Surprises Big and Small

I have a variety of layers in my hen flock.  They lay all sizes and colors.  I get eggs that are white, brown, beige, green and even blue.  It makes for a lovely carton of eggs.

 

 



Occasionally I get a really big egg.

But for the most part, my eggs are just average side.  They would be sold in the store as large or medium size eggs.

 

 



 

But then last week, I picked up this egg in the hen house.

 

 



It looks like a normal egg, but there was something a bit different about it.  When you put it up against a  regular size egg, this is what you get.

The pictures just don't do it justice.

 



Of course, you can't just leave an egg like that.  I had to see what was inside.  I was amazed at how hard the shell was on it.  I had to give it three really hard whacks just to get it to crack.  Finally it came apart.

 

 

 



 





 A small white with a line of yolk in it.  Actually, I was a bit surprised that it had any yolk at all.  Eggs are fascinating things.

 

 



Cock-A-Doodle-Doo

I currently have too many roosters.  I have seven.  According to chicken culture, you should have about one rooster for every 10 to 12 hens.  Earlier in the year, I had about 70 hens so everything was running smoothly.  This particular group of roosters are very nice to have around.  They do their job of continuing their genetic lines, plus they are on constant lookout for predators and work hard to find the best scratching spot for their particular group of ladies.  Best of all they all get along together and I don't have to be on the constant alert for fights.

A problem has developed lately though with the loss of several of my hens.  Something went through the flock and I had a few just drop dead from God only knows what (that just happens sometimes).  I've lost a few to predators (I've got a red tailed hawk that has discovered the chicken buffet here) and then a few were lost to their own stupidity (jumping over the fence into the waiting jaws of my sister's dog qualifies in the stupidity catagory).  Their loss has thrown my numbers off.  I'm averaging about six hens per rooster now and things are getting a bit tense around the barnyard.

This is Champ, my main rooster.  He took the position of main roo with the passing of his father Red.  I haven't got a clue who his mother is, but Champ is about three years old and doing a marvelous job of keeping everybody in line.

My second in line is a black Minorca by the name of Kemosabe.  I bought him about a year and a half ago as a chick and he's quiet handsome.  His biggest downfall is that he crows all the time.  And I mean all the time, 24/7.

 

 

 

The three muskateers come next and I have to look at them really closely to tell them apart.

 

 

 

 

Pigeon is up next but he was being very camera shy the day I was taking pictures and went and hid.

 

Last but not least is the Lone Ranger.  He's at the bottom of the pecking order which makes no sense as he is the largest rooster I have.  I'm guessing that he's about 10 to 12 pounds and he outweighs even Champ.  He doesn't push his weight around, however, and always lets the other roos have precedent.  I worry about him hurting some of the hens, but his personality has saved him from the stew pot so far.

 

 

 

 

 

I keep thinking that I need to get rid of some of them as I'm down so many hens, but this is such a good crew of roosters that I can't bring myself to do it.  I've got so many chicks coming on this spring that I keep hoping they will continue to get along well until I can replace the hens in a few weeks.  Wish me luck.



Mistake? I Think Not!

I made a mistake today.  A serious error in judgement.  Or so my mother tells me.  Actually, I think I had the best luck in the world.

I had spent the entire day trying to go through boxes of paperwork that had piled up during the various moves I've made over the years.  I have the mortifying feeling that some of this paperwork hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade.  Be that as it may, I decided to do something about it today and was making great headway until about two o'clock this afternoon when I reached the point where I just could not tackle another pile of murdered trees without going stark raving mad.  So to clear my brain I decided to get in the truck and just tool around a bit to blow out the cobwebs.

So I loaded up the dog and off we went, headed south.  I intended to go to the community about two miles south of me and stroll through Dollar General for a few minutes before going home.  Instead I kept traveling and ended up in the town about 10 miles south instead.  I figured since I was there I would go to one of my favorite stores just to see what was happening, the feed and seed store.  That was probably my first mistake to Mom's way of thinking.

Got in the store and wandered around a bit and as usual drifted back to the chicken section to watch the new baby chicks for sale there (mistake #2).  While I was standing there, the store manager (a very nice man who I'm on a first name basis with mainly because I spend a good portion of my income in his store), came by and struck up a conversation.  He was talking about the new shipments they had just gotten in today when a small chicken fluttered out of its bin and perched on the rim.  Manager shook his head as he reached over and placed the chick back in its bin.   "These chicks in this bin have been here a week and they are getting big," he said.  "They're feathering out and nobody wants them after they're not cute little balls of fluff anymore.  They're starting to fly and cause problems.  They're getting in the other bins and I caught one running through the store the other day."

