Down Mulberry Lane

Peep Peeps!

Yes, that is what my little one calls our chicks.  They are growing alot.  Our black australorps are beginning to look like little chickens, all feathered out.  I didn't like them at first... thought they were a temperamental bird, but they are growing on me.  They all come when I go down to feed them (of course, I have food) but they no longer peck at me and jump at me with wild tendencies... they are more patient, I guess is what you'd say... looking at me with anticipation that food was on the way. 

They also are getting used to food scraps, which is nice.  I was reading the bag on the chick feed and see it contains animal products... Now what are they thinking feeding that to chickens?  UGH!  I will have to research some better feed options for the future, that just made me upset.  Yes, I've seen a chicken go after a mouse, but still... that isn't first choice for food. 

The little production reds seemed to have recovered from their plight.  The last 19 all seem quite healthy, now.  I am relieved.  I just was sick, going down to check and every time finding one more limp.  They are all happy to be back in their trough after our loss of electricity when they were boxed and placed near our wood burning stove.  They are quick little buggers when they are warm.  I easily caught them to put them in the box, as they were huddled together for warmth, but now... they zip across the trough like nobody's business.  I can't imagine catching them.  So, now again, I am wondering about their temperament.  Are they going to calm down when they are older?  I hope so. 

That's all my chicken news.  Well, I guess I have news about our big chickens.  Dh made a creep feed area for the lambs out of gates (I don't know what he was thinking!  LOL) Apparently he thought he had the gates close enough to keep the chickens out.  Whatever!  LOL.  (Love you honey!)  They love to perch on the gates now instead of the rafters of the barn, so the area is filling with chicken poo much to his disappointment.  They are perching on the feeders as well and filling up the feeders with poo.  And they are eating the creep feed as well.  All that work for nothing.  But the bottle rack works pretty good, so not all bad.  I think what is most disappointing is that he built it in the midst of his fever with his bug and he really wore himself out putting it together and to see it not working as expected and he's still sick and not wanting to do much about it right now.... Anyways, the big chickens are on his POO list right now.  LOL

Warmly, ~Melissa

Update on chickens...

This morning I awoke and found another one.  I am down to 19 healthy chicks in the Production Red Flock, from 27.  I have one sick black australorp and one sick production red.  They are sitting in the front picture window in our parakeet cage.  The little red one I think will die.  The black one has been hanging on quite a while... a few days.  I have been doing some reading and am wondering if it is botulism.  Their bottoms are clean, they look otherwise healthy (feathers are good, no cuts, no oozings, etc.).  But they get floppy, like they are paralyzed... and that was a symptom of botulism and New Castle Disease (but they say there are no reports of new castle disease in the states... so I am leaning towards botulism).  They will develop paralysis of legs, wings and neck during the infection.  They will usually come out of it if they are older, which is why I think the older chick of about a month in age is hanging in there.  The little ones a week old or less have all died within hours of getting floppy. 

The sick ones are being hand fed and watered... what a bunch of work!  That and having sick kids on top of it!  My Megan got sick now... she said she didn't sleep well and started throwing up this morning.  My baby is getting better, but she is still a bit weak and her eating is not the best and she still is napping for long periods. 

I cleaned out the cage, and washed and sterilized everything that I could.  I boiled the water glass containers for 15-20 minutes each.  I cleaned the others with soap and water and then wiped down with rubbing alcohol.  Actually, I first dipped my plastic bottom of my waterer in the boiling water... don't do that!  It curled up in a banana shape.  That's when I decided to clean well and rub with alcohol. 

After that I cleaned out the brooder (the horse trough) and sterilized all the containers in the brooder.  What alot of work.  I am done sterilizing, but now I need to clean up my canning pot as that is what I boiled all the items in... but I needed a break.  I also went out and did outdoor chicken chores for my Megan.  Those chickens are so much friendlier than these little bunchkins we are now raising.  We have an assortment outside... some older bantams, buff orpingtons, one black wyandotte, some new hampshire reds and a few mutts... LOL.  They still lay a few eggs, just not very regularly.  (and yes we have a light on in the  barn, they are just old... most are 3yo). 

