Something to Look Forward To

 

 

It’s inevitable. Chickens don’t live forever and they reliably only lay eggs for the first couple years.

Most of my chickens are close to four years old now, although I do have 3 chickens that are just over a year old. We have also lost a few chickens over the past four years, either through death or predation or a mystery disappearance. On a good day, our hens might give us 3-4 eggs. Most days we only receive 1-2 eggs.

For a family of five, that’s just not enough. We like to have green chile breakfast burritos more than once a week and my kidlets gobble up any pancakes or waffles I make using our hen’s eggs. And during the summer, one of our favorite lunches is a delicious egg salad sandwich. 

We need more eggs. Simple as that.

But I haven’t bought a factory-farmed, store-bought egg in almost 4 years now and I don’t want to start anytime soon. Fresh eggs from happy, free-range hens not only are healthier, they also taste better.

So I recently placed my order through Privett Hatchery and I’m beginning to feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! My chicks won’t arrive until June 23, because two of the breeds that I chose won’t be hatched out until then.

I can wait. But barely.

Just like an expectant Mother preparing for her newborn's arrival, I’ve been cleaning and preparing the indoor brooder and all it’s accessories (water bottle, feeder, lamp, bedding, etc). And getting the outdoor Mini-Coop/Quarantine pen, within the main coop, ready for this new flock of little biddies. My daughter, Jen, whom we fondly call The Chicken Girl, is beside herself with excitement for the chicks’ arrival.

And I am excited about the different breeds and “Coop Candy” I ordered. Privett’s is a local New Mexico Hatchery, located a few hours east of my small ranch. Four years ago a friend and I went into together to order our chicks. Some local Feed Stores also carry chicks, but the selection is usually slim with only 2-3 of the most common breeds, like Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island or New Hampshire Reds. Nothing wrong with any of those breeds, but it’s just more fun to shop through a more varied and unique selection of chicken breeds. 

We already have Silver-Laced Wyandottes, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Ameracauna, Japanese Silkie, Polish, Welsumer, Speckled Sussex, Brown Leghorn, Black Star and Buff Orpington.

So, when I ordered, I went with a couple of our favorite tried and true breeds, like the Speckled Sussex and the Ameracauna. And chose a few new breeds, too, like Blue Wyandotte, Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and Silver-Laced Cochin. Yep! Lots of lovely colors to brighten up our coop. I love it! 

Most Hatcheries have a minimum chick order, usually 25, for the safety of the chicks during shipping and since I was just starting out raising chickens back then, I only wanted a small flock. So going in together with a friend was the perfect solution. This time around, we want to raise a few chicks and sell them as pullets as there seems to be a large market for pullets because folks don’t want the extra work, mess, space, cost and the waiting of raising chicks to the laying hen stage.

We don’t mind. The chicks are one of the most fun parts of raising chickens, so we’re ordering 25 biddies and will probably sell 10 of them when they become pullets. We figure that the money we make from the sale of the pullets will pay for our entire order of chicks.

And we are also excited about hand-raising this batch, just like we did with our first, original flock of chickens, because we learned the hard way, that allowing our constantly broody Japanese Silkie, Mrs. Cotton to hatch out and raise chicks, while certainly convenient, caused the chicks to grow up less friendly and less willing to stand still to be picked up and loved on as adults.

We did manage to tame the chickens that we gave to Mrs. Cotton to raise, but they still aren’t as pet-like as our original batch of chickens that we held every day and hand fed. Back then, it was a common sight around here to find a chick or two in someone’s lap while they surfed the internet or watched a movie. And as soon as we sat down outside, it wasn’t long before a chicken hopped into our lap for some affection and snuggling.

All our old hens still try to jump into our laps, but they don’t jump as high as they used to.

So, it’s time to bring some new chickies into our flock.  

Let the Count Down begin!

Chicken Photo Shoot

 

 

A couple days ago, my daughter, Jen asked me if we could do a special photo shoot with her chickens. She also surprised me by insisting that we share the photos on our blog. Sounded like fun to me. Who am I to say No?

Chickens are a whole lot of fun to cuddle and be entertained by, which makes them perfect subjects for photography. And Jen takes the best care of her chickens, feeding them and gathering their eggs every day and keeping them tame and friendly. And of course, they all adore her.

Jen feels that every one of our chickens deserves a place in the spotlight, at least for a day.

So we made sure to include our entire flock in the photo taking. So without further ado……….

We introduce you to:

1)Barred Rock Betty and 2)Rhode Island Red Rita

These two ladies are from our first batch of chicks and are now almost 4 years old. They are best friends and are often seen sprawled out in the sun together.

3)Ameracauna Angelina Ballerina

This sweet lady is also from our first batch of chickens and is a treasured pet of Jen. Angelina is the dainty, pretty lady of the flock. She also gives us lovely light blue eggs.

4)Ameracauna Fertile Myrtle

Myrtle is also from our original flock and is a treasured hen because of her propensity for giving us bomb size eggs and many double and triple yolkers. 

