November Down Home..

Well..here they are..
the very last pics of the turkeys.

Monday the 16th is butcher day.

Not all are slated for freezer camp

and I will have some left for Christmas

but the majority will be gracing tables

on the 26th.

I am proud of them and count our first year

of heritage breed turkeys as a success.

There will be more turkeys..many more

as I have loved having them in the yard.
And I am a wee bit sad at the thought of

slaughter. They really are like large dogs

in their affection and loyalty.

Gosh! Aren't they beautiful.

I just love them,

but you all know that already.

And here are some bold new additions..

They are meat birds, broilers, that were allowed to mature.

I got them from a fellow farmer and will use them to breed

large, scrumptious meat birds of my very own.

I know they look like chickens, but believe when I tell you they are

something entirely different.

They are HUGE and heavy..oh my!

Once they are back up to prime form and good health
and start to lay I will toss in a few choice roosters

and see what we will get. I have great hopes.

Some of my younger birds are starting to lay.

Check out that huge egg on top.

That was her first effort.

Oh, the squalling from the laying box with that one!~

Poor girl. But no blood on the egg etc..

so it did no permanent damage.

What a way to begin...

Kepp an eye out for an entry about turkey butchering.

I am not doing, but a traveling butcher is coming

for the task. Good friend and great guy.

Help!! I am overrun!!!

I have just been hatching, hatching, hatching.
And the Sweet Husband just keeps putting more eggs in!
I hope I can sell all of these little darlings!
Anyone need some pretty chicks from great stock?

I am loving the ear tufts on the Ameracaunas. It just doesn't get any cuter than this.

I seriously wish I could keep old "Spot" here. I will never know what it will look

like as an adult.

And this here is a Langshan chick.. I think Langshan mix actaully as the toes are two-toned black and white. Cute though.

So, my time is spent as a complete slave to the incubators and the chicks.

Making sure that every one is eating and drinking, not too hot and not too cold.

Raise the light, lower the light. Fill the waterer, fill the feeder. Boil some eggs, mash some eggs.

I am not going to get a tan this way. Nope.

But they are really pretty. I just love them and I have about 60 more too

and the incubator is full up. Oh my.

Opulent Ova!

Aren't they just the prettiest things...?

Like Easter bunny droppings of the sweetest chocolate.

And they will hatch into lovely Marans chickens

Black Coppers and Splashes and Black....oh yippee!!!

I got these gorgeous things from a friend

http://pattycarson.com/poultry.html

so, if you are tempted beyond your ability to control

check her out and you too could be as happy as me!!

I am ecstatic, by the way. Like a kid at Christmas.

Thanks, Patty!

I fixed the link!!! It works correctly! My bad.

A Noble Breed..

I raise Black Langshans
among other things, but the Langshans are my favorites.
Large, huge, gigantic and as gentle as a spring breeze.

And they are beautiful.
Slick black with iridescent blues, greens
and purples in the sun.
Their legs are heavily feathered.
Pictured here and most often is my Flock Sire, 'Saddleback'.
He is not a 'good' Langshan as he has iridescent gold on his
collar and along his saddle, but I find the golden feathers
to be striking and beautiful.
His sons carry the trait as well
though sometimes they carry a gold so light as to
be almost silver.

The roos are tall and deep chested and calm.

They are true gentlemen. There will be no scrapping

or posturing in the barn or in the field.

A Langshan roo is more apt to walk away and forage

in a quiet place.

Saddleback can be counted on to run the barn as well

as a good farm dog. He willingly returns his ladies into his pen

to allow another group to be let out into the yard.

He fiercely protects setting hens from the curiousity of

the other birds by standing guard outside the brooder

stall and running all chickens back down to where they

are supposed to be.

He is my right hand bird and I adore him.

He takes supreme care of his hens,

saving all treats just for them and eating only after

they have had their fill. He even tries to ply

my affections by offering me bits of bugs

and the sweetest bits of greens with his beak.

He is the only bird I have that I will bend over face to face with.

