Category Archives: Chickens

Happy Thanksgiving and a Surprise

Chickens, Reflections

I want to start by saying that I hope all of my friends/readers here in the US had a great Thanksgiving and wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

Now a quick farm story – Yesterday we had a surprise at the farm when these three chickens showed up.

We don’t know where they came from but since they were inside the fence we can only assume that someone dropped them off. My husband did check with a couple of neighbors who said they did not belong to them. It appears that at least one is a young rooster, but they may all be roosters. Too many roosters can cause problems in a flock. Extra roosters are usually butchered for meat, but these are fancy breeds not meat birds. We are working on identifying their breeds.

They seem pretty friendly, and my husband was able to get them in the coop last night since the temperature was down around freezing. Two of them found their own way in the coop tonight and my husband helped the other one in. Our flock seems to have accepted them so far, so unless they start causing problems, I think they have found a new home.

Thanks for visiting.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Catching Up-Farm Update

Apples, Blueberries, Chickens, Chicks, Flowers, garden, Gardening, Grapes, Pond, Reflections, The Farm, Wild Flowers

To get caught up on my posts I’ll start with a look around the farm These pictures were actually from last week so I’m still a bit behind. 🙂

Chickens

Our youngest chick hatched on June 29th.

My husband named her or him (it’s still too early to tell if this is a hen or rooster) Strawberry because when he took the flock some strawberry tops that I had trimmed she grabbed one and gobbled it up. Strawberry was probably less than two weeks old at the time. He or she still sticks close to momma, not necessarily because it is still being trained or cared for by momma, but it doesn’t have anyone its own age to hang out with.

These are 2 of the chicks that hatched on May 12. They are beginning to look more like adult chickens and we are certain that one is a rooster. My husband even heard him try to crow one day.

Rex is our roo from last year. He is the daddy of all the chicks that hatched this year. He is a bit of an odd bird. He does the normal crowing sound of a rooster (Ur Ur Ur Ur URRRRR!) but also makes a loud cawing sound (Arrrr!) that I have never heard a rooster (or any chicken) make before.

What’s Blooming

Hibiscus in bloom.

Cosmos.

Wild flowers

The Pond

On some of these hot days I’ve found a dip in the pond quite refreshing and a pleasant way to get in a workout.

Garden News

Keeping the gardens alive has been a huge challenge this year. The weather has not been kind. Both June and July were very wet and all of the plants have been stressed at best. My husband has spent many hours weeding and fertilizing. Doing anything he could think of to keep things alive and growing.

I think he’s done an amazing job. I really thought we would have more crop loss than we have.

Acorn Squash

Another type of winter squash.

Sweet corn and Melons

Tomatoes (they may be small but they taste great!)

Sunflowers

Cucumbers and Eggplant

Green beans and Beets

Fruits

We had an amazing blueberry crop this year. We began picking in June and just finished picking last week. I lost track of how many we harvested as we were eating them fresh, freezing some and having friends and family pick and take what they wanted.

We have some apples that are looking good and if we can keep the birds away, we should have a decent harvest.

We also have a lot of grapes that are looking good.

We have put netting over them to try to save as many as possible for us. Homemade grape juice is one of our favorites!

Thanks for visiting.

Chick Update

Chickens, Chicks, Reflections

Right on Time

May 31st was the day we expected our next batch of chicks to hatch and when my husband returned from opening up the coop that morning, before 6:30, he said “congratulations Grandma!”. I knew we had chicks. He wasn’t sure how many had hatched at that time because it was a chilly morning, and he didn’t want to lift momma and expose the hatchlings to the cold.

When we returned to the farm just before 10:00 a.m. she had three fluffy yellow chicks under her. Another, that it appeared had tried to hatch, didn’t make it. By the end of the day they were wandering around the coop, and she was showing them how to eat and drink.

By the following day they had found their way out of the coop and my husband had to help momma get them back in at night. On day three he kept the big door closed so they stayed inside coop but on day four momma had them out and about all day and they even found their way back into the coop that evening.

I didn’t realize how much the first peep (a group of chicks is called a peep) had grown in three weeks until I saw the new ones. This week the Jersey momma took over full time parenting duties while the buff co-momma apparently decided she was no longer needed and left the group. Hopefully she has started laying eggs again.

