A 3 Rooster Spring....

 We have been super lucky the past many years with only having one rooster show up in our very many broods...  I think the last time we accidentally got a Roo was in 2016? Considering we are now doing two broods per year for the past couple of years, I'm seriously surprised that we have not had at least one male per year.  This year, we ended up with three Cockerels; one each of Australorp, Black Copper Maran, and Easter Egger.  Thankfully, we were able to find homes for all three, eventually.  I was thinking I would never get rid of the Easter Egger and was starting to grow very fond of him.  Then, one of the families that purchased the Marans called this week to let me know that one of them was a Roo. We picked him up and refunded her money, letting her know that I will be starting another batch of Marans in July. She said she may want two of them, then... So we shall see. 

I changed up the Rooster Ad and within 24 hours, a person picked up both Roosters together.  Probably seems more worthwhile to pick up two rather than one, considering the gas prices at the moment? And there we have it.  We are down to three laying hens, six pullets, and four ducks. 

We did pick up a kiddie pool for the ducks that just barely fits inside their pen.  They had a blast for the few nice days of weather.  June has been very soggy.  While I would LOVE to have some heat, I certainly don't miss the 120F temps we had in June last year.  

We will be getting 20 more day-old pullets in a month for our second annual batch. 

All the meat chicks are processed, resting in the refrigerator, and starting to be frozen, a few at a time, to keep from overwhelming the freezers. Smallest carcass so far has been 4#8oz and the largest has been 6#5oz.  We had to cull a few Cornish Cross before they actually made it to processing day.  We processed 21 this year, which is pretty good.  We had 22 last year that made it to the end. We may get a small batch this fall to tide us over into next year.  We have been needing to purchase too many "fryers" from the store and with the prices going up on meat, it is better for us to just raise them ourselves. 

And, as such, we are settling into less work for a few weeks as everything unwinds into a dull routine of daily bird maintenance.  Another month, and most of the pullets should be starting to lay eggs. 

June Berries, Grapes and Pears 2022

This year, we planted grapes, blueberries, raspberries, huckleberries, salmonberries and two pear trees.  Yah, not creating a Christmas song, just that we are trying to get more fruit than just apples and blackberries off our property.  Of course, we planted them a couple weeks after the usual "last frost" and before the late snow storm that we had. UGH!  The grapes and the raspberries seemed to suffer the most because they were the most exposed for the full sun effect. 

I thought the grapes were totally wiped out, and well the raspberries were trying to make a come back.  I would check them every other week in hopes.  One raspberry came back and one is limping along. This past few weeks, the grapes just started to sprout new growth from the top, as well as a sucker came up from the roots.  So, hopefully, in a few years, we will have more berries, grapes, pears, and if that cherry tree ever figures itself out, we might get some bing cherries, too. 

You know me by now... I'm not a good gardener, but I give it my all, hope for the best, and every once in a while, something actually grows.  So we shall see if these all survive. 

Duck Coop is an Easy Pull 2022

We have the duck coop up and running.  The tarp is flimsy and we have a better tarp ordered. But for now, the ducks seem quite happy in their new space.  They have a little more space.  The pull pen is 36 sq. ft, and this duck pen is 50 sq. ft., including their raised bed area.  They are up off the ground, with a mat and hay to help with warmth. I have the brooder warmer in there too until they have all their feathers.  Their down is being pushed out by the new feathers, so they look especially fuzzy now.  They are about 14 inches tall and I would guess that they weigh about three to four pounds each. Their wings are getting longer and their little peeps are becoming more like deeper quacks. The ducks are four weeks old. 

I needed to get some photos of the ones I'm selling, so they got a bath, a blow dry, and some pix taken.  They don't like to be handled, but they are becoming more tolerant of it. I'm amazed at how sharp their little toe nails are. Like mini talons! 

