New Chicks

"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." Psalm 91:4

It's that time of year again! Every two years, Mom and I go out to the feed store and pick out a nice selection of chicks to replace the older layers.  We purchased six from Tractor Supply and five from our local feed store.  The TSC chick breeds are as follows: two white Leghorns, one Red Star, one Black Star, and two Easter Eggers [EEs].  My guesses for the feed store chicks are Cochin, Brahma, Brown Leghorn, Welsummer or Speckled Sussex, and Buff Orpington. It feels so good to have little chicks to take care of again.  I know in a few weeks that I will want to pick up some more.

Keets

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Matthew 23:37

Yesterday, Keets (thus named because she was hatched by our guinea Polo) brought out her brood of fifteen chicks. She broke the record for our farm in the regards that we have never had a chicken hatch so many before.  I'm so thankful to the Lord for all these adorable blessings and that we get to have chicks after all this spring.

Merrigold

"I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." Psalm 104:33

I woke up Sunday morning and peeked out my window, something I like to do when I get up. I heard a ruckus going and directed my attention to the Big Coop.   Finally, the bantam rooster, had flown into the Big Coop and was fighting with Rhett, the handicapped rooster. I rushed outside in my pjs to break up the fight, then checked on the Banty Coop to make sure everyone was there since the coops had not been locked up overnight.  To my dismay, I saw more feathers than usual in the bantam coop.  I quickly checked to see who was missing. Finally, of course was there, and so was Ebony and Honeysuckle. But no Merrigold.  She was gone. My guess is that a coyote took her because just the other day my brother found most of someone's pet dog gone and we'd spotted coyotes up on the hill down the street in the past.

 

A friend of ours gave Merrigold to us in the summer or fall of 2010.  She was about three to four months old.   

She came with a bunch of other game bird crosses.  Out of that group, we picked four birds and then gave the rest of them to our neighbor.  We named the other three birds Buttercup, Clover, and Poppy. 

As you can see, we named them all after flowers but we spelled Merrigold's name differently because she sounded so happy when she talked.

   I called her our singing bird.

 Merrigold got along pretty well with all of the other chickens including the other games.  There were a few times she and some other hen would really get at it though.

When we had our first group of guineas, all hens, she hung out with them.

There was a time we kept her in the Big Coop but,eventually, when she was a little older and not laying very much, we moved her to the bantam coop.

 I enjoyed having Merrigold around. She was such a happy, pleasant chicken.  I loved to hear her sing.

 In the past few months, she and Ebony could just about always be seen with each other; dust bathing, hanging around the back porch, walking around the yard, they were constantly side by side. I know that Ebony misses her.

 I miss her too. I'm so thankful that we had Merrigold for as long as we did.  I only wish I had checked the coops that night; otherwise, she would still be with us today. She was a blessing to our flock. 

They're Pregnant!

"The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field." Proverbs 27:26

        I wanted to send in a blood test to see if our two does, Belle and Tana, were pregnant.  Mom already thought Belle was because she has been looking bigger (This is not an accurate test for all does. We have a better idea with Belle because we've had her for so long). I had two reasons for testing instead of the usual wait-and-see if they're pregnant. My first was that Gus had never been bred to any of our does before; he has kids on the ground with his previous owner but I just wanted to make sure we weren't going to be waiting in vain for the does to kid.  In addition, I'm planning to take Gus to the vet to get him dehorned because I like his genetics and the potential he can add to our herd. Now that I know, I won't have to wait till April or May to get him dehorned. Hopefully, we'll get him to the vet in March but I digress.

        With the help of my folks holding the does and the Lord for helping me get the blood on the first and second tries, I drew the blood Saturday and sent it to Integrated Dairy Services on Tuesday.  This morning,  I received the results. They're both pregnant! I'm thrilled! I can hardly wait to see what Gus brings to our herd.

Chickens & Cupcakes

 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." James 1:17a

 A couple of days ago, I had given our flock leftover cupcakes from Valentine's Day.  Every last one was devoured in minutes.  Later, I wished I had taken photos so I could write a post on how much they enjoyed their treat. Well, our neighbor gave us some leftover cupcakes today so I snapped a few photos of the chickens feasting on their new favorite treat. While I took a photo of this pretty cupcake, the chickens wondered why I was taking so long to give it to them.

 

Eema lunged for a bite as soon as I put it within reach.

 

                            Rhett, our Big Coop rooster, very much enjoyed the cupcakes too. 

 

They didn't like the chocolate cupcakes so much.  Here, Iris wonders, "What in the world is this? Where's my vanilla cupcake?" 

 

 The banties loved their vanilla cupcake too.  They didn't care for the chocolate icing though. 

