Sweet treats for sweet hens....

Here are my sweet hens are eating their favorite treat right from my hand..  And if you were a chicken, what do you suppose your favorite treat would be.. above all else.?. If you guessed dried mealy worms you'd be right and I can order them  right from Amazon.  That's my lovely Maxine on the left.

I keep a bag in my apron pocket and when I let the hens free range a bit in the evening I can always keep them near by tossing a few mealy worms out after I "chuck -chuck"  That way I can keep an eye on them and get some weeding done as well.

Things are progressing better than I hoped although the old hens are still pretty bitchy..  I could see that the new hens were about to start laying and looking for somewhere to nest.  The old hens would not let them settle in the nesting boxes near the roost during the day.  So I took the door off this puppy crate and put it clear on the other side of the coop...added a couple golf balls as lures and sure enough one of the  new hens promptly laid her first egg.

But the old hens couldn't stand this new box being just for the new hens so they too had to jump in and lay their eggs there also..  Everybody is laying now in the puppy crate and they line up like women in a one-stall bathroom... Quite frequently the old hens still give the new hens a good hard whack just to show them who is still boss.  But no blood is drawn and that is good.

The last hurdle is the sleeping situation... I do get all of them into the roosting area at dusk but the old hens won't let the new hens on the roost.  There are 6 bars and plenty of room for everyone. It's a natural inclination for hens to roost as high as possible at night.  Not sure how I'll solve this little problem and may not be able to... At one time when I had 6 chickens, one was ostracized and spent her entire life sleeping on the bottom rung by herself.

But for now the new hens have to huddle in the old nesting boxes to sleep..  "Pecking order" is an incredibly ingrained instinct.  I may have to figure out a way to build an alternate  roost.  I tell you it is really tough trying to outwit chickens.....

Meet Maxine and Harley!!

We picked up the new pullets a week ago and they are settling in.  This is the prettiest one and I have named her Maxine and she definitely wants to be my friend.  I try to sit with them a bit each day and talk to them so they know me but right from the first Maxine would come right by my feet and peck at my shoes while the other two have been more shy.

Then yesterday she hopped up on the feed bin within a foot of me and listened to every word I had to say...  I sit on a small stool near the feed bin and my shoulder is leaning against a bale of shavings.

Tonight she eased over to the edge of the feed bin and was trying to decide whether she was going to hop over to the bale of shavings to get closer and that is just what she did.







And once she made the leap she scooted right next to my shoulder and set herself down.  I had the camera on my shoulder when I took this picture. You can see her BF "Fancy Pants" watching all this. Maxine sat there until it was getting dark  and listened to me until I finally had to go in the house... I predict I will soon have her eating right out of my hand.

Now that the weather is turning too hot to work outside I will get some buttons painted and this pet Lhasa  Apso  is first on the list.. His owner is a motorcyclist enthusiast and named him Harley...  No pink ribbons on his head and check the haircut... and he will be wearing a bandana with the Harley Davidson logo.  I had to blow the photo up on the computer to really see where the dark side of his head started and ended.  I really like Harley!!!  Great photo to work from....lots of detail.

News from the farm

I'm still here and finally seeing the light of day.  Being gone 16 days and coming home sick set me way behind on what needed to be done....besides some days the weather made working outside impossible. 

 

 Two things were critical and needed to be done immediately if not sooner.  First was repairing the pig damage and that was hampered by a very short window of time that things were transplantable before they got too large.  I did get that mostly done and can do no more until fall.

 

The second thing was an outdoor wire-enclosed area for the chickens now that I only have two left... This is probably of little interest to anyone but I just have to share because it is one of the few times that I had an epiphany at the right time.  I usually FINISH a project and THEN realize how I could have done it better. I was so happy to have my epiphany in time that I could hardly believe it...so I share.

 

My chicken house is divided into two areas. The inner area (B) is completely double wired and is where they are locked at night. It is only about 6x12 but since they are only in there at night it doesn't matter.  It has their elevated roost unit  and the nesting boxes. The other area is about 12' x 12' and has their food and water and room to scratch before I let them out to free range.   

 

Now that I can't let them free range my initial plan was just to add an outside pen right next to the larger area of the coop.  I am getting some new pullets and have to keep them separate for about 4 months..  In the past I have just wired off a section but the older hens would get in, eat the pullet's food and terrorize them.  It was at this moment the light in my brain came on and the bells and whistle began to ring. 

