Poultry updates

The chicks that hatched out 2 months ago have all found new homes.  Our friend Jennifer took the Brahma Cochin chicks and the RIR/Copper Moran cross chicks.  She posted a picture of them on Facebook.  Very cute!

Jennifer's chicks

Friends Mark and Lisa came on Tuesday and picked up the RIR chicks.  Here's a picture I took of them on Monday.

2 month old RIR chicks

We had the incubator set up and had 18 guinea eggs and 18 chicken eggs set.  And we got 3 chicks.  Not sure if the hatch rate was so low because of storms... muddy conditions on the eggs - killing the embryo?  Temperature wasn't right???  It's frustrating.  But, it seems I have the best hatch rates first thing in the spring.  The later I try, the lower the hatch rate.  Anyway...  We got 2 RIR chicks and one Brahma Cochin chick.  The Cochin chick had a "birth injury", it's one leg was twisted.  And the poor little thing expired yesterday.  These 2 chicks are promised to our friend Beth.  She got 8 RIR chicks from us last year.  Six were hens and 2 roosters.  One rooster has since become Sunday dinner.

Anyway... here's a picture of the 2 newest chicks.

Rhode Island Red chicks hatched 6 days ago

The chicks that our Bantam hen Pebbles hatched 6 weeks ago are doing well.  Pebbles is done raising them, and has started laying again.  So, she's back in with the rooster Fred and the chicks are in a cage by themselves.

Bantam duck wing chicks 6 weeks old

Fred and Pebbles

It's been a week since my husband had surgery on his neck, having a plate inserted to help stabilize his vertebra.  The surgery went well, and he's recuperating nicely.  His horrible migraine headaches seem to have been cured.  That is a great relief for him.  He's suffered with daily headaches for the past year.  Any relief he can get will really add to his quality of life.  His Parkinson's seems to be a bit worse though.  His shaking doesn't stop...  Maybe another week or two of recovery will  help.

Grand-daughter Ariel seems to be enjoying the summer so far.  We took another trip down to the creek and caught crawfish on Tuesday afternoon.  Josh tried to do a little fishing.  But it seems all the larger fish went downstream after the last big rainfall we had last week.  Oh well.  There's always the Spring River.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their late Spring/early Summer.  It's not really Summer until next week after the solstice.  But it's been 95 plus the past few days.  Thankfully, we have air conditioning!

Gardening woes

We had beautiful weather at the beginning of the week... and then this massive cold front moved in.  It rained buckets.  The temperature dropped.  It was 89 degrees on Wednesday (May Day), and by Thursday night it was 35!  Damn!

We got 2 1/2 inches of rain.  Luckily that's less than the previous rain front that moved in, which resulted in 6 inches of rain.  But it's been a wild and wet time the past 2 weeks or so.


When I checked on the veggies on Wednesday; we had tomatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, squash, melons, cucumbers, okra, asparagus, rhubarb, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions and potatoes growing.

Our veggie garden when planted on 4/16/2013

 This picture was taken after I had all the seedlings in the ground.  It's hard to see those little plants in this picture, but it does show how the garden is laid out.  The square on the upper right is the bed for carrots and beets.  The radishes are adjacent to this.  The asparagus and rhubarb are located on the lower left of this picture.  The artichokes are off the picture, on the extreme left.

Our NE flower garden on 4/30/2013

The row of potatoes and onions can be seen in the background of this picture, to the left and behind the irises and the peach tree.

Each of the lilac trees bloomed this year, for the first time.  We planted them in 2009, and I think they're doing very well.

 I wonder what I'll find when I check it later today.  My friend Julie said the deer came along and ate EVERY plant in her garden.  Bummer!  Now she's got to start all over.

I had my chicks out in the sun on Wednesday.  Then the weather started to turn and so I decided to put them back in the cage with a light bulb for heat... and 1 of the Brahma Cochin chicks was gone.  Poof!  Damn.  I guess a snake got it.  That's the only thing that could have take it out of that cage.  All the other chicks were alive and well.  It's a mystery to me....

Mama Bantam Pebbles still has 5 little fuzz balls she's minding.  She's a great mother.  She keeps her little babies under close guard. 