Thanks for visiting.

Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Buff Orpingtons, Chickens, Chicks, Jersey Giant, Reflections

Here in the U.S. Sunday, May 12, was Mother’s Day. It is also the day our two broody hens became mothers.

On Sunday we had four out of ten eggs hatch. We found three under the Jersey Giant and one under the Buff Orpington.

Oddly enough the three Buff Orpington chicks were under the Jersey Giant and the Jersey chick was under the Buff hen.

We waited until Tuesday morning but when none of the other eggs hatched my husband disposed of them. I will admit that we were a bit disappointed that we only had four chicks hatch.

The two hens are raising the chicks together, but it does seem like the Jersey hen is taking on more of the mothering role, teaching the chicks how to peck and scratch. The Buff stays nearby and definitely helps protect the chicks.

Today, Thursday, was their first day out of the coop.

Sometimes it seems like other hens are helping with the chicks as well.

At one point when Ranger decided the check out the babies. Both momma’s, several other hens and the rooster let him know that he was not welcome. They squawked and flew at him to chase him away. After being chased off again today Ranger has decided it’s best to avoid the group.

On Saturday we gave one of the other hens 5 eggs to sit on. This hen is so determined to brood. She has been sitting on a nest for about three weeks and each day my husband takes one or two eggs out from underneath her, trying to break her broodiness. It hasn’t worked. She just sits on her nest in the corner all day and hisses or squawks when he takes the eggs from her. After my husband gave her the 5 eggs she made some very happy clucking noises. So, in a few weeks we might have more babies (and more cute pictures). But we won’t count our chickens before they hatch.

Thanks for visiting.

If I Were A Bird

Birds, Buff Orpingtons, Chickens, Chicks, Eggs, Killdeer, Nature, Reflections

A few weeks ago I gave my sister a pot of pansies. She has had it on her porch on a table between the chairs that she and her husband sit in to enjoy the outdoors. Last weekend she sent a picture of the nest a robin had built in the pot of pansies. I told her “If I were a robin I would build my nest there.” She wasn’t sure if the robin would lay eggs and raise babies there because she and her husband sit there often. Apparently, the robin is undeterred. 🙂 When I last talked to her there were two eggs in the nest.

If I were a bird I would not want to be a kildeer. On Thursday my husband and I witnessed a pair of kildeer with their three young babies. If you are not familiar with kildeer you can learn more about them here. I didn’t have my camera with me, but I doubt if I would have gotten any good photos as they were always in motion. The babies, which are up and running around within hours of hatching, are so cute, but boy do those parents have their wings full keeping track of the babies. It’s a good thing that both parents raise the young together as they usually have 3-5 babies (running every which way) and while the babies feed themselves, they are unable to fly until they are about 25 days old, thus they need protection from predators.

If I were a bird, I would likely be a chicken – in fact I’m sure I was called a mother hen more than once when my ‘chicks’ were young. 🙂 Much like kildeer, baby chickens are up and out of the nest very quickly. They also eat and drink on their own but rely on their mother (or humans) for warmth and protection. The rooster does not help raise chicks, but mother hens are generally very attentive and protective of their chicks.

We currently have several hens that are broody. If Buff Orpingtons have any fault, it’s their tendency to go broody. About two weeks ago we gave 10 eggs to one of the hens, the Buff Orpington in the corner of the picture below. Since then one of our Jersey Giants (the black hen pictured below) decided to share the parenting responsibilities.

Most of the time when the buff was on the nest the jersey would nestle up beside her. Sometimes the jersey would sneak a couple of the eggs and put them under herself. If the buff would leave the nest the jersey would take over. We did mark the original 10 eggs because sometimes we find an extra egg or two in the nest. Saturday my husband split the eggs giving each hen 5 eggs and so far the hens seem content that they each have their own clutch. We don’t know how long that will last.

We have about a week to wait until the babies are due to hatch. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I would love to have some little chicks running around and watch momma(s) raising them. I’ll keep you posted.

If you were a bird what kind of bird would you be? What kind of bird would you not want to be?