Hey! Today was pretty plain.
We took the chicks out in the sun today and I unpasted them(more on that later).
The chickens and month old chicks all got dusted with Sevin dust today.
The goats have been adorable as always! I watched them playing around out in the yard. They stand up on their hind legs then slam down into each other. It's so fun to see.
That's really all though. So, just a mild and peaceful day.
kk
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
CCSI
Hello! The weekend was fun. Nothing big happend, just cleaning and stuff like that.
We took the goats on a walk down the street, it's been a while since they've been on leashes so we're working on getting them trained again.
Also, they worked on some weed control. Goats love weeds, so we put them in one of the gardens for a little while to clean it out a bit.
We're still treating the chickens' bugs since we ran out of spray last week, and we're using Sevin dust now.
I've been carrying my Buff Brahma bantam hen, Chibi, around as my barn buddy. People kept asking why I had her with me so much, my reply,"She's in training." When asked what kind of training I would say,"She's training to be a CCSI! Chicken Crime Scene Investigator!" It sounds much more interesting than just saying to make her sweet. Haha!
The 1st order of chicks are still doing great. They haven't been infected with bugs yet so that's great!
The 2nd order is growing up fast. They're alot of fun. We take them outside in a little pen sometimes, but they get cold pretty fast.
We have a 3rd order coming next week I think. We asked for 7 Brown Egg Layers assortment chicks, therefore, we don't know what we'll get yet.
All so fun!
kk
We took the goats on a walk down the street, it's been a while since they've been on leashes so we're working on getting them trained again.
Also, they worked on some weed control. Goats love weeds, so we put them in one of the gardens for a little while to clean it out a bit.
We're still treating the chickens' bugs since we ran out of spray last week, and we're using Sevin dust now.
I've been carrying my Buff Brahma bantam hen, Chibi, around as my barn buddy. People kept asking why I had her with me so much, my reply,"She's in training." When asked what kind of training I would say,"She's training to be a CCSI! Chicken Crime Scene Investigator!" It sounds much more interesting than just saying to make her sweet. Haha!
The 1st order of chicks are still doing great. They haven't been infected with bugs yet so that's great!
The 2nd order is growing up fast. They're alot of fun. We take them outside in a little pen sometimes, but they get cold pretty fast.
We have a 3rd order coming next week I think. We asked for 7 Brown Egg Layers assortment chicks, therefore, we don't know what we'll get yet.
All so fun!
kk
Friday, April 26, 2013
Barn Buddies
Yesterday and today haven't been too eventful. Our goats had had upset tummies from the switch in food, but are all better now*. The chicks and chickens are all doing great. We took the older 6 chicks off of the heat lamp tonight. Our chickens are all really nice, but some are pretty skittish and 1 little hen can get a bit mean sometimes. This can be a problem at Fair though, when everybody's stressed. To fix this issue we've decided to have barn buddies! Every night when my sister and I close up the barn we are each going to pick 1 chicken that could use some love and carry it around while we do the chores. This can really improve some nasty attitudes and it's fun to have some fluffy company during work! That's about it for today though!
*See "GoatieGals" for more on goat tummy issues.
kk
*See "GoatieGals" for more on goat tummy issues.
kk
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Awful Chicken Day
Okay, I guess I'll start posting everyday (at least I'll try) on what's going on around here with our animals. Let me just say that yesterday was absolutely crazy...
It started out with me being abruptly awakened to get the chick brooder ready while my mom and sister went to pick up our newly arrived order of chicks. I had to get a heat lamp hooked up and put some food and water out. However, my sister called me as soon as they received the chicks... 6 of the 16 were dead! It was the saddest sight. The poor little things had frozen to death. With such a small order a heat pad should have been put in with them, but coming up to such a high elevation with the temperature being 20 degrees the night before and the hatchery didn't think one was needed. Really? We called demanding a refund for the expensive shipping, unfortunately since it was less than half they didn't want to. We finally got it all sorted out and they offered to send us new chicks, but they didn't have very many breeds available and with fair in August they'd be too young. So we ended up with: 2 red stars, 1 ancona, 1 blue Andalusian, 1 Colombian wyandotte, 1 welsummer, 3 buff Brahma bantams, and 1 silver laced wyandotte. The wyandottes and red stars are my sister's so she has only 4 and the rest are mine. 1 blue andalusian, 1 Colombian wyandotte, 1 silver wyandotte, 1 welsummer, and 2 silver lakenvelders died. (I know you probably don't know what all of these are.) So that was our morning.
