April 28, 2008

Freedom Rangers

These are Freedom Ranger chicks. They are a hybrid broiler known for great foraging abilities. I split an order with a woman I met on Craig's List (a wonderful resource - bookmark it now). Unfortunately half the chicks did not survive transit. Newly hatched chicks can survive 3 days without food and water because of the nutrients from the egg yolk they absorb before hatching. They do not survive cold very well. As it turns out, soon after this shipment arrived, the hatchery closed its doors. Many of its shipments this year had the same problems as this one.

If you have chicks this year - and based on conversations I have had with staff at Tractor Supply and Agway, a lot of you do - your biggest sign when you have a chilled chick is pasty butt. It is what it sounds like. The old poop has to be cleaned away from the chick's little vent, but be very gentle. If you use water, make sure you dry him off or he will remain chilled. A touch of vaseline around the area will help too but most importantly, get him warm.

These chicks are oblivious. They are too busy eating and peeping. They are voracious eaters. And cute. But what chick isn't?

Posted by roosterh at 6:16 AM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

Birds and Flowers (not always a good combination)

My forsythia has bloomed for the first time! The rabbits usually chew on it all winter so that by spring, it has no energy for flowers. This marans hen enjoys the blossoms too.
When quince bloom, the hummingbirds arrive. We haven't seen any here but folks in the next town have reported seeing some. Quince is one of my favorite bushes. The bright color is just amazing. The rabbits ate a lot of this bush too, and I had to prune many dead branches.
These double headed daffodils (the chicken head is extra) bloom later than the other daffodils.
Close-up of flower - no chicken!
The ducks left me one sad little tulip this year. The rest were chewed on as soon as they emerged from the ground. At least they spared one. Kind of.
The turkeys (Murphy is on your left) have been following me around this whole time, waiting patiently for their mug shot.

Posted by roosterh at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

Git along little doggy

Today it was time to move the little calf up with the rest.
It was also time to give the cows new balage. Even though the grass is coming on strong, they need to have lots to eat. Three of them will calf in July. They follow Gary on the tractor as he brings the bale in.
Once unwrapped and untied, the bale is ready to go inside its feeder. Meanwhile the cows have been eating it the whole time!
This is how a cow says "Thank you" to Gary!
Hank loves the cows.
He likes cow pies too. Mmmmm. Yeah, we think that's digusting too. :)
Down off the hill, away from the cows, Liddy runs around with Annie's kids.
The kids are playful and it's hard to get them to stay still for a picture.
But Murphy is always ready for the camera.

Posted by roosterh at 5:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2008

Daffodils

The guineas have an outdoor run. Because of their travelling nature, they have to be contained for a while until they know that this is home. They scratch the grass for bugs and shoots, and take dust baths in the sun.
Nearby, the daffodils are blooming.
Murphy likes them too.

Posted by roosterh at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

eggs. are. everywhere!!

This time of year, the chickens are highly productive and lay lots of eggs. In another couple of weeks some of them will feel the urge to sit on their eggs for babies, but now they lay em and forget em, running around eating all the new grass that is popping up. As a result, I have lots of eggs in the fridge.
I recently changed my egg packaging. I had been using styrofoam but recently the prices of recycled paper cartons have come down to be the same as the foam. So I opted for the paper cartons this time. We will see how they do. I get my cartons from eggcartons.com and afix a label with our farm logo, and record the date, the size and the price.

I also have an incubator full of turkey eggs and bantam eggs. The bantam eggs will take 21 days to hatch, and the turkey eggs will take 28 days. Both of them are kept at a constant temp of 99.5 degrees. Here's hoping we have a good hatch (but I am not counting them yet!). ;)

Posted by roosterh at 6:19 AM | Comments (1)

April 13, 2008

Gimme Guineas

Growing up, Gary was always surprised by animals his dad would bring home. At one point, his dad had quite a flock of guineas at the house. They would roost in a particular tree each night. For the past couple springs, Gary has suggested that we keep some guinea hens, and this week in Country Folks, he found an ad for some 10 month old birds. So we took the trip to that farm today and brought home 4 birds: one male and three females.
I clipped their wings before placing them in the coop, but Gary thinks I should have clipped more than I did. Sure enough, none of them had any issues flying the 3 feet up to their roost. I will have to rethink their outside run before letting them outside. They need to understand this is home before I let them out, or I will never see them again.
Even though the guineas were very quiet (if you know guineas, you know this is unusual!) and their door was closed, everyone else knew something was up and came up to their coop to investigate. They'll find out soon enough!

