And now Brown Eggs ~ Dreams of Incubators and Brooders

This week I’ve had two pale brown eggs (from Buffy) and last night I collected my first Barnie egg…. a nice large dark brown one.

I was awake in the night (a somewhat common occurance), so I got up and read up on plans for a simple brooder that ensures success at raising chicks even in the winter. I do believe it is time to test the incubator again, get it working well and get some eggs in it. There’s a farm just west (SW I think) of Calgary who has Barnevelders, Welsummers (the Corn Flakes rooster) and Americaunas (the blue egg layers). I think I shall see about some hatching eggs!!

Today I will work in the barn to get a feed bin built, (so the dogs don’t keep eating the chicken feed) and a brooder pen ~ at least the framing. And if I can get the lamp brooder built, so much the better…… visions of chicks are dancing in my head!!!

First Green Eggs of the Season

This week I found three green eggs so far. Someone has started laying again. So…. egg laying really isn’t related to light or temperature. Days are still getting shorter and shorter. And it has been down to -15 here many mornings.

Moult happened quite early this year, I think due to the move across the country. That was quite a stressful event on the body for the chickens ~ besides which they were feather pecked by the time they arrived here. Regardless, everything is back to normal and they all look healthy a puffed out again. They like to be out, even in the cold, as long as there is straw spread on the snow.

Mark is enjoying his fresh eggs again.

Update ~ the Weather and Bran

It has been warm again in Alberta…. and windy.  That wind picks up the moisture and wicks it away, lickity split!!  So, as of today, we are back down to grass.   Earlier in the week (Thursday to be exact), I awoke to a winter wonderland.

Today (Sunday), it is +10 and looks like this….

The pond is thawed and the gardens bare again.  I have taken the opportunity to get the hose  back out, turn on the outside water and get everything filled up and watered in good again.  I am convinced that what contributes to winter kill of plants in containers more than anything else is drying up.  It’s so hard to keep them moist when things are frozen too much to water and there’s no snow.  Haven’t had that problem for the last few years in Lion’s Head.  Here it appears to be different.  So, I will water when I can… days such as today make it quite possible.

Update on Bran….. his head swelled up with an underlying infection….. so much so that his eyes squeezed shut.   However, things are draining well (I have been working on him a few times each day, cleaning him up with very hot water and a clean cloth) and today one eye has cracked open enough for him to see.   He’s been taking broth and water all along, so he is not dehydrated, although he has been eating less…. probably not a bad thing as he was quite overweight.   So…. although it is a process, it seems he is on the road to recovery…. poor dog.  I hope he has learned his lesson…. DON’T MESS WITH COUGARS (or their food!!)

 

A Late Fall Warmup and Injuries

Once you have seen it, there is no mistaking the Chinook arch as it rolls in over the rockies.   This a phenomenon that occurs only in the western prairies/foothills.  Here it is… to the north

and to the south…. a little lest distinct but still recognizable.

Today, while on their regular daily walk in the back forty, Bran decided to take on a cougar.   Mark did not see the altercation, just the resulting blood….. four deep holes in the side of his head.  So, I have cleaned them up and cut away the matted fur around them.   They have stopped bleeding and look “clean” so hopefully no infection will set in.  Time will tell.  He is resting in the laundry room (as far into the house as they get these days) right now.

What would possess a dog to go after a cougar??   Our other new dog, Coco was smart enough to bark from a distance.

What a Difference a Week Makes

It seems like I got things fixed up just in time.  Winter has settled in with a vengeance, here in the foothills.  For the last few nights it has been down below -20 (that’s below 0 for those of you still on the old British Fahrenheit scale).   Cold……

The chickens are huddled (literally) in the corner and the heat lamp is needed to keep the waterer from freezing (and hopefully throws out a bit of warmth into the coop also)… although the fact that they’re not huddled beneath the lamp means they must not need the heat that much.  The pond has a good 2″ layer of ice on it, although the stock tank heater is keeping an opening and I can still see fish swimming slowly in the bottom…. so it won’t freeze solid.

 

Settled in…. a bit!!

This weekend, the weather was sunny and the temperature warm, so I got things together and built 2 garden beds and put all my plants in for the winter.  I also got the chicken pen (manure) cleaned out… fresh straw and new perches and ready for a winter indoors.  (I will try to get them outside as much as possible… it will likely involve throwing some straw down on top of the snow… they do not like walking in the snow!!)

I read recently that fall is the time to plant garlic.  So the second box has garlic planted in the end opposite the trees.  The straw covering the plants is from the chicken pen.   Fairly dry stuff….  hopefully it won’t burn things too much.

The pond is also settled for the winter.  I have a heater/deicer in the middle, so hopefully it won’t freeze solid… at least enough open water for the fish to survive.  It made it through last winter so hopefully it should be OK.  Once the snow comes I will pack it in around it for some protection.  But I’m not sure how well the snow will last here in Alberta.

 

 

I also got the yard cleaned up, all the extra wood piled neatly beside the chicken palace and extraneous stuff (lying around) moved into the barn.  All ready for the snow to fly!!

