Elvis Has Left The Building

After having Elvis and the Mutt in cages for a few days right outside our bedroom, I decided it was time to get rid of them. Their crowing was about to drive us crazy. So I listed them on Hoosier Topics, Bedford Connect and Craigslist. Within an hour I had someone claim these two free roosters.

Now I am looking at the eggs that I am using and none of them are fertilized. So if I have a hen go broody, none of the eggs will be fertile except for my Bantams. Rudy, my Mille Fleur D'uccle is busy fertilizing the banty eggs and trying to do the same with the big hens when Rocky isn't looking. Rudy is just a little rooster and scared to death of Rocky. It's a big job but someone has to do it.

I don't know why Rocky isn't doing his job but he isn't. Maybe he is too big or too old. I am in the market for a new rooster, a young, standard breed. I love Rocky because I can trust him with my Grandkids and this disappoints me. I really don't need baby chicks right now other than it is just fun but as my hens grow older I will need to replace them and would like to grow my own.

Missing Hens?

My Husband came in last night after feeding my Buck and gathering eggs to say that he thought that perhaps we had a chicken thief. He proceeded to give me a head count. I believe he suspected Barney Google, at least that is what he said.

That set me to wondering, is Barney Google where "Google" got it's name? I have tried to think of any similarities and wasn't able to come up with much. The more I thought about it the more I realized that I wasn't even sure that Barney Google was a chicken thief. I believe that it was his cousin Snuffy Smith that is the chicken thief and moonshiner. But wait, I don't even think that they are cousins, maybe just friends? If I really cared at all, I would just Google them, but I don't really care.

I do care about my chicken population, so, how to figure out if any chickens are missing? I do not keep a written record of how many chickens I have and since many of them look alike, they don't have names. Some do have unique features that I recognize and a few lay odd eggs that I miss in my egg basket at the end of the day but it would be hard for me to say that this certain hen is missing.

Ahhh.... I know how to figure out if any hens are missing! I don't have to Google for the answer, I just have to go back through my old blogs. Sure enough there is a blog with the number of each breed of chicken that I have. Though one has died of natural causes and I have given some away.

I will update my numbers here, so that if this question ever comes up again, I will have a record. 2 Rhode Island Red Hens, 3 Golden Comet Hens, 6 Barred Rock Hens, 7 Silver Laced Wyandotte Hens, 2 Mutt Bantam Hens, 2 D'Uccle Hens, 1 Barred Rock Rooster, 1 Polish Rooster, 1 D'Uccle Rooster and 1 Mutt Bantam Rooster.

I am happy to say that all hens and roosters are present and accounted for. I really didn't think that anything could steal my chickens with Angel and Abby on guard 24/7. My DH even commented the other day on what keen eyesight they have, they can spot a squirrel a mile away. They even watch the sky and bark at birds. They do tend to be a little intimidated by the military jets that fly low over the farm though.

I know what you are thinking, why does she have so many roosters?? You were thinking that, weren't you? This is a question that my DH asks me quite often. I keep Rocky, the barred rock, to father future generations. I keep Rudy, the D'Uccle, for the same purpose. I keep Elvis, the polish, just for fun and I don't have a clue why I keep the bantam mutt but he does have a great banty rooster attitude, I suppose I should name him or give him away. Anyone want a tiny red banty rooster? I might have to do one of those blog giveaways or a contest of some sort.

Egg Production

For some reason our egg production went down yesterday. We have been getting 9 eggs per day and that dropped to 5 yesterday. All three of my Banties laid on Wednesday and only one laid yesterday. But I don't understand what happened to the other three eggs from my Rhoadies and Barred Rocks. They are always so faithful.

I never did find my missing Barred Rock or any evidence of what happened to her. If she did hide a nest, she did a very good job of hiding. One of our neighbors reported seeing an Eagle again but we haven't seen it, that doesn't mean that it wasn't here and carried off my hen.

One of my hens has been laying eggs in my Granddaughters playhouse out back, but didn't yesterday. I have a feeling that I am missing something, they are probably laying somewhere but I just don't know where. That is the problem with free rangers, they can provide you with a constant Easter Egg Hunt.

Eggs for Sale

Spring has sure made a difference in egg production, my bantams are still not laying but everything else sure is. I just went out to gather eggs and every nest in the shed has a hen sitting in it. I have a refrigerator full of eggs and need to sell some. I have been selling some to a neighbor and giving them to my kids, but they just keep coming.

My chickens are doing wonderful and I really enjoy them. When I go outside in the mornings they are waiting for me. I slide open the big barn door and they follow me everywhere I go until I feed them. I feel like the Pied Piper with my little flock clucking along behind me.

Goodbye, Ethel

Maude is the giant cornish cross hen that was attacked by a possum and then by a Bobcat, she sustained some serious injuries from the Bobcat attack but it was Ethel that I found dead this morning.

I knew that they usually don't live more than one year because they tend to overeat themselves into an early grave, if they are not butchered and eaten. I was just surprised when I seen one of them dead and it wasn't Maude.