Posted by roosterh at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

Signs of Spring

The turkeys can go where ever they want. This can be a good and a bad thing :) I love how they come running when I call. But when Gary works on his truck, he could probably do without the extra help.
You will have to click this picture to get the whole effect. Everyone came out to help Gary change his oil. Another downside of letting turkeys free range this time of year is that it is also breeding season. When I was taking these pictures, I heard a wild tom on the hill behind us. It wasn't too long until one of my hens answered his call and made the trip up the hill herself. I saw her tom, and he was large and very handsome, but afraid of me. He ran and I led the hen back down the hill. I might have to rethink this free range thing.
Some flowers have started to bloom which I hope will attract the bees away from the grain. They still swarm our grains every afternoon, hungry things. These crocus should stick around until we get some really warm days, or until my birds discover them.
These snowdrops, or Galanthus, are in my rock garden, hopefully protected from most curious beaks around here.

Posted by roosterh at 7:24 PM | Comments (2)

March 24, 2008

Annie's kids

Last Friday night, Annie had her kids. Two boys. After Liddy's adventure I was a little nervous. But everything was fine. Murphy was there for the whole birthing process, fanning his tail as he roosted on a stall wall. He has godfathered many many goat kids.
Annie. Is. Huge. After the first couple days, I will begin to milk her. When she was in labor I almost thought she was going to have triplets. The first kid was an effort to deliver, but kid #2 (the mostly white one) slid right out almost into my lap.
It took about a day for the boys to get a hang of it, but now they are old pros at this eating thing. They even nibble at grain at this young age!
Although it is a very nice day out, this is their first journey outside the barn, and they do not venture very far. Everyone, including this rooster, is very curious and wants to meet them.
Big Tom sticks around the barn too. That is where all the ladies have been hovering, playing in the hay and eating black oil sunflower seeds (their favorite treat).
Some muscovy ducks share a helping of black oil sunflower seeds with a turkey hen in the barn.
The turkeys started to lay their eggs this week. So far no one is showing signs of being broody.
Winter is receding here on the hill, and we are in the full stages of MUD SEASON. Some snow still remains up on the hill by the pig house, now boarded up.
The chickens are happy to have some grass to eat and scratch through.

Posted by roosterh at 5:41 AM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2008

Weekend activities

After a month of trying, Gary gets the trailer up the hill to the pig pen. We will deliver them to the butcher later today.
Time for Liddy's stitches to come out. Gary held her while I snipped.
When they were all out, I covered the incision with Zinc Oxide. Her coat is taking a longer time to grow back than it is taking for her incision to heal.
Murphy supervised from outside the stall.
Annie, who shares the stall with Liddy, watched from the corner. According to my notes, she is due to kid this week. At this point, her bag is much larger than her belly!
I spotted a duck checking out nest sites under a toolbench in the barn. I never found an egg, but this shows they will be laying soon.
Turkey hens play on our homemade critter carrier (it fits in the back of Gary's truck). They do stuff like this all day.
Hank sits on the hill and watches them all.

Posted by roosterh at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2008

SnowSnowSnow

Time to trudge through the snow and feed the pigs. An extra bonus today: I found a stash of tiny banty eggs in the barn. There are 6 hens in the barn and each week they find a new place to lay their eggs. This week's hot spot was under the wood splitter.
The girls squeal and squeak when they realize what time it is.
They love those eggs!
And back scratches.
The purveyors of those fine eggs, part of my banty flock in the barn.
After the pigs are fed, we go across to feed the calf. He's about 7 months old now and his horns are starting to show.
My 3 spring toms follow us up. Murphy doesn't like the snow as much as they do.
Gary has plowed a wide avenue up the hill. The house and barns are below.
same picture, with turkey :)
Murphy has stayed down below to take advantage of some cleared patches of grass. Big Tom is with him.
It's a beautiful day. Tomorrow is supposed to be 50 degrees, and then we get more snow.

Liddy update: Liddy is doing great. She gets a dose of children's liquid ibuprofen every 8 hours or so. I wonder if kids eat that stuff up as eagerly and quickly as Liddy? She now checks my pockets and hands whenever I visit to see if I have brought more for her to eat.

Posted by roosterh at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2008

New week new storm

Can't let a week go by without a new snowstorm! The same day I bring Liddy to the vet, we have a storm that is supposed to lay down 7-10 inches. And rain. And sleet. And fog.
Toby would rather stay outside and eat hay than go to his shed and eat hay there.
Mae and Matty stay outside too.
The turkeys are happy running around outside too! Am I the only one who wants to go inside and wrap my hands around a cup of tea?
A second later they all decide they have had enough and turn to run to the barn.
Murphy stops for one more pose. He is such a ham.
Hank does chores with me. Here he is letting me know I dropped a glove. Thanks Hank! I know how much you would rather run off and bury that glove for later!