I have never had a moment of concern that I would get

spurred in the face. Instead, he will run my hair gently

through his beak while sweet talking into my ear.

This is good because his spurs are several inches long,

curved like sabers and razor sharp.

The hens are plump and round and ultimately feminine.

They are good layers of light brown eggs.

A bit more standoffish than the roos perhaps,

but a pleasure to see in the yard.

I would recommend the Black Langshan to anyone

with an interest in a beautiful and noble breed that is hearty

and reliable providing a steady supply of good sized eggs and tender, sweet meat.

They have also been known to stop traffic when they are out

where they can be seen.

However, patience is needed as the roos are very slow to mature

with many gangly and unattractive months before the

full size is achieved. I have found that it takes a year, maybe a bit longer,

before the roos have filled out completely.

But once maturity is reached.. WOW what a bird!

My theory and practice of brooding...

If you ask 10 folks about brooding chicks
you will get as many answers.
Everyone has their own way
and their own theory on how to go about it.
Not that anyone asked me, but here is my way.
Of course, my preferred method is
to use a good broody hen.
Nothing mothers better and the chicks that are broody
raised are healthier, heartier and fare better
all through their lives.
Start with a chick.
Well, you should start with many chicks
as they are communal, flocking critters.
They rely on each other for warmth and comfort
and they share knowledge as well..
like where the water is and where the food is
and what is good to eat.

You can either get them already hatched
via a good hatchery or through your feed store in season.
I start all of my chicks with boiled egg
mashed into little giblets.
When you first get them and place them in the brooder
grasp them individually and dip their beaks into the water
to show them how to drink and where the water is.
I place a splash of apple cider vinegar into their water as well.
The vinegar changes the PH in their systems
making it an unpleasant environment for the bad stomach bugs
that chicks are prone to. It wards off 'pasty butt' which is
chick diarrhea. The runny poop hardens to a crust on their rears.
That is not good and must be removed gently by hand.
This is not fun for you or the chick.
The best method is to once again grasp the chick,
this time with it facing the other way.
Drip hydrogen peroxide onto the 'paste'
and wait a few moments. Then begin loosening it
gently with a tissue or washcloth. Repeat.
Do not pull!! You can pull out the innards
and this is also bad.
But if you use the vinegar trick you should
never have to experience this particular joy.


Where to keep your feathered friends...
I am fortunate enough to have the potting
shed at my disposal and no longer have to
keep chicks in my house. At least not for very long.
I wait until they are eating and drinking well and then boot
them out the door.
They have a heat lamp for warmth and they do fine.


My brooder material of choice:
PINE STRAW!!!!!
I will never use pine shavings again.
Once I stumbled on the joys of simple
pine needles I realized I will never go back.
Pine straw is inedible so you do not have
to worry about the chicks eating it
and getting impacted.
It is very warm and they make
a nest under the brooder lamp.
The poop dries and falls through! No more
smelly brooders! Ever! You can lift the pine needles
up and sweep the dried poop away and lay the needles
back down again. They last forever.
If you take nothing else away from anything
I have ever said or may say in the future,
take this bit of advice. It is life altering.

After the chicks are eating well on the cannabilistic

diet of boiled eggs I switch to chick starter.

I choose a non medicated starter as I try to raise my birds as

naturally as I can. I prefer the Layena brand from Purina

as it has no animal by products in it.

I believe in feeding my birds meat and encourage

them to eat as many yummy bugs and mice as they

can choke down, but I don't go for the by products.

I try to keep the trough feeder filled

as young birds are voracious eaters.

I keep them on starter for a couple of months

and then swith to FlockRaiser which a good high protein feed

for growing them out.

At 16 weeks of age I start the pullets on Layena laying pellets

in preparation for the onset of egglaying and the culmination of

all the months of work.

The roos... I eat.

