Christmas is coming!!

So far the weather has been decent and we are looking forward to Christmas. Thank you Lord for all the wonderful eggs we are baking and cooking with.
Yesterday I went Christmas shopping and my grandson found a whole stash of eggs hidden that some of the chickens laid. There were 16 eggs under a little ramp. That had to of been mighty uncomfortable. EWW It will be nice to have their eggs to use. It was hard to have to throw out so many eggs not knowing how long they had been there.

Another varmit stalking the chickens

My daughter heard the same growl/hiss sound that I did the night my four chickens were killed and one of her chickens ended up dead. The funny thing was it wasn't eaten all the way, just a nibble out of it and she heard the sound in the afternoon.
My suspicions would be that anything but a weasel would at least carry off or eat the carcass. I don't know but the sound sure is eerie.

Getting all fluffed up for winter..brrrrr

Pheasants & Chicken George enjoying each other!!!

We are all grown up now

Since it is now fall and getting colder we found that we needed to put heat lamps in the pens suspended from the ceiling. This seems to keep the production mode going. Maybe they freeze up in this process, lol..
The Australorps are so pretty and the roosters know who their girlfriends are. My Rooster, Chicken George, has his harem of mix matched breeds and he thinks he's a prince!

Contemplating fall! Chicken George (Rooster) & Hens

Fall is upon us and it will rain until this time next year. All the chickens are fat and sassy, but the Australorp's in the other pen still have not begun laying.
This was outside the "other" chickens pen a few days ago.
We are hoping for a mild winter and staying warm..

It wasn't a triple but it sure was a complete double yoker!

My girls are very happy and lay on a consistent basis now. I know that I have a faithful double yoker and that is always a "good thing". Each day I pluck an arm full of grass and weeds to feed the hens and they love it.
The hen and rooster Australorp's I have with the hens now get along great. They are as big as the full grown hens and able to defend themselves. When the cage of pure Austraorps start laying eggs I will allow the brooder hens to go ahead and brood on some eggs and keep them apart from the others.
I cannot tell you what a difference a metal container made for automatic watering and feeding has made in the cost of food and time it takes to upkeep the flock! Well worth the cost.

By Golly I believe we have a triple yoker!

I was doing the general, everyday routine of checking eggs, of which have been abundant in the "other" chicken house, and I picked up an egg today that has to be a triple yoke. It dwarfs the other eggs in the carton ad the hen that laid it normally lays doubles but she squeezed very hard today and I sure could see why!
With eggs like this we won't need a whole bunch more chickens!
We did add some oyster shell to their diets this week too and they all love it...

Upgrading the food supply helps!

We took the advice from the Chicken Forum about going back to the starter and then we wondered after the chickens all grew healthy and strong, "Why no eggs?", when we spoke to the humble beloved man at the feed store. His advice..start them on crumbles because they are too old to be on the starter. Since we followed this friendly advice we have some chickens going crazy laying and developing.
I know they needed to get back to the starter though, to get back to health so I am not ungrateful for that advice but I will be happy when they all lay steadily.
One bad thing did happen the other day, we lost Henny Penny to one of our dogs. She was free ranging and when we had our back's turned the dog nailed her. Not only do I miss her, so does the rest of the flock who thought she was their mother.

Vacation time at the falls!

Went on a family reunion and spent time with my daughter in town. The chickens grew rapidly and are now iridescent. Some of the other chickens are laying on a regular basis and I believe it is almost time for the Australorps to start producing.
The kids are having a good time dueling over who gets the eggs. Some, of course, don't make it to the house because they "drop" or something. I think some turn out to be weapons. LOL
I am looking forward to buying several different kinds and some of the same next year. I am also looking forward to ducks and turkey's next year.
The garden has been a hit and miss situation but we are still eating good from it. The chickens share it by eating the bugs and the bugs share it by eating anything that grows.

Growing rapidly & Missy Boo the chicken herder!

It has been a while since I posted here after my computer has crashed so I am posting my latest chicken update from one of my daughters computers. The chickens are growing rapidly and the hens should be producing eggs in a couple of months.
The feathers are just beautiful. Henny Penny, the Arucana, and Hippie Chick, the White Crested Black Polish, both think they are of the same family. No separating them because they will have a fit.
Hippie Chick likes to roost outside on the fence at night so she is the last one to go in and that is with force. LOL
We will be adding to the flock of Australorp's at a future date and have all this experience behind us.

Egg Production

After a bout of starving the eggs right out of our chickens they are now laying again. The poor things were struggling to get enough nutrition from the scratch and also being moved from one pen to another while we were isolating those we thought were sick.
Back and forth we went until we got the news about what we were NOT feeding our chickens. I missed the eggs they laid, it was almost a sense of pride for the daily production, and then it had ceased. No, I thought, how can this be? Our chickens were almost right on reschedule.
I got a phone call yesterday, because I am in town for a little while, from Mary, that the chickens are back in order and laying just fine. Thank you, God, I am very pleased. I love those eggs!