My Black Copper Maran, Jet, is very broody.  But she doesn't have any eggs in her nest, so her hopes of motherhood aren't very likely.  I haven't been taking her eggs, so I think the rooster, Henry, is eating them.  Or maybe she's not laying.  Again, it's a mystery.

Henry and Jet

I'm making a trip to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds today with my friend Michelle.  I've never been there, so I'm really looking forward to it.  I'll post pictures tomorrow.  Here's the link for them.  http://www.rareseeds.com/

Cheese and other things...

Our friend, Michelle, came and visited for a few days this past week.  That's why I haven't done any blogging...  I was busy with other things.

The chicks are 2 weeks old now.  They're doing very well.  One is a lot smaller than the rest, but I think it will catch up in good time.  I have no idea if it's the one who was hatched last or not.  I could just be smaller.  Not every Rhode Island Red is as big as other's.  That's just the way it is.  But, they're all healthy.  They have their flight feathers on and are starting to get tail feathers.  They look kinda awkward at this stage.

The weather has been stormy.  We got 8.5 inches of rain over the past week.  Which is good, because that means we're out of that awful drought from last year.  It's not good because some of the bigger local rivers are above flood stage.  My friends, Gena and Kevin live right on the Spring River.  So far their safe and sound.

Michelle and I took a long walk down to the NW corner of our property.  There's a 3-season spring there and we decided to see if we could build up some small pools and have some deeper spots.  I'm hoping I can modify it somewhat and put a few small fish in there.  If I can get it to remain wet all year round, maybe I can turn it into a nice natural pool or something.  I'm researching how exactly to do that without hiring a backhoe.  In other words, I want to do it myself.  Naturally.  Without making a huge impact on the natural setting.  I'll have to take the camera down there with me and document my progress.

When we were looking for property we wanted a place that was wooded, away from the main road, without neighbors and with running water.  This lovely place met all but the last criteria.  Now, it seems there IS running water for 3 seasons.  We didn't realize the stream/creek was ON our property until we had the land surveyed.  Now I know for sure that there IS a spring down there (at least when it's the "wet" season).  We know there are fish in the stream further down on the neighbor's property.  So, if it runs enough that fish are on their property, maybe I can make it so there are fish on OUR property.  I'd really like that.

Michelle and I decided to do some cheese making on Friday.  We made mozzarella.  We tried making ricotta too, but the recipe we used for the mozzarella used up all the milk fat, so the ricotta didn't turn out.  Oh well.

Michelle's husband Jerry works for the State Park system at Powhatan State Park.   Check out their web site. Powhatan State Park

Gardening progress and baby chicks

My elbow is almost back to normal.  It's so nice to be able to use my arm without that constant bone pain.  What a relief!

We had chicks hatching this past weekend.  They started on Thursday morning and the last one hatched on Saturday.  They're so cute.  Little balls of fluff.  And when they're not sleeping, they're chirping and looking for something to eat.

Chicks in the brooding box

We have 14 in all, 7 Rhode Island Red (the darker "brown" ones), 3 Brahma Cochin (yellow) and 3 mixed (Copper Maran and RIR).  The RIR chicks are destined for some friends.  The others will be additions to our flock.

When chicks are very small, you need to put rocks in the water dispenser so they can't drown.  I have only had that happen once, but it's very sad.  I hate seeing a small death that could have been prevented. 

I really dote on my babies.  I check on them often.  The brooder box is located on our back porch.  That way they're safe from predators and out of the weather.  Depending on the weather, they'll stay on the porch for 2 weeks or so.  They have to be able to regulate their own body temperature and large enough to withstand any exposure before I move them to a larger cage. 

If their mama had been taking care of them, she'd protect them and they'd nestle into her plumage for the next few months.  Until they're too large to fit under her any more.  But I don't have any plumage, so they have to be protected from the weather by my cage location and a lightbulb.

It's been fairly wet (thankfully), so it took us awhile to get the garden planted. 

I started our seeds in yogurt cups and had them on the back porch next to the brooder box.  They got a good start.  And so, yesterday, we got them all in the ground.