I am plum chickened out this morning.  I was thinking about supper and I'm thinking I'm going to avoid chicken tonight!  LOL

Warmly, ~Melissa

HELP... Chick troubles...

UGH... we're having chick troubles and we've not had this happen before.  It is just awful.  This second batch we've lost 5 or 6 and I have two more that are about to die.  The chicks seem perfectly healthy, then the next time I check, they are weak and their head is floppy.  We separate them and try to keep them watered, but by the time we find them, they are too weak to recover.  Yet, they don't show symptoms until they are about to die.  This batch is one week old, but we started having problems 2-3 days after they came home. 

I think I will boil clean the water dish, but not sure what else to do.  I don't have another brooder area that will work, but I am worried that they will all eventually catch whatever they are all getting and die. 

I'm open to ideas.... this is just really frustrating.  I hate to see the little creatures die, but this is also getting expensive... We planned on selling eggs at Farmer's Market and it looks like our last order was for nothing, but alot of stress and work. 

~Melissa

Peep, Peep, *Smile*

Ok, I said I would share pictures... I hope they all fit on the site as I took alot...I will start with our chick set up for our little chicks that arrived yesterday.

This first one is the old water trough.  We placed it in our schoolroom.  We lined the floor with a tarp as there are some small holes in the bottom and I didn't want a mess on the carpet.  This is how it looks completely set up.  The heat lamp is suspended with tension over a large mirror behind the trough and a bungie cord is hooked in the lamp hook and pulled to the front, allowing the lamp just the right height to hang above the chicks.  The other end of the bungie cord is under the trough.  I have a tablecloth over the left end as our board was not quite large enough for the trough, so we compensated by placing the tablecloth over the open end to keep the heat in.  On the right, a box is laying on top of the open area where the lamp hangs, it keeps just the right amount of heat in.  Don't worry, my fireman husband has checked and keeps rechecking the heat coming up from the lamp and it is not too hot to worry about a fire.  Our thermometer is one of those indoor/outdoor thermometers.. .I hang the outside wire inside the trough about the same height as the chicks.  Honestly we don't aim for a particular heat, but we do try to keep it above 88 degrees, if it gets colder than that, we know the girls have been peeking too much.  We watch their behavior more to see if they are doing ok... I think I wrote on that yesterday. 

This is peeking in the edge where the heat lamp hangs down.  You can see the chicks on the sides.  On the right is the box that they came in.  We have one in "intensive care" and it is housed in the box.  The others keep pecking at her, so she is separated for now.

Down from the lamp, you can see the chick feeder, which is open.  And the waterer to the left.  There is sand scattered on the floor for grit.  The bedding has already made it's way to the food area... I knew the little boogers couldn't keep their room clean!

The little chicks like to sleep alot.  The bottom ones are sleeping and sometimes they just collapse it is so cute, but sometimes they look so dead as their heads flop into weird positions, but it is all normal... a little noise and they are up peeping again.

I asked Chelsea to get some pictures and I got 5 little chicks on the floor... ON MY CARPET!  At least they didn't poo... she was lucky!  The chicks' breed is Black Australorp.  They are a heavier breed chicken, but good layers.  They will lay a size large brown egg, approximately.  We haven't gotten these before, so it will be interesting to see them as they grow.  I believe they will be black birds with some sheens of greens and purples if I remember the catalog correctly.  They can also be a good roasting bird, but we did not get any roosters to raise up of this breed... the chicken would be a bit smaller for eating, but fine for a small family... well probably fine for our family of 6 as well as I think it said a 4-5 pound butchered weight is what to expect from this breed.  The chicks themselves are black with yellow markings.  The markings vary and some are more white in the yellowed areas than yellow, but that is all within the realm of this breed and to be expected.  The girls are having fun checking out the unique peculiarities of the markings.  Some with black beaks, some with spotted, some with black eyes, some with yellow around them... 

