Homestead Update #15

Hello friends! Here we are at the end of another week and I'm happy to report that there was a lot of good things happening this past week. So much movement in so many areas. It feels like a big sigh of relief as I'm typing out this post. I don't know if it's the weather (it's nice outside!) or if it's just because I've gotten so much done lately. But whatever it is, it feels light and airy. It feels happy. It feels content. Let's chat about it, m'kay?

Eggs

First off, our egg count. I lost track a little this past week because I put Winifred back out with the rest of the flock. So that means all the brown eggs have to be thrown out. I'm using them for another source (more on that in a minute) so I kinda of lost track. But I'm getting about 6 eggs everyday. So from 5/10-5/16/21, I collected 42 eggs!

Now for an update on Winifred. If you recall, she's been inside for the better part of a month. She has a respiratory illness that sent her to the vet where she got a good dose of antibiotics. But with any antibiotics, there's a withdrawal period. And the other girls have been picking on her and pulling out her feathers. She was a mess. So she's been inside for a few weeks and I was putting her back out in the run in her crate and that was stressing her out. She wanted to be fully with the flock. She started having respiratory distress again. So I pulled her back inside for a few days. And then I'd had enough. She was miserable. Depressed. Not doing anything. So I decided to just put her back with the flock. And that means that I will have to discard all the brown eggs since I don't know which egg is hers. I'm okay with that. I have another use for those eggs. All I know is is that she is much happier. She's still being picked on but I'm trying to figure out the source of that. Is it because they know she's sick? She'll carry this illness for the rest of her life. We'll never be able to send any chickens out (eggs for hatching, babies, adults, etc. but the illness does not affect her eggs in terms of being able to eat them). Also, if I bring in other chickens (i.e. meat birds, other additions to the flock) they'll be exposed to the illness. So we now have what is called a 'closed' flock. These are our birds. And I'm okay with that. I still think Buddy is a boy and we'll be able to hatch out birds for our own purposes (i.e. meat, additional egg layers). That's just fine with me.

So we had some mishaps this week with some of the other birds. I've been doing my research on why the girls are feather picking. They started picking on Maran and Gracie when Winifred wasn't with them. Urgh. There goes that theory that it's because Winnie is sick. So there are several things that it could be. One-lack of protein. Two-not enough feeders and waterers to go around. Three-not enough nest boxes. Four-they're bored. Five-roosting at night. So I approached each thing separately. I've been giving them things to do in the run. Lots of sticks, an old rocking chair. A step stool. Lots of roosts. So I think they're okay with boredom busters. I did add some sand to the run and some dirt so they'll have enough places for dust bathing. I don't have a particular place for them to dustbathe so I make sure there are open spots with enough shavings, sand, dirt for them to bath to their heart's content. I did, however, tackle the nest box and feeder/waterer situation. I have 10 birds total. The coop is just big enough to handle that many birds. The run is bigger than what they need. So space wise, I think they're okay. They do spend the majority of the day in the run and now that things are calmer here at the fishing lodge (the first couple of weeks of fishing season are a mad house as everyone finds their routine. But that's a story for a different day). Anyway, now that things are calmer, I can let the girls out in the afternoon to stretch their legs. They love free ranging. I wish I could free range them more, but I can't.

Anyway, back to the boredom busters. I thought about how I wanted to rearrange the coop. It's only so big and there are only so many ways to rearrange it. The Mister was kind enough to move things around for me and then move things again! I decided to move the nest boxes and give them a 'double decker' but I didn't take into account that it would throw them off. Once you've 'trained' them as to where to lay their eggs, they don't want to lay anywhere else! I had a little mishap with Maran this past week. I thought it would be a good idea to put them in the garden (it's not planted yet) so they could stretch their little legs and eat some bugs. But Maran hadn't laid her egg yet. And she would NOT lay an egg in the garden. She ran the fence line trying to figure out how to get back to the coop to lay her egg. Oy. So she didn't lay an egg that day. Then the next day I moved the nesting box. That threw them all into a tail spin! They were piled on top of each other where the nest box used to be (and keep in mind, the Mister had moved everything around. I hung two feeders up-one in the spot where the nest box was and one across from it. The new nest box was on the back wall). What a sight. Three chickens all on top of each other vying for a spot to lay their egg. Well. Little Maran didn't lay an egg that day. I noticed she was laying in the run like she was going to lay an egg. I was watching her and was all like 'here it comes!'. Except it didn't pop out. Oh boy. So I grabbed her up and took her inside for an exam. I just knew there was an egg in there needing to come out. And I was right. I put her on the sunporch (current home of the triage station and Chicken ICU). I left her alone for a bit and she actually jumped up on the curtain rod and started to roost. So I took her back out and put her in the coop. She wasn't egg bound per se. But rather just a little sluggish. So I left her to her own devices which I try to do unless it's absolutely necessary to pull them inside. Anyway, within 30 minutes that egg was lying on the floor of the coop! She hasn't laid an egg since, but I always think it takes some time for their little bodies to recover. Winifred only laid about 4 eggs during her 3 or so weeks inside. She's now back to laying on a regular basis.