Posted by roosterh at 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

It's a Fact

Small chickens lay small eggs. (Egg courtesy of an Old English bantam hen.)

Posted by roosterh at 6:23 AM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2008

Welcome to the barns

It's cold. So cold eggs freeze before I can pluck them from the coops.
The cows are in the barn and wait for some grain.
Liddy the pygmy goat is very very pregnant (due in about 2 weeks) and has been moved into the barn until it gets warmer outside.
She is very big. Huge. Here's another view.
The pond is frozen over so the muscovies stay in the barn by choice. In fact it is hard to move them outside.
There are 8 Old English bantams running around the barn too. Here some of them sneak a drink out of a goat waterer. They do not like the cold one bit.
In fact here is a hen all covered in hay in a manger. Can you see her? Pretty cozy!
The cold doesn't bother Hank too much. He's ready to wrestle anytime anyplace.

Posted by roosterh at 5:25 PM | Comments (1)

December 17, 2007

a *very* unwelcome visitor

On Friday, I sold my spring roosters and a lot of ducks to a buyer - about 50 birds total. I am trying to keep the bird numbers down, and most of them out of the barns. Meanwhile someone else has been helping to keep the numbers down. This morning, I lost a duck who had taken shelter in one of the barns to this guy, and I suspect several chicks over the summer. Luckily, Gary had some .22 birdshot and is a good marksman and took care of this guy quickly.
Here's hoping there's not another out there ready to take its place. Weasels can quickly devastate a poultry flock.

Posted by roosterh at 6:16 AM | Comments (2)

December 3, 2007

Moving Day

Today was moving day - moving 50 bales of hay or so into the barn so we can use the trailer as a trailer, and moving 30 or so chickens from their field coops to the regular coops. We might get snow tomorrow and we need to get these things done for winter anyway so ... everyone moves around.

Posted by roosterh at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007

Yet more pictures - do they all look the same?

I haven't taken a picture of GooseGoose in a while. It's not like they look different from the last time I took their picture, yet here they are. They constantly stroll around and graze on the grass and what they can find under the leaves. They do this all night too.
One of the young toms. Gary asks me why I take so many pictures of the turkeys, they all look the same. I can't help it!
Just like taking pix of the cows! They all look the same too. Well maybe bigger.
Most likely all the chicken pictures look the same too. But I still take em. You can tell how spoiled this group is - I near their coop and they all meet me halfway looking for treats.
Leghorn rooster. It's pronounced leggern but you can say Leg-Horn if you want. :) Leghorns are a flighty breed and the roosters are hard to tame down (imo). But rarely do other breeds have the sheen and shine to their feathers that leghorns do. They really are gorgeous.
Barred rocks, on the other hand, are quite personable and friendly.
Obligatory Murphy shot.

Posted by roosterh at 8:17 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2007

Stray cat strut

We had already heard from a neighbor that other neighbors had seen a bobcat carcass on the side of the road during their daily walk a few weeks ago. The local Pennysaver also reports that a bobcat was seen a couple towns down the road. Unfortunately the online edition does not include the photo.

So when Hank chased that cat up the tree last night I started to get nervous. The inner voice started. That cat was awfully big. Although he was white, there are albinos around. what if that was a bobcat!!??

When I drove down the driveway this morning I looked in the trees where I last saw that cat. And he was STILL THERE! And here is the lesson where we learn not to use the cellphone and drive: I put the truck into reverse, called Gary (200 yards up the hill in the house mind you) to see if he would check on this cat.... and promptly backed into a tree.

Took me a little bit to extricate myself. And Gary never did see that cat.

Posted by roosterh at 4:23 PM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2007

Good news and bad news

The bad news: there was a HUGE white cat stalking the chicken coops tonight.

The good news: Hank chased him way up a tree.

The bad news: Hank never did catch him so he is still out there.

The good news: all of the baby turkeys put themselves in the coop tonight. By themselves. I usually have to carry them in. Tonight I just followed them as they walked up the hill to bed.

