BeccaOH: Update of just STUFF

[BeccaOH]

This is a shot of my set up. It sits in the northeast corner of my property. There is a large garage housing lots of stuff I'm blessed to have inherited from my dad. Two cats live there. House sits off to the left of the garage. Dog run extends from corner of garage to the big tree out front.

In the foreground is the main chicken coop with the A-frame sitting alongside it. I'm extended the chicken yard out the rear alongside the garage, but I have geese in there right now mowing the area.

Behind the garage is my new coop that has 5 pen areas. Each end is designed to hold around 8 chickens. In the middle is an unfinished area that will have 3 small pens on 2 levels for brooding and such. The ducks have adopted this floor area. I plan to build them a shelter to sit against the back of the garage. Their yard is between the garage and coop.

Behind all that and going up the slop is my garden that I doubled in size this year. I have it almost all planted now, but the fencing needs redone. Somehow, even enlarging it, I ended up with no room for corn. I think it is because I did 4 kinds of potatoes this year and twice and many tomatoes and zucchini.

I don't think I've covered what all animals (poultry) I have:
14 laying hens of various breeds and one Buff Orpington rooster (one of those hens is brooding about 6 eggs)
14 pullets in teenage stage
22 chicks hatched out 2 weeks ago (Buckeyes and Amerucana)
3 teenage turkey (2 Blue Slate, 1 Bourbon Red)
3 wild Pearl guinea approximately 1.5 years old
2 young geese
7 ducklings nearly fully feathered out (3 Welsh Harlequin, 2 Khaki Campbell, 2 Cayuga)
18 guinea eggs in the incubator
2 young outside female cats that kill moles, chipmunks, and wild birds (no mice yet)
1 outside watch dog of a terrier mix
2 inside lap dogs

If I think about it, I don't have any animal that is much older than 2 years right now. A young bunch that gives me plenty of entertainment.

 

[Blackbird]

Becca, your place looks great! Very clean and organized!

I would give the guineas another chance, wait a month or so, then try it again. It might help if you throw some feed down outside the pen when you let them out, so that they know to stick around for food.

I'm sure after a while they'll get used to their new home and decide its not so bad

On the plus side, they did come back, even if it was just to terrorize the geese, that means they have some concept of home already.

 

[BeccaOH]

Becca, your place looks great! Very clean and organized!

I would give the guineas another chance, wait a month or so, then try it again. It might help if you throw some feed down outside the pen when you let them out, so that they know to stick around for food.

I'm sure after a while they'll get used to their new home and decide its not so bad

On the plus side, they did come back, even if it was just to terrorize the geese, that means they have some concept of home already.

Thanks!

It is a good point. I was surprised that they did come back.

I talked about the guineas here at work, and I've already found a couple people with relatives who have been looking to buy guinea. Wow! Maybe I should keep them and keep hatching their eggs. Hmm.

 

[BeccaOH]

Time for lunch, and once again I'm going to have to run out and get fast food. I'm getting sick of eating out, but I have had no time to cook.

Every evening when I get home from work for a couple months now I've been flying into a project and not getting inside to relax until 9:30 or so. My mother doesn't like to cook anymore, so most of my suppers are a sandwich or something very simple and often late.

I do like to cook, and I do want to be eating healthy. I've been reading how cutting out grains, or at least reducing the amount, from my diet can be helpful for things like Candida, digestion, and diabetes. My mom is diabetic, type 2. It is curable and preventable.

I welcome ideas for some healthy crock-pot meals that would make for good lunch leftovers.

Here is a healthy soup I enjoy making, and it freezes well. I've planted lots of zucchini for this and other recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Sausage-Soup/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

 

[Aidenbaby]

I made a decently healthy chicken in the crock-pot the other day. I cut up a couple of carrots, an onion and a couple of potatoes. I put 1/2 of it in the bottom of the crock-pot. Then, I put in a thawed out whole chicken and the remaining veggies. Finally, I put 1/2 bottle of barbecue sauce over whatever chicken I could see. After 4 hours on high (probably 8 hours on low), the meat was falling off the bone. That was with a 6 pound chicken. My kids loved it enough to not want to stop eating and we had about 1/2 a chicken of leftovers. We have a family of 4 with a toddler and a preschooler.

With the leftovers, I made kind of a chicken salad sandwiches for the kids for lunch. I added mayo, mustard and pepper to the chopped chicken that was left and slapped that on some bread.

I was thinking about making another bird next weekend using Italian dressing instead of barbecue sauce. Then, the leftovers will be used in a lasagna.

 

[BeccaOH]

Thanks, Kelle, I have a whole farm-raised chicken I need to use from the freezer.

 

[BeccaOH]

I've had a broody Buff Orpington sitting on about 6 eggs. I expected a hatch around this Saturday, but I guess they started Wednesday night. Yesterday I saw 3 under her wings and today there were 4. One is a pure black silkie -- an egg from my friend's flock. Another is mostly black in the body with a yellow head. I know she set a Welsummer egg, which would be a Welsummer/BO cross. My rooster is BO and 2 of the chicks are all yellow.

It is so cute to watch the chicks peek out from their mother's wings.

I'm going to need to move them to a new pen soon as they don't have much space. I'm just trying to figure out how to arrange things and where to put them.

I wish I could get my guineas sold. They are taking up a good bit of coop space. Waiting to hear back from lead #3. I still haven't done a Craigslist ad as word of mouth seems to be getting me interested buyers. #1 and #2 want keets when/if they hatch. My incubator had a temperature spike that worries me.

I have company arriving tonight and staying all week -- my sister, BIL, and niece. I don't feel prepared to have extra people around, but here they come.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Congrats on your new chicks, Becky!!!!!!!

Now you know, we need pics!

 

[keljonma]

Congratulations on the new chicks!

It is so cute to watch the chicks peek out from their mother's wings.

The imagery always reminds me of Psalm 91:4
"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

I have company arriving tonight and staying all week -- my sister, BIL, and niece. I don't feel prepared to have extra people around, but here they come.

Enjoy your company.... don't forget to let them help with chores!

 

[BeccaOH]

It was a good weekend. My sister and BIL arrived safe. Saturday they were busy with his family, so I focused on rearranging animals in pens.

Moved geese to duck yard (they enjoy the activity of duck herding now ).

Moved broody and her 5 chicks outside to a temporary pen I fashioned within the new chicken run using hardware cloth, a dog carrier, and tarp. She is a very good mother, but I still don't have a great picture of them all together. My friend took her silkie chick home to raise. Two chicks are a light black with tan heads (I'm guessing a BO/BA mix). Two are all yellow (I think pure BO). One is yellow with some brown striping (could be a Welsummer/BO).

Completed the move of 4 young hens into the main flock, cleaned old pen, and moved 6 TSC chicks into that space.

Cleaned A-frame coop and moved my 22 incubated chicks outdoors. They are only 2.5 weeks old. They still have dry shelter with heat lamp, but now they also have access to grass and sunshine. I tarp the whole thing at night.

Finally put saddles on 2 of my most loved (by the rooster) hens (Black Australorps). They are now styling in blue denim.

One Amerucana chick injured her neck that first evening outside in the A-frame. She can't seem to pick it up straight and walks wobbly with her beak nearly on the ground. She and a runt chick are back inside the house. It is likely I'll have to cull the hurt one, but I don't know if I can or what method I'll choose.

Lost about 4 tomato plants to rabbits. Beans are starting to sprout.

Cats killed another nasty mole.

My niece flies in today. I need to spend my evening mowing, if the rains will stay way.

Now on my fourth lead for selling guineas, but no sale yet.