Things are never quiet for long. Sue has finished several projects (that we’ve already discussed) and is lining up several more. Most recently, because we’re contemplating graduating the Delawares to the Biggies side, she built an “escape hatch” for them. A place they can get into, if they need to escape from the Biggies and still get food and water. There’s a door on the left side that we can use to put the water and food in there for them. The teens can get in, but not the Biggies – well Maeve might be able to fit, but – in general – she doesn’t really bother the littles. Sue made it really sturdy because we’ll be
using it off and on for a while yet… and she connected it to the footer wall so it won’t simply blow away the next big wind storm (tomorrow and Sunday and Monday). I think it’ll work really well. When we do move the Delawares, we’re not sure how Roman is going to like it. He’s sort of found his tribe with the chickens AND the ducks. They’ve become a big family, they still squabble a bit, but – hey – what family doesn’t. At least there hasn’t been any blood lately. The second photo here is last night, just before they were all ready to bed down. Roman sometimes protects the chickens when the ducks want to run after them, and sometimes he runs after them himself, when they get too much into his personal space. The ducks seem to think of him as an annoying younger brother. We may end up moving the family as one; Delawares, Ducks, and Roman. Continue reading
Construction Zones
05 Friday May 2017
Posted in Co-workers, Projects
Have you ever made a change that, at first, felt incredibly HUGE– but then, after a bit, you realized it wasn’t that big of a deal? Are we ever afraid of change? (Channeling Pastor Mark there, or maybe Mr. Rodgers.) Change can be especially scary if you’re just a little chicken! Your whole world has been one way for the entire 4 weeks of your life – then BAM! your feeder changes and nothing is the same ever again!!! Or at least it seems that way. This is what has happened to the little Rangers. They were wasting so much food, eating out of the egg crate (that worked quite well when they 
were younger) or the other flat feeder we were using. Once they started scratching it everywhere, those were a bust. Sue bought one of the trough feeders, with the holes on the top to keep them from getting in and simply scattering it every where (in the photo, it’s the long red thing they’re checking out). But it’s so scary!!! They’ll figure it out as soon as they get hungry though, and then it will be no big deal. They’ll say, “Why were we so afraid of this?” Then they’ll feel like they can face anything – at least until the next change comes along. 
We’ve just had so much fun this week watching the integration of Goose, Ducks, and Chicks. So far, no animals have been harmed! We’ve still got the Rangers and the Speckleds separated from everyone, and even had to separate the Specks from the Rangers; the Rangers were just outgrowing the Specks all around and we were afraid we’d loose another one. So the Specks are now in Roman’s old cage and thriving well there. They don’t have to compete for water or food, nor are they going to be pushed away from the heat light. This will give them time to catch up! The Rangers are meant to mature more quickly because they’re meat birds, where we’ll keep the Specks more for eggs. We’ll keep one rooster and and any hens we have and then process the others. 
England over 100 years ago! They are supposedly a good table bird, somewhere in the medium range for weight. The chicks vary in color from buff to brown to striped.. we have so many different little guys I can’t tell the players without a score card. We’ll have to see what everyone turns out looking like once they’re a bit bigger. The Sussex seem to be a really nice looking adult chicken. To me, they look as though they’ve been out playing in the snow. What we plan to do is save the hens (if we get any… you never know) and perhaps one rooster and breed our own, if we like the looks of them. 
Today the littles got to go out for the first time. We thought that they would enjoy the freedom and the opportunity to go outside. We also thought that, since they’d been living in the brooder side all this time, they could go outside during the day and come back in at night. So we opened the bottom brooder and they tentatively crept out. There was a lot to investigate inside, in the foreground you see the ducks night time area, to the left towards the back is Roman’s little sleeping quarters, and the top shelf of the brooder – at back – has the newest littles, the newbies. I wasn’t there for the grand exit, but Sue said that they didn’t get brave enough for the full outdoor adventure. The second time she tried, Roman was out on a walk about and he chased them all back in! We’ll just keep trying until they get used to the idea. 
The newest chicks (Gray Rangers) arrived early this morning! Sue’s phone rang at 6 a.m.; the Post Office was calling her to “please come pick up your chicks!” They are simply little, bitty fluff balls at this point. Fifteen of them came in a container no bigger than a regular shoe box! They are different colors, which surprised me- they are not all gray, some are buff colored and various shades of buff and black. It will be
interesting to see how the feather out. They are busy investigating their new place, napping under the heat box or basking in the warmth of a heat-light, eating, drinking – you know, just being baby chicks. Sue decided to try putting their feed in an egg carton to start off; they just dig it! They can scratch and eat and, at this point, the food doesn’t go flying all over the place – genius! We like them a lot (of course) and are thinking of keeping all the hens and one rooster; this way we may be able to raise them ourselves. So that means that the number of chickens available for purchase is TBD. Still taking orders on a first come, first served basis; so let us know. 
Chicken butt!!! I don’t know why that’s funny, but Dustin said it to us yesterday and it made me laugh. We used to do that when we were kids, or say “What’s up chicken butt?” This all comes to mind because we’ve been dealing with little chicken butts lately. Our babies are getting over what’s called Pasty Butt. It not horribly serious, but if not taken care of, it can prevent the chicks from being able to eliminate and then they could die, so that’s bad. Pasty butt happens when the poop collects on their bottom and dries over the vent. It creates a seal and prevents them from eliminating at all. Poor babies. 
Wing and a Prayer 