Chicken Therapy

 

I don’t know if it’s just the time of year, but I’m feeling kind of down in the dumps and in a funk. I’ve been beating myself up and doing quite a bit of deep thinking. There’s a lot of stuff on my mind right now. Nothing I can really talk about, at least not right now.

My thoughts are too jumbled up to make any sense of anything. If I wrote it all out I think it would just seem disjointed and confusing. And quite honestly I’m just too sensitive and raw right now to deal with any potential critical comments or judgmental attitudes by going public. So, at least for now, I’ll just have to keep my thoughts to myself, although I did confide in my dear husband who, after 23 years together, seems to always get me and understand what I’m going through, because he understands where I’ve been.

What did help get my mind off of things, was some time spent with my animals. I scratched my goats, enjoyed some llama kisses, and hugged my horse. And everyone received treats.

 

They were all very sweet, but it was my chickens that seemed to be the best at lifting my spirits that day.

Just sitting among them listening to their comforting clucking while they peck for insects and grain helped get my mind off of my troubles for a while. I’m always surprised with how much personality and character chickens have when they are just considered livestock, or dumb birds.

They make me smile when some of them hop into my lap to cuddle and coo while I stroke their neck feathers.

(Wowza. Those are some blindingly white knees!)

 

They make me laugh when they get a wild hair and take off waddling and flip-flop flying across the yard and they make me giggle when they beg for a treat or some attention.

Phyllis Diller, my Golden Laced Polish Hen never fails to make me smile with her frou frou mannerisms.

“Hello Dahling!”

“Yoohooo!”

“Oh my! I think I see a feather out of place!”

“Make way for the Queen!”

Faith, the Ameracauna is doing really well and is very friendly. She walks normally now and if you didn’t look at her foot, you’d never know she had to learn how to walk on two broken toes when she was just a 2 day old chick.

We have reason to believe that one of our Summer Chicks is a rooster.

This Blue Wyandotte is growing the hackle tail feathers like roosters have, and he’s bigger than most of the other chickens and has very thick legs.

He’s always watching me, too.

It’s really creepy.

I must say, he makes me a little nervous and reminds me of Sid Vicious. Sid, for those who don’t remember, was our Bad Boy Polish Rooster that buried a spur in my arm last year when he attacked me from behind while I was petting one of the hens.

I’ll have to keep an eye on this fellow, in case he goes the bad boy route, too.

One of our Speckled Sussex Summer Chicks has a favorite napping place during the day.

Napping on the top of a 42” tall sharp metal t-post doesn’t sounds very comfy. But she seems to like it.

If I were her I think I’d be much more comfy being held and cuddled in Jen’s arms. Just sayin’

The 5 Silver-Laced Cochins have become the coop snobs and prove that cliques don’t just occur in high school, but also in chicken coops. These girls are always together and exclude any other chicken that tries to join them.

 

 

Well, soon their little snobby group will be disbanded because we listed our chickens for sale this weekend and have a couple groups of people coming by this week to possibly purchase some of our 18 week old Summer Chicks, so their new owners can enjoy some fresh farm raised eggs for their holiday baking.

It’s a good thing, too. Because the coop is feeling a little too crowded now and feeding 38 chickens is getting quite expensive. We’re hoping to sell 10-15 chickens, but will keep our favorites and enough hens to be sure we have plenty of eggs for our family and perhaps a few dozen to sell each week.

Between baking, cooking and feeding the dogs(they always get one egg on their kibble every night), we go through 2-3 dozen eggs per week for our family of 5. And that may seem like a lot, but not when you consider it takes a dozen eggs for me just to make green chile breakfast burritos for my family.

And our older hens, even though we keep a light on in their coop 24/7 all year round, are only giving us 2-3 eggs per day. But sometimes they still surprise us.

Last week we got one tiny yolkless egg and one x-large triple yolk egg.

 

Summer Chicks ~ 9 Week Update

 

The chicks are now 9 weeks old and have been experiencing a lot of changes over the two weeks.

(Faith, the broken-toed Easter Egger chick is doing great. You’d never know she has two misshapen toes)

First we moved them from their garage brooders into the temporary mini-coop inside the outdoor chicken coop. They spent a week inside the mini-coop, getting used to living outdoors, with a dogloo as their shelter.

(Matilda, our Buff Orpington hen, bought as a chick last summer)

They shared a fenceline with the 12 big hens and they all spent the week getting used to one another. I find that this is the best way to integrate new chickens into an existing flock.