It's the little things I guess. ;)

Posted by roosterh at 6:24 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2007

Pick up game, birdwatching and snow

When presented with a tasty treat, turkeys will go to great lengths to protect their finds. Turkeys love apples and will run to find a quiet spot where they can eat their snack alone.
A chase ensues. It's every turkey for himself when apples are involved.
Even the chickens enjoy apples, although they will eat them right then and there.
And because of this, alert turkeys are responsible for many turnovers, like this little hen will soon discover.
Fumble -oh boy! Again, the chicken is intercepted. The turkey runs down the field.
Others follow, looking for their opening. A rooster referees, watching for interference. The group rounded a corner and I lost sight of who ended up scoring.
Bird watching is another favorite pasttime of the turkeys. I just installed a little feeder this past weekend and filled it with black oil sunflower seeds, another crowd favorite. The turkeys will wait by the feeder and watch the birds go to the feeder -
- and fly away. And sometimes the turkeys to give chase to these birds too.

In other news we saw snow today. Not big flakes, but little floating dandruff in the air. Nothing stuck to the ground, but the cold air and the wind made for a great day of football and apple treats. And bird watching :)

Tomorrow I will try to focus on something other than turkeys!

Posted by roosterh at 3:30 PM | Comments (1)

November 5, 2007

More fun with turkeys

Young toms show off their strutting skills for each other.
Turkeys are some of the most curious animals I have ever met.
When I sit in the grass with my camera in hand, the young ones come running to investigate.
Murphy, of course, is an old pro.

Posted by roosterh at 6:01 AM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2007

Wood

Gary has been busy pulling logs out of the woods and cutting them on the sawmill.
These boards are from locust trees. We have a large stand of locust. They grow quickly and we use them in many ways: firewood, fence posts and lumber for building. The color of the wood is a little yellower than most trees.
The near-daily hard frost collects on the bark of the slab wood. We will cut these slabs and use them for firewood. Locust is a hard wood and makes a nice warm fire!
Murphy and Big Tom wait patiently for the camera to be pointed at them. They are always ready to have their picture taken.

Posted by roosterh at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2007

A Sharper Look

I finally broke down and got a new camera. I took some shots even before I knew how to use the thing, so I can't imagine what the photos will be like once I learn how!

Twilight sky.
Tucker, a boer goat buck in all his stinky glory. The young roosters roam freely in the pastures.
My goofy stinky dog Hank. Gary calls him "Dufus," and he does act like he has one or two brain cells a lot of the time, but every once in a while he shines. Tonight he oh-so-gently herded one of my jakes to the turkey shed and I was so proud of him. He usually has a very strong drive and gets the birds excited but tonight he was awesome!
Here is one of those jakes. He is the oldest - by 3 days - of my turkey poults. This is the bunch who stayed inside their first few weeks in a brooder under my computer desk.
Young turkey hen.
Gary puts the tractor away. He has been pulling logs out of the woods for the past week. He cuts the logs on the sawmill for boards for a barn, and the rest is used for firewood.
No photolog is complete without a picture of Murphy. Isn't he handsome? (I tell him that all the time, I think he likes it.)

Posted by roosterh at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2007

Auction Bound

There are just too many birds around here. Ducks are underfoot constantly and roosters crow dawn til dusk. Time to go to an auction.

The birds actually sold pretty well and we were ready to head back home.

Until we saw this guy. A tiny pygmy buck kid! Now we have a boyfriend for Liddy, our other pygmy. He moves too fast to get a good picture.
And then we saw this guy.
Two piglets also came home with us too. It's all a blur. I didn't get their pictures, so here's another pic of that calf. He's a real looker!

I also brought some more birds home. Fortunately they do not eat much.

Posted by roosterh at 7:04 AM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2007

Murphy's feathers

The geese, ducks and turkeys all molt, or lose their feathers, this time of year. The old feathers drop and cover our lawn as the birds' new feathers emerge.
Even proud Murphy loses his feathers. He is down to 2 tail feathers, but he is still trying to show off and strut for us. His new set of feathers should be in and grown in about a month. The chickens wait until the weather turns to fall (when it gets cold!) to molt their feathers.

Posted by roosterh at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)

August 9, 2007

The New Crew

Introducing the tiniest chicks. These are spangled Old English bantams. They just hatched today.
Mama has been sitting in the cosiest spot. (Really sometimes these birds pick the worst spot to sit on eggs, but that's just my opinion.) She is 7' in the air in this hinged box I picked up at an auction. Actually the hen who I posted about a couple of days ago with 11 chicks hatched her brood on the same shelf - she chose a washtub filled with bailing twine as her nest.
She and her babies are pretty comfy in their nest box, but today I will move them to a cage on the floor. I don't think the babies will be able to navigate the 7' drop to the floor too well.
Meanwhile the new painting crew had arrived :) gary set up this scaffolding to stain the side of the house. The turkey poults have decided it is a great place to roost after breakfast.