Next we discovered a dead hen in the barn. Poor Sunni will be missed. :( It was odd though since she had no blood or injuries. She was just lying there. We suspected mites had probably been the cause. The bird mites and lice that chickens get, while harmless to people and dogs, can kill a chicken if untreated. They worry themselves to death. We had assumed for a while that since our chickens hadn't been around other chickens that they were clean, when these pests are actually most commonly transmitted by other birds that can fly around in your coop. We checked our still living hens and sure enough they were infected. The best way to treat this is to spray them with Adams Flea and Tick spray for dogs and cats. We also cover them with ash from the fire pit. So we're still working on this issue and will still be for the next few days.* Hopefully we won't lose anyone else.
Lastly, our rooster, James, was attacked by 2 of our dogs. The dogs are mostly fine around the birds but if one jumps, flaps, or freaks out in anyway the dogs tend to snap. We're usually around to stop this, but James likes to escape his pen to peck at the fresh spring grass. We were walking back from cleaning out a ditch when we saw the commotion. The dogs paused upon hearing our shouts giving the rooster just enough time to make a quick run for home. He's perfectly fine now, just a little shaken up and with a handful (or mouthful) of feathers missing from his gorgeous tail. At least he's okay though.
And that ends my long recitation of today's happenings. It's usually not that nuts around here. Haha!
*check "Chick-a-doodle" for more on mites and lice.
kk
It started out with me being abruptly awakened to get the chick brooder ready while my mom and sister went to pick up our newly arrived order of chicks. I had to get a heat lamp hooked up and put some food and water out. However, my sister called me as soon as they received the chicks... 6 of the 16 were dead! It was the saddest sight. The poor little things had frozen to death. With such a small order a heat pad should have been put in with them, but coming up to such a high elevation with the temperature being 20 degrees the night before and the hatchery didn't think one was needed. Really? We called demanding a refund for the expensive shipping, unfortunately since it was less than half they didn't want to. We finally got it all sorted out and they offered to send us new chicks, but they didn't have very many breeds available and with fair in August they'd be too young. So we ended up with: 2 red stars, 1 ancona, 1 blue Andalusian, 1 Colombian wyandotte, 1 welsummer, 3 buff Brahma bantams, and 1 silver laced wyandotte. The wyandottes and red stars are my sister's so she has only 4 and the rest are mine. 1 blue andalusian, 1 Colombian wyandotte, 1 silver wyandotte, 1 welsummer, and 2 silver lakenvelders died. (I know you probably don't know what all of these are.) So that was our morning.
Next we discovered a dead hen in the barn. Poor Sunni will be missed. :( It was odd though since she had no blood or injuries. She was just lying there. We suspected mites had probably been the cause. The bird mites and lice that chickens get, while harmless to people and dogs, can kill a chicken if untreated. They worry themselves to death. We had assumed for a while that since our chickens hadn't been around other chickens that they were clean, when these pests are actually most commonly transmitted by other birds that can fly around in your coop. We checked our still living hens and sure enough they were infected. The best way to treat this is to spray them with Adams Flea and Tick spray for dogs and cats. We also cover them with ash from the fire pit. So we're still working on this issue and will still be for the next few days.* Hopefully we won't lose anyone else.
Lastly, our rooster, James, was attacked by 2 of our dogs. The dogs are mostly fine around the birds but if one jumps, flaps, or freaks out in anyway the dogs tend to snap. We're usually around to stop this, but James likes to escape his pen to peck at the fresh spring grass. We were walking back from cleaning out a ditch when we saw the commotion. The dogs paused upon hearing our shouts giving the rooster just enough time to make a quick run for home. He's perfectly fine now, just a little shaken up and with a handful (or mouthful) of feathers missing from his gorgeous tail. At least he's okay though.
And that ends my long recitation of today's happenings. It's usually not that nuts around here. Haha!
*check "Chick-a-doodle" for more on mites and lice.
kk
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