 

The chickens have pretty much stopped laying.  They are moulting (feathers have been everywhere for about 2 months now) and are starting to look better again.  (They were a bit feather pecked after their journey west).   We get one egg about every second day now.  I don’t know how soon they will start laying again…. I guess time will tell.  (Store bought eggs are comparatively anemic….. can’t wait until I have fresh eggs again).

We contemplated moving down the road recently (rent was significantly cheaper) but it hasn’t worked out, so we are here for now.  Difficult to even consider homesteading when you don’t feel very settled.  I guess we will see what spring brings.  For now, we are here and settled in for the winter.

 

Chickens on the Move

Yes,… we brought the chickens with us, across the country. It took us four days. In a pickup (with a topper) we loaded…. two dogs, two cats (in a cage), 12 chickens and a rooster (in 3 boxes), a large cooler with pond fish and a tent and supplies for camping along the way. The perennial garden traveled in a flatbed trailer pulled behind us.

Each morning before we headed out, the chickens were given food and water in a 4′x4′ “pen” (a cardboard box with the bottom cut out that folded into the top of the load). This process took about half an hour by the time all of them had cycled through the process…. 4 at a time. At the same time, my husband fed, watered and walked the dogs. The cats spent their nights in the cab of the truck with a litter box, food and water. By the second day they were riding with us in the front of the truck.

We stopped in the middle of each day, usually around 1 or 2 pm, where we repeated this entire process. We camped each night… repeating the process again.

Amazingly to me, all the chickens made it with only minor inconvenience… it appeared that some of them had pecked each other and a few feathers around the neck were missing. They even continued to lay eggs (most of which I gave away when we camped at night) along the way. It was not uncomfortably hot for the journey (mid-June) and in fact was mostly overcast, which I think helped. Fortunately, not too rainy which would also have complicated the camping part significantly. The funniest was that every time we pulled into a gas station Mick would crow and everyone would look around. “Is that a rooster?” No… what else would it be. I always tried to fill up as quickly as possibly and move along. Our “stops” were at rest areas which we mostly had to ourselves. Alex and Bran even went swimming one sunny afternoon, just before we passed out of Ontario.

So yes, you can successfully transport chickens for significant distances without any ill effect. Just watch out for overheating.

And finally….. Alberta bound!

After two years of unemployment (today is the 2nd anniversary of my termination), I finally received an offer of employment last night from Scouts Canada out of their Calgary office.  So… we are moving back to Alberta.  Amazingly, we are still in our home in Lion’s Head.  I’ve been expecting an eviction notice (with 10 days deadline) for weeks ~ even months ~ and it still hasn’t come.   Our plan now is to be out by May 6.  Alex and Mark will go to Mom & Dad’s with the animals and plants and I will take the loaded U Haul out to Alberta and put everything into storage.  Then, once I find a place for us to rent, I will fly home (Scouts will actually fly me back to Ottawa ~ Scout head office ~ for orientation) and then I can drive my family ~ including all our animals and plants ~ back to Alberta for good!!

So we leave behind our little homestead in Lion’s Head.  There is some heartache around this, but not much in the way of choices.  And we are looking forward to being back in Alberta again.  And although we leave behind the land, we are taking many plants and the chickens, dogs, cats and fish are all going as well.  So we will have a good start up at the other end.  I am looking forward to being able to move forward once again, to plant and grow and tend and harvest.  It is a good thing!!

A New “Doo” and a New Fiddle

I have wanted to learn to fiddle for a long time. I’ve been downloading lots of fiddle tunes to listen to (and learn). About a month ago, I finally bought myself a fiddle. Well…. right now, I’m simply learning scales…. and I can play Twinkle, Twinkle little star in three positions. Still pretty screechy. And Royal always tries to jump up on my lap and rub against me (so I can’t play). So I’ve taken to standing when I practice…. probably better for my posture and positioning anyways.

Oh, and I went to the hairdresser’s for the first time in many years. Now I’m all ready for that big interview. (No… I don’t have anything lined up right now…. just being positive/hopeful/optimistic!!)

I HAVE OLIVE EGGERS!!!

So apparently, this is a much sought after thing…. and I have ended up with 2.  Here’s the chart.

My original chickens are Easter Eggers and Barnevelders (they’re the brown egg producers).   My rooster is the Barnevelder.  To be honest, when those eggs hatched (and as the chicks matured) I was hoping that Buffy (the little yellow chick) would be an olive egger.  Alas, she ended up with a single comb and is a brown (almost pinkish) egg layer.  Must be whatever genetics are from the other side (don’t know with Easter Eggers unless you have bred them yourself).  Anyways… I was very surprised in mid-January to find an olive egg in the nest box.  Here are a picture of the four new hens.  Buffy is the lighter one.  Of the three dark ones, one lays nice brown speckled eggs (she must be pure barnevelder) and the other two lay olive eggs of two different shades.  So I have quite a mix in the egg basket.

The new hens

Here’s what my egg basket looks like this morning.

And I think we’re getting ahead far/fast enough that I won’t need to buy any more eggs.  We’re up to four a day. Yeah!!!

Oh, and the new roo….. Blackbeard. (He was Chipper ~ the one with the little white puffy cheeks).  Hasn’t fathered any chicks yet and everyone is happily coexisting.   (I don’t know which hen is his mother?  But it’s one of the Easter Eggers.