Posted by roosterh at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)

August 8, 2007

It's hot (or why weeds are good)

Outside the barn we have a large patch of weeds. It's unsightly but it does have a purpose.
The birds and their chicks all love to hang out in the cool depths on hot days.
Two chickens and chicks. They really get swallowed up in there!
These ducks were in there - they came out to see what I was doing.
This turkey hen and duck hen sat on the same clutch of eggs. During the incubation time, they would steal from each other's piles, back and forth, every day. They are heading towards the weeds too.
Goosegoose usually hangs out under the crab apple tree by the hostas. Those hostas provide a lot of shade.
To beat the heat, the turkeys pant. If no one is around, the toms will split up and each find their own spot of shade and take a nap. Periodically they will get back together and browse in the grasses under trees. One tom prefers to hang out in the barn in the middle of the day which I don't understand - even in the doorway it is much hotter inside the barn than out.

And Hank - well he just pants all the time. This is his favorite spot - from this hill he can overlook the goats and sheep and all the chicken coops to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Posted by roosterh at 5:10 AM | Comments (0)

August 5, 2007

Hanging out with some chicks

Here is the hen with all the chicks who I have talked about before. She has 11 chicks, and I placed her in her own private coop for about a month to allow her babies to grow and not be as dependent on her. That day came last week, and now they can roam where they want to during the day, and return to their secure coop at night.
They usually don't venture too far from their coop which is situated by the goat pastures.
There's lots of exploring to do!
Bug the rooster watches over the little flock too.
Time for a break in the shade of the hedgerow.

Posted by roosterh at 5:53 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2007

Various turkeys

Hard to imagine that this tiny little guy
Will soon be as big as these guys! They grow up so fast *sniff
Meanwhile this turkey hen who has been sitting on eggs since early May has adopted these muscovy ducklings as her own. Do you think she wonders why her babies want to hang out by puddles all the time? The ducklings like to hide in the feathers on her back, something they never would be able to do with a mama duck.

Posted by roosterh at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2007

All lined up for bed

The turkeys and chickens wait for me to put them to bed. They had a long day of weeding the garden with me, mowing the lawn with me, following me everywhere else, and going everywhere they wanted.
Here is a picture of the sky Sunday evening as I went around putting everyone to bed.

Posted by roosterh at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2007

Bird pix

This hen hatched her chicks while sitting on a pile of baling twine stored in a washtub in the barn. 11 tiny balls of fluff.
This is a hefty number of babies to look after, so after an afternoon in the grass, I placed the hen and her precocious chicks in a coop. Now I will feel better knowing she is protected by crows, hawks and other birds who may threaten her babies.
The English Bantams have 2 chicks too. They are so tiny! Can you see them?
Many baby ducks!
The turkeys have moved outside and enjoy hunting for bugs.
The turkeys and their chicken buddies are good at getting into things, like these planters I just filled.
Here's an action shot of Hank approaching as I was taking turkey pictures.
The calves are growing fast!
Luther takes a nap by the hostas.

Posted by roosterh at 7:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2007

The Great Turkey Scare

I arrived home close to 7pm, just finishing up a 14 hour day at my desk job when Gary informed me that Hank had killed one of my turkeys. My heart sank. It was a small poult, and darker colored than I remembered.
Hank is turning into a hunter. He has always been interested in chasing rabbits and I have found him more then once with kits and adults in his mouth. Gary thought last week he even came upon a small fawn and did her in. But a turkey!
I did my round of chores and started in on my batch of turkey poults. I have 4 poults and the 3 chicks who used to live in my office outside in a portable coop. Seven beaks. I counted before I filled their waterer. 1-2-3 chickens, 1-2-3-4 turkeys! I counted again. They were all there! Hank must have come across a wild poult. Even so, it's not a stretch to go from a wild turkey to one of my own, so I need to nip this one in the bud.