(Golden-laced Wyandotte chick)

I don’t know what I was expecting when the day arrived that I decided to release the chicks into the main coop. Probably a little more excitement than actually happened. But I’m grateful that no one got hurt and that everyone seemed to get along.

(Jen introduced a Speckled Sussex chick to our Speckled Sussex hen, named Spotty Dottie. Dottie was very curious, clucking and cooing while she checked the chick out.)

    

“Yes, you’re spotty, just like me”

For the first day or two, both groups pretty much stayed with their own: the big hens stuck together and the chicks stuck together. Whenever a chick and big hen happened to get close, depending upon who the big hen was, there was sometimes a little pecking and mock charging, just to teach the chick to respect it’s elders.

It’s been a week that the chicks have shared the main coop and they are pretty well integrated and can be seen side by side with the big hens.

(Ameracauna hen, named Fertile Myrtle and a Blue Wyandotte chick)

Some of the big hens like their personal space more than others, though, and they will remind a chick to move on.

(Golden-laced Polish hen we named Pat Benatar. She was born here last summer. She is the daughter of our bad boy rooster Sid Vicious)

For those of you who remember Sid, do you see the resemblance to that handsome devil?

Flock Dynamics are interesting, though.

(Our 4 year old hen, Barred Rock Betty)

Mrs. Cotton, our 3 yr old Japanese Silkie hen, and Phyllis Diller, our 3 yr old Golden-laced Polish hen are two that seem to chase and peck a chick just because they can.

I’m guessing this is because they tend to be the ones that are lower in flock status and are pushed around by the other big hens. So, they are exercising their newfound ability to push someone else around.

So far, so good, though. There is plenty of room in the main coop for everyone to have some personal space, to peck and scratch and just be a chicken.

But I do have some concerns about all these changes and transitions still to come.

The dogloo has a nightlight inside of it and the chicks naturally navigate their way inside every night for bedtime, while the big hens head upstairs each night, into their big hen house, which also has a light inside. I’ve noticed the chicks investigating the big hen house during the day, but they seem to know to sleep in the dogloo at night. Pretty soon, though, they will outgrow the dogloo, it’s already becoming a tight fit, and the chicks will need to move into the big hen house at night.

(Liza Minelli, our Black Star hen that we bought last year)

I do worry about that transition, because, even though the hen house door is always open, there are corners inside where a chick could get caught by a grouchy big hen and get beat up. And as the chicks grow, it will become more crowded inside, which leads to more arguments as chickens demand more personal space. Even though it will be difficult to do, I know it will be necessary to sell at least 10 of the chicks when they reach laying age, because our coop is just not big enough.

(Poor old Suzie, our 4 yr old Silver-laced Wyandotte, agrees. These chicks and all their high energy, just wear her out. )

A lot to think about.

But for now, we’re just enjoying the chicks, who are some of the tamest chicks we have ever raised.

Of course, we hand-raised them, just like we did our first batch of chicks, who are now 4 years old and very friendly, too.

We’ve had different groups of friends stop by to meet the chicks and they always comment on how friendly, calm, and sweet they all are. They are always surprised that the chicks don’t run away when someone reaches down to pet them or pick them up. In fact, they seem more like dogs, and are practically jumping up and down to be picked up and given attention.

Or standing on your shoe.

Woe to the person who sits down inside the chicken coop and doesn’t like chickens on their lap, shoulders or head.

(This is my special girl, Ruby an “Easter Egger” chick. As soon as she sees me she races to me, then follows me everywhere until I sit down, and then she hops right into my lap)

Truly, the minute you sit down, a flock of chicks come swarming all around you. It can be a little intimidating if you’re not used to it.

(This is ShyAnne, Jen’s very special “Easter Egger” chick)

But the chicks mean no harm. They just want to have their necks, backs and heads stroked, and they will nuzzle and cuddle you right back.

   

   

Who knew that petting chickens could be so relaxing……

ZzZzZzz

Chicks, Farrier, Fruit and an Equine Visitor

 

(Warning: Long post. Visit the potty and grab snacks first)

This is a ‘catch-up’ post. Please forgive me if I’ve not stopped by your blog in a while. I have been trying to read everyone’s posts, but I’ve not been as good about leaving comments because they take so much time and I’m sure lacking that commodity these days.

Hey! I thought summer was supposed to be laid back and relaxed…as in “The Lazy Days of Summer”???!

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The chicks are 6 weeks old today, so figured it was time for an update.

They are inside the coop with the rest of the flock, but are being kept in a quarantine mini-coop, with their Foster Mama, Mrs Cotton, who hatched out Sid’s baby, Pat Benatar.

