It Was Bound To Happen...

So I write today with some sad news. In our chicken endeavors we have only lost a few of our chickens. Two were to a predator and one was a day old chick who just wasn't strong enough to push forward. The two we lost to a predator were very young chickens, so it really didn't affect us.

This Saturday we had to cull one of our chickens. Nutmeg was a Rhode Island Red Hen, probably about 2 years old. She never was a terrific layer and the reason why was she had a reproductive defect that caused her eggs to come out very deformed, watery and very easily crushed. On regular occasions our nesting boxes would be gooey with egg yolk and whites and would stick all over the other eggs. We kept her anyway because she was a healthy, affectionate companion to all her coop mates. She was also quite affectionate to us as well. Always let us pick her up and hand feed her treats. She would follow me around the yard like I was her mommy.

About 3 weeks ago I started noticing that she was not herself. She would go out with the rest of her family and eat some grass and scratch around, but then she would just puff herself up and sleep the day away. I've also notice that someone was pooping strange liquidity stuff, but couldn't figure out who it was. Well, weeks went on and I noticed a rapid decline in Nutmeg . I also noticed that there were no more messy nesting box incidents. Starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together I came to the conclusion that the weird poop was actually coming from her. Her thin eggs must have broken inside of her which in turn blocked the ability to lay. The condition is called 'Egg Bound'. We finally came to the decision that she would never recover fully with the treatments that were available. She would always lay the type of eggs that would cause her this same problem later down the road. She was very thin, light and it looked like she would probably not have made it, even if we had tried the treatments. The best option was to put her out of her misery and put her in a better and happier place.

Never did I think that having to put a chicken down would have affected me this way. I was sad, and I did shed tears. I never could handle nor wrap my head around a life just ending, animal or human. I could probably put myself into a psych ward just thinking about it for too long.

So to Nutmeg, I hope you are in a better place. We know we gave you a good life with lots of love and freedom to flap your wings. Your friends miss you too. Mr Roo has been crowing non stop and looks as though he has set a search around the property. =o(

NUTMEG
you will be missed

Spring Teaser

Finally some nice weather made it's way to NJ. Thursday and Friday (Feb. 17 & 18) were beautiful! It was in the 50's on Thurs. and 60's on Friday. Can't get any better than that. Now, as much as I LOVE winter and oodles and oodles of snow, I start getting a little bit of the winter blues around this time. But, the warm sun and peaking green grass made those little winter blues disappear. At least for two days...came Saturday and it plummeted back into the teens. What a teaser!!
I bet my flock was thinking the same damn thing. If their tiny pea brains actually think about those things. Well, if they didn't I'm sure they do now. Thursday was their first day out of the run in about 2 1/2 months. They don't like the snow much. But they had no choice this year...if they wanted to have some (freezing) sun on their faces they had to become tolerable of the frigid weather. And for the most part they did.

March is up next and we all know how that month can be...In like a lion out like a lamb?? Isn't that the saying? I bite my tongue when I say that the month of March can still bring on monstrous snow storms. Let all pray for warm weather!

Worth their weight

It's been about a month since I've installed the christmas lights into the coop. I'm hear to say that it does work. We are now up to 10-14 eggs a day. Double edged sword in a way because now we may end up with a surplus of eggs. Ya, ya, I'm never happy. But actually I am. With our 'regulars' buying their normal quantity of eggs on a weekly basis we will definitely be able to keep the chickens fed and happy. (and off the chopping block) just kidding!

Also in the past month I come to notice some new colored and sized eggs. Which means that our babies that were hatched in July are finally laying. Someone is laying the cutest oliveish colored (new word meaning not quite olive, but not quite green or brown) eggs. They are so perfectly shaped they almost look fake. And someone else is laying the largest eggs we have had yet. Light brown in color and are pretty much the size of my palm. HUGE!! Ouch that's gotta hurt. Just imagine having to give birth everyday...a....hell NO!!

On that note...I thank my girls everyday and give them much love and treats.

Woo hoo!

Who would've thought that a couple of strands of christmas lights would actually work??? Well, it did. Slowly our egg production seems to be increasing.

I'll keep you posted!!

Christmas in the coop

Well, the meeting was held and it was a unanimous vote. The girls opted to have a couple of strands of outdoor christmas lights hung inside their coop, rather then one by one meeting their demise. Just kidding...I've decided that unless absolutely necessary (ie: a zombie apocalypse) our chickens will not be executed for food.

Two strands of christmas lights were hung yesterday and stapled along the ceiling of the coop. They were put on a timer to go on at 3pm and off at 8pm. The additional light will stimulate the girls to start laying again on a regular basis. Now normally I am against this. Being that the winter time is a time for chickens to rest their reproductive systems. Chickens are born with a set number of eggs that they will produce. So unfortunately by inducing egg laying in the winter will shorten their long term laying. Meaning you either get more eggs now and less later, or you let nature takes its coarse and you have eggs longer. Makes sense?? Last winter we only had 9 chickens. 9 chickens don't eat as much and poop as much as 21 chickens. So last year egg production didn't matter. This winter, with so many mouths to feed. I need to sell more eggs to keep their feed bucket filled.

Besides, every one of them loves the new look to their coop. Very festive :0) Now lets see if it works....

Workin 9-5

Well, tis the season for egg production to go down. Shorter days, cold weather and the never ending molting of my girls. It is all starting to take a toll on the girls pulling their weight to pay their way.

We went from 10 eggs a day, to 6 eggs a day and now we're down to 3. What's a chicken mamma o do. These girls need to make some money or they won't be eating this winter. I think it's time for a sit down with them. Chicken meeting will be held in a couple of days :0)

What in tar-nation???

After my 5.6 mile jog yesterday I went inside to finish my cool down stretch. I had left my garage open and of course my chickens love to hang out in there looking for stink bugs and other creepy crawly treats. Suddenly I heard Dirty Girl (she is my little chihuahua) started sqwauking (sp?) away in her normal alarm mode. When I opened the door I noticed her and another one of my (un-named) girls hiding under my van. Then I proceeded to look out the side window and noticed that all of my girls and boys are hiding under our little silver spruce. I had to giggle because it looked like 50 clowns fitting under a teeny umbrella! When I walked over to the end of the garage I suddenly noticed a Cooper Hawk (little hawk, really it's name, not my son) sitting on the ground and when it saw me it took off into the trees. Now Cooper Hawks are not big, but they are bold and quite a nuisance. I knew at that point it was time to go outside and do a head count. On my way out I noticed a huge pile of feathers by our 'for sale' chicken coops. I ran over to investigate and see a large collection of about 4 different birds feathers. Eyes wide I ran over to my clowns under the tree. I began to count and kept coming up with the right number. Scratching my head I counted again and again. And every time I came up with the right number of birds. Then I started to inspect the birds to see who is missing feathers.....nothing!!! I literally stood there for about 20 minutes trying to put the 'pieces' together. Well, around that time Payton's bus pulls up to drop her off from school. I greet her at the bus and sadly told her what had happened and for the life of me can't figure out what was going on. On the walk back to the house I showed her the pile of feathers. Her response to me..."mommy, don't you remember when you cleaned the garage yesterday you told me to empty all the feathers I collected out of my 4 wheeler?" "Those are my feathers mommy!" "you told me to do it!"

Well, I guess she told me!

The moral to this story...Pay attention to the things you tell your kids to do!