Poultry Report

The Chicken tractor was finally finished enough to be used for its intended purpose.

It still needs nesting boxes, but they can be added later when the ladies start laying.  

The first challenge was to get the chicks in the chicken tractor.  They just really didn't think this was a good idea.  We called in the volunteers to assist us.  We set up a fence to funnel them to the ramp up into the coop.

They tried to exit the chicken tractor as fast as we chased them in.  They tried, and some succeeded going under or over our fence.  My sister in law was one of our assistants.  She held down the fence and chased down the escapees.

Paul was busy trying to keep them going the right direction.  It was quite the circus!!

There were plenty of escapees to chase down as we had the fence set up too loosely and the chicks were very determined.  It was in the process of moving them that we realized that we were missing a bunch (20) of chicks.  We were so sad to find them piled up dead in the coop, having been suffocated by a possum.

Elizabeth is a first class chicken catcher!  She runs them down and has no qualms about grabbing them and putting them where they need to go.

Paul caught the last of the chicks and they were loaded into the coop. We kept them in there with food and water so that they could get used to their new home.  They need to learn that this is where they should return too. There are 44 birds in there now.

The chicken tractor is built to be very light and strong.  We are able to pull it easily, fully loaded with chicks, with the ATV.  There are too many chicks in there to let them just free range in the yard.

The day the chicks got relocated on the farm, the next batch of poultry arrived.  We got 20 Bourbon Red turkey poults.  These are a heritage breed.

Turkey poults can be told apart from chicks by the little nob on their head. They are very cute,but VERY feisty.  Much more than our chicks have been.  They feel like they have to peck everything and everyone!

They claim first place at the waterer and at the feeder.  They definitely boss the chicks around!

Here is the chicken tractor out in the field with the electric fence in place.  I think we will have to move it only about once a week.  Not even that often, with the rapid rate grass growth we are experiencing right now.

Americauna chick.

The next day the new batch of chicks arrived.  We got some Americaunas,  Delawares,  and some Cuckoo Marans.  There are distinct differences between the chicks.  The Americaunas are the hardiest and easiest to care for.  All 25 I ordered are still alive.

Delaware and Cuckoo Maran chick

The Deleware chicks are smaller and seem pretty hardy.  They are an old meat bird, but really dual purpose ( good egg layers also)  They have the most issues with pasty butt.  I don't think it is because it is easier to spot on their white feathers.  The Cuckoo Marans are the least hardy.  We had an unfortunate incident where the waterer was allowed to be empty in our rather hot garage.  There were chicks laying in the dry waterer when I found it.  I quickly refilled it and they all drank their fill.  One of the cuckoos was dead already and three more died over the next two days.  We also had one of the turkey poults die in the first 24 hours.  That is still really a good result, but not as good as last time.  The chicks all seem to be thriving now.

I liked this picture of a poult that Elizabeth took.

They are starting to get their wing feathers.

Here are two of the poults jousting to see who is the top bird.  They are a lot of fun.  Keep reading for further updates.

This Week on the Farm

This has been a good week.  The weather has been springlike.  Warm but not hot and quite a bit of rain.

My Dh gave me a dump truck load of manure for Mother's Day with the promise of another load if needed.  It came from the neighbor's down the street.  I am putting it in the bottom layer of my vegetable garden.  We'll see how it goes.  My brother has promised me another load of his aged to the point of dirt horse manure some time this week.  Should I be worried that I get so excited about animal excrement?

This week one of my big projects was to teach the chicks that it was OK to be outdoors.  I worked hard to chase all of them out of the stall and into the fenced area.

They kept trying to run back into the barn.  Their food and water was out there, but they still were 'chicken'.  They crammed against the area and the side of the barn.

Every time a car or truck went down our road, which is very frequently, they would run towards the barn like the sky was falling.  It was pretty funny to watch. They would timidly move into the fenced area and then come running full tilt back cause a car went by.

Black Jersey Giant Rooster

 It was helpful that the free range hens that roam the yard came round and presented a good example of calm behavior in the yard.  By evening they were gradually coming out.  Then we had to work to chase them BACK into the barn.  Silly birds!

Barred Rock hen

 After almost a week of this they are finally getting with the program.  They come running out when I open the barn door, they have learned to love to eat grass and dandelions, and they head back towards the stall when it gets dark.  Yeah!  Keeping chickens is pretty easy most of the time, but this was harder than I anticipated.  I probably spent 8-10 hours on these silly birds.

My DH is working diligently on building our mobile coop.  We have a deadline of next weekend to complete it as we have another batch of birds, including some turkeys, coming then who will need the bird stall.  The old chicks will need to live here and be outside most of the time.  When they are outside they are so much healthier.  They eat bugs, grass and a lot less feed!

My DH and Paul are building it out of aluminum that he has scavenged off of jobs that required demoing.  This will result in a lot lighter weight structure that will be easier to move around.

Sunday was Mother's Day!  We had everybody in the family over that was local.  We also celebrated Mom's birthday at the same time.  Michelle made a nice birthday cake for her.

Our neighbor's joined us for the celebration.  None of their children are local.  Earl is the guy who has rescued us so many times here on the farm.  They are both very sweet.  Ian photobombed it!

It was really nice to have the family together!

I forgot to take pictures during the meal.  The adults ate the desert while the children were outside playing.  It was pleasant and peaceful.  Yummy cream puffs and a slice of birthday cake.

