SA Farm's journal

[Hens and Roos]

So, I asked my DH, "What is wrong with us? 65 birds. Seriously?"
He's like, "I know, we should've made it an even 70."

So when we went to pick up the new Am rooster, they had a couple of hens available, so we grabbed them too. Why not, right? What's a few more...
Now that they've finally settled in, I got two eggs from them today! I still haven't introduced my Am hens. Figure I'll give them a few weeks of quarantine just to be on the safe side. But they're looking good
View attachment 6535 View attachment 6538 View attachment 6537

you have fallen to chicken math= they only count towards the total if they are laying eggs . Pretty looking AM's, we had a few several years back but then the rooster died and we decided not to replace them. Just took 27 Blue Andalusian eggs off the turner, they are due to hatch Jan 11th or 12th.

 

[SA Farm]

@Hens and Roos Did your Andalusians hatch yet? They're so pretty

I think the hatch order is more overwhelming because it means adding new breeds. I wouldn't mind buffing up our existing flocks, but adding 3 new breeds of chickens in one year is a little intimidating.
We were already planning to get the golden laced wyandottes - I've been wanting some of them for years! But the dutch bantams and the red jungle fowl... I just kind of wanted to get the bantam glw rather than get a different breed of birds, but DH wants to experiment this year. He's also talking about quail.
Why? Just...just why?

So today was decently productive. Finally got DH to fix the gate on the one chicken pen and we're about 95% done the goat stand now. Actually used it today and got all the hoof trimming done
So much better than wrestling them on the ground! I could hardly believe how quickly everyone got done! I love it!

 

[Hens and Roos]

we are right in the middle of them hatching- so far 8 out with 3 more actively working to get out. We only separated out 1 group so we probably wont hatch a lot this year(we try and get our 1st hatch out on Jan 1st or 2nd so that the kids have birds to show at fair in July). We are also trying to rebuild our flock of Welsummer birds. Right now we have 2 hens, 3 pullets and 4 cockerals(they are about 5 months old)- maybe try and see if we can hatch a few out

we have 3 of the golden laced Wyandotte (1 pullet, 2 cockerals) we had more but sold off the rest to make room for Melanie. My DS(9) has 4 Modern Game birds- smaller than bantams - we have to house them in our shop so they stay warm. The ones we have aren't the best layers so it may be difficult to hatch him some for 4-H fair this year.

you may have to house the bantams away from the standard birds so they don't get picked on- we had issues when we had both sizes together.

we had quail for awhile(Jumbo brown and Texas A&M). We housed them in a rabbit cage so they were protected from everything. The males can be very rough on the females. We ended up getting rid of them as they weren't for us- they are interesting to watch and their eggs have a thick shell!

Nice work on the goat stand- have to find time to build one. We did hoof trimming and they don't hold still- that's for sure

 

[SA Farm]

We're getting out of the pheasants, so we're planning to put the bantams in the covered run we had for them.
I've had bantams with my standard chickens before without incident, but it's better for them to have their own space

 

[Hens and Roos]

@SA Farm what type of pheasant? We had some red golden for a little while but 1 male escaped, the replacement male died and then the hen died this past spring.

Glad to hear you haven't had problems- maybe it depends on the different breeds/personalities

 

[SA Farm]

@SA Farm what type of pheasant? We had some red golden for a little while but 1 male escaped, the replacement male died and then the hen died this past spring.

Glad to hear you haven't had problems- maybe it depends on the different breeds/personalities

We had Silver Pheasants. Lost two males to no apparent cause and a few hens. Just have the one hen left, so we decided not to get more.
We had a mixed flock of EEs, Welsummers, Speckled Sussex, and Barred Rocks with 3 little mixed breed bantams and they were all fine together. We have really big fenced areas for them though.

 

[SA Farm]

Crappy day today, but I'm starting to rally.
Pack of dogs came and took out my entire flock of Barred Rocks and took out 6 of my NZ rabbit breeding stock. I still have enough rabbits to recover, but we probably aren't going to replace the BR. We have enough birds on order that we can fill their housing easily enough and that saves us from having to build another enclosure when our focus is going to be on putting up a better and more inclusive perimeter fence.
We're looking into getting an LGD this year too. Finally have Hubby on board on that front.

In loving memory of Rocky, Rockette, and the other hens. Tali, Blitz, Finn, Pickpocket, and two no-named.

 

[Southern by choice]

Very sad.
Have you thought about for the time being putting up hotwire around the perimeter.. 3 strand. That'll zap em and keep them out.

 

[SA Farm]

Very sad.
Have you thought about for the time being putting up hotwire around the perimeter.. 3 strand. That'll zap em and keep them out.

Yeah. We used to have it, but not only did it not keep the predators out, but the zapper box thing died within six months. Yes, it was inside

 

[Southern by choice]

What kind of wire? How many joules for the charger?