Good thing that Pat is also a boy’s name, because it seems that this chick is going to be a rooster

I’ve compared photos of Sid Vicious as a chick and the resemblance holds true. The spiky doo is a trait of the Polish rooster, while the Polish hen will have more of a bouffant doo.

Well, out of 4 fertile eggs that we’ve allowed Mrs. Cotton to hatch out, only one has been a hen. Another reason Sid Vicious must go. He seems to create mostly males, and we don’t need anymore roosters like him around here. Why do the good lookin’ ones have to turn bad?

 

Anyway, Liza Minelli, the Black Star pullet is doing great. We like her pretty black and gold coloring.

She has a curious and calm personality so far.

And Matilda, the Buff Orpington pullet is growing like a weed. A pretty weed to be sure, but she’s a big girl already.

Because Mrs. Cotton is a low senioritychicken in the flock and will get her feathers flattened by some of my older and larger hens if she tries to act tough and protect her chicks, I’ll keep them all in the quarantine pen until the chicks are bigger and can be safely and easily integrated into the flock. They are already basically part of the flock since the only thing separating them is a wall of chicken wire.

Sadly, Pat Benatar will be given away soon, as we just don’t want anymore roosters. Mr. Cotton has been a well behaved, polite rooster, so he’ll stay, but no more roosters are permitted to call Laughing Orca Ranch their home.

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Good news. Even after those late snows and hail, and a serious lack of rain all Spring and early summer, our fruit trees have decided to give us fruit, albeit not as much as last Summer/Fall, but we’ll still have plenty for our family, just none to sell or share.

The peach tree has decided to only produce fruit on one side. And the branches on that side are already starting to sag to the ground with the weight of all the peaches. It’s weird how not even one fruit is growing on the other side of the tree, though. My opinion is that side of the tree receives the most wind and bad weather, while the other side is protected by the house.

 

The Granny Smith apple tree is producing a good amount of apples this year, too. But still not as many as last year.

 

But the Red Delicious Apple Tree is definitely making up for the low harvest it gave us last year. We only picked maybe 15-20 apples off the entire tree. I think we have at least double that amount this year, though. My mouth just waters thinking of biting into a fresh, cripsy, sweet apple, and a juicy, sweet peach in a few months!

 

 

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I had my farrier, Scott Trinka come out to give Apache a trim yesterday. Apache was a good girl as always.

It’s only been about 5-6 weeks since her last trim and her feet haven’t grown all that much, but I wanted her trimmed now to smooth out any rough edges, and give her enough time to toughen up after her trim. The reason why? Well, in just a couple weeks I’ll be taking Apache up to Northern New Mexico for our first-ever Horse Camping trip! I’m so excited! Long before I bought my first horse a few years ago, I dreamed of camping out with my horse and riding all day long, exploring beautiful places that would take too long to reach only by foot.

Anyway her feet, besides being very dry because of our lack of rain here, are looking pretty good and are ready for trail riding.

Have I mentioned how much I like my farrier, Scott Trnka? He’s been my farrier now for 3 years and he’s knowledgeable, easy to talk to, willing to answer any questions and offers advice and helpful tips, too. He does a great job with barefoot trims for me and never takes too much off the foot, so the horse isn’t sore. And he only charges me $30. But it’s no surprise he’s so good, because his family has been blacksmiths and farriers for a long time.

In fact, his brother, Craig Trnka is a Certified Journeyman Farrier and has been the President of the American Farrier's Association as well as won many Championship Farrier and Blacksmith Competitions. He’s also been a qualified judge for the World Blacksmith Competitions around the country, including the recent Hammers and Hooves event that was held near my home, that I had to miss due to participating in the ACTHA CTR.

(I think Scott thought I was nuts for wanting to take his picture. He’s such a modest guy, I’m sure he was thinking, “I’m not famous, why would you want my photo?)

 

 

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So…….we have had an equine visitor staying at our place for over a week now.

 

Do you know who it is?

She’s got a very big butt. Built like two mountains with a canyon down the middle, and a back as broad as a sofa. (I could probably use a spoon to scoop the dust out of the divet created by those two large butt humps)

 

 

For those of you who followed my blog back in February, you might remember this horse.

 

She was the third horse I rode, after being injured by Baby Doll and getting back up on her back after Christmas to move forward and past my fears. But this horse was after the sweet, steady-eddy Rosie, to regain my confidence and get more riding experience.

I rode this mare out on the snow covered trails with my Snowy Mountain Cowgirl Club friends. (By the way, that experience and the post, too, was very beneficial and an important part of my journey coming back into horses after my injuries and surgery)

Do you remember this horse now?