Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
Here's a Happy Valentine's Day to all those looking for some loving. :) Hope it's a good day for you!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!
Rain sucks in the winter time, ya know? All it does is coat roads and driveways, and turns to ice. Then, you go out and try to shovel it, and end up breaking your shovel. If there's any snow left over, it turns to solid ice as well. Why else does it suck? Because my chicken coop has become less and less rain proof this winter. I need to go back to the drawing board for the roof. It leaks like a sieve. Well, I guess it leaks like a hose, since the leak is pretty much only in one place, but it causes the poor chickens to have damp hay that needs to be constantly changed.
There will definitely be some re-modeling this spring!
There will definitely be some re-modeling this spring!
Monday, February 4, 2008
UPSET!!!!
Patriots lost. NY Giants won. What happened?????? 17-14. We were outplayed... no perfect season for us. But 18-1 has to count for something!
Ciao!
Ciao!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Our first casualty...
When keeping chickens, you need to prepare for predators. What carnivore wouldn't want to eat a fresh, tasty chicken? Despite my fencing and the layout of my coop, we lost our first chicken yesterday.
I noticed, around 4pm, that none of the chickens appeared to be outside of the coop. I thought this meant I had some more eggs to gather, since we have been getting at least 2 eggs a day.
I went out our back door and walked to the coop, and stepped into the penned area. As soon as I entered, a hawk flew from underneath the coop as fast as it could right past me and up into the trees behind the house and barn. My first thought was that it was one of the hens, but I've never seen one of my hens fly that fast. As soon as I saw Ginger, lying on her back, legs up in the air in the corner under the coop, I knew immediately that it was a hawk that had flown by me. Yet I went to her body with the hope she was still alive. If I had only been 10 minutes earlier in checking the chickens...
Earlier that morning, Ginger had jumped up on the corner of the fence and was just sitting there, ready to fly out. I ran outside and gently prompted her to go back in. I assume she did the same later that afternoon, and while sitting there, the young hawk swooped in and took her by surprise.
RIP poor Ginger...
Cluckers and Dixie were inside the coop, cowering, silently. Killer, was nowhere to be found. My first thoughts at that point were this - the hawk got Killer as well. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of Killer's feathers; only the large scattered pile of Ginger's feathers.
I headed out towards the barn, and out into the woods, as I saw the hawk flying up in the tree-tops, just waiting for the coast to clear so it could go back and finish its meal. As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw the back-end of Killer underneath our Christmas tree that I had taken out back and propped up in the snow. I called her name, yet there was no movement, not even a gentle cluck. "Oh no," I thought, "Killer was attacked too!" Killer never made a sound as I went to pick her up. Good news! Killer is alive! She had flown under the tree and was being as quiet and as still as she could. My breath let out in a relieved sigh. I didn't even know I was holding it. I brought her back to the coop and shut her inside. I also found two warm eggs... the last pair of eggs from Killer and Ginger laid before the brutal attack.
Today, I went out and bought some bird netting. It is light, black mesh, with square openings about 1/2 inch length and width each. It is made to cover plants in the summer, etc., to prevent fruit or vegetables from being eaten by the birds. It took me an hour and a half, but the coop, and its penned in area is now covered by this bird netting. From only a few feet away, the netting is almost invisible. The coop is now protected from above and the sides from any swooping hawk.
I had tried to plan as best as I could for any predator that might fancy a tasty chicken for a snack. I was told that this hawk was probably a juvenile and too dumb to realize the danger to itself by flying directly into the coop. Stupid as it was, our poor chicken still didn't make it.
Sweet Ginger. We will miss you.
I noticed, around 4pm, that none of the chickens appeared to be outside of the coop. I thought this meant I had some more eggs to gather, since we have been getting at least 2 eggs a day.
I went out our back door and walked to the coop, and stepped into the penned area. As soon as I entered, a hawk flew from underneath the coop as fast as it could right past me and up into the trees behind the house and barn. My first thought was that it was one of the hens, but I've never seen one of my hens fly that fast. As soon as I saw Ginger, lying on her back, legs up in the air in the corner under the coop, I knew immediately that it was a hawk that had flown by me. Yet I went to her body with the hope she was still alive. If I had only been 10 minutes earlier in checking the chickens...
Earlier that morning, Ginger had jumped up on the corner of the fence and was just sitting there, ready to fly out. I ran outside and gently prompted her to go back in. I assume she did the same later that afternoon, and while sitting there, the young hawk swooped in and took her by surprise.
RIP poor Ginger...
Cluckers and Dixie were inside the coop, cowering, silently. Killer, was nowhere to be found. My first thoughts at that point were this - the hawk got Killer as well. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of Killer's feathers; only the large scattered pile of Ginger's feathers.
