A Chicken Show 1/18/19

Today I had a great time at the poultry show visiting old friends and making new ones and talking standard bred poultry all day. 

It was a bit chilly being at the base of Mt Graham. 

My Black Copper Marans cockerel was reserve variety and breed. 

While my pullet was Best variety, Best of Breed and Champion Continental. She’s a silly, friendly girl and hard to photograph properly!

 



The Buff Orpingtons were not so great looking. So I didn’t take any pics. 

The day was lovely, went to lunch with a friend, had a great time. 

#100daysofappreciation

Today I’m appreciating a lovely day with friends, knowledgeable conversations and fun. Everything went smoothly from the show, to lunch, to driving. 

Farmer Friday 10/18/19

Picking for this afternoon’s delivery. Flowers, herbs, Red Russian kale. 

I spread some of the oldest compost on a garden bed. Then cleaned out a small coop to start a new pile. . 

Whoa. The pillow factory exploded out here.  I sure need to get these pens cleaned up and fresh bedding put down. 

Spent the afternoon clearing out weed trees. Going to need the sawzall for some of them. Shredded up 2 buckets full for the compost pile. Delivered produce to Superior customers, bought feed, came home and collected eggs.  Time for food and bed. 

6/27/18 Cement, Silkies and Moremixing

mixing cement

After doing chores at mom's this morning I got to my place about 6. First thing I made a batch of cement and slogged it up the hill to reenforce the fence posts.

Buff Orpington and other chicks

Then I fed and watered the birds at my house. Funny how different breeds of chicks show different temperaments even at a young age. This pen with several Buff Orpingtons is much calmer than a younger pen with mostly Ameraucana, those chicks act like they are being attacked every time I even open the door.

spring hatched silkie

Silkies are usually the calmest of all. They make great pets and like to snuggle.

squash on a trellis

The big squash vines are beginning to run, this trellis has spaghetti, red kuri and trombonccino. By August you will see nothing but green here.

The Mail o.o

I spent most of the morning watering and moving hoses around. Then headed for the house. A huge pile of mail to sort out and bills to pay. Then went to visit mom. My daughter and grand daughters came to visit. We sorted out some junk for a yard sale. Later I did regular chores and now as soon as I feed the dogs, I'm headed for bed.

good night world

Part of My Mornings

chicks in the house

Well this is a little bit of my morning around here; after a bit of tea and getting dressed, feed and water the newest babies in the house, these were hatched about a week ago.

Silkie babies from August hatch

Then outside to feed birds, A couple of pens of Silkies including  these babies that hatched in January. I still can't tell for sure which are boys or girls.

2-3 week olds

Then out to the small hoop coop by the house, feed the 2-4 week olds, mostly easter eggers and olive eggs, a couple of Buff Orpingtons in there.

4 week olds, OE/ EE and Buff Orpingtons

feed wagon

Then I load the buckets of feed and Giotto's breakfast on the wagon and head for the main coops

6-8 weeks

My bigger hoop coops are divided into 3 sections; first up the 6-8 week olds; some sexlinked crosses (you can tell males from color at hatch), along with more easter eggers and olive eggers and a few pure bred Ameraucana.

Silkie with foster chicks

The next section is a pair of Silkies with easter egger foster chicks. As soon as I finish a coop for the Silkies to go into, I'll open the door and integrate these chicks in with the others.There are a couple of Buff Orpington pullets in the last section but I didn't get a pic of them this morning.

Black Copper Marans and Buff Orpington

After feeding a pair of Ameracauna, feed the babies next door These hatched in January

Buff Orpington pullets

These two Buff Orpingtons are in one of the breeding pens, I'll be hatching just a few from these girls for myself. ;-)

Next the Plymouth Rocks, Buff and White

Muscovy Duck eggs

Next up the Muscovy ducks, building a nest; 7 eggs now.

The layers, looking for breakfast!

Then open the door to the layer house and be charged, everyone is hungry! I found a roll of fabric set out for the trash awhile back and used it to make nest box curtains and to cover the windows  where the afternoon sun is too strong.

Curtains in the hen house!

cat & bunny

After hauling the empty buckets back to the house, I go feed some ducks in the front yard. Here also is my last remaining rabbit, a doe over 5 who hasn't been bred in a couple of years. She escaped her cage and just hangs around with the ducks. None of my cats bother her or any of my grown chickens because they were raised with them since they were little kittens. I don't, however, trust them with baby chicks.