What to feed, how long, and why!

Our chickens have been slowly passing and now I have the answer thanks to a nice lady on the BYC (Back Yard Chickens forum) I am on. My chickens are only two months old so this will be great advice because we switched food to 5 grain scratch too fast.
Thank you again BYC you may have saved a whole bunch of chickens...and guilt from killing them from starvation..


What I would do is get them back on Start and Grow until 12-16 weeks of age. Don't feed them anything else until they seem good and strong. You can switch them to Flockraiser after that, or keep them on Starter until you get your first eggs, switch them to Layena.
(from dangerouschicken)

My new chickens and the other newer ones!

I am so excited over my new chickens. I believe they, the newest ones, are Americana/Arucana(sp). I named my chickens I just got after my four daughters because I have two redheads a blonde and a brunette. LOL

We have the solution!

The fox is safe now. My SIL built a house within my large chicken house with a wooden floor and much support. The fox would have to chew through a lot to get to them.
For all the fox lovers like myself, this is the ideal solution because I didn't have the heart to shoot it.
Tomorrow the other 4 hens are coming!!! Easter egg chickens...............
Oh, before I forget..if you are considering adding chickens from another flock to your hen house consider buying "Duramycin_10" (Tetracycline Hydrochloride Soluable Powder) to your chickens waterier for a few days. It only cost us $5.99 at our local store and it saved a lot of problems.
Also watch that hens that are not used to each other doesn't peck your chickens to death. We have dealt with this devastation as well.

Guess who was sly and really killed the chickens!

After much deliberation about coons, weasles, and such, my SIL and daughter were on their nightly walk with the kids from our place, and the nice little love was basking in the sun just a hop skip and jump away.
It figures, for most of my life I wanted a fox so bad I almost bought one. Now I have one and want to shoot it!
Renovating my chicken pens will be a must for sure and making sure their isn't a herd of varmits that find and eat them will be quite a challenge.

Computer down for the count?

I am hoping my computer can be fixed but who knows. Until then, thank you for checking out my blog and comments you leave. Hope to be up and running soon!
Chickens that were left are still okay. Will be renovating the other pen soon!

4 Murdered Chickens

Last night a varmint of some kind got in one of our three pens and killed, left no sign except a few feathers, of killing four chickens in short order. Two were new, two were Australorp hens we were going to cross breed.
It looked to be a weasel, but who knows. I do know that updates to the pen are coming while the fancy hens stay their time with the Australorps.
I am saddened but determined.
I am on a different computer as mine is having major shortage problems so I have no photo's of them.
Until next news update!
Keep your chickens safe....

Raspberry plant, Brian & Gabe building nests, Blue Berry Plants!

Nests and other things!

Hippie Chick is growing as are the others. Here is her close up and them in the run and in with their much needed new nests.
The yellow rose is our first bloom from our new plants. It is a few days old here and picked but was so pretty and smelled so good I had to share!

Gardening & building nests

We have been busy gardening and trying to keep the Steller Jay's & Robins out after they plucked four rows of new corn leaves.
The hens are cute and ready for their owns nests and will be welcoming the new chickens on Monday. Long wait but worth it for the new ones.
Got to get my other batteries out for my camera to get more updated picture's!! Whoo Hoo, my computer is fixed after taking it back to basic's!!!!

I have been off line a while now!

I am hoping to get my computer fixed very soon as I have no way to download picture's of the chickens and their growth.
The roosters are easy to pick out and if I counted correctly there are four of them. Two will go to the MUTT chicken pen to cross breed with different kinds of chickens and see what we come up with.
There will always be the main Australorp's that are never mixed. We are anxious to make the nests as they are trying to nest in a wooden box we put in their run with a tad of hay in it. Their feathers are now turning iridescent like they are supposed to and they are so pretty.
Summer is finally arriving and the sun is out for about a week. Time to get busy in the garden and do outside work!

All in the family!

We may have more added to our family this weekend and are looking forward to a growing flock.
The little Australorp's are growing so fast it is hard to believe it. They are inside for this day as it is rainy and cold. Soon they will be old enough to know when to come in out of the rain. LOL
Looking forward to the new babies and posting picture's of everyone!

Playing tiddly winks..and missing my chicken bad..

Not much going on today! Lucy is still gone and the rest of the flock is doing great. The rain let up this evening for a bit so they get to play in the run. That is always a bonus for Oregon. They always go in and are sealed up at night though so no varmit can get to them.

Still no Lucy!

I am afraid I have lost her for sure. As short of time as I have had Lucy I have been smitten with her. Today is a sad day on the farm for me. Memorial Day will not be just about loved people but about the animals that have an impact on ones life as well. I just never thought one could care about a chicken so much.
Fly away home Lucy, you have been loved.

Praying for Lucy's Return!

The cats were after her today and I haven't seen her this evening at all. My friend, Annie, made this for me on my My Space, odd it is the very day my Lucy disappeared. I hope it's not a sign she is gone for sure.

Do Chicken's Chicken sit? The girls are back on board!