Just by shifting the new pen back about 3 feet I could have an entrance from the inner area and keep the entire   area  A  for the pullets. Such a simple solution....no extra work and it makes life so much easier for me and much more pleasant for the sweet new pullets.  Lest you worry about the pullet's safety at night they are secured in a large dog crate at night. I will eventually add a second entry to pen from area A when the pullets are big enough.

So I became thinking it would be a two-day project but it took about 6 days with weather interruptions and me getting tired quicker than I expected.   I started by gathering the old lumber from when I dismantled the lambing pens and this wood was from the original corral when we bought the place 37 years ago. Using this old lumber, lots of chicken wire and many screws and  staples I finally finished. I felt so good to be doing something physical outside and pounding out all my frustrations... I still swing a mean hammer.....

 

Cost - $0.00. DH brought a load of gravel tonight to top dress the floor of the inside of the chicken house.  Just in time for the new girls...any day now..

 

 

Talk about nit-picky!!!

There were times when the chickens got table scraps and were glad to get them but my chickens are not only particular about their scraps, they are particular about how they are served.  I had lots of squash I grew for them last summer and every week or so bake one for them... One time it was a larger squash so I put half in their usual paper bowl and wrapped the other half in aluminum folil.   The following day I folded the foil back and put it by their chicken food.  By the end of the day they had not taken ONE bite of the squash.  I took it back in the house and served it to them the next morning in a paper bowl and they gobbled it up.

 Sunday we had breakfast out and I brought home a carry out container with grits, biscuits, and  cooked apples. Wasn't sure they'd eat the grits but I KNEW they'd love the biscuits.... Yum!  They refused to even look at it.  So this morning put it all in one of their usual paper bowl  and they were immediately fighting over it,

They  will eat stale bread but pick at it...  They prefer I put some broth or soup on it.  They will not eat vegetable peelings unless I cook them in the microwave.  I was a mom who was relentless about her kids eating everything served to them and here I am coddling these silly chickens...

And I suspect they sent me this email!....

Life on the farm....

In a recent post I mentioned the damage that rabbits do by girdling the base of a plant.  They usually work on shrubs and anything special like my clematis I have wire collars around the base.  But this year they have started on my crabapple trees..  These are 35 year old trees that produce 100s of pounds of fruit for both birds and deer.. so when we discovered it yesterday we were out there in 3 degree weather wrapping the trees with chicken wire and hoping they survive the damage.

Tomorrow we have to make a quick trip to Seattle for our Global Entry interviews and will be gone overnight.  Ordinarily I would move the chicken's water to their inner area and keep them locked in there the two days...  but the heater is frozen solid to the ground and not to be moved without possible damage. DH said we can leave the inner door open for just one night and they'll be OK.

Well it's not going to happen and he has to make a trip to town today and me get another water heater.  After twice losing chickens to raccoons I make sure my chickens are locked securely every single night....every single night.

The chicken house is about 9x18' and divided into 2 sections.  The inner section is doubled wired on walls and overhead and the wire is buried a foot into the ground.  There's a ramp to their  roost and nesting boxes which are wood and I can put a heat lamp in there.  I have "mothered" these chickens for almost a year and not about to lose them now. Raccoons are rapacious, clever,  and persistent and kill chickens to just tear out their innards. Besides raccoons we have weasels who burrow in underground (although the ground is frozen solid now). 

Going over Snoqualmie pass in the winter is always risky but it looks like we are going to sneak through between storms.  These interviews have been scheduled since October and if we miss them, it will be months before others can be rescheduled.  I will probably be holding my breath and the hand grips all the way.  It seems so weird packing and not taking hand work to do in the car...  I might thread up a lot of needles before we leave and try French knots.  They are pretty loosey-goosey.  Loosey-goosey is my style now and even that for just short periods of time..

Final decisions and ribbon search.

The end nears.... Update:    The narrower of these two trims is the one I had for years and years and goes beautifully but it is just not wide enough for the look I want.. So it is at this stage I go a little crazy just to get the right thing.  I found the wider trim on ebay  which coordinates  but it was $33  for 5 yards/... and I knew I would regret not getting it and settling for something I didn't like.  The color was a tad off when it arrived but I soaked it in some coffee and it is perfect.  I will also use the rattail and cording pictured. 