I also took some photos of the newer pullets that are out in their coop being integrated with the two Faverolles and the one remaining Rhode Island.  The remaining hens are great layers.  The pullets should start to lay eggs the end of July or first of August.  They will be 19 to 20 weeks then and so we will be living on the few eggs we get from the current layers, or the ones we have left in the fridge. The pullets that we kept are, one Rhode Island, one Barred Rock, one Lavender Orpington, one Black Copper Maran, and two Silver Laced Wyandottes.  They are all really very pretty birds.  At the moment, their tails are a tad frayed from being chased by the hens, but they are getting braver and starting to stand their ground. 

The meat chicks are seven weeks today, and we were hoping some would be large enough to process.  But no such luck.  With the much cooler temps, I think a lot of their energy goes into staying warmer this year.  I'm fairly certain that they will be big enough next week. If they are not all big enough, we will hold a few back for one more week. 

And that's our bird update for end of May. 

Ruby is a Rooster.... And Garden Notes for May 2022

We rarely end up with roosters, but this year, we got two. The Australorp that was showing it's rooster traits early, and now the Easter Egger that has started to crow in the mornings, afternoons, evenings... whenever it is so inclined to crow.  Especially now that the pullets are a long ways away. He has calmed down, also, now that they are no longer nearby. He's a very handsome guy. 

Today's Photo of the Easter Egger Rooster

The May 1st Photo of the Easter Egger - Didn't Know that he was a he.

The ducks at three weeks are settling into this outdoor life.  The sunshine days are the best. But we still have the brooder warmer set up out in the corner of their pen (you can see it in one of the photos) that they will go to when they are feeling insecure. But, mostly, they are enjoying their environment.  I have been trying to find a treat that they like. I tried scratch, but that was not a hit. I tried peas, and one liked the peas, but none of the others seemed to care for them. Today, I chopped up some baby green spinach. That was a hit. They all dug into that one. No bread. I have read bread is not good for them. I think I will try to buy some live mealworms from the pet store to see if they will eat those. We just need to find the right treats so we can start training them to respond to us by using treats. I can try some canned corn (no salt) to see if they will eat that. It hasn't been warm enough out to have them go for a swim. We would need to do the bathtub again with warm water and use a hair dryer afterwards to do the quick dry before taking them back outside. 

The pullets and the three hens are adjusting to one another. Some of the pullets are roosting on the same bar as the hens, so that's a good sign. We have three feed stations and two water stations set up at the moment to cut down on their station wars. But, all in all, they are settling into the coop routine. 

Not going to do as much gardening this year.  I planted 21 hills of potatoes this year.  I think we will be getting a lot more summer rains so I have a dome with plastic over it to help minimize the too wet factor for the potatoes. And so it goes.  I found some interesting bulbs in the garden that I think are garlic starts left from the fried garlic of last year's heat period. I could be wrong, but I think they are garlic.  I transplanted them into the garden space next to the garlic that I planted last fall. We shall see what comes of it.  

I have the garden patch covered with a black tarp to kill weeds in the corn patch. That's pretty much all that's happening at the moment. No tomatoes or bell peppers this year. 

Two Week Old Indian Runner Ducklings

 They truly are growing faster than I even imagined.  Now, I won't say that they grow faster than our Cornish Cross chicks, but they are growing faster than our average chicks. At two weeks, they are about 8 inches tall without stretching.... which they do that a lot, too.  We have two 15 chick warmers in their brooder to handle the eight of them.  They splash their drinking water EVERYWHERE and keeping that contained is a regular chore.  No amount of shavings at this point, keeps their floor dry.  We have rubber mats and use those to lift and dispose of the shavings, then we hose them down and replace them with dry rubber mats topped with shavings. We tried using grass hay under their warmers this time, but they just wanted to eat the grass, so we made certain that there is plenty of grit available for them to help with digestion. 

We had another swim day.  The moment they hit the water, they poop. I am assuming it is an instinct? Once they get swimming, they dive and splash and generally make a lot of happy peeps. They don't "quack" but sound more like baby chicks than ducks. 

