Bootsie.  Bootsie is the grey one and Mary is the blue-eyed white one.



Socks is still doing well. She's been moved outside in her own hutch (formerly known as the brooder).

<b>What else happened in the last five months?!?!</b>
Uhhh...  Well, we sold Oreo, the donkeys, one of the turkey toms, many chickens, and one of the geese (if that wasn't mentioned before).  We still plan on buying a cow at some point, but it might be a little further in the future than I originally anticipated.  I expect to get the pasture secured with a decent shelter so the goats will stop pooping on my porch, and so the cows can get out of the rain/wind/cold/sun/etc.  The goats already have a house out there, but Mary and Bootsie have figured out how to get between the two yards, and Mary can get out of the pasture and back again.  It's crazy.

Chickens to Hatch, For Sale, What We Have (Chicken wise)

Our current numbers as of right now holds at 39 chickens.  This includes chicks and layers.  The problem I am facing is lack of room. Why? I have too many non-layers with more coming.

 Art and one of his lady friends.

Up for the night

29 in the 'bator! All are showing signs of life. 

There is also an order of chicks coming in two weeks.  My, oh my.

This is where the "For Sale" comes in.  The first on the list are the several cockerels. I have 4 known roosters, and only about 23 laying hens.  The numbers are bad, so two are up for sale. Add in one a few weeks old, and a possible other the same age, but not certain yet on the sex, but both are listed for sale.

The 7 bantams are around eight weeks old-ish.... I listed three for sale.

If I lose all the ones for sale, that will bring my total count down to 32. Those four little babies the Phoenix hatched are going to be grown out to see what colors I get. I'm going to try to sell all the chicks that hatch out of the incubator. Maybe if I don't end up putting them under Myrtle.  It looks like she's trying to go broody again.

.... plus the donkeys get annoyed when the chickens demand their food...

I put Donald and Daisy up for sale too. I have too many ducks, 10 to be precise.If no one buys them or the roos, they will be butchered.

The geese are still too young to sex, though I fear I may have two ganders and only one goose.  If that is the case, I will either have to sell one, buy another girl, or eat him.  Hard choices....

Turkeys are doing well, too. They are still taking up my brooder, and I'm none too happy about it, but we can only do so much on a weekend, I suppose.