We looked at each other and inspiration struck us both at the same time.  "How much?" I asked(mistake #3) at the same moment that he said, "50 cents apiece."  Now a 75 percent markdown is just too good to pass up, so all I could reply was, "Done!"

So home I went with 22 chickies in tow (and one very anxious dog).  Luckily we had just put this year's first crop of babies out in the brooder house last week, so we had empty tubs.  As soon as I got home, I made sure they were clean, put them on their stands and made them ready.

 

 



The bricks are to set the waterers on.  If they are just on the bottom of the tub, it really becomes a mess.  So after this I added chips, waterers, feeders, chicks, tops and heat lamps.  Another batch, ready to go.  Actually, three as I split the 22 chicks into three tubs.

 

 

 

By the time I got all that done, it was time to go do the outside chickens chores.  The feeder was getting low so I loaded up a five gallon bucket with three-way scratch and off I went to the hen house.

 

 

 

 

After the number of chickens I had went over a dozen it was obvious that the little feeders from the feed store weren't going to be able to handle that many birds, so I went to the poultry supply store and invested in a commercial feeder that will hold a 50 pound bag of feed at one time.  It comes with a hood that covers the feeder so that you can set it out in the yard and rain won't get in it, but since it's in the hen house, I found it's easier to work it with the hood off.

 

 

 

 



When I start pouring scratch in the feeder there is a flurry of excitement from the entire crew and everybody runs to grab a bite.  Some just can't wait and will peck at the feed as it pours into the feeder.

 

 

 

 



After the feeder is filled and everybody is munching away, it's time to gather the day's eggs.  Some of the hens will go broody and stay on the nest continuously, even when I take the eggs out from under them.  I guess they think they can hatch thin air.  Others simply lay their egg and leave.

 

 

 

 



After the eggs are collected and everybody is in the hen house and roosted up for the night, it's time to close the hatch, shut the door and turn the patrol dog loose for another day.  With everything locked up for the night, then the farmer can go relax and count the loot.  29 eggs!  A good day's work.

 

 



Back By Popular Demand

I recently left the rigors of farm life and went on a visit to friends that live near the coast.  While I was there, everybody fussed at me about not blogging any more.  So watch what you complain about, you may get a solution.  I'm back!!!

I'm going to give a lot of excuses for not blogging in almost two years, but really it's mainly because I just got bored and busy and distracted and I thought nobody was interested.  My other excuses are that my computer bit the dust so I'm having to upload from my sister's computer down at my mom's house.  (That excuse is a bit weak as I'm spending more time there than at my own place.)  My camera also bit the dust, and frankly blog posts are boring without supporting pictures.  (Actually, it wasn't the camera, it was the charger, but it's replaced now.)

So here goes.  In the last year and a half plus, Sister and I have instituted a lot of changes here (here generally means my house and her and my mom's property where a lot of the actual farming takes place.  They are only a half mile apart so the distinction get a bit blurry on occasion.  I'll try and remember to let you know where in particular I'm talking about.)  We've started several new projects and done lots of work and I'll be talking about that in particular in the future.

Since I posted last, the chickens have expanded.  I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of about 75 right now.  I had around a hundred at one point, but disease, dogs and hawks over the last several months have taken a toll.  We have several baby chicks in various stages of growth, however, to replace the fallen and add even more.  The chickens are the main focus right now of my farming efforts so expect a lot of posts on them.

 

 

 



We've also planted lots and lots of fruit trees.  I've decided that reaching up and picking fruit is much easier on my back than bending over and picking vegetables (although there will still be plenty of that too.  Who am I kidding?)

I thought my building was at an end when I got the house done.  Not so.  Last summer, I put a Hobby House up in the back and moved in my loom, spinning wheel and the buckets and buckets of yarn that I have.  It's made quiet the cozy little retreat.

 

 



We've added a couple of goats to the menagerie.  Lulu is on the left, Jolene is on the right.

 

 

 

 

And just this week, (yesterday in fact) we installed two beehives.  Now that was interesting!

 

 

 

 





So there's lots happening here at the farmette, and you're going to get to hear about all of it.   I'll be posting as things happen and in between, I'll post on lots of the above and a few other things we've done to catch you up to date.  I'm looking forward to getting back into this.  Hope you are too.