ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[elevan]

ELevan,

Your limping chicken..are you familiar with scaly mites? A limping chicken this time of year always sends up red flags for scaly mites for me. And scaly mites like heat sooooooo,

In case your not.......check the sore foot for areas where the scale seems rough or even raised aboce the others, there may be many of them. She may also have some "bumble foot" with it, you'd see a red place on the bottom of her foot or between her toes, it may be red and flat or red and with a hard knot. The knot may blister and leak, this is a good thing.

I had a NASTY go round with them a couple years ago, and tried all sort of fancy things. An old timer told me to dip their feet and legs in burnt motor oil. If you cant get burnt motor oil works best, but veg oil will do in a pinch. A little bag balm to soften up hard knot on the feet and allow them to drain. It did the trick

If one bird has it, treat them all!

It's not bumblefoot...I checked for that already. Didn't see any mites when I was looking her over, but I'll double check in the morning...thanks. I really think the llama probably stepped on her. Some of the chickens have been cozying up to him and he's stepped on a couple that I've seen...usually no lasting results. But Dove just suddenly started limping so... :/

And I stepped on Skeeter...I know what her issue is

 

[elevan]

Definitely not mites on Lonesome Dove (chicken)...she must have been stepped on by the llama or stepped onto something :/ She is doing better today but I did take her out of the cage with Skeeter. For some reason Skeeter wants to bury herself under other chickens to sleep...and that pressure isn't good for her leg. So Skeeter is in a cage by herself...she can see other chickens and they can see her...I really hope it doesn't take too long for her to heal.

Susie, the chicken I had suspected of hiding eggs, laid an egg in the nest box today...so she took a week off... :/ idk...

I had DH get down in the dirt this morning to look under the small coop for duck eggs. Nothing there. Can't figure out where the duck is laying her eggs now.

Hidden eggs are gonna drive me crazy!!!!!!!!! Not a long trip, but still...

Elsie (goat) is getting along very well with the herd. Goldie is suspicious of her and chases her away but everyone else seems to love her as much as we do

Goldie is due Sept 2...but I'm getting suspicious. What do I suspect? That she's not pregnant...ugh! That would be 2 that didn't take with handing breeding if I'm right.
So if I'm right, I've decided that the bucks will each get a "harem" of goat girls for the winter.

T-Bone (calf) is getting noticeably bigger every day it seems. It's gonna be tough waiting so long for grass fed beef. My mom doesn't think I'm gonna be able to eat him....I just keep reminding my self of what his purpose is and often refer to him as a slab of beef or some such thing...hopefully that works. I got kind of attached when I had to nurse him back from death's door when we first brought him home.

Anybody want a couple of horses? Ha! I wish I could give them away...pains in the rear - both of them! Don't get me wrong I like horses...if they can be rode. These two are my mom's and they are just field candy. Jessie is over 20 and was never able to be broke. We had about a dozen people give up on her...people who professionally break horses to ride. When I was 16 (half a lifetime ago) I decided that I'd get the job done myself...she broke me instead...gave me a concussion and a fractured hip. Jack is another piece of field candy but he's ride-able but too small for adults to ride and the kids aren't interested. So they just eat and poop...do you realize how big horse poop is? HUGE! AND they think they need to come inside the barn to do their business So while I like horses, I really don't like these 2...if I could I'd relocate, sell or give them away. But I can't so I'm just complaining. Anyone want to come shovel some horse poop out of the barn for me?

Does anyone else here despise ragweed and queen anne's lace as much as I do? Pollen season is upon us here in Central Ohio. I cut the head's almost all of the queen anne's lace a couple of weeks ago and that has helped. The goats have stripped off all of the leaves on the giant ragweed, so that's helped but the only one eating the common ragweed is the calf...and I'd have to mow the whole field short to get rid of it. I'm currently taking a combo of 3 different allergy medicines (under dr direction) to stay functional. Anyone have any ideas for dealing with the common ragweed? Besides getting more cows...

