Early birds.

 Two days ago I had a Porcelain and Mille Fleur chick hatch one day early  and looked a little small and undeveloped here is a picture of them above, Mille Fleur om left ,and Porcelain on right.

 This is my Black Australorp hen sitting on the eggs before they hatched, usually I don't put to many eggs under her because she tends to break them so I only put four under, three hatched and one was bad, and one chick died because she squished it and it hatched to early, the two chicks are now doing fine and are out in the brooder outside.

this is the incubator my grandma let me barrow these eggs are still waiting to hatch ,there are 32 eggs in the incubator right now.

Disqualifications and Defects.

 Disqualifications and Defects for the Belgian d'uccle bantam.  D'uccles should have a straight firm comb with about 5 points.

 Duccles should have a thick and full beard and muffs, absence of beard and/or muffs is a disqualification,  They should also have an absence or very small wattles.Other disqualifications are ,severed wattles, squirrel tailed, and absence of vulture hocks which are basically featherless legs.

 Bull neck and v shape in back are very important for body shape.

 This is Oreo my Black Mottled d'uccle , he is a general description of what a d'uccles body shape should look like.other defects are , large wattles and ear lobes, and neck unduly long and too narrow.

The d'uccle is a four toed breed and should have four nice toes like this, also bare middle toe is a serious defect.  All of my birds seem to not have any thing wrong except for Oreo who has too many complete white feathers.

Broody Poultry

There are a lot of broody poultry here at our place. This time of year broodiness seems to be the name of the game as far as my chickens, ducks, doves, & turkeys are concerned.

 The end result of broody hens that have been successful is always a delight!To see more about the broodiness going on around here check out this post on my other blog.*Spot On Cedar Pond


 

Easy & Affordable Chicken Pen

Look at this chicken pen. How easy and economical is this? VERY!

This is a chicken pen I saw in our area, and after being granted permission to take photographs from the owner, I decided to share them on this blog. The pen is simply a livestock panel ( available at most feed and farm stores) bent over and secured in an upside down "U", then secured to the ground. A door was fashioned for one end, and back for the other, and a simple tarp covering suffices as protection from rain and too much sun.I pass this pen often and in the colder months the red glow of the heat lamp can be seen from inside the wood box. Now when I pass by I see the chicks have grown and do not need the heat lamp.( you can click onto any picture for enlargement)

The beauty of this pen is it is easily moved around the lot, and when the chickens no longer need this pen for whatever reason ( butchering, etc,) the pen can be dis-assembled and stored away until later need.Affordable, easy, practical. Perfect for the homestead raising chickens on a budget!

The Odd Couple Operate the Chicken Tractor

1. This is Oscar, he and his partner Felix occupy our chicken tractor in the vegetable garden. Thus far, they have proven to be the best residents we have had over many years.

The humble garden residence was built almost 10 years ago to fit into my husband's raised garden beds, and be easily moved up and down the rows, and still be comfortable enough for 1 or 2 chickens.It is still in operation with simple modifications.( Not beautiful, just practical)

The chicken tractor started out further toward the back of the garden. You can see our duck pen ( back right ) still in need of repair from the damage the ice storm caused by many large tree limbs falling on the roof.

A close-up of Felix Mlle Fleur. He was shading himself from the weak rays of the sun.

Felix and Oscar's home has to be re-enforced with boards and metal roofing because we found the raccoons are very adept at reaching through the wire and literally pulling off and eating the the flesh of any living birds within their grasp. We have found the skeletal remains of birds in their pens plucked of all flesh over-night and the only remedy is to give them a place to sleep that is not within the reach of predators.The roof of the chicken tractor is held down by old farm containers planted with sedums. Chicken tractors are very practical and also help you easily weed garden beds. This odd couple can have a vegetable patch weed-free within days and then we move the chicken tractor over a few feet for Oscar & Felix to begin again the process of eating and scratching up weeds and grass.

Slug Patrol!

Our Pekin ducks get a little muddy while on slug patrol

The very cool and rainy weather is just perfect for slugs and they are thriving on my lilies,hostas, and even in the trees.Good thing we have a slug patrol. The ducks, too, are thriving in the rain, mud, and abundance of slugs.

The ducks waddle on down to the pond for a swim and hopefully will be able to rid their bills of some of the slug slime. Even thinking about eating slugs grosses me out, but I am sure glad the slug patrol finds slugs very tasty, they should feast royally this spring !

My Chicks Come In The Mail !

My new chicks came in the mail. I am still amazed such tiny, fragile creatures can be sent safely through the mail.

 

Here you can see the box they arrived in sitting in front of the temporary brooding  pen set up in my sun room.

This is a receipt showing what chicks I ordered.I paid a little extra to receive all pullets ( females) so I would not be raising any more roosters for awhile. I still have a few roosters around I am quite fond of, and need no more. I want a lovely and varied chicken flock this coming year, and I think I picked some interesting chickens. I am especially excited about the white Orpingtons and the Delawares.

Look at all the cuteness packed into the tiny box ! I am already anticipating the delicious eggs they will lay for me and my family, but the breeds I have chosen will not begin to lay eggs until they are between 5 and 6 months of age.

I dip each chick's beak into water right after removing them from the packing box. There are glass beads in the waterer taking up space  so the little chicks do not drown in the water, which is very easy for new chicks to do.Also, the beads attract the chicks and they peck there allowing them to learn quickly the water they need is here.

I put the chicks into a big metal tub with a piece of fencing over it to keep my cat out. I have a heat lamp over the brooder. I mixed chick grit ( you can purchase this from the feed store) with chick starter feed for the first few feedings and put it in a shallow dish in the brooder.The chicks spend a lot of time happily scratching and pecking at their feed After 3 days I moved the chicks into a big metal water livestock tub in an outside shed I use just for the purpose of raising up poultry.The weather has just begun warming up and I do not think a heat lamp will be needed for long. I will probably replace the heat lamp bulbs with 6o watt light bulbs. I have two lamps over the chick brooder.

I love raising these little cuties, I love gathering newly laid eggs in the morning, I love hearing my chickens clucking and crowing, and I especially love to just watch them. They are very entertaining,and if you watch them often enough you can see they each have a unique personality, and you just might get attached to them, you just might!