             Sweet Ebony gently pecked pieces of cupcake off when it was her turn.

Wild Creatures

In addition to our domestic critters, I have also seen quite an abundance of creatures that visit our yard.  From reptiles to birds to the various mammals and amphibians, I enjoy it all- as long as they don't attack the livestock or steal the harvest (only a select few, which may or may not include pesky squirrels).

Snakes are my absolute favorite with birds coming in a close second.  So far, I have identified three species on our property.  This is an adult Eastern Yellow Bellied Racer that one of the cats caught.  Thankfully, he was okay and was returned to a wild part of the yard.  The babies look quite different and are feisty little critters.  I haven't seen a racer in a good year which makes me sad; I hope they haven't been gobbled up by all the predators or killed by folks thinking they were venomous.This is a racer I spotted in what would soon become our garden area. I have seen two or three times the Texas Blind snake.  It looks a little like a worm at first glance but one can quickly tell that it is not at all like a worm.

The snake species that got me into raising corn snakes is the Rough Earth snake.  They are so gentle and a fun snake to find and take care of for a few days.  I used to find them all the time at our previous home; here, I'm afraid our poultry have eaten them all up.  Like how cute is this little guy?I love seeing the Mediterranean geckoes flock all over the kitchen window at night.  Sometimes I see two white eggs in a female's belly. And the tiny ones are so cute.Occasionally, I'll see a skink (I don't know yet which variety it is).  I even caught this feisty fellow one day. The most common lizard I've seen is the Eastern Fence Lizard (one of a variety of names this species has).   One of the cats caught this one; I thought it was bloated but the next day she laid seventeen eggs! Having incubated snake eggs before, I took care of them the same way I did for my snakes. 

Two and a half-ish months later, all of them hatched and I released sixteen of them into the garden (unfortunately, a cat I was sitting caught an escapee and killed it).  

The Gulf Coast toad is the most prevalent amphibian I see in our yard -  mostly after the sun has set.  From little babies to big adults, I have to be careful not to step on them! This is one I found at our previous home; I haven't taken a photo of one here yet. 

I'm  pretty sure last year's constant rains brought this box turtle (and his common snapping turtle buddy which didn't make it across the road) up from the neighbor's creek and on to the road. 

One of my favorite insects is the tarantula.

 

There are a variety of birds I see especially now that I set up the Bird Cafe outside my window.  Blue Jays, Cardinals, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, and Tufted Titmice make up just a handful of what visits the yard.  My mom took this pretty picture of a Red-bellied woodpecker.

Just this winter, I had a whole flock of goldfinches right outside my window!  I especially enjoyed the Chipping Sparrows that hung around most of the winter and early spring.

I love seeing birds of prey although, I admit, having the Red-tail Hawks around in the winter and spring does concern me at times, especially because they are big enough to take a chicken or a newborn baby goat.

Cooper's Hawks typically build a nest and raise young each year. I like that they come because they are no danger to the chickens (any chicks are kept in a secure area till they are old enough to keep themselves safe) and they help cut down on the squirrel population.

During summer nights, I often hear an Eastern Screech Owl hooting. I haven't heard one yet this year.  Once, my dad woke us all up to see one he had spotted.  What a neat experience!

Guinea Fowl

I think we added guinea fowl to the mix around 2011.  We have had quite a few -ahem- hens pass through, in a quest to acquire the quietest ones.  The cocks we've had, on the other hand, have amounted to only a small handful.  The first three, Biscuit, Bisquick, and Seabiscuit, were the best; two died from a predator attack and one from unknown causes. The two hens we currently have were perfect when we had a cock for them.  Unfortunately, the last two cocks, Mr. Handsome and Polar, we had were attacking and sometimes killing the young chickens so they went on a date to freezer camp.  In addition, Mr. Handsome was attacking us humans too.   Mr. Handsome was such a fine-looking guinea; it really was too bad he turned out to be an aggressive fellow. Polka Dot and Polo also started up with the same bad behavior so now they are out free-ranging with the bantam coop birds and they all get along fine.  Polka Dot, named after another guinea hen, Polka, which I lost to a bobcat.  Polka Dot and Polo were quite noisy  this spring due to being without a cock during breeding season but have since quieted down.  Breeding season for them will be over around September.  Unless we move, Polka Dot and Polo will probably be our last guineas to have around.  This is Polo when she was first introduced to Mr. Handsome.  She just pretended to ignore him whenever he came near. 

I have loved having the guineas around.   They are a high-strung bird and very difficult to tame but I enjoy watching them strut around the yard in their pretty plumage. They really are a wonderful bird to have if you educate and prepare yourself in regards to their behavior, feeding, and other needs.   Pictured below is Seabiscuit on his first day home.