So that is part of my morning. Inside the layer house there are several pens with individual birds, mostly breeding males that have to be separate so the don't fight, and there are a few more chicks and Silkies around.

Buff Orpington Chicks

Nosey, left, Whopper, right

Well Claire and Henrietta, the big beautiful Buff Orpington girls have gone home to Cindy for the summer. Two young cockerels have taken their place here. These boys are the oldest of Claude & Henny's babies. These were hatched and started by Cindy and are about ten weeks old now.

Nosey is a tad smaller than Whopper and is just that really nosey! When ever I'm feeding the other babies Nosey is behind me pecking at my pants and shoes, trying to see what's in the bucket and generally being a nuisance. Whopper just hogs the feed trough and runs off the slightly smaller and younger Black Copper Marans chicks in the pen.

Trouble

Trouble is just that, big Trouble! Always trying to escape and then getting stuck in a corner somewhere! Trouble is a Claude & Henny chick hatched here on Feb 27 so almost six weeks old.

Trouble's hatchmate

trouble's hatchmate

Trouble's hatch mate is bigger and is getting red wattles. I am thinking perhaps this one is a little roo and Trouble is a pullet, but time will tell.

Look at how wide he is!

Chicks hatched 3/13 and 3/22

More siblings growing out, the ones from the 3/13 hatch are hitting the dinosaur stage, the little one laying down is from the 3/22 hatch

Bianca & chicks

In other news Bianca's eggs hatched today and she readily took on the 6 Buff Orpington chicks that also hatched this morning. A couple of her eggs were still working on hatching when I checked on them this evening, so I won't know until tomorrow how many chicks she has for sure. The silkie chicks are so tiny, they are half the size of the orps.

The Brooder Coop

Baby coops ready for chicklets!

Well I managed to weasel out of work around noon, came home and busted it; cleared out the hoop coop, sprayed for mites, put the new baby pens together. I would have made my own little pens but just did not have time!

Purebred Ameraucans and some Black Copper Marans

Roger & Bianca's babies, hatched 2-27-14

First out were the purebred Ameraucana chicks and some Black Copper Marans, most all of which look extremely male.











Alas, Roger is no longer with us, but I have two chicks from him and Miss Bianca. They will probably be pet quality, but I"m sure someone will love them.

Roger & Princess's baby

I lost Princess in the same predator attack as Roger and only have the littlest chick from them. Alas, those naked legs are a no-no in Silkies, so another pet quality bird.

Gold & Grey Easter Egger

I have a lovely grey and gold chick from Earl, my Easter Egger boy. The photo did not quite catch the right shade of soft grey. I am hoping this is a pullet. This is the coloration I have been breeding for, as it is really pretty.

Buff Orpington babies hatched 2-27-14

We now have about 15 Buff Orpington babies from Claude and Henrietta. These are the oldest two I have here. (Cindy has 3 down in Scottsdale that are older).

Look at how dark a buff their feathers are!

The same two BO chicks

The slightly smaller one has earned the name Trouble. Because it's always in trouble or causing trouble! Every time I open the brooder it comes running out. In the house it was determined it could free range in the living room. One evening when I fed them I thought everyone that had escaped in the process was back in. But not Trouble, there it was, right next to the brooder, as close to the light as it could get.

Wide Load!

BO chicks from 3-7-14

These chicks have nice wide bodies. Trouble's sibling is quite a chunk when you pick it up. That one weighed about 6 ounces at three weeks old.  I should probably weigh some of these guys now.








Some siblings from the 3-7-14 hatch.

BO chicks

In this picture, the chick on the left and in the background were hatched on 3-13. The bigger chick on the right was hatched on 3-7.

BO chicks hatched 3-13-14

These little guys were hatched last week. After getting as much done outside as I could, I had a quick bite to eat and unloaded the incubator of this weeks hatch.

Black copper Marans & a BO chick

These Black Copper Marans and the Buff chick hatched yesterday. The BCM in the lower left was a slightly small chick from last weeks hatch that I decided to keep inside another week.

Here are a couple of the Buff chicks from today's hatch with that older BCM. All of my home grown chicks hit the ground running. I've never had to show them where the food or water was; they are active from the get go, running around, finding the water and getting a drink, finding the food or scratching in the shavings.


Tonight I"ll be putting in more Buff Orpington eggs to hatch, along with some more purebred Ameraucana eggs from some great looking show birds.