Posted by roosterh at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2007

Carnivorous Corvids

I posted last week about all the babies that we have running around. Soon after hatch, I realized that one by one, duck babies were disappearing. First we thought Hank. Like giant Lennie (Of Mice and Men) he just means to pet the critters he finds but sometimes goes too far. But Hank has been in his house every time a baby came up missing. Then we found two ducklings up my my herb bed. One was just dead but the other disemboweled. Gary suspected the geese who are always hovering over the ducklings. The geese, however territorial, are more protective of the little fluffs than aggressive, so I ruled that one out too.
I have been noticing a number of crows hanging around, close. Visiting the garden and the growing corn is one thing, but these guys were landing in front of the barn, eating food and drinking water. I also noticed that every time crows would fly over, a warning growl would erupt from all the chickens. Last week I saw a crow fly out of the barn with an egg in its mouth. I felt I had caught our culprits but couldn't prove it.
Meanwhile we were losing more ducks. Finally we gathered them all up, chose one lucky mother, and enclosed them all in a coop. The crows cry and call, and I can hear their young beg for food, but hopefully I had it all removed from their grasp.
Until another hatch came. Mama duck took her new brood down to the pond. I watched from the deck, suspicious of the crows who lighted in the trees overhead. Sure enough, one dove and grabbed a duckling right from the water of the pond. I watched the yellow fluff fly away into the trees and heard the young crow beg for its lunch.
I ran, too late, to the mama duck and scooped up the remaining babies. She hissed and jumped at me. "Where were you a minute ago when the crows came?" I yelled at her. I placed the babies in the coop with the one mama. Ducks are not too communal about sharing maternal duties so it's one or none in the coop.
When I am home and I hear the crows descend I run outside clapping. It scares them at least for that minute. With the removal of the constant source of live food, I am hoping they will move on to new territory and not move on to new prey (like my tiny English bantams!)

Posted by roosterh at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2007

Babies are almost everywhere

There are baby ducks -
And the turkeys of course. They go outside during the day.
Their daycare comes with free baby sitters.
The sussex and her babies.
Murphy tried to hone in when I was taking their pictures.
Toesy and her baby in the pasture.
And this Cornish bantam hen made her nest out of feedbags.
Liddy the pygmy (she's small but not a baby) enjoys the clover in the pasture.
And Annie's buckling, a saanen/boer cross. Earlier he had been riding around on the sheeps' backs. I am surprised they put up with that. Of course I never have my camera at moments like thos!

Posted by roosterh at 4:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2007

Help in the mornings

I do a lot of work in the early mornings for my job. The turkeys and their brooder in the office, and they will sleep in my lap as I type away. Who can resist these cuties?

Posted by roosterh at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2007

Turkeys' Big Day Out

The turkeys are in their brooder all day so I try to take them outside whenever I can. This little guy is trying some grass.
And when I say "guy" I am pretty sure about that since he started strutting.
This muscovy duck hen came over to see the babies - muscovies are really maternal - but the little poult strutted and scared her away. Did I mention this firecracker is about 4 days old?
Here is another poult. I am hoping I have at least one hen out of the bunch! (can you see the rest of the group in the background?)

Posted by roosterh at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2007

Flowers, Chicks and Clouds

I take pictures of the rhodos and azaleas every year. With the heat we have been having I almost missed them.
I have been slowly building a shady garden over the years. It is retained in a rock wall at the side of the deck off the house. It gets some sun in the late afternoons. Its shady cool area beckons the geese to come lay down in it but fortunately (for them!) they have not ruined any plants yet. I have Lady's Mantle, snow drops, crocus, huechara, bleeding heart like this,

a decorative climbing honeysuckle, and clematis.

Toesy lives in the pastures with the goats. She has been sitting on eggs the past month and once one chick hatched, she gave up on sitting and started showing her kid the world. Here she is outside the pig pen.
Hens can be very protective of their babies. Here Toesy has determined the pigs are a little too close for comfort and gives them a piece of her mind.
Once that hen gave up on sitting on the rest of her eggs, I gave all 3 of them to this Sussex hen in Blue's doghouse. This hen had just hatched out 2 turkey poults earlier today, and lost a chick to what appears to have been a raid by a different flock of chickens. They do that. :/ But the transferred eggs have already pipped and soon this Sussex will be rewarded with a couple babies. It takes at least 21 days for eggs to mature to hatching. That's a lot of sitting and staring for these hens, and it's been hot.

With the heat we get humidity and thunderstorms. There's a doozy on its way down the valley. Tomorrow I will have lots of baby pictures to show!

Posted by roosterh at 8:39 PM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2007

Potatoes, poults, and calves

This year we are planting mostly white potatoes and are trying some reds and blues too. The reds and blues have to be cut and cured before they are planted.
Here are some red and blues already cut.
Gary sorts seed potatoes.
The tractor pulls our new potato plow to create a row. We used to do this by hand with a hiller on a rototiller. With our sloping and rocky soil, the tractor makes this job much much easier.
A row.
A row filled with potatoes. Gary is at the end of the row covering the potatoes.
While we were planting, there were a lot of events happening in the fields next door. Betty was going into labor.
It was a pretty easy delivery. Once she was done, everyone gathered around to meet the new calf.
Betty cleans her calf. It is a bull calf.
JW looks on.
Good job, Betty.
Chicken is not the youngest anymore!
The calf nurses for the first time.
He's pretty big - not quite as big as Chicken when he was born - but a good 80 pounds.
Earlier that day, some turkey poults began to hatch. And a chick. They are inside right now. The turkey hen (the one under the Cub tractor) is good at sitting on eggs but not on chicks. I found these 2 on the floor next to her, almost dead from cold.

