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Hatch-a-holics

I think the Farmer & I have become hatch-a-holics. We’ve hatched two batches of barnyard (mixed breed) chicks from eggs produced by our hens, 21 the first time & 12 the second time. And now, we are closing in on the hatch dates for the duck eggs & goose eggs that have been incubating in one corner of our cottage’s kitchen. Being too big to fit in the auto turner, the Farmer has had to turn them several times a day, which he has done faithfully. (I suspect he’s turned ’em at night a few times, too.) But, today (Monday) is the last day to turn the duck eggs! They should start hatching on Wednesday…7 of them, 2 from our Fawn/White Runner Duck & 5 from the the Rouen Duck. Since the two lovely ladies lay eggs that are markedly different in appearance, we will definitely know which ducklings came from which duck, it’s the sires that will be questionable (monogamy is not practiced in our barnyard). Drakes are Runner, Rouen & Pekin…curious to see what the babies will look like. Goose eggs will still need to be turned for a couple more days, since they take a few days longer to hatch. Figure they should start hatching on Friday. 🙂
Then the incubator will given a rest…maybe….I’m thinkin’ about ordering some hatching eggs…any of y’all have some Black Copper Marans??? LOL

Blessings Y’all!
We’ll catch ya later!
The Farmer’s Wife

 

Farm Fresh News (from the Farmer’s Wife)

We have 21 new chicks hatched over the last 3 days!! 4 eggs remain in the incubator to see if they’re gonna hatch…culled 8 others that did not appear to be alive when checked by candling…eggs were either clear, indicating infertility, or appeared to have embryos that died early on. Have another couple dozen or so ready to go into the incubator in a couple of days. We have become hatchaholics. 🙂
Judging from the fluffy “chipmunk cheeks” many of them are sporting, “Mr Big”, the EE roo was a busy boy…lol…we had 5 eggs from Penny, our EE pullet that hatched…but there are a great many more chicks with the fluffy cheeks…lol…so apparently we’re gonna have a lot of half-EE’s joinin’ the flock…I also used my granny’s old farm-wife method of sexing the chicks…holdin’ ’em upside down by their li’l feets…all those that simply hung limp (which, if I remember correctly, indicates that they are pullets), I marked with a blue smudge from a Sharpie…all those that struggled to right themselves (indicatin’ that they are cockerels), I left unmarked…in a few days, I’ll do a feather sex comparison of the wing feathers and see if the results are consistent…of course, it’s been a *ahem* “great many” years and I was just a little girl, since I watched my granny do her gender test on chicks at the feed store…lol…I coulda forgotten which was which in the intervening decades.

The other bit of news fresh from the farm is that Bucky & Belle, our bottle-babies, are “big kids” now!!!! No more bottles!! They are drinkin’ their milk from a bucket! And I, their human mommy, could not be happier…I (“Mommy”) decided the time had finally come a few days ago to wean the babies from bottle to bucket because one (12 oz) bottle was not satisfyin’ ’em. And they were too impatient to wait for me get their refills ready!!! Bucky drank his milk from the bucket first rattle outta the box; Belle was a bit more stubborn about it (she was also a bit more stubborn about takin’ the bottle after her natural mother died). Well, bein’ the soft-hearted farm-mama that I am…I ended up givin’ in and lettin’ Belle have a bottle on Thursday…she sounded so pitiful. On Friday, I got tougher…lol…no bottle…come Saturday, she decided to be a good little girl & drink her milk from a bucket, like her brother. So we’re finally bottle free…Yippeeeee!!!!
All in all, “our babies” are doin’ great! They have free run of the back yard (along with the chickens, ducks & geese), which shares a fence with the pasture where the rest of the goats live. Our hope is that they & the other goats can see, hear, smell, “talk to”  & get used to each other, without fear of Bucky & Belle gettin’ bullied. The plan is to keep them in the back yard for a couple more weeks, then move them to the pasture with the rest of the herd. They’re eatin’ goat feed & greenery very well (they especially love the young tender leaves on the low hangin’ tree branches that the Farmer lops off for them) and when the second bag of replacer is finished off, that will be the end of their days as milk-fed kids. But, I’ve got a feelin’ they’ll always be referred as “the bottle babies”.
Well, I reckon that’s ’bout all the news there is to tell…at least for now….
Y’all take care & I’ll catch up with ya later..’til then, I hope ya feel as blessed as I do! 🙂

Besieged By Chickens & Ducks

If ever y’all are tempted by an advertisement from a hatchery to order a hundred baby chicks & ducklings for some unbelievably great price…this entry is right up your alley.  Elizabeth and I responded favorably to such an ad from the Ideal Hatchery just south of us here in Texas.  We got a hundred assorted baby chicks and twenty assorted ducklings.  Awaiting the arrival of our newest members of our flock, we visited the local feed & supply store to ensure we had adequate starter feed, waterers and brooding lamps to handle the influx of fowl.  We set up 5 new brooders and waited with great anticipation for the “stork” to deliver our precious little bundles.

The sound of 120 screeching chicks and ducklings ringing through a 900 square foot cottage in the middle of the night is not the equivalent of Braham’s Lullaby by any stretch.  Not to mention the constant filling and refilling of water dispensers and chick feeders at all hours of the day and night.  Keeping tabs on George, the attack cat that rooms with us was a daunting task as well.  George is fond of chicken, and while he has yet to devour one of our chicks, he DID manage to get a hold of one poor soul and bat him around the kitchen floor for a moment before I rescued the petrified little guy.  He is chirping to this very day….

Not all of our chicks were so lucky.  It seems as though we got a batch of chick feeder that was lacking in critical vitamins necessary for the chicks to