Seed starts and brooder box

I got all our seed for this year from Baker Creek.  They are nice folks.  The catalog is beautiful, and full of information!  http://www.rareseeds.com/

We're growing several varieties of squash and melons, 2 varieties of blond cucumbers, 2 varieties of red heirloom tomatoes, carrots, beets, okra, asparagus, onions, garlic and potatoes.  I'm sure I'll find a few more things to stick in the garden because I still have room left!

Garden before planting

The little section on the upper right that isn't plowed is the asparagus bed.

Garden after planting

Notice, the asparagus bed is now center left.  The tomato in the foreground is a small yellow that I overwintered in the house.  The plant in the pot in the background is a red chili that we've dug up and overwintered every year for the past few years.  It's not toooooooooooo hot.  Just right for our family.

The boxed in area is for the carrots and beets.  I'll be planting marigolds and nasturtiums along the border, as bug deterrent.

Last week when I was out taking pictures, a small garter snake was checking out the garden.

Can you see him?  Green  and yellow in the center of the picture

 My husband and son had seen it earlier in the day.

Our landscaping is looking very nice.  I "stole" the tomato cages my husband made last year and have them around my peonies.  We won't need tomato cages for some time yet, but I need to get those peonies staked before they start to bloom.  We can make more tomato cages. 

Peonies with commercial cage support

The lilacs are getting ready to bloom.  I love the smell of lilacs.  At my parent's homestead, 2 large light purple bushed had grown together to form a "cave".  My aunt and I used to play in there and pretend it was our fort.  Our dog Herkimer would be forced into playing in there with us.  Those are fond memories for me.  So when we bought this property, I got 4 different colors of lilac and planted them in a square.  Now they will form a nice space for someone else to cherish (who know, I may be the one crawling in there!)

Ok.  That's all for today.  I'll discuss more gardening, landscaping and chickens as the spring and summer progress.

Go outside and enjoy the beautiful day!

Today's project

Our friend, Jennifer, has a cabin a few hundred yards across our southern property line.  Since she's not here very often, she doesn't have a phone line.  And out here in the woods that means she has no internet access on her laptop.

She's able to access our unsecure network if she sits outside in our driveway.  When we found that out, we told her she's welcome to come sit inside the house anytime.  Sometimes she's here and we're not.  So, we decided to make her a little spot that she could use to surf the web.  This rocking chair is actually adjacent to the wireless internet inside the house.

So, the chair needed some serious TLC.

It's been out in the barn since it got cracked during that big ice storm back in 2009.  My handy husband John did some securing with screws.

Screws on the front and back to secure... and then it started raining.  So I moved the whole project inside.





The first step is to decide what kind of material you'll weave the seat from.  I'm using cotton strapping I got from The Shaker Workshop.  http://shakerworkshops.com/

I used red and tan, because that matches our greatroom color scheme.  I've had this strapping since we started working on the house, back in 2006.  I'd woven a seat on this particular rocker once before with these colors.  But then the chair was broken, so I took the strapping off.

Attach the first color onto one side of the chair seat rung.  I used staples.  The next time we're at a hardware store I'll get some nice brass tacks to complete the project.

Start wrapping the strapping around the 2 opposing sides of the seat.  And then you need some help with your wrapping....

I had lots of help.

Once you have wrapped strapping around that whole side of the seat, you have to start your weaving.  Again, you have to attach the strapping with a staple.

I wove with a basic over, under (plain weave) pattern.  It's important to know that you need an ODD number of rungs/straps in order to weave and change the "shed" with each pass.

And here's the finished project.

I had some other things I had to get done this morning.  We're supposed to have really awful weather later today.  In fact I believe we're under a tornado watch!

Anyway, I have eggs in the incubator which should hatch on Friday.  So I went out to the barn and got the brooder box John built for me.  I got it all set up on the back porch.  That way my little babies will be warm and dry regardless of the weather.  That's very important because they won't have a mommy to care for them.

I've also got seeds coming up and I've moved them indoors so they don't blow away or get drowned in the coming rains.

My brooder box is filled with wood chips.  Those babies need a nice fluffy place to live.

I'll add a watering bottle and a small dish for very finely ground food once I have babies in there.  