Ethel was still warm when I found her so I decided to get some butchering experience. No sense in her going to waste when I have two dogs and cat to feed.

I didn't think that I could do it, I thought that is would turn my stomach but it wasn't hard at all. I just skinned her in areas that I wanted the meat from, the breast and legs. It was really no different than skinning, cutting up or deboning a store bought chicken.

She had a lot of good meat on her and my dogs and cat got a fresh, raw, show dog meal today. I know a lady that shows dogs and she keeps chickens just for her dogs, they get fresh chicken meat everyday.

Chloe, my house dog, left a piece of breast meat unguarded for just an instant and one of the Rhodie hens got away with it. She grabbed it and ran, one of the Barred Rock hens chased her down and took it away from her and disappeared, so I don't know who ended up with it but it is a dog eat dog world around here. Chloe is still upset, she may have to have therapy.

It's Back...

After a few beautiful Spring-like days, Winter has come back with a vengeance. My chickens were all convinced it was Spring and gave me five eggs yesterday. Then today, it is only 16º and the temperature is suppose to keep dropping. It is also very windy, so it feels much colder.

I did get one egg this morning, I may get two more but I am not holding my breath. I don't know how old my three Rhodies are but most of my Barred Rocks are young. The Rhodies are very good layers, if I get three eggs today it will be from them. They are very faithful about laying even in bad weather but from what I hear they usually don't go broody even in the Spring.

I keep getting one large, deformed egg from one of my newer hens everyday. After researching this, I have found out that eggs get larger as hens mature, older hens also tend to sometimes lay deformed eggs. So, I am not sure which one is laying these eggs but it is interesting to see the weird shape each day.

I didn't blog yesterday and didn't even realize it until this morning. I was busy answering comments to Friday's blog, so, it slipped my mind. Sorry, Punky, is your headache better?

Bald Eagle

There was a time when seeing a bald eagle where we live was unheard of, but for the last 3 or 4 years we have been seeing a few during the winter months. This morning my husband came in the house and told me to get the camera. I grabbed it and ran out to see what was going on.

Sitting in a tree overlooking one of our smaller pastures was a bald eagle. He looked enormous but my camera doesn't have much of a zoom, so I am afraid I didn't get adequate pictures of him.

In comparison to some of the hawks that we have around here, the hawks might get away with one of my bantams, but this guy could take one of my standard Rocks or Rhodies, maybe even Shorty, our miniature horse.

More Chicken News

I know that you are all waiting on pins and needles to find out how the great chicken transfer is going. Well, when last we visited the Spinner's Farm, she had taken her three Rhode Island Reds to the goat/chicken shed during a driving rain and wind storm, you will be happy to know that they survived their first night in the shed.

Meanwhile, back at the house/barn, I do actually live in a barn with a small apartment built on one side. The five Barred Rocks were waiting in a large pet taxi to be carried one by one to their new home. The transfer went without incident, the Rhodies were turned out into complete freedom, which I doubt they had ever experienced before, while the Rocks were put into the large cage in the shed that had held the Rhodies the night before. Tomorrow the Rocks will join the Rhodies in complete freedom.

I was afraid that Angel would chase the Rhodies but there seems to be one Rhodie that has an attitude. When I first took her out to the shed she pecked the nose of a curious goat named Cinder, who is my oldest and queen (alpha) doe. I don't know what happened out there because I was gone most of the day but I did notice that the three red hens and Angel seemed to be respecting each other's space.

Angel is terrible about chasing my little banty hens, she doesn't hurt them, at least she hasn't so far but she does enjoy the chase. The banties have learned how to avoid her and they know when she is sleeping.

Rhode Island Reds

I did get my Rhodies taken to the goat/chicken shed. I carried them one at a time through the driving rain and waded through the knee deep mud. I am not complaining after the drought that we had this summer, I am still not tired of mud. I am elated that our drought is finally over.

Getting the Rhodies into the large cage that I have in the shed was a trick, I had six goats and a dog trying to help me. I came back covered in mud and manure. I will try to get my Rocks taken out there tomorrow.

The three Rhodies seem to be aggressive and loud, that is why I went ahead and took them to the shed, they were fighting and making a lot of noise.

My Barred Rocks are very quiet and don't seem to be fighting at all, you hardly know that they are here. I hope that they are all good layers and I will have some eggs to sell.

Barred Rocks

I finally talked my wonderful husband into going after the chickens that he promised me for Christmas. He did some farrier work for my cousin and he paid him in chickens. I got five Barred Rock hens and three Rhode Island Red hens. I will try to post some pictures of them tomorrow if it isn't raining.

The temperature on this 7th day of January in Indiana was 69 degrees for a high and tonight, after dark, when we went to get the chickens it was 61. We are suppose to have thunder storms later tonight and tomorrow. Then the temp. is suppose to return to normal. But it was fun while it lasted, I was even able to go into my goat pen today without falling in the mud.

I can now call myself a spinner. I have been spinning yarn and even though it isn't very pretty, it is still yarn.