 

5)Golden-laced Polish Phyllis Diller

Phyllis is just over 3 years old and is the flock Diva. Hardly a day goes by that she doesn’t make us laugh with her haughty and silly antics.

7)Speckled Sussex Spotty Dotty

Dotty is like the flock’s Great Aunt, at almost 4 years old she is kind, gentle, quiet, and loving. She follows us all around like a loyal and devoted puppy. She hops up into Jen’s lap whenever she sits down. I could have an entire flock of Spotty Dotties and life would be good.

 

8)Japanese Silkie Rooster Mr. Cotton

Mr. Cotton is our lone rooster and we love him. He’s gentle, kind and doesn’t mind affection and hugs (too much). He’s also a very quiet crower, of which we are all very grateful.

9)Japanese Silkie Hen Mrs. Cotton

Mrs. Cotton, arrived with Mr. Cotton, just over 3 years ago. She is the Nanny of the coop. She wants nothing more in life than to raise a brood of chicks. She is often found inside the nest box watching over her flock mate’s eggs. The rest of the flock thinks she’s a little batty for wanting chicks all the time and tend to boss her around and pick on her sometimes. She doesn’t mind, she just goes back to the nest box and waits.

10)Buff Orpington Matilda

Matilda is a year old and a large young lady. I like to think of her as the debutante who likes to hang out in her Sorority club, which includes her friends Liza Minelli and Pat Benatar.

11)Black Sex-Link Liza Minelli

Liza Minelli, a year old, is one of the Sorority club members and has a tendency to think she is better than the rest of her flock mates. She is a hottie and knows it. And she loves lots of attention and to be admired.

12)Silver-laced Wyandotte Suzy

Suzy is one of our original flock and at almost 4 years old is a respected and sweet bird. I like to think of her as the Granny of the flock and she is very kind, gentle and has a very wise look to her face. I love to photograph her.

13)Brown Leghorn Brownie

Brownie is also a long time established member of the original flock and is a bit flighty. It’s difficult to get photos of her because she is in perpetual motion. She also has the largest comb of all the ladies and used to get frost bite on her comb every year until we learned to coat her comb with vaseline.

14)Golden-laced Polish/Japanese Silkie Pat Benatar

Pat is one of the Sorority club members and is a year old. She was one of the chicks born here and is a daughter of our bad boy rooster, Sid Vicious, who sunk a spur into my arm last year. She is much sweeter than he was, though. She likes attention, but always seems to be doing something very important with her Sorority sisters.

15)Welsumer Wanda

Wanda is just over 2 years old and lays the darkest prettiest eggs along with her sister Rosa. She and Rosa love to explore together and are often seen wandering a little too far for our comfort. She and Rosa remind me of intrepid explorers, who always want to see what’s around the next tree and over the next hill.

16)Welsumer Rosa

Rosa is a year old and Wanda’s sister. She has an adventurous spirit and enjoys going off by herself or with her sister to the edges of our property to explore. Rosa has given us a fright a number of times at night when we thought a coyote or owl might have gotten her, only to find her roosting in a tree. She’s our only chicken that seems to like roosting in a tree and if I could give Rosa a fitting persona it would have to be Amelia Earhart.

Jen and I hope you all enjoyed getting to know all of the members of our flock family.

Bawk Bawk!

This One Packed a Mean Punch

 

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny warm day with temps in the low 60’s.

This is how we spent our day

Just hanging out with Apache.

Sunday started off the same way. Sunny and warm, but slightly breezier than Saturday. I spent most of Sunday outside with Apache and our other barn critters. But by Sunday afternoon, the winds picked up, the sky got dark and snowflakes began falling……..and falling…and falling.

By Sunday evening we already had at least 5” of heavy, wet snow on the ground. Did I mention I’m so fed up with snow and winter?

Ranchman John had encouraged Apache to eat her hay in the barn earlier on Sunday and she seemed happy to get in there out of the wind, but she’s still getting used to all the strange sounds in there, like the creaking and whistling, and the noisy banging from the goats as they eat, and the llamas’ snuffling and humming. Apache would get startled and run out, but she’d eventually come back in to munch her hay.

I watched the barn from the house as it started to hail. It hit the metal roof on the barn and I know how the sounds can be a cacophony of loud noise when you’re inside. Poor Apache flew out of the barn from all that noise, out into the pelting hail.

I threw on my coat and boots and went up there to check on her and with some encouragement she came up to me from the other side of the pasture and walked with me back into the barn. I hung out with her for about 20 minutes as she ate and watched as the hail turned into blowing snow, a white-out. I finally trudged back down the hill towards the house.

The snow didn’t seem all that slippery and I wasn’t having any problems with traction, but all of a sudden, my right foot slipped…….and down I went on my butt.

That wouldn’t have been so bad except my left foot stayed in place, so when I fell, it was still rooted into the ground, which meant that my poor knee was forced into a hyper extreme flex as my butt came into contact with the back of my left boot! OUCH!!!! The pain took my breath away as I felt something in my knee make a crunching sound.

