Duckies

On the Saturday between Easter & Good Friday, I bought my son's 5 peking ducklings from TSC.  I thought "My sons are 2-years 6-months & 1-year; they're old enough to begin learning about animal husbandry & the responsibilities of owning and caring for animals" knowing full well that M, my youngest, wouldn't do anything of any consequence with them other than possibly petting them or something.  I wasn't certain that A would be able to handle it, so it was a small gamble, but I figured that if he couldn't deal with them, they got to be "old hat" or he stopped caring for them, I just butcher them and we have roast duck for supper or some such.  However, my gamble seems to be paying off. Because A is doing very well with his new adventure.  M, thinks the ducks are toys, so I can't let him touch them without supervision, but A has taken his job very seriously.  I told him he must feed them every day, change their water, clean their brooder etc. and every morning so far except yesterday (because he had outpatient surgery yesterday) he has asked when it's time to feed & water the animals (chickens, ducks & horses), & helps me get the eggs from the chickens (both boys have been doing this for quite awhile now).  Both boys are doing very well with all of this.  I couldn't be prouder of them!

I also was recently informed by A that it is "Time to eat the roosters Mommy".  LOL!!  I didn't realize he understood when I was butchering the chickens last year!  My husband & I had been sure to keep him back & away during the killing stage, but I had let him play in his sand box during all the other phases so apparently it sunk in more than I realized, and as he is completely chill about the whole thing I'd say it doesn't bother him all that much. 

When he told me it was time to butcher the roosters, I told him "OK we'll butcher them once Mommy catches them", not realizing just how serious he was about doing it right then and there in that moment... so he proceeded to chase my roosters all over the barn for the next 10 minutes.  I told him he shouldn't chase them, because they could hurt him, but he listens about as well as any normal, active 2.5-year old, so it took a little bit to corral him and get him to stop chasing the roosters.  I did end up catching 2/4 & stuck them in the kill cage (I pen them up overnight so I don't have to worry about having a full crop to work with), but then the weather changed overnight.  It got cooler than I really wanted to deal with for butchering so I let them go again.  Their days are most definitely numbered though because I have chicks from last year which are potentially being bred with their father...

Also, I've been asked by a reader to post photos of my unorthodox way of butchering, so although my husband is squeamish about the thought, I may have to enlist his help in taking photos, because once I begin butchering, I tend to get rather covered in blood and feathers.  Not the sort of thing that you want to be picking up a camera all the time, and perhaps if my husband or someone else helps me take photos, I can get some better ones than if I were to do it myself.

Throw together chicken tractor

When I bought the first 13 chickens through mypetchicken.com I wasn't worried about integrating them into the existing flock, or any of the stuff I probably should have been.  It was only 13 of them after all...  Then of course I went to TSC and found all those Easter Eggers (11) & Buff Orpingtons (2), bringing my grand total up to 26 at that point and making my job between weeks 4 & 6 much more difficult of course.

I've realized since they rolled over into week 4 that the stock tank they've been living in, is just too small for them to exist in during the day... The time has now come for me to think about a way for them to go outside without getting loose (their not all "tame" to my liking, and will not free range until I can be sure they will remain "home" and not  wander off).

I think considering the gentle nature of the ISA Browns I have right now that I could put them into the adult coop if I wanted to, but I'm not 100% convinced they are ready yet.  They are only 4-weeks old after all... Not to mention I wanted to use up all of the adult layer feed prior to integration into the flock so I don't need to be concerned about the beepla's getting too much calcium and damaging their kidneys in the process. 

There were some hog panels laying around, some chicken wire, some baling twine, some ice cream pails for water... so after working really hard on Monday, this is the resulting contraption.  The beepla's go back into the stock tank at night (handling each and every chick in the process, thereby taming them a little more every day) and they go out into the yard and garden during the day to learn to scratch for bugs and worms, dust bath etc.

The first day, they were all terrified to even move.  They huddled up into a big pile and wouldn't do much of anything.  It was rather discouraging... but then the second day, they did better, and were less wild when I went to put them into their box to come outside.  The third day (today) they had become so accostomed to the idea that when the "tall noisy lady" comes that they go outside that 3 of them jumped into my hand when I put it on the ground to catch them!  Yay!!  THEN as if that wasn't exciting enough... one of my prized Light Brahma's caught her first worm!  All by herself!!  OMG I was so proud I came inside and told my mom & sister!  They laughed at me and didn't understand but I was so proud!  :-D

So anyway... I've done this system the last 3-days, and although it does not look pretty, it works really really well for our needs.

Its amazing what two hog panels, some chicken wire, baling twine, small pails and ingenuity can accomplish...

Photos of Daddy Frog's new chickens

**  All of these chickens are rescues.  They were being kept all together and were feather picking each other etc. 

This is the male Mille Fleur d'Uccle that we hadn't planned on getting, but Daddy Frog has decided that he likes him because he's a highly neurotic chicken.   He's been dubbed "Spaz"

 We believe this to be a female Porcelain d'Uccle?  ... but we're not sure of the gender because it's so feather picked that it's hard to tell right now.  When it was placed into a "private" cage it collapsed from exhaustion and stress.  It's been fed 3 extra rations of high protein feed and now, 24 hours later, it's doing MUCH better.

One of the three Silver Duckwing Roosters.  Daddy Frog is thinking of keeping at least one... possibly all of them, we'll see.