Rhode Island Red chicks from 2012

John and Joshua got all the onions and potatoes planted last week.  And Josh did the second pass at tilling the veggie garden.  Now, as soon as the weather cooperates I can get my seedlings into the ground.

Notice the yellow and green garter snake?   The weedy section on the south end of the garden is where the asparagus and garlic is growing.  I haven't had a chance to do any weeding yet.  But the asparagus is coming up!

The flower bed is also in need of some weeding.  But the peonies don't care.  They're coming up anyway.

The violets I dug up from in the woods are blooming.  Spring is in fully swing.  My arm is doing MUCH better.  I'm very glad about that.

A beautiful day

Oh yesterday was so beautiful.  Sunny and warm.  The high was 74!  We all got outside as puttered around for awhile.  I played fetch with the dog.  She chased that evil chipmunk that lives in the woodpile.  She just hates that poor little guy.

On evil chipmunk watch

I moved some of my birds around.  You see, I had 4 bantam chickens in one "chicken tractor".  Two roosters and a hen with her baby.  Well, the baby has grown up and turns out to be ANOTHER rooster.  So that meant I had 3 roosters and 1 hen.  Not good.  So, baby Snow (not much of a baby anymore) and his father Fred got put in another cage.  (The weather didn't cooperate this morning.  It's pouring rain.  So I don't have any bird pictures for now.)



But before I could move them, I had to move 2 quail rooster out of the cage.  I set up a small cage I had used for a quail pair last year.  Now I have 3 quail roosters without any mates and 2 bantam roosters without any mates.  I'm blessed with roosters it seems.

I usually try to give roosters away.  Surely, there must be SOMEONE in our area who needs a rooster.  I know we could have them for Sunday dinner....  but these are my friends.  I'll try finding them a home first.

My 2 Rhode Island Red hens, Sissy and Missy, and their husband Hexter are all molting right now.  So I'm not getting any eggs from them.

Sissy and Missy

 And my young Black Copper Moran hen Jet is molting also.  She's laying about every other day...  So my Brahman Cochin trio are the only ones producing faithfully.  My little Bantam hen Pebbles is trying, but I think the roosters were eating the eggs sometimes.  Maybe now that I have Fred and Snow in another cage she'll have a chance.  I think I'll let Pebbles raise another clutch on her own.  She's a good mama and raised Snow well through the winter.

I haven't been posting much the past week.  My elbow is very unhappy!  I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon last Wednesday.  I need to have outpatient surgery to remove the bone spurs.  That will happen on Tuesday (3/12).  Depending on what he finds happening in there, I might just come home without any cast at all.  I would really like that.  I'll have a follow-up appointment within a week and find out more...

This elbow difficulty is painful.  And it puts me behind in everything.  I have to get one of my guys to move heavier things for me (heavier being about 10 pounds).  Even kneading bread was very painful!  This sucks!

Cold weather animal care

It's turned cold here again.  It's 24F as I write this...  and so I think I should say some things about caring for your animals in cold weather.

Now, people who live a lot further north... OK that's most of the continental US have a lot more experience with cold weather animal care than we do here in Arkansas...  But I did live in rural Pennsylvania for 18 years, Rhode Island for 6 and then in the Puget Sound region of Washington for 17.  So I do know a thing or two about cold weather.

Letting your dog or cat out to run around in the snow won't hurt them.  In fact, Peanut LOVES to play in the snow.

Peanut in 8 inches of snow

She loves to go out and see who else has been running around in the snow.  She likes to check under the vehicles to see if there are any evil chipmunks in hiding.

Taking a well deserved nap

But then she likes to come in and take a well earned nap too!

Peanut and Rusty in the den

Chasing those darn chipmunks is tiring work!










Heck, she might even move over and share the chair!



Frostbite on your cat or dog's feet and ears is no joke, though.  As with people, pets can and do get damage from exposure to cold and ice/snow.  Imagine spending the night outside without a blanket when it's 25F... NOT FUN.  I know pets have some insulation, but unless they're a breed which is selectively cold hardy, don't leave your pets outside in the cold.

