Hen house intruder

This morning I went out to gather the eggs from the chicken house.  It was dim in the house as I hadn't turned on any lights.  I bent down to get eggs out of one nesting box and just as my hand started reaching under the hen I had the thought "I don't have any hens that brownish-grey color" As my hand touched the hen and I felt course hair rather than soft feathers I quickly realized this was not one of my hens. I leaned down to take a closer look and this lump of brownish-grey fur turned and hissed at me.  I did what any self-respecting chicken owner would do.....squealed and yelled for my husband!

The opossum didn't harm the chickens, he did feast on the eggs though. My guess is he was more scared of the chickens than they were of him.  He did put up a fight when trying to get him out of the hen house.  He did not want to leave the buffet bar!

'til next time...

A redneck pig pen or "re-purposing pallets" for hog fencing

We weren't able to adapt our pasture fencing to let the pigs have complete access to the field so we continue to adapt their pen to give them more space and more access to grass.

When we first got the pigs we had only enclosed a small area so we gradually keep expanding it.

When we ran out of hog panels we resorted to the effective-but-not-very-classy method that we will call "re-purposing pallets for hog fencing".  It was remarkably effective.

We made the mistake of hiring someone to drop some trees in our yard, normally we do it ourselves, the result was disastrous. Fortunately no pigs were harmed in the making of this mess.  The tree saga will have to be its own post, if I can bring myself to write about it.  However, the trees are down and the pigs are safe and happy so all is well.

This is how they sleep, snuggled up together. Now doesn't that just melt your heart?

'til next time...

Eggs, eggs, eggs...

A week or so ago I posted that we had finally gotten our first egg.  I also explained that we couldn't eat it because it was worth about $375.  (you can read about that here)

It was odd but nobody rushed to our door in an attempt to buy the $375 egg.  But I have good new for those that may have been discouraged by the high price.  Due to the fact we have received about 3 dozen eggs I can now offer you a deal.  Instead of one single egg at $375 you can purchase one dozen eggs for a mere $125.00.  Deals like this don't come along everyday so hurry before they are gone!

nothing like fresh eggs...

As a special deal to my local friends we are offering a deal of $3.00 per dozen. However, quantities are very limited at this point so you better place your orders now!

'til next time...

Golden Polish hen

When I ordered my baby chicks this year I decided to order some polish chickens.  I have long admired them, who wouldn't love that cap of feathers??

I ordered two of the Golden Polish chicks, they are distinctive even as babies.

Golden Polish chicks - two days old

Unfortunately, this batch of chicks had a really rough trip through the mail and one of the polish chicks died the next day.

a casualty of being delayed in the mail

The remaining chick was adorable

Golden Polish chick - three days old

Golden Polish chick - three days old

Here she is at two weeks old. She is almost completely feathered out but only has a tuft on the top of her head.

Golden Polish - two weeks old

At three weeks old her markings are more distinct. the feather cap on her head has grown a lot also.

Golden Polish chicken - three weeks old

Golden polish - three weeks old

When she was about four weeks old I purchased some black polish chicks.  No matter how I tried to keep the babies separate she kept finding a way to jump in with the babies. She wasn't aggressive, she was very protective and nurturing.  We joked that she was partial to the babies because she recognized them as fellow polish chickens. Whatever the reason, she was a good surrogate mama to them.  The odd thing is that I have read several accounts of how polish chickens are not setters, not nurturing, so this was definitely unusual behavior.

Golden Polish 4 weeks old, mothering 5 days old chicks

Being such a fashionable chicken she had fans. 

At five months she is pretty much full grown.  I love her feathers, the markings are beautiful.  We have a fairly big chicken house, a portable coop and we let them out to free range often.  I think she would be content to be confined. While she likes to run out and stretch her wings a little she usually stays close by the chicken house.  She is a pretty calm chicken but seems on the timid side, this is typical of the breed, some people attribute it to the limited visibility they have to the the feather cap.  I have never seen any types of aggression from her, she never battles other hens but she also isn't at the very bottom of the pecking order, probably near the bottom though.  She is a sweet temperament and I'm hoping to have more of these hens next time.
  

Golden Polish hen

Unfortunately a few weeks ago she disappeared.  I searched everywhere for her and couldn't find a trace. About a week later I found the scene of the crime, a pile of fluffy down and a few feathers. 

I was sad to lose my favorite chicken but that is the risk of letting your chickens free range.   I will definitely order this breed again, they are a beautiful addition to your flock. 

'til next time...

Let there be eggs.....

A chicken laid an egg.   Finally.

Whenever I start a new flock I get to that point when I start threatening the hens by reciting chicken recipes unless they start producing.  But one hen is now safe from the stew pot, or at least been given a temporary reprieve.

"The $375 Egg"

No, my chickens do not lay golf balls.  My husband wishes they would, he would be much happier with my chickens if they produced useful things like golf balls.

The egg is a light tan color and very small.  Based on its size I believe it may be from my Egyptian Fayoumis hen but I'll be able to confirm that later when more hens are laying.  You can see how small the egg is compared to the golf ball next to it.

Of course, we cannot eat this egg.  This egg has cost us approximately $375, so it is hard to justify putting it down our gullet.    I guess we will just stare at it or possibly invite people over to see the $375 egg.  Maybe we can charge admission.

'til next time...

Raising chickens...

I just realized that I haven't written one post about my chickens.  How weird.

But yes,  I have chickens. They were were born April 1st and arrived in the mail a couple days later.  I should have gotten them the next day but unfortunately they got lost in the mail, not sure how you lose a box and chirping chicks but.....

When they finally arrived some of the chicks looked like this....

Over the next few days even more looked like this...

or as my kids put it  "mommy that baby chicken is sleeping..."  

Yep, the eternal sleep. 

Fortunately, most of the chicks looked like this...

Chicks are just adorable.  So adorable that sometimes you have to keep young children from loving them to death. 

We already had a chicken house from our previous chicken experiment.  But at that time we had a fenced in chicken run that we had since torn down.  We wanted to be able to give our chickens access to pasture without letting them free range every day.  If you've ever had free range chickens you know the disadvantages.  They get into stuff and places that you would rather they did not, such as roosting in your garage or laying eggs in the rafters. They make yummy meals for foxes and hawks and local dogs can have ever so much fun chasing them around and playing with them like squeak toys. 

So, my husband built a portable coop out of PVC pipe that we can drag around the yard.  It fits up to an opening in the side of the chicken house so they can go in and out. Then we can move the coop into the grass to let them forage for food. 

Of course, we still let them free range at times.  They love to perch on the fence, sometimes the hens sit there just to get a break from the roosters. 

This year I have a good variety of chickens, some of the breeds are just gorgeous.  I'll post later in more detail about some of the different breeds. 

I'm expecting these hens to start laying around September, we are looking forward to being back in the egg business!

'til next time...