The Silver Sebright hen.  We are not going to keep her, either butchering her or re-homing!  I can fix the splay beak, but it's a genetic defect due to inbreeding, so she isn't a good candidate for my husband's planned breeding program. 

We do not know what breed this is but we have 4 of them!  They are available to be re-homed!!  

 Silver Duckwing Rooster!  We have 3, 2 are possibly up for re-homing!

Daddy Frog's prized Golden Sebright rooster.  He has named him Larry, and he is a very cocky little guy LOL.  He and I have already had to have a chat about who is going to be the top rooster and who is the submissive one. 

 "Look at me!  Aren't I pretty!?"

Larry has been properly reminded who will be top roo.  Obviously he is humiliated. LOL

Beepla's @ 3-weeks old

My mom went out to the brooder room with me tonight to help take photos and look at all of the beeplas.  She hadn't seen them for quite awhile, but knew they had grown a lot.  She just didn't know how much.  It's really fun to watch them as they grow & mature.  It's a little bit staggering just how quickly they are doing so though.  :-)  Such pretty feathers some of these babies will have some day!! 

 

Unusual coloring isn't it?

I believe this to be a Silver Lace Wyandotte... but I'm not sure.  Either way, my husband believes it to be a rooster; or a very pushy female! lol

1/7 Dark Americauna's

1/3 Light Brahma's.  So pretty... each of them have unique coloring... it's going to be so much fun keeping these babies

1/4 Jersey Giant's

1/4 Jersey Giant's

1/4 Jersey Giant's showing off her newly clipped wing. 

1/3 Buff Orpington's.  I'm not thrilled with them so far, but they are pretty so far...

A lighter Americauna

She got comfortable on my hand... I wish all of them were this calm...

"Ooooooh what's that thing??"

Mom thought I needed to take a photo of the brooder tank so you all could see how much room they do (or don't) have lately.

This is an Americauna, but she is the only one like her.  She looks "brown" here but is actually more grey than anything. :-)  Really pretty.

Neighbor's needing help, Egg eater troubles & Beepla's are 3-weeks old

Even after clipping their wings and placing a hog panel covered in chicken wire over the mouth of the milk tank, the beepla's still are trying to fly out of it.  Rather annoying really... BUT they are growing growing growing at an unbelieveable rate!  Goodness gracious!  I think they are almost ready for the grow out pen!  I had thought perhaps they might make it to the 4-week mark, but at this rate, they will need to be moved before then!  I'm just glad they are healthy!

*******

In other news, we have an "egg eater" in the flock.  She is consuming between 2 & 3 eggs before I can get out to collect them for the last 3 days, and to say that I am unhappy is an understatement.  I have no idea which chicken it is, but if I catch her, that will be that.  I'm tired of these shenanigans!

*******

Also, in the course of my daily activities yesterday, I rode my bike up to deliver eggs to the neighbor and his wife.  She had facebooked that when I had extra eggs she would like to have at least 3-dozen.  Great.  Cool.  Problem is she has Huntington's Disease and doesn't leave her house some days (more days than not lately), so I end up delivering them, or having their son show up and take eggs, sometimes without asking.  Sometimes it's a big deal, sometimes it isn't.  I decided this week I would make sure she received them because there have been times when she's called asking where they are, after her son has already picked them up.  This tells me he is "snagging" them and sometimes forgets to give them to her.

All of that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, other than it came out in conversation that they are really struggling financially.  Apparently, they are so broke they don't have money for food, and are literally surviving on bread, milk & eggs.  Way to totally make me feel responsible for them to eat!

I came home, told mom, and we decided something must be done, because they need more nutrients than what can be had from just bread, milk & eggs.  So, taking some chicken stock she had just made, she threw together a big batch of chicken noodle soup for them and took it down.  I had planned to do something similar, she just beat me to it.

Beepla's are 1-week old!

We made it through the first week with only one mortality!  I call this an achievement as I've never raised chicks before (my sister did it last time & lost one as well).   Here are some photos of the babies, and there are duplicates of the same bird, but some of them were not cooperating lol. 

A dark Easter Egger

 Bella a light easter egger

 A suspected rooster (the buff orp)

2 light easter eggers.  They like the wood I gave them to sit on

 Silver lace wyandotte

 Jersey giant

 Biggggggggggggg Stretch!! 

 Can't forget the other leg!

 One of my 3 light brahma's

 A look at how the light brahma wing is developing (it's under developed compared to the other chicks)

 overview of some of them.  2 Jersey giant on right side, 4 easter eggers on left

 Dark easter egger

 light easter egger

 One of my australorp

 Buff orpington

Photos of the goings on today

The fluffy butts got moved into the milk tank/milk house today.  It took a little bit of doing, and for awhile I thought it might not work because of the broken door I had to fix that wasn't going back together very well, but it worked out good and they seem a lot happier. 

I gave them a log to "roost" on, or rather learn to roost on, because they can hardly hurt themselves if they roost on something like that log initially.  They seem to like it...

Can't forget photos of some of the adults. :-)  Mom likes the coloration on the ISA Browns, but I'm not overly impressed.  Their temperaments are good, and their egg laying abilities are good, but the colorings are too similar.  I can't tell the difference between them without their leg bands, and sometimes they're too far away to see their leg bands.

Jethro is of course NOT a chicken, but he's adorable, and was enjoying the sunshine none-the-less so he got himself featured in today's post. :-)