Fall 2022 Chickens and Ducks and Space

Ended up actually selling 16 birds this summer.  One was a rooster and I was able to get him sold fairly quickly at seven weeks of age, so that went pretty well. The last two pullets were picked up last weekend and now we only have the three viable pullets and our Tiny to raise over the winter months before selling them next year. The three are very tolerant of Tiny. But they won't sleep with her, no matter how much she pleads with them to join her on the warmer. hahah.

The ducks are 20 weeks old now and should be starting to lay eggs very soon.  We invested in an electric netting fence for them so that they can have more space to look for bugs, worms, etc., and their coop is more for them to sleep in, when they want.  We got it all set up yesterday, and they spent the whole night out exploring their new space and/or flying in and out of their little pond. They are so worn out, they have spent all morning in their coop today. 

Watering a lot to get their fence line damp so we don't have any field fires.  The fence is about 3.5 feet tall, and gives the ducks about 160 square feet of space for the four of them to "run" around in. 

 

Pre-Sold 15 Pullets for September 2022

 We have been taking advantage of the backyard chicken families that have decided now is the time to start raising their own eggs, as prices in the stores keep rising. We have these 15 cuties pre-sold to several families in the local area. During the warm summer days, they were developing much faster than the spring chicks we raise. Keeping them in the brooder was possible, but decided to put them outside a week early to give them time to acclimate to outdoor living before they go to their new homes. Last night, however, got really chilly (50F), so we decided to put a brooder warmer out there for them to huddle around.  Last night and this morning, there was grass hay for them to snuggle into to help with warmth. But, apparently they have decided they didn't like the hay on the tray, so they opted to rearrange it to a new location. Chickens are interesting in their decisions. 

Marans Dwarfism? Will she survive?

 We received 20 three-day old chicks from the hatchery, five of which were Black Copper Marans, on July 27.  One of the Marans was considerably smaller, and we just assumed she would catch up. After a week, and she still hadn't grown, we assumed she wouldn't survive.  We'd check her daily and her crop was full, and her eyes were bright, so we held out hope that she was just stunted some, and would catch up with the others soon.  

Well, they are five weeks old today and she is still less than half the size of the others.  Her size if that of a one-week old chick. But she holds her own. She pushes her way in to the feeder and waterer, she knows to hide when the big girls are practicing dive bombs from the perch, and at night she sleeps between the others on the perch. 

The big girls don't pick on her and they don't ignore her. They just don't play as rough with her as they do with the others. 

As you can see from the photos, one was taken on August 18, and the other on August 28. 10 days of growth is quite apparent with the one Marans, but Tiny has hardly grown at all. On the positive side, while she may look like a 1-week old chick, she acts more like a 4-week old chick. Her behaviors are almost age appropriate. 

New Chicks and other stuff in July 2022

 Our new chick brood arrived on July 27... one week later than anticipated.  Apparently, so they claim, they messed up their count on our order and wanted to send us chicks other than what I ordered.  I really wasn't keen on the breeds that they wanted to send.  Figured it would be better to wait a week than to try to sell a couple of breeds that we didn't anticipate. 

So, we received 20 chicks that have all survived. We have five Black Copper Maran, five Gold Comet/Red Star, three Rhode Island, and seven Barred Rock.  In the mean time, we sold three more of our hen/pullets.  Sold the Lavender Orpington pullet, the Barred Rock pullet, and the only laying hen we had left, the Rhode Island Red. Leaves us with Rhode Island Pullet, Black Copper Maran pullet (now laying), and two Silver Laced Wyandottes. Hoping we can sell most of the new chicks before we need to merge the flocks. 

The ducks are about six weeks from starting to lay their eggs. So it is not like we will be low on the egg department. 

We had a long extended heat wave in the middle of July, so the pullets (and one layer) got lots of melon treats and shaved ice for cooling off.  Have yet to figure out what treats the ducks like.  They do enjoy apple bits, but nothing else that I have tried have been any form of enticement or for cooling off purposes.  Of course, they love their cold water pool.  Even when it is not hot, they spend a lot of time in it. This is as close as they will allow anyone to get. Sorry the quality is not better. One of the ducks sounds like she is laughing when she is having fun.  I can never seem to catch the whole "laugh" on video... but I'll keep trying.

This next clip is as close to capturing "the laugh" as I have come so far... The series of quacks last about three to four seconds long, and rarely are they a "back to back" series of "laughs." Hahah

Pool Time Ducksters 2022

 So, the duck training is taking longer than I assumed it would, but they are gradually becoming less afraid each week.  I was able to get close enough to get a few photos of them in their pool.  Just not too close. 

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.