Little Paige is enjoying the peep, peeps.  She is quite gentle with them and I am so relieved.  Last night I was posting on my blog and I look over and see her peeking in the edge where it is open and just watching the little birds.  It is all so fascinating to her.  She holds them then before she lets it go, she gives it a kiss and a little half hug, careful not to squeeze, but a "love", I guess, that  is what we call our half hugs.   Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Warmly,  Melissa

Peep, Peep, Peep...

They are here!  27 little baby chicks.  We ordered 25 pullets, but got 27.  Don't know if it is for margin of error or for replacements or what?  This was a different hatchery than we've used before and we were pleasantly surprised at the bonus. 

With it being so cold, our original plan of out on the unheated porch did not pan out... it just would not get warm enough.  So, they are currently in our school room.  We placed a tarp on the floor.  Then we put an old horse trough, to house the chicks, on top of the tarp.  There is bedding on one end.  The food is centered and the water on the other end.  A heat lamp hangs over the bedding and we have a piece of wood covering most of the trough to keep the heat in.  It is getting warmer and the chicks have started venturing out from underneath the lamp.  Our little 2yo is peeking at the baby chicks.   She loves watching them.  Every so often her sisters let her hold one and she smiles and comes up to me and says... baby peep, peep.  I say... it's a baby chicken... she says Uh huh, and nods her head in agreement. 

We do have a thermometer in the trough just for our own information, but we have done this without a thermometer...gauging the heat by the activity of the chicks... if they all stay away from the lamp... it is too hot and we open the wood top a bit to let some of the hotter air escape.  If they are all cuddled underneath the lamp and won't venture out... it is too cold.  If they sleep under the lamp, but are not all clustered in one large heap and they wander off for water and food... it's just about right. 

Right now the weather is cold... 14 degrees on the weather bug and my porch was freezing... so cold that the water pipes to the washing machine froze.  So, we decided we'd keep them in the trough in the house just until the weather warmed up a bit... We had a friend raise turkeys this way and she had them in a trough in her dining room.  She apologized, but it didn't bother me... it's simply life on the farm... you do what you have to do!  She kept it clean and I plan to keep our area clean as well... washing hands after handling... happens often around here with curious kids! 

I'll try to post pictures tomorrow of our set up... I need to run as I have a board meeting at church to attend to.  Hope you all have a nice evening.

Warmly, ~Melissa

It's official! Peep, peep, peep.

Dh just got off the phone from the hatchery and we are due to get 25 black australorps next Wednesday.  We also have placed an order for 25 production reds due to be ready around February 14th.  We ordered all layers and hope that this will add a unique dimension to our farmer's market.  Only one other person sold eggs, but not regularly.   We didn't get a huge amount of chickens, as it seems to take a while to build business and we're hoping that by the end of the year we'll have some customers willing to stop by the farm to pick up their eggs.  We can keep adding a batch of chicks as business builds. 

So, now we have work to do.  I just posted on freecycle that I would accept any chicken equipment others are willing to pass along, knowing I will need to clean it before it arrives at our place to be used in our barn, so as to not pass any disease to our flock.  Dh will need to get busy building a few more laying boxes... that should keep him busy this winter on boring days. 

The plan is to get our spare horse trough and place them in our indoor porch in the trough with the brooder light.  This is pretty handy as the chicks can't get out for quite some time.  We've done this before, placing the lamp on one end and the feed and water on the other end.  The chicks can run out to eat, but then back under the lamp for heat.  My job over the coming week is to clean out the porch!  I have several cardboard boxes from hauling wood back and forth for the wood stove.  I also have stuff out there I am trying to declutter from our home... hoping to ebay them... but I haven't had time over the holidays. 

Well, we're all excited.  Even dh.  He's not usually excited over the chickens, but I guess if they bring in a profit... he will get excited.  *grin*  My little flock of 15 was fine for our family of 6... and they are older, so don't lay as often as new hens... so just right for us... we replaced a couple every year.  Now we'll have a bit more work... but it will make our chicken barn seem worthy of it's space.  Right now our chickens have ALOT of room... not sure they'll like the addition of all these newcomers... they'll be outnumbered! 

Warmly, ~Melissa