Posted by roosterh at 7:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2007

Sharing

Heather and a muscovy duck share a nest. I have seen them steal eggs from each other too. When Heather leaves the nest for a lunch break, I try to move the eggs around, ensuring Heather has the turkeys and the duck has the ducks. It also gives me a chance to see how the eggs are progressing. About 2 more weeks for this batch I think.

They don't realize it, but the turkeys all share the feathers with Hank. Turkey feathers are Hank's favorite toy. Besides dirty socks. The other day I was weeding and found one of my socks buried.

Posted by roosterh at 4:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 7, 2007

Counting turkeys

I have 6 turkey hens. Since the beginning of hunting season, I have been down one. I have worried about her - she is brown and has a beard. At first glance she may appear to be a tom.

The barn has turned into quite a brooder. I have ducks in every corner. One turkey hen has wedged herself behind roughcut wood. I can only see a feather or 2 stick out between spaces in the boards. Another hen is not far away from her.

But still no brown hen.

Melody and everyone has been better about not wandering so far. On these warm sunny days we have been having, they dust in the driveway then nap under the rhodos. Go eat. Repeat.

But still, no sign of that brown hen.

My Farmall cub has been stored in the barn all winter under several tarps. Anything stored in a barn where birds are kept has to be stored under several tarps ;) At first it looked like one hen was going to sit on eggs right on the tractor seat, but she changed her mind after a couple days. Turkeys are like that anyway. Yesterday I was scraping the floor in the barn - when you keep birds in a barn you have to do that a lot ;) - and I heard a definite broody turkey hen yelp. I walked around to where the sound was coming from and could not find this bird. Then I looked under the tractor. I saw the muscovy hen I knew was sitting on eggs under the rear end, but I peered all the way down the length of the tractor into the depths of darkness under the tarp.

And that is where I found my brown hen.

All present and accounted for! In 3 weeks or so it looks like my job of counting will be much more difficult!

Posted by roosterh at 6:45 AM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2007

Dodged the bullet

Last night was the first night Chicken slept outside since the great feather incident. Hank barked throughout the night and at one point was howling along with the coyotes. I got up a few times to ensure that I didn't hear any frightened chicken noises, but it was only dogs I heard.

When it got light enough to look out the window this morning to see Chicken running around, I realized with a fright that I fell asleep last night and left all the doors to the coops wide open. I hurriedly threw my boots on and ran to the coops with a heavy heart, afraid of what I might find.

But each coop was loaded up with sleepy chickens, just rising and stretching and getting ready to fly outside. *phew.

Tomorrow is the opening day of spring turkey season. Last week I proudly described to a co-worker how all of my turkeys, even though they were free ranged, always stuck close and how lucky I was for that.

Until Saturday when I chased a few them no less than 3 times down the wooded hill that leads to the cow pastures. Gary said he saw my Melody up with the cows on Friday. Melody is the hen who broke her leg last year: one foot points north and the other west. She is not a fast runner. I also have one hen who never came home last night. Judging by her frequent absences throughout the day the past few days, she is acting like she has a nest somewhere. I have to find it.

Posted by roosterh at 6:24 AM | Comments (1)

April 26, 2007

Tracking down a mystery

This morning I awoke to a mystery. When I left the basement door to start chores, I found a pile of feathers underneath a pine tree where some chickens sleep at night. This is never a good sign.
Then I saw the trail of feathers continued about 25 feet away under some apple trees. It was really starting to look bad. I opened all the coop doors and took a quick inventory, but everyone was accounted for.
I went in to the fields to give hay to the goats. I spotted yet another trail of feathers. Whoever it was put up quite a fight. Now I begin to understand why the dogs were barking so much last night (they both slept inside). But still no carcass, just feathers. Lots and lots of feathers.

Here is a quick overview of just how widespread the feathers were (click to enlarge).

Finally it became obvious who the victim was. Poor Chicken. He lost his tail and a lot of the surrounding feathers to ... someone. I looked at him all over and found tiny marks here and there but nothing to indicate whodunnit.



He was certainly healthy enough and unscathed enough to fight the sheep for their grain later. Just bald. Poor guy. He'll sleep in the barn tonight, even if it's more for my comfort than his. He is a good chicken. But still I wonder who went after him.