I headed out towards the barn, and out into the woods, as I saw the hawk flying up in the tree-tops, just waiting for the coast to clear so it could go back and finish its meal. As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw the back-end of Killer underneath our Christmas tree that I had taken out back and propped up in the snow. I called her name, yet there was no movement, not even a gentle cluck. "Oh no," I thought, "Killer was attacked too!" Killer never made a sound as I went to pick her up. Good news! Killer is alive! She had flown under the tree and was being as quiet and as still as she could. My breath let out in a relieved sigh. I didn't even know I was holding it. I brought her back to the coop and shut her inside. I also found two warm eggs... the last pair of eggs from Killer and Ginger laid before the brutal attack.
Today, I went out and bought some bird netting. It is light, black mesh, with square openings about 1/2 inch length and width each. It is made to cover plants in the summer, etc., to prevent fruit or vegetables from being eaten by the birds. It took me an hour and a half, but the coop, and its penned in area is now covered by this bird netting. From only a few feet away, the netting is almost invisible. The coop is now protected from above and the sides from any swooping hawk.
I had tried to plan as best as I could for any predator that might fancy a tasty chicken for a snack. I was told that this hawk was probably a juvenile and too dumb to realize the danger to itself by flying directly into the coop. Stupid as it was, our poor chicken still didn't make it.
Sweet Ginger. We will miss you.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Two Chicks a Laying
Just an update on the egg situation. I went out and checked for eggs and found 2 in the nest today. One was much smaller and speckled. Since Dixie is our smallest hen, I knew who the mother was right away.Hurray for Chickens! They are starting to earn their keep 'round here.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Dallas Giants
I don't think I've mentioned the Dallas Giants in this blog yet. (I guess I could use my search box at the top here and search my blog to be sure. I'll leave that to you guys.) I'm mentioning them as I am a transplant from Texas to New England. Well, I'm not really sure what I am. I lived in Massachusetts for 13 years before moving to Texas, and then came back. But I was born in Iowa. I guess I am a New South-Mid-Westerner. Regardless, I watched the Dallas Cowboys in the 80's-90's while living in Massachusetts. Then, by the time I ended up in Texas, the Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith days were pretty much over, and the Cowboys were back to a barely there team. The 2007 season has proven that Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, and Joseph Addai have helped to make this Cowboys team another contender. New York is playing them right now in the play-offs. I hope Dallas wins, only because I would love to see a New England Patriots vs. Dallas Cowboys Superbowl. Right now it's tied at 7. Oh, and Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo??? Celebrity news? Sheesh... give me a break!
17-0 and Chicken scratch
I stayed up to finish the game. Patriots won (no doubt here) 31-20. Today, the Chargers beat the Colts (YES!!!!!!)! That means the Chargers play the Patriots next week, on Sunday. 18-0, here we come.
Today was a beautiful sunny day... until 3:30pm or so. The clouds started to roll in. It has barely snowed this January, but tonight and tomorrow the snow is supposed to come full force. Up to 4 inches tonight, and 10-14 inches tomorrow. Whoa....
I cleared off a foot of frozen snow and ice on our trampoline that has melted and re-froze over the weeks to make it very heavy and looked as if the trampoline was about to snap.
And, the eggs keep on coming! I can't wait until Spring. If our measly flock of 3 hens can lay as much as Killer is laying this winter, we are going to have at least 18 eggs a week! We have not gone one day yet since last Sunday without an egg. In fact, we had scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese and jalopenos for breakfast this morning. MMMMmmmmMmmMmm. I'm still not positive about a taste difference in regards to freshness.
The bad news with the warmer winter weather so far has been the foot plus of snow melting on the roof of the chicken coop. It has made it clear that the roof is leaking, and pretty bad. I cleaned out all the straw to put in fresh, but it was soaked in one spot by the next day. So, some definite re-modeling will be done next year. Besides the roof, I need to make another door in the front that I can open to gather eggs. Why? Because Killer decided to make a nest in the opposite corner from where I built the nesting boxes, and I couldn't reach it from the back door without crawling half-way in the coop.
Today was a beautiful sunny day... until 3:30pm or so. The clouds started to roll in. It has barely snowed this January, but tonight and tomorrow the snow is supposed to come full force. Up to 4 inches tonight, and 10-14 inches tomorrow. Whoa....
I cleared off a foot of frozen snow and ice on our trampoline that has melted and re-froze over the weeks to make it very heavy and looked as if the trampoline was about to snap.
And, the eggs keep on coming! I can't wait until Spring. If our measly flock of 3 hens can lay as much as Killer is laying this winter, we are going to have at least 18 eggs a week! We have not gone one day yet since last Sunday without an egg. In fact, we had scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese and jalopenos for breakfast this morning. MMMMmmmmMmmMmm. I'm still not positive about a taste difference in regards to freshness.
The bad news with the warmer winter weather so far has been the foot plus of snow melting on the roof of the chicken coop. It has made it clear that the roof is leaking, and pretty bad. I cleaned out all the straw to put in fresh, but it was soaked in one spot by the next day. So, some definite re-modeling will be done next year. Besides the roof, I need to make another door in the front that I can open to gather eggs. Why? Because Killer decided to make a nest in the opposite corner from where I built the nesting boxes, and I couldn't reach it from the back door without crawling half-way in the coop.
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