Shell

 We were glad to have My brother's family spend the day.

Michelle and Miss President took a picture together because they 'matched'.  This is what it looks like today...

But someday they will be almost the same height!  Miss P is a tall girl also!

My DH continued to work on the coop.  The siding was given to us by a neighbor.

The coop is becoming 'Joseph's coop of many colors' as the siding was from several different projects.

The chicks are a popular place to hang out.  Elizabeth likes to study them.  She is such a farm girl already.

This is the white leghorn rooster.  Our hatchery did a really good job of sexing our chicks.  I think this is the only one that they missed on.  He is a little guy.  So far he gets along well with everyone.

Spring is in full bloom here at the farm.  We are enjoying the flowers and trees.  The garden is growing well.  The shallots are looking good and the lettuce is growing quickly.  Life on the farm is good!

Moving the Chicks Along

Sometimes I am so busy living that I don't have time to write about the living.  That is not necessarily a bad thing!!!

I finally couldn't stand having almost 65 chicks in the basement!  The dust was overwhelming even though most of it is contained by the sheets around the brooder.  The mobile coop is not near done and I just couldn't wait for it to be finished to get some chicks out of there.  I decided that one of the horse stalls in the barn would have to be cleaned out and made into a new home for the chicks.  This one is pretty tight and was cat proof.  There is netting along the open area on the top.  It was a very dusty job, but Paul helped me.  We then took the hay that came in the barn and spread it around the floor.  We hooked up one heat lamp.  I was too nervous to use two because the wiring in the barn is very old and decrepit.

Michelle and I selected 15 of the largest most feathered chicks and brought them out in a box.  This was a challenge as they were not excited to be caught and the brooder is large.  Fortunately, Michelle has very long arms and I know how to act scary to chicks, so we could chase them down to her end.

They hung out under the light or burrowed under the hay.  One has to be careful where you step!  Don't want to step on a chick.  We watched them carefully for a week.  We decided that 50 chicks that are growing rapidly was still too many to have in the basement.

Yesterday, Michelle and I took out another 31 chicks leaving 19 chicks in the basement.  We chose the most feathered ones.  The reintegration of the chicks went smoothly.  The largest roosters quickly let the others know that they were in charge and things settled down quickly.

My DH made a feeder for them.  This works better than somethings we have done.  We have come up with a couple modifications for next time.  The holes are too big and are down too low.  Too much feed flows over the edges. Next time we will do 1-1.5" holes that alternate towards the the top.  The chicks do a good job though of cleaning up the spilled feed.

This was another homemade feeder that worked well for short term.  Can you tell what it is?  It is a Chipotle Burrito Bowl.  I washed it out and cut holes in the cardboard part.  This works well for smaller chicks.  Now that they are 5-6 weeks old they can open the top from the bottom.  I liked it because it was easy to fill and there was not much spillage.

Here are the 46 chicks in the stall.  They have lots of room now.  So much better than the brooder!  The sheet is hanging there to minimize drafts.  They all seem to be thriving once more, and Mom is happier because there is so much less dust in the basement.  I am still looking at buying more chicks for meat and some turkey poults for meat later this summer and autumn.  Can't wait!  With the price of beef and pork going up so rapidly, poultry will be the more affordable option.

Here is how far the mobile chicken coop has come.  There is still quite a bit more work to be done on it before it is ready for the chickens!!!  The boss has an appointment with a welding friend for next week.  So grateful for a handy stall for the chickens!

Chicks Growing Up!!!

I started this post  a couple days ago and it will  not be current for very long!  The problem is that the chicks keep growing and feathering out despite the fact that my DH is not able to work on our mobile coop all week.  That means that the chicks are getting big QUICKLY and the brooder is seeming to get smaller every day.

What to do?  For now I am enjoying watching them get their feathers.   The Black Jersey Giants look like crows now.  They are 4.5 weeks old and are almost all feathered out.  Apparently,  farm animals don't wait for a convenient time to grow.  They need more space NOW!

The immediate answer was to put screens on top before they flew out.  I have no desire to be chasing chicks all over the basement.  They are really doing well and get airborne enough that they crash into the screens.  I guess we got them on just in time.  We also put in some stands with rungs on them so they can roost.  They like to sit on top of the stands. They are roosters!

I am really tired of having 60 plus chicks in the basement.  There is dust everywhere, any clean laundry left sitting out for a couple days develops a fine coating of cream colored dust. For the most part it has not circulated through the house, for which I am grateful.  The smell is only mild and I don't find it unpleasant.  BUT I am ready for them to move into their non-existent mobile chicken coop.

I thought long and hard on this and finally came up with an answer!  I cleaned out one of the stalls in the barn this afternoon and I am going to move the chicks in there in the next 24 hours.  The weather is pleasant and the stall is secure.  I am really pleased.  I will take pictures once they are moved.

The other bright spot in my day, other than the sunshine and warm (54 degrees F) weather, was the fact that I noticed that my seeds are starting to sprout.  The leeks and onions have been up for awhile. Today I noticed that the basil, tomatoes and carrots (growing in toilet paper rolls) are starting to sprout also.  YES!  I am such a newbie at this, that I always doubt that I am doing things right and if it will really grow.  We have accomplished stage one!  Yeah!!!