When my chicks are 2 to 3 weeks old or so
I start adding toys into the brooder.
The first to go in is a large root ball.
I added one today.
The birds love to peck at the dirt and will eat the entire ball,
roots, dirt and all. I also add sand into the brooder house
and start giving them tender weeds.
Chickweed is a favorite and I am fortunate
enough to have tons of it.
Baby lamb's quarter is another
favorite, but whatever you have handy is fine.
Go easy on it and let their bodies adjust.

I also add a branch with many limbs.
They practice perching to gain balance
and muscle strength.
And soon they will be sleeping perched atop it.
King of The branch is also a fun game
and helps define pecking order.
They also will begin napping under it
in practice of flock safety.
'If you are under brush the hawks cannot eat you.'

Around this time I also add a dust box.
Yes, they eat that dirt too,
but they do bathe in it.
Dust bathing is the height of poultry
social structure. Think of it like a trip
to the beauty parlor
for little old ladies.
It is also good pratice for keeping
parasite free.

And that is my theory of brooding chicks.

The End.

If you can think of anything I missed
or if you have questions and/or thoughts,
please let me know.

I thought I would give an update...

They start too cute for words...

and enter the stage where they are so ugly it hurts to look at them.

yep.. it is the same bird.

And this is what a normal, healthy, well brooded
3 week old chick should look like.
Feathered, bright eyed, confident and inquisitive.

No Boys Allowed!!!

It has been an interesting week around The Hennery.
Especially if you are a Silkie. I have three broody Silkie hens,
three growing Silkie chicks
and three dressed out Silkie roos.
And two Silkie roos that have been kicked out of their snug home.



This is the old potting shed. I know it is not pretty, but boy!, is it handy.
The Silkies, being that they are Sweet Husband's favorites
are not forced to live in the big barn like normal chickens.
They get the comfort of the potting shed with it's brick walls and
big windows and access to the yard by the house.

Even if I am brooding chicks in there the Silkies get to stay
as they are all great parents.. even Papa Ppfootie.





But Papa Ppfootie is a bit of a control freak who bosses his ladies
mercilessly and when they are all brooding he just has fits.
They don't obey!
They don't eat when he says!
They are unresponsive to his romantic overtures!
And he harrasses them terribly.
So, Papa is out!
And so very unhappy. He keeps pacing the front and crowing and clawing at the door.
Poor Papa. No boys allowed.

Meanwhile, inside the potting shed...


This is my mother and daughter pair hard at work

And this is my favorite girl. So pretty with her top knot of fluff.

And these guys are growing up quick.

There is nothin uglier than a Silkie chick!

There is another chick in there too, but it was being shy and hiding under

Black Broody.

And this is what became of three members

of 'The Jackson 5'.
I had Black Broody and 4 Black Silkie roos.

(What would you call them?)

I butchered 3 of the Jacksons yesterday and had every

intention of butchering all of the roos, but I am a softie at heart.

I grabbed up one of the roos to carry outside

and instead of fighting and squawking,

the horrible bird was as calm and still as could be and laid his head

under my neck for a snuggle. *%!#@&$!!

So, I now have a black roo and a white roo.

I suppose it works well as I do have the black hen.

Sigh.

As you can see, the dressed Silkies look a bit odd.

They have black meat and in many cultures

their meat is valued as a delicacy and used as a health tonic.

I have yet to eat a Silkie.

Mine are sold before they are even butchered.

Maybe one day I will get a chance to try it out.

And this is what is going on inside this week.

I had 5 chicks hatch at the beginning of the week.

Time will tell what they are, but at least one is

a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and one is

my Old Fashioned White Layers

(a homegrown breed of white birds)

As for the others.. time will tell.

And other than that it has been a week of garden planning,

seed catalog perusing and burn out!

I even dream about the damn garden and all of those seeds.

And it is fast approaching time to start seeds around here.

I need to just make the decisions and spend the money

and get the ball rolling.

New Life..

Aah. The farm.
You just gotta love it.
New life!
And the chance to capture
the sweetest pics in the world.

I almost made a fatal error,

but I was lucky enough to realize my mistake in time to correct it.

