This late winter weekend was beautiful and wonderful for getting ready for spring gardening. The chickens have really taken to the outer yard, where there are plenty of bugs to scratch for in the pine straw. This little area by this palm has become a popular hangout. In no time, this view of the swamp will be lush and green.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
New Feather Feet & Vulture Hocks
Since there's no way I'm mail-ordering a straight run (males & females), minimum order of 25 batch of fancy bantams from a hatchery, the only way I'll get any is finding a local source. So everyday I search the farm & garden section of Craigslist for some pretty hens. A few hours after we came home on Saturday from the feed store with our baby chicks, year-old Belgian d'Uccles were listed for sale!
The next day, I enjoy a rare Sunday drive by myself to see Shari in Crawfordville, who knows the guy also in Crawfordville from whom I purchased 5 fancies off Craiglist last year, who has also gotten chickens from Red Hawk in Quincy...small world.
Since we already have porcelain colored d'Uccles, I picked out 1 hen each from the other colors available --the only white hen and one of the mille fleurs, which is a pretty brown/peppery spangled beauty.
Miss PepperpotNo name for the white one, yet. Their feathers are a little ragged from being in a small coop with a dozen other bantams including several roosters. They are skittish from now being at the bottom of a new pecking order and from have never free-ranged before. But the little porcelains are quite assertive, so I figure they'll get over it eventually.
I have to confess that the 2 porcelain d'Uccles we have had since last March have made me fall in love with this breed. These are true bantams, existing only in miniature with no standard counterpart. I love their shape. They are dainty, docile, and can fly quite high. Beard, feathered feet, and vulture hocks. These are vulture hocks, by the way...long stiff feathers at the hock joint that hide the top part of the legs, as you can kind of see in this photo of Moneypenny (or Smurfette, I can't tell them apart) --
Baby Chicks are Here
I had called the feed store earlier this week to find out if they had any, and they were getting some on Friday. So on Valentine's Day we headed across town with the girls to pick a few up. The girls love going to the Country Feed Store to see their little mini farm, especially the emu.
This is the first time we've purchased chicks so young. Chicks ordered from hatcheries are hatched and usually shipped the same day, since chicks can live on its last bits of yolk for up to 3 days. So the little girls we got were probably only a few days old.
The 2 blondes are Buff Orpingtons and the 2 black ones are Black Australorps. Both breeds are known for excellent production and large brown eggs...those are usually the types you find at a local feed store.
Sofie just loves them!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Bearded Buff Laced Polish Pullets
So yesterday after I had sadly realized that Prince Leia was gone, we picked up (as we had previously planned, even before Leia had disappeared) 2 Bearded Buff Laced Polish Pullets in Crawfordville, from the same Craigslist guy we got the d'Uccles and the Sultan.
Laverne and Shirley are standard size, around 3 months old, and will eventually look like this -
They are quite goofy and have already found the cat food.
Laverne and Shirley are standard size, around 3 months old, and will eventually look like this -
They are quite goofy and have already found the cat food.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
A New Pecking Order
Wow. I can't believe it's only been a month since chickens have enhanced our lives. I must have spent hours watching our chicks grow, reading poultry books, and lurking on the Backyard Chickens forum. We've added to our flock:
On March 7, two easter egger chicks from the Country Feed Store...Wendy & Lisa. I engineered a brooder out of my dachshund's crate, duct tape, and some Amazon boxes. They lived there under a heat lamp for about a week until they were big enough to join the bigger chicks.
On March 30, we drove to Crawfordville and got 1 sultan (Kissy Suzuki) and 2 Belgian bearded d'Uccle chicks (Smurfette & Miss Moneypenny), all 4 weeks old. I found them on Craig's List!
So that makes 11 chicks - 9 bantams and 2 standards. The cochins are at the top of the pecking order, followed by the polish, the easter eggers, and then the newest chicks.
This weekend we have to exchange Apollonia, who has grown up to be quite a pretty cockeral at 8 weeks old.
Her wonky crest was actually that slicked-back polish rooster look, which actually looks really nice now. We were sure she was a he when it bravely did not flinch when the dogs pounced at the coop fencing to get at them, even having a staring contest with my dachshund -- inches from his face!
On March 7, two easter egger chicks from the Country Feed Store...Wendy & Lisa. I engineered a brooder out of my dachshund's crate, duct tape, and some Amazon boxes. They lived there under a heat lamp for about a week until they were big enough to join the bigger chicks.
On March 30, we drove to Crawfordville and got 1 sultan (Kissy Suzuki) and 2 Belgian bearded d'Uccle chicks (Smurfette & Miss Moneypenny), all 4 weeks old. I found them on Craig's List!
So that makes 11 chicks - 9 bantams and 2 standards. The cochins are at the top of the pecking order, followed by the polish, the easter eggers, and then the newest chicks.
This weekend we have to exchange Apollonia, who has grown up to be quite a pretty cockeral at 8 weeks old.
Her wonky crest was actually that slicked-back polish rooster look, which actually looks really nice now. We were sure she was a he when it bravely did not flinch when the dogs pounced at the coop fencing to get at them, even having a staring contest with my dachshund -- inches from his face!
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