Warning signs of frostbite in dogs and cats

And what about my beloved poultry?  Of course I care about them as well.  Providing them with clean water in freezing weather is very important.  Blocking the wind insure they will not have to deal with issues due to the wind chill.    It's important to make sure there is enough bedding on the ground/floor that they won't have to walk on the frozen ground.

I put a new layer of wood chips down the other day when it was 60 outside, because I saw the weather forecast for this weekend was in the 20's.  We'd had several days of rain and so their cages were a bit muddy.  That mud would turn to frozen ground and damage their feet.  I couldn't have that.  So off I went to the farm store to get more straw.  They were out of straw, so I brought home pine chips.  The guineas weren't happy about me spreading that all over, but today they're glad their feet aren't frozen in the mud!

Advice on symptoms and care of frostbite in chickens

Frostbite in chickens

My birds live in a converted dog kennel/run.  The previous owners made 2 kennels.  One had a larger doghouse built with a run, and the other had 2 sleeping sections.  I think the larger doghouse was for a mom with pups.  Both were enclosed by chain link fence. 

When we decided to "repurpose" them, we put a second round of chicken wire over the chain link.  We also put more on the lower level inside between the two sections.  Then we put up a partition and door to devide the smaller kennel into two cages.

Here's a picture.

Smaller section designed for banty chickens as well as the larger section for larger birds.

Here you can clearly see the smaller section with the 2 divided "cages" which we had designed for our Bantam chickens, as well as the larger cage we keep the bigger Cochin chickens in.

This year, our Bantam chickens have their own movable house.  Our Rhode Island Red chickens are in this smaller section, and the guinea fowl are in the adjoining bigger section.

To further protect our birds, I wrapped the entire cage in clear plastic.  It's NOT airtight, because there are 2 external door which are loose fitting.  That provided plenty of ventilation.  Also, we don't have a real roof on the structure.  Just chicken wire covered with aluminum roofing.  Since it's NOT nailed down, rain does seep in.  Hence the mud.

But the plastic does provide a great amount of insulation.  The wind doesn't whip through there like it did in years past.  And so far, I haven't had any birds with a frozen comb.

Here's what the cages look like in summer.  The small row of cages have since been removed.  The smaller empty cage in this picture was for Curly Joe and Vera (1 pair of our guinea fowl).

Chicken cages

I also have 2 cages which house quail.  These cages are much smaller.  I have insulated them with straw bedding and completely wrapped them with plastic feed sacks.  This provides a wind block and additional insulation.  They can't see out, but this helps keep the guinea fowl from standing around their cages pecking at them. 

All the plastic will be removed with the winter weather is over.

I could be accused of pampering my birds.  But I can't stand the thought of them suffering in the cold because I didn't care for them properly.  I keep them in a cage, so I MUST provide them with everything they need to survive.  That's the ethical thing to do.

We don't eat our birds.  They are my pets.  I love raising chicks!  I plan on raising more this coming year.  Quail, guinea and chickens (all 4 breeds). 

Another cool foggy morning

It's another cool morning here in the woods.  It rained most of the day yesterday.  And so now the ground is nice and wet.  And this morning it's 32 degrees.  I know my poor chickens have cold feet!

Gus and Greta

Gus and Greta do pretty well regardless of the weather.  Now Gus is a big rooster.  He's a Brahma Cochin.  Brahma for big and Cochin for feathery feet.  He's a good guy and treats his hens well.  He clucks to them and shows them where the goodies are.  And they make great eggs and babies.






I enjoy taking care of my chickens every morning.  Peanut and I go out and make sure everyone has food and water.  Water is so important, cold weather and hot.

Peanut

Peanut is the self-appointed critter checker.  Notice our lavender guinea Curly Joe behind Peanut in this picture?

Peanut makes sure EVERYONE is where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing. 

She makes sure there are no unauthorized visitors to the yard.... 

On chipmunk watch

No chipmunks allowed under the farm truck!

Rusty

 

But cat's on the truck is OK.













When I hatch out chicks, Peanut has to inspect the chicks each and every morning.  She has to make sure they're still in there!

Rhode Island Red chicks

You have to make sure you put rocks in the water dispenser.  No drown chicks for us!

Hope you enjoy the critter pictures for today.