I have the perfect 1/4" pale pink velvet ribbon to add but I only have 2 yards of it so have been searching the internet in vein for more.    I may have to give up on the velvet ribbon. I can find lots of velvet ribbon but it is either the wrong width or the wrong shade of pink.  I want a very soft shade and the only one I found was shipped from China and you had to buy a full spool so I will look some more today.  Of course it would have been easier if I would have thought of the ribbon months ago...

The wider trim is not the best quality so will all have to be carefully hand sewn to keep it straight..  I can use the heavier trim as a guide.

I have squared up the backing taffeta but  I will have to do a little tap dancing when it come to adding the main piece as it is anything BUT square..  It will require a lot of fine maneuvering to have it look square..  and FINALLY an egg...

Trials of a "Chicken Trainer"

My old hens were at the end of their laying years when I bought   new chicks last spring.  Since it takes about 6 months until the new hens are ready to lay, I kept the two old ones for the few eggs they did lay...  Now it's time for the new layers to start egg production and they are trying my patience.

They were avoiding the nesting boxes and trying to lay their eggs in the shavings on the floor of the roost.  I know from past years  hens like a really dark box so I completely covered the nesting boxes with black plastic so no light gets in around the lids of the boxes. Then I took all of the shavings off the floor of the roost.  Of course now I have to practically crawl in the roost to reach the boxes but once they are used to using the nesting boxes I can remove the plastic...

It also helps to have a pseudo egg in the nesting box.  When I was a child my grandfather had two gorgeous marble eggs he used.  He used to tease me to be sure and check carefully when I gathered eggs because if I gathered a marble one I would have to eat it for breakfast... So 35 years ago when I got my first chickens, I searched out a couple gorgeous marble eggs. 

My old neighbor bluntly told me that golf balls worked much better.  Over the years he has been proven right.  I kept trying though.  The hens avoided the nest with the marble eggs and consistently chose a nest with the golf balls.  Sometimes there would be 3 eggs in with the golf ball and maybe 1 egg (or none)  in the box with the marble egg.  Sometimes they would even maneuver the marble egg right out of the nest.. So I keep my beautiful marble eggs in an egg basket and fondly remember my wonderful grandfather.

And my efforts have paid off as both yesterday and today they have laid their eggs inside the nesting boxes.










The deer come each day for water and after they have checked under the apple and plum trees, they eat any sunflower seeds under the bird feeder.  Morris quietly watches their every move.  This doe has twins and the other one is just to  the left out of range of my camera.  The deer and I have learned to coexist.  I would miss them terribly if they weren't part of my day. 

Molly is a chicken momma!

I've always let my chickens free range during the day and lock them up at night to protect them from the raccoons.  I thought the new hens were big enough now and started keeping the coop door open during the day.  For almost a week they would not venture out....just stand in the door and peek out.  Then for the next week they only would go within 4-5' of the door.  But today they made it all the way to the house and there will be no holding them back now.

 

But they have attached themselves to Molly and it looks like a little parade... a corgi and a entourage of 3 black hens behind her... She is not sure what to make of them.  Every so often she looks back and sure enough they are still behind her.

There is definitely some kind of mother fixation going on here... She hopped on the porch to sit with me and they just waited for her to come back down and off they went again...

Big Chicken Merger

The big chicken merger has commenced.  I started last night..  The older chickens are being bullies and territorial and the new chickens are being properly subservient and cautiously huddling together.  The older chickens will not let the young ones eat from the trays  yet but I have extra food on the ground they can scratch  for  and today after bridge I will let them all out in the garden together to free range.    

 

Not only did I want them closer in size before combining, the young chickens were on a different feed.  The blurry chicken in the middle is one of the older hens and you can see the younger one the right is rapidly catching up.  The "girl" on the left is one of the new chickens and it has turned out to be a "guy"  I have been spending time sitting in the coop  just watching the whole social drama unfold..... It's going as well as I could hope for at this point... no blood drawn as yet..

Close but not quite!

I know that it doesn't look like I accomplished that much at the retreat but I did work on this block a lot... You can see compared to the photo before I left... I did the large leaves on felt and then appliqued them on...these were very time consuming.  I also did the outlining of the berries and added detail and gave my bird a beak.....plus some beading.  Now there are just the glass leaves, his feet and some fine details.

I'm anxious to give my little bird legs and feet now as I loved them on the Wm Morris bird.. I hope to have it done by Friday.  Of course I got a royal and loving welcome from Morris when I got home but also my chickens started laying eggs while I was gone.  My favorite food in all the world are eggs still warm from the nest... Since they are just starting the eggs are small and a little irregular but absolutely delicious just the same..