 

[elevan]

We're getting the drain installed around the barn on Monday! Woot! Within the next month I'll be adding electricity too. I am so excited for these upgrades

One of our hens, Miss Flufferbottom (Fluffy), lays her eggs behind a stall gate in the barn. The stall isn't used right now so we haven't complained...eggs are clean and Fluffy seems to like laying in the seclusion that it provides. But yesterday we noticed that she was in the barn all day...DH had to go get her to put her into the coop. Then today she spent the entire day there too. I got her out this evening and put her into the coop before I shut it up and she raced out and back to the barn...yep, she's gone broody So I had DH come out and hold her while I waited for everyone else to go in and kept the goats out...she kept pecking at him until he loosened his grip for a second and then she was flying out of his arms and racing for the barn! I couldn't help it...had to laugh so we waited until everyone else was in and then went to get her to put her in the coop. She was making an awful racket in there...I'm sure breaking her broodiness is gonna be loads of fun :/

 

[elevan]

I've decided to rehome Skeeter.
If you are interested in giving Skeeter a home please see this post on BYC: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7215932#p7215932

 

[elevan]

Tuesday we arranged a date for Elsie with Speedy. She was bred quite well by him I must say. We'll see if she comes into heat again next month. If she does then we plan to pen them together over the winter.

We're still watching Goldie closely...she's due in 8 days!! She still hasn't bagged up. But she's getting super lovey

Yesterday was a day for losing birds for me apparently...well I didn't actually lose them...maybe I was temporarily blind :/

Went out to the coop to check on the guineas...I've got 5 caged and 5 running free as I'm training them to "home". The 5 running free weren't in the coop...normally they don't go far as they don't want to leave the 5 that are caged. I looked everywhere and couldn't find them. Searched the coop, the field and the barns...no guineas :/ The chicks were following me the entire time asking for a handout of food. I finally gave up and considered them gone...went into the coop and opened the feed can and tossed some feed out for the chicks and suddenly there are the 5 missing guineas! I have no idea where they were hiding but they must have been in the coop the entire time!

Then during the coop shut down last night, I did a head count and was missing one of Cinnamon's chicks (the only pullet). I did my count 3 times...no pullet. By this time it was dark, so I closed up the coop and ran into the house for a flashlight and to get DH to help me look. We both checked the barns, the old coop, the field and every hidey hole the chickens like to use...no pullet. DH looks at me and suggests I do another head count, I shrug and go back into the coop to count again...still missing that pullet. I turn around and happen to glance up...there she is! On top of the brooder...never have I ever seen one of the chickens up there so I normally don't look.

We just found out this morning that my FIL has bladder cancer. Cancer sucks! I hate the very word cancer! We lost my MIL to it after a 6 month battle in 2003 and my father to it after a year battle in 2009. FIL thinks he's dying...it's so sad. They're all too young...MIL was 50...father was 52...FIL is 61! I can't think about it...but I have a hard time not thinking about it. Cancer sucks!

My boys have their 3rd soccer practice tonight. DH is coach. Coaching kindergarteners is tough...poor DH has an assistant coach and I try to help but keeping their attention is a hard proposition. They'll have next week off because it's our county fair. They're out of school and everyone goes to the fair, so DH said he's not even gonna compete with the fair by trying to hold a practice. Games start the day after labor day.

Tonight is the 3rd installment of the parasite management seminars put on by my county extension. Check out the link in my signature late this evening for tonight's notes.
Saturday is the field day for the seminar. DH and I will be attending the field day to get our FAMACHA training and get our first taste of lamb.

We haven't found a new home for Skeeter yet...so please if you know someone, let me know or send them my way.

 

[elevan]

Haven't been able to break Miss Flufferbottom's broodiness AND she's moved herself to a coop nest box...AND since I did promise her that if she did that then I would get her some eggs to hatch, I guess I have to live up to my promise, right?