Posted by roosterh at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2007

Busy mornings

It snowed all day yesterday. The snow is wet and heavy and the plow does not do well with it. I got up at 3am today. Gary was already up and coffee was brewing. I went downstairs, bottle in hand, and fed goat kid. Gary did not go to work yesterday so he will take the lunch that was prepared yesterday. We have lots of leftovers so I do not have to worry about prepping for dinner. The dishes I decide to do in the evening. I go to computer and work 2 hours for my other job. ;) Gary works on getting up to the fields to the cows. Here is his path up the hill. Surprisingly my fourwheeler does really great in this snow.
It's foggy this morning, I could see that even before the sun rose. The temperature is warm even though we are surrounded by this snow. The phoebes, robins and cardinals are singing up a storm :) In the dark, I shovel paths for the sheep and Liddy the pygmy goat. The snow is higher than she is. None of them will walk anywhere if I don't. I end up finding a hen nestled in the hay in the manger. I take her our and put her in the goat house. It was dark so I took no pictures then, but here you can see the fog (and Hank).
I milk Annie. I need more milk to feed her kid! I am hoping to bring the kid back to her once it warms up a bit. She misses her babies terribly. Then I shovel some paths out the barn door so the turkeys, ducks and geese could make their way. Murphy decides to use the tire track for his path and follows me down the driveway to the chicken coops.
The chickens were cooped up yesterday but today I fling open the doors. Or try to. The snow is high and heavy. I shovel out the areas by the doors and create some paths for the chickens. They do not like walking through the snow and often forget they can fly to get from place to place. The netting on 2 coops is loaded with snow and will require some repair.
A duck has found a puddle in a tire track. Chores took me about 3 hours this morning. This afternoon will pretty much be a repeat of it all. It is spring, right? Right?

Posted by roosterh at 7:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2007

Storm hits!

At first I thought we were going to have a dud. The weather service degraded the status of the storm, and it did not start until 7pm or so last night. But guess what?
We really got dumped on. It is hard to say how much we got - not only is it sitll coming down but we have had quite a wind as well. The snow is very heavy and dense since the temperature has hovered around 32-35 all day. I'd say at this point we have the 2 feet we were promised.
The power has been on and off. I scattered our collection of oil lamps all over the house - just in case - and filled a couple water buckets. Then on automatic pilot, I did laundry. Well I can't be thinking all the time now can I?

Here is a rooster in a tree. I rescued him and put him in the barn. Chicken, my wandering rooster, was found under a couple of inches of snow. A white chicken, he blended right in with the snow collected on the ground and swirling in the air. I had to look out the window a couple times to confirm it was him. I brought him in the basement so he could dry off before I put him in the barn. I would have gotten away with it too if he hadn't started to crow once he got dry and happy.

We have a full house in the basement today as it is. The dogs are there of course and a load of firewood, but we had to bring the other goat kid inside. Even though he slept under the light last night, Gary found him this morning chilled almost to death. This guy has turned right around though and is doing well. Here's hoping.

Posted by roosterh at 4:52 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2007

Dry Spell

I am talking about the blog, not the weather! Although the blog has not been busy, Gary and I have!

First off, the website, the blog, the whole kit and kaboodle has been moved to a new server. I have implemented a new photo gallery system so you should be able to click on pictures to see more.

Hank went to the vet. He only peed in the exam room once and tried to bite 2 people, but it went well. *sigh

Turkeys strutted. And strutted.

We went snowshoeing. There was a lot of snow.

We sold the goats.

Gary rode the mechanical bull at the Ithaca Chili Fest. And won. Again! second year in a row.

Posted by roosterh at 1:32 PM | Comments (0)

December 4, 2006

What everyone needs: more turkey pictures!

Of course, here's Murphy. He's always close by.
Here is a Royal Pam hen (Murph is a Royal Palm tom).
Melody the naragansett. This is the hen who broke her leg this summer. If you look closely, you can see how one of her feet points to the side.
This is Big Tom. He is a spring hatch and a bronze/naragansett cross.
Bronze/naragansett cross hen.
This is now my youngest turkey. I still don't know what gender. One week he looks like a tom and the next, a hen. This week I am thinking this is a hen.
Some muscovy drakes enjoy a drink. These boys are huge.
Here is a tiny bantam sussex hen with her chicks. I think she is my smallest chicken, excluding her chicks who are with her.
Some chickens.
After a full day of running around, some birds take a nap.

Posted by roosterh at 6:10 AM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2006

Work with many helpers

Today we put some work into the turkey shed. We almost finished with the sides when we ran out of plywood. The hole in the bottom left is their door. The turkeys would