I sat in the snow for a moment to assess the damage, as the snow blew even harder and thicker around me. I realized I had to get up and walk back to the house as no one would hear me if I called for help. And if I was gone for a long while Ranchman John would just figure I was in the barn hanging out with Apache.

I stood up and boy did it hurt! So I just took slow small limping steps back down to the pasture gate, praying that I wouldn’t fall again.

I finally made it back down to the house without falling and when I got back inside, I asked my twinlings to bring me my crutches and some Ibuprofen. My left knee was already starting to swell. I still managed to finish cooking spagetti for my family, but afterwards I scooted up the stairs on my butt to my bedroom.

Back in my tower again…..sigh.

The rest of the night I rested in bed with ice on my knee. This is what it looked like last night.

(Don’t mind the furry legs. They keep me warm in the winter.)

This morning it’s even more swollen, but I can bend it, but not as far as usual because of the swelling, but at least there’s no pain when I bend it. I can also extend my leg out with no pain and I can also bear some weight without pain, too. But the knee feels weak and very sore.

I hope I didn’t do anything to the ACL reconstruction area or any other ligaments. Ranchman John thinks maybe I sprained or strained something. I also wonder if maybe that the extreme flexion from when my knee was bent so suddenly, caused some scar tissue from the surgery to tear, which I think would be a good thing, even though it’s pretty painful at first.

All I can do is rest, take anti-inflammatory meds, apply ice and do some light flexing exercises so the knee doesn’t tighten up. I’m truly thankful that Ranchman John is home to take care of the animals, along with the kidlets, until all this snow melts and my knee heals. He already has a soft spot for Apache, so I know she’ll get plenty of attention, even though I’m going to miss her something fierce!

And all this time I was worried about falling off a horse and reinjuring my knee, and instead I fall in the snow. Are you all keeping tabs?

                 (The view from my bedroom balcony this morning)

This would be the third time that I’ve injured this same knee. If bad things really do come in three’s, this should mean my dues are paid. Right? …….right?    

Well, just when I thought my days of picture-taking from my tower were over……….a Spring snow storm did me in.

These are the chairs and table on my bedroom balcony.

Oh look. 8” high pillowtop chairs. How nice and comfy.

The sun was coming up across the valley. But the clouds moved in soon afterwards, and nipped that little bit of warmth right in the bud.

The view from Jenna’s window. The heavy wet snow ripped apart the hawk netting over the chicken coop. Poor chickens will be stuck inside all day today anyway.

 

Zuni doesn’t mind the snow at all. In fact I’d wager to say that she wouldn’t mind if we had snow all year. (Bite my tongue!)

                      Ranchman John greeting Apache.

 

                                    So sweet.

Watching your man love on your horse is almost as precious as watching him love on your kids.

 

Sure wish I could be up there getting some horse lovin’, too.

 

Apache heads into the barn as Ranchman John walks back down the hill. I think she likes him.

 

Apache gives her opinion of this rotten, sneaky snowstorm.

                       Pppblltprrfftt! Patooie!

 

  

                  Looks like Rapunzel is back.

Chick Integration au Naturel

 

I suppose I shouldn’t have worried so much about integrating the chicklet trio into the rest of the flock, especially roosting in the chicken house at night. Yes I do have a couple of bossy hens that don’t always have the best manners, but for the most part, I am proud of my gentle, kind chickens. Whenever there is a little spat, the most that happens is a peck or two and then the tiff is over. Everyone gets along, even my two roosters, Mr. Cotton and Sid Vicious.

I should have trusted my chickens to work things out among themselves, but it was scary watching Mrs. Cotton get clobbered by another hen, when she was just trying to defend her chicks. I’ve noticed that Mrs. Cotton is being a little less defensive now, which is easing the tension in the coop. I think that to some of the hens, they didn’t understand that Mrs. Cotton believed she was protecting her chicks, but instead just figured that Mrs. Cotton’s defensive stance just made her look like she was asking for it.

So, Mrs C. has laid back a little and has allowed the chicklets to be more independant while helping them learn the rules of the coop.

So, imagine my surprise last night when I did my night time check of the hen house only to find ALL of my chickens inside their house preparing for bedtime.

(Do you see Mrs. C and her babies on the roost at the right of the picture?)

And I really doubt that Sid Vicious knows these chicks are his babies, but he sure does seem content to roost beside them.

And when they run around peeping, he doesn’t mind standing still, in a rather protective way, as they encircle him.

Doesn’t he look like a proud Papa? 

I have to admit it is rather cute and heartwarming seeing them all together like that.

It also made me glad to see them inside the warm, cozy coop, because the temps have been dipping into the teens at night. brrr!

But I always keep a 75 watt bulb on inside their coop during the winter to act as a heater and to keep their water bucket from freezing. My chickens do seem to appreciate it.

 

So, yet again, my chickens have taught me another important lesson. Introduce newcomers slowly, but trust the flock to work things out among themselves in their own time.