Monday, April 12, 2010

Last night was their 1st night in their new coop and this morning Bernice's toe was all bloody and worse than originally! They have also pecked on her other foot so now she has one large sore and 2 smaller ones.

I went to the feed store and bought some Black Salve made by Rooster Booster and put it on her feet, after a couple of pecks they pretty much left her alone, because along with being an antiseptic, it tastes nasty.
Well all of them left her alone except the newly Id'd rooster!

After watching them closely, it's been him all along, he instigates it and then the rest of them take over pecking her.
He would NOT leave her alone.

So now he's in the jail box! lol!

The girls have settled right down and all 5 of them are much calmer.
I'm taking him to a livestock auction at 10:30am on Sat.
I knew I didn't want a rooster!

"Nigel" will stay in the box tonight so hopefully, after another application of black salve, they will leave her feet alone in the coop tonight!


Happy thoughts/prayers for Bernice tonight please!
 
A funny thing happened at the feed store though. I walked in and saw and elderly gentleman in a wheelchair picking out some seed corn from a special container. The helper bagged it and put it on the counter and the old man wheeled off to browse the store further.
I went up to the counter with my salve and a bag of chicken cabbage chain and I paid, he put my purchase in a bag and off I went home.
Due to some nasty roadwork and a quick trip to get the cabbage I didn't get home for 45 minutes.
I opened up the bag and took my salv and chain out and lo and behold the bottom of the bag was full of seed corn!
 
I called the feed store and told them my bag was full of corn and that guy just about busted a gut laughing! "We've been looking all over for that corn!"
The salesman had spaced out and put my stuff in the same bag as the old man's corn and I thought the weight was because of the chain!
 
I asked what should I do with it, he said to bring it back or plant it - I told him I wasn't about to drive another 45 min and he said fine, it was their mistake.
After I hung up I thought about it and called him back, I wanted to know what kind of corn.
"$25.50 a pound corn" he replied!
 
Sheesh! Seems it's a special type, Super Sweet and it's quite sought after around here. It comes pink because of something they put on it, fungicide I think.
I told him that I felt guilty keeping it and he said that if I plant it I will like it so much that they will get a new Super Sweet customer.
 
I hope so....I'll keep you posted as it grows!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

YAY! The chicks are in their new home!
And it's about time - the sunroom was beginning to smell real bad!
They spent a couple of hours in the little run having a blast eating anything and everything.











Bernice is quite happy to be with the rest of her sisters (and 1 brother!) and so far they are getting along fine. We had to put them in the coop one at a time when it started getting too dark out. Everytime we got one in the coop, another would slip past and get in the run again!

They like it in the coop though, I just hope it is warm enough. It's supposed to get in the 40's and it was 50 in the sunroom.
The coop seems to retain a lot of heat from the day though, it was right toasty inside.
I think they'll be fine.

The sunroom however is a smelly wreck! We burned the boxes they had been living in, they were so disgusting!
Tomorrow I will be taking everything out of the room and then
getting the leaf blower and blasting the crud out of it.
There is pine shaving dust everywhere! and the smell......ugh!
I will be mopping and Lysoling too!




Friday, April 9, 2010


Why is it that as soon as you tell yourself
that you are going to cut back and start
watching your weight better
.........you get hungry?

Doesn't matter that you just finished breackfast, lunch, or dinner, the very second you say those words
"cut back", "diet" or "lose a few inches"
you are positively convinced that you are at the
very edge of starvation??

I could really go for < FILL IN ANY TYPE FOOD HERE > right now!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

"Babe"?

"Babe" may be "Bob"!




Doesn't this look like a rooster?



Here's the other Rhode Island Red, same age. Much smaller comb and it looks more like a hen.



The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.
 ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The coop is getting closer to being finished

We need more nice weekends!

Here's the Chicken Gypsy Caravan! I want to paint it bright gypsy colors but I don't think hubby will agree.







This shelf will be turned into nesting boxes.





 
The last picture above is of the frames of the soon to be run walls,
we will be stapleing chicken wire to the sides and top
As you can see the coop is movable so come fall we can move it around our garden for
leftover snacks for chickens plus fertilizer for garden.

Busy Easter!

Seemed like I was busy every day and finally get a little breathing space!
Chickies are doing great, I'll try to get some update pix up - they are so big now!

The coop is almost finished and we are working on the chicken run. I wish the weather would cooperate!
It freezing outside and the rain does NOT help!
I want spring!

Or a vacation.....

Perhaps both?