So. I hung up a feeder and waterer inside. I moved the nest boxes back to where they were. I added two more that can house 2 chickens at once. I hung up a waterer in the run. And we're working on adding a feeder outside. I put the feeder on an overturned tote right now that they can all get to. I also added another roost along the back wall of the coop since that could also be an issue. The babies are loving it! The big girls are mean to them at night (well, they're mean to them in general but the babies are good about finding places to get away from the biddies. The babies love the rocking chair and have claimed it for themselves). I imagine the babies will continue to be separate from the big girls until they are big enough to defend themselves properly.

Anyway, the bottom line is, I think we're on the other side of all this craziness. I've needed to make some updates to the coop for a long time and this gave me the push to just get it done. We're still feather picking but I'm hoping all these new additions will help. And once Buddy is a big boy, I think he will keep them in line and there will be less feather picking. Oh. One more thing to mention. Since the babies aren't big enough to be on layer feed, I've backed them all off to a higher protein grower feed. I'll keep an eye on the big girls to make sure they have enough calcium, but I'm also hoping that the higher protein feed will fill in any gaps in case that's the reason they're feather picking. It won't be too much longer until I can put them all back on their layer feed. I'm also very interested in making my own chicken feed. That's a goal for this year. To learn more and try my hand at that. More on that at a later date.

Garden

The garden is coming along. I have everything in place but still need to move the dirt down to the raised beds. That will definitely happen this week. Then it's down to getting a load of compost delivered. You'd think that wouldn't be so hard, but I sent a message to someone on FB a few days ago and nothing but crickets. I have another place to call next week and hopefully they'll be able to deliver. I don't understand people who advertise that they have a product and then when you contact them they don't respond. And then when they do respond, they're a jerk about it. Shaking my head.

I went today to get some plants for the garden. My starts didn't make it so I wanted to make sure I have enough plants to get me started. So my friend Diane and I went to Frog Pond Farm and got some veg plants (tomatoes, peppers, herbs) and some flowers. Then my friend had sent me a listing from Facebook about someone locally who has a little stand so I went there and picked up some more things. The stand is super cute!! So I think I'm all set as far as the garden goes. If I can get some compost delivered I'll be ready to start planting soon.

The Business End of Things

There's not a lot to share as far as the business goes. I'm just trucking along doing my thing. Things have been really busy but I just did another big reorganization and feel good about that. It's funny how we learn things as we go and then adapt and bend. I'm happy with where things are with the business at the moment. And I'll continue to move forward and adapt and bend. So, not too much to report there. I do have some upcoming classes that you can find more info about here.

The Rest of the Story

I ain't gonna lie. The past few weeks have been hard for so many reasons. And just like I mentioned above, sometimes we have to adapt and bend and change the way we do things. I don't think I was ready for the full onslaught of fishing season. Last year was a lot different than this year. And this year things are much, much busier with fishing. More people. More boats. More traffic. All this is good, but it's a lot to adapt to. But I think I'm over that hurdle now. I feel good. I've got my routine back in order. The garden is good. The chickens are good. The other critters (Bobby Jack, Anna Lee, and Corny) are all good. We've been eating outside a lot. We've been outside a lot in general. I've decorated for the Red, White, and Blue holidays. I've spent some time with my friends. We've eaten lots of ice cream already! So yeah. Life is good. I hope you are doing well too.

'til next time
-k
xoxo