The potting shed where we brood chicks and where the Silkies live

flooded a bit during all of the heavy rain.

Sunday I lifted out the broody hen and her eggs,

shoveled out all of the yuck and replaced it with new, dry shavings.

I carefully placed the mom and eggs back into her corner of choice

and all was well. The broody took the shake up well and continued to happily growl on her nest.

I heard peeping yesterday while I was doing chores and went to check again in the evening.

What I found was close to a disaster.

One of the eggs.. the first egg, had tried to hatch

but the membrane was too dry and had hardened into to unbreakable leather.

Egads!!! I had put the broody and eggs back into super dry shavings!

Eggs need humidity, and a lot of it, to hatch properly.

I quickly handed that egg off to Sweet Husband

to take to the kitchen sink and I grabbed a washcloth to dampen

and place under the remaining eggs in hopes that it would be enough

moisture to hatch the remaining eggs.

It was.

The egg that Sweet Husband hatched in the kitchen

is the fluffy cuteness you see in my palm

and I helped the other two a wee bit this morning.

Whew. That was a close one.

So, lesson to all:

If you put new bedding under a broody hen in the final stages of hatching...

add a moist cloth to raise the humidity.

Here is the rest of the hatching process:

And that was all that broody would stand for!
Can you tell which one is my favorite?

A Silver Silkie!

Oh joy!!!!!

As I said...

It is an ugly little chicken.

But gosh he's cute.

And little! Oh my.

He is a Blue Crested Polish.

Bantam.

I got him from a friend over the

Thanksgiving weekend and he spent

all of time until today in with some of my rabbits.

Very confused and vaguely concerned rabbits.

He is in now with my other Polish birds

and I hope they will make sweet love

and give me more little ugly chickens.

And if you think he is ugly now.. you should see

Polish chicks. Wow!

See, I usually go for the very large breeds,

you know, the ones that you can hardly lift,

and I do not go for 'cute' birds.

'But', you say, 'I saw Silkie pics.'

Well, yes, you did.

But they are strictly utilitarian as broody hens. (This is what I tell myself)

That and they make my husband smile.

And because they make my husband smile and he takes a special interest in them

they do not have to live in the barn with the rest of the chickens.

Oh no!

The Silkies get to live in the potting shed/well house

in glassed-in splendor and comfort.

But the Polish are only yard candy.

There is no use for them at all other than

amusement.

They make me smile!

And my husband thinks they are the ugliest things he has ever seen.

Go figure.. differing taste and all.

Inter-species cohabitation...

Now, I don't know how common it is at other folks' places,
but there is a lot of inter-species cohabitation
going on here at The Hennery.





This here is the infamous PigPig.
You will get the details of his infamy
on some rainy day when I want to do something other than work,
but suffice it to say that he shares his double stall with
a dozen hens.

It is an opened topped stall and the hens can depart anytime
they choose by just hopping over and flying down,
but the silly birds prefer to stay in the stall with
their crazed porcine leader... PigPig.
I have ceased to wonder why.



Here you see the "Barn Bun".
He is my largest white buck from my meat rabbit collection.
He learned to dismantle the fencing of his pen
about a month or so ago and has been living "free range"
around the place since then.
He comes a running to the barn when he hears the feed cans opening
and then bullies all of the birds off their feed.


He is a friendly guy that still comes around
for scritches and loving.

I attempted to lure him back to captivity
by putting his favorite doe
out in the pen.
Worked like a charm!

Until he broke her out and taught her
the joys of living wild and free and beating up on chickens.
I now have two free range rabbits that must be captured and contained
before I have many, many, many rabbits running amuck.
They don't call 'em rabbits for nothing.

And yesterday I mixed a few more together.
I got a...an..umm... errr.....
well, bless him
he's just an ugly little chicken.
And I put him in the rabbit room with my three remaining captive rabbits.
Aaahh, karma.
He chases those buns off their feed.

Never a dull moment around here.

and I really like the ugly little chicken,
but don't tell anyone.
shhhh