Because water is an issue in their brooder, we hang their food now so that it doesn't get as wet.  Can't remember if I mentioned that we are adding Brewer's Yeast to Organic Chick Feed.  1.5 Tablespoons per 1 cup of feed is what we were advised. They seem strong and I don't notice any wobbly legs, which is what the niacin from the Brewer's Yeast is supposed to help with healthy bone development.  So, I take a half gallon canning jar, fill it with six cups of feed, pour in a half cup of Brewers Yeast, and shake, shake, shake until it is all mixed in. That is three pounds of feed that lasts for a few days for eight peeping ducklings. 

The water in the tub was not very deep.... at any point that they wanted, they could stop swimming and stand up, which they did every so often. Yesterday, they were two weeks old. I've noticed a few feathers coming in on their tails.  

These Photos were taken after toweling them off from their swim.  They were more alert and did better with the photos after swimming than before swimming. Go Figure? 

No Joke - Ducks Grow FAST

 I swear the ducks are already twice as tall as when they arrived. They went for their first real swim today with a towel ready to dry them off before they got too cold.  I used tepid water for them.  The back end of the tub was shallow enough for them to stand if they wanted.  They were not too enthused when I first put them in, and they all huddled in the back corner trying to get out of the water/tub. I tried a large bowl in the tub first, but they were having nothing to do with that, and beside, even a large bowl was not big enough for all eight at once. 

So filled the tub and placed them in one by one as they squawked loudly that they were not having fun! But in a matter of minutes, they were swimming, and diving, and acting like ducks to water. 

So, the pullets are being pullets.  One of the three Easter Eggers was really acting out, and I'm wondering if it is a pain response to refeathering.  The whole back side of her is missing feathers, and the feathers are just starting to push through. I know that can be an unpleasant feeling for chickens when so many are coming back in at the same time. I also was not certain whether it might be a male trying to show dominance, but the telltale signs are not quite there.  An early pink comb does not always mean it is a rooster. The Easter Egger certainly is not as aggressive as the Australorp was.  Just very flighty and didn't like other birds getting close. I have put her into the dog cage now, and I can tell she misses being with her girls, but at the same time, they are talking with one another through the wire, so it's not like she is totally out of the chicken life loop.  

I did try putting a chicken apron on her, but she was even more distressed by that thing chasing her around the pen.  She was literally throwing herself against the wire in an attempt to get the darned thing off her back. I didn't want her to hurt herself or the others in her frenzy.  I figured everyone would be safer if she was in a separate space while her feathers heal. And, then we can start to determine whether or not she is a he. 

A person called me today looking for pullets, which I just don't have anymore to sell.  I have six or seven for my own flock from the 30 something that we started.  I don't want to part with the few remaining that I have.  So I offered up four of my current layers. They may be going to a new home this weekend. I didn't plan to start selling the layers until June, but we will still have five layers in addition to the few pullets we still have. If we have any layers left after June, we can start to integrate the pullets with the hens for the next laying season. 

Ducks Running with More Space

 The ducks are three days old today and true to their name, they love to run around. We cleaned out the new brooder, giving them lots of space now to run.  They seem to like to wipe their wet bills on the wall, so there are wet smears on the walls in the background. They splash the water so there are water droplets on them in some of the photos. Just like with chicks, they are difficult to catch crisp photos without some level of motion. They are quivering all the time even if they are not cold, they just seem to shake when they take a bite of food, shake when they drink water, and shake with they are interacting. They don't spend as much time under the warmer as chicks do, but when they are ready to warm up, they know to go there and they find the area that meets their warming needs. There is still plenty of room for them with only eight under my smaller warmer that will warm up to 15 chicks at a time. I have it tilted so they can find the right height for their needs. 

We plan to keep one of each color, Fawn, Blue (Gray), Black, and Chocolate, and sell the rest, if we can.