We're working on the training the guineas to "home". I am so afraid of turning them out and them disappearing. 7 of 10 are allowed to roam the coop and / or go outside while the other 3 are in a dog kennel inside the coop...until yesterday it was split 5/5. I'm also considering clipping their wings. Those guys can fly like nobody's business!!

I've been checking for turkey eggs every day...I suspect that she will start laying soon since her and tom were dancing the other day.

Don't know where my duck is laying eggs...I know she is though. We got 2 and since then...no more...and it's been a while :/

Sept 2 is creeping closer...I'm getting anxious waiting for Goldie to start bagging up or something!! Doe code, I keep reminding myself. Neighbor must think I'm crazy standing out there staring at a goats back end

I am really starting to get upset with Maggie Maehem (almost yearling goat) teaching the beef calf to be a goat!! Oh golly but it will give you a heart attack to have a large calf start hopping at you!!! I don't know...we might end up with veal This is the same Maggie Maehem (pronounced mayhem) that used to get onto the llama's back and "drive" him around...the same Maggie Maehem who got herself into a pickle and climbed into the buck's pen and had to be luted at 4 months old or so...the same Maggie Maehem who worked tirelessly to kill an elderberry bush single handedly. Let's just say that Maggie Maehem has lived up to her name...and I can only hope that her progeny are not as big of troublemakers.

I got my FAMACHA training today and have a brand new scoring card! Yay! So Sunday afternoon, I will be going through and scoring my entire herd and treating as needed. I've decided to hold my condensed tannin trial next May-Sept to coordinate with the height of the barberpole season. I've learned quite a bit in the seminar series on parasitology...see the link in my signature and read my notes.

Prayers to everyone on the East Coast in the path of Irene - be safe!

 

[redtailgal]

x

 

[elevan]

Lonesome Dove is doing fine now.

Skeeter is still having issues. I cage her at night and let her roam the coop during the day for exercise. It's cute to watch the 9wk old roo "Jukebox Charlie" come in and help her stand to eat her feed. I've fallen in love with that little roo.

 

[Ms. Research]

Stupid question here. What does it mean when your hen is broody? Have read that term a lot on BYC and am curious. Broody means hen wants to nest but can't lay eggs?

Sorry to hear about your goat teaching your cow bad habits. Looking forward to your new arrival on Sept. 2nd. Oh well, neighbors might think your strange but I would be the same way.. excited and checking my goat's rear too.

Good for "JukeBox Charlie" for helping Skeeter. I've read many stories about how a "good" roo can be an asset to a flock. No buyers for Skeeter yet?

 

[Goatherd]

Broody means hen wants to nest but can't lay eggs?

No. A "broody" hen is very capable of laying eggs and usually will. Once she feels that she has laid enough eggs in the nest for her to sit or incubate, she stops and starts an intensive sitting plan. In other words she only gets off the nest to eat, drink and defecate once or twice a day. When she's not doing that, she's sitting tight on her eggs.

I keep Silkie hens because they are notorious for being one of the best brooding hens available, and they are. Where it gets a little more complicated is when you use these hens to brood foster eggs for you.
If you want to use a bird to incubate eggs and not an artificial brooder, this is where they come in very handy. I use my Silkies to hatch guinea, peafowl and Buckeye chicken eggs who's natural moms might not make the best choice for brooding their own eggs. Just because a bird lays an egg doesn't mean it wants to sit and raise it until hatch.

As the Silkie is laying her natural eggs, I take that egg and replace it with my egg of choice or I allow her to lay her clutch and then replace the entire clutch at one time with the foster eggs. This allows the eggs to hatch at the same time within a day or two. Depending upon the species of egg that the Silkie is sitting, I may let her naturally raise the chicks or sometimes take them and put them in an artificial brooder until they are feathered and more mature. It just depends.

Of course if I am looking for Silkie chicks, they keep their own eggs and Silkie chicks are born.

Hope that helps you understand a broody hen.