Another cold morning

Rusty

When it's really cold like this, my biggest concern is keeping my critters warm.  I don't want to let the dog or cat out too long.  I know they're covered with fur, but they can suffer frost bit too.  I may baby them too much, but I love them and want them to be safe.  Besides, who could leave these cuties out in the cold???

Peanut

I know Peanut would like to be outside chasing squirrels and chipmunks.  But she can wait until it's not 21F outside.


But, my real concern is for my birds.  You see, I have my birds in large runs.  I'd love to let them be free range.  I let the guinea fowl outside when the weather's nice.  But, we have all kinds of creatures here that would LOVE to eat bird for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Here's a sample of the woodland creatures we've seen here at Big Rock Farm.

Opossum

Racoon

These 2 are the biggest chicken theives.  We know they eat eggs & chicks.  We haven't caught them eating adult large birds, we're sure they've had some bantam for dinner.  

But, they're not the biggest killer of chicks or the main egg eater.  Here's the culprit  for that!  Black snakes have eaten my chicks several times.  They have also killed 2 different bantam hens and eaten all their chicks.  Around here, I have to keep chicks in a brooder on the back porch or they don't survive.  I can't put them out IN A CAGE OFF THE GROUND until there are more than a month old.  And even then, they might be snake food.

Black Snake

I do NOT kill snakes just because they're snakes.  But, if I find a black snake in my chicken cage, it's lunch.  Literally.


Who else has come looking for an easy meal??

Stripped skunk

Did you know that skunk blood stinks?  In fact, our porch by the workshop STILL stinks of skunk whenever it rains.  And it's been 2 years since Mr/Mrs Skunk came to visit.

We've also lost guinea and chicken to the pair of hawks that are nesting right here.  Peanut saw a hawk get a young chicken.  Now, she hates anything that flys over head.  She'll chase it across the yard.  Of course, anything flying over the yard results in guinea chaos!  And then the chickens start yelling too.

Hawk

It's illegal to shoot a predatory bird in Arkansas.  So, we keep our chickens in a cage.  It's a nice, large cage.  But it's still a cage.

We feel safe letting the guinea out.  Our flock has 9 members.  4 pair and 1 poor unmated hen.  We call her Number 9.  She's an unhappy girl.  We'll raise some more babies this year, and we hope Number 9 can find a boyfriend out of them.

We started out with 3 pair last year.  Here's a picture of some of them.

Curly Joe, Bruce and Dennis with keets.

My favorite bird is Curly Joe, he's the lavender one in the foreground. We raised him from an egg.  We had 5 birds that first year.  All got killed except Curly Joe.  Moe and Larry each disappeared over night...  The girls got old enough to start laying, but they both failed to show up to roost one night just leaving us with the bachelors.  Then Moe and Larry each got eaten, leaving poor Curly Joe by himself.  So, we invested in Bruce and Dennis.  And we got some young keets from a nice lady down the road, and got some hens.   Now Curly Joe has his mate, Vera.  And Bruce has his Babette.  Dennis got eaten last fall....


And who can eat a full grown guinea at night???  I'll show you.

Coyote

 There are coyotes in the woods here.  They will even sneak in during the day and take the guinea hens right off their nests.  So, that's why we have to keep them locked up when they're laying.  Otherwise they don't come home.

Barred Owl

And the owls can pick the guineas right out of a tree when they're roosting.  So, the guinea have to be locked up at night.

And whoooooo else comes to visit at night?  (Sorry I couldn't resist that pun!)  We have pictures of these from our trail cam.

Grey fox

We've not seen a fox anywhere near the house.  But the trail cam was in the trees by the "pasture" which was about 200 yards from the house.  That's pretty close if you ask me.

Who else comes to eat  birds?  These sneaky buggers come in day or night!  And they LOVE to eat birds, any birds.

Norway rat

I suppose I'm partly to blame.  What else to rats like to eat besides birds?  Why bird food, of course!  And so, leaving any food around in the open is an invitation to dinner in the rat's opinion.

I guess that ends my conversation on local predators for this morning.  We have many other critters around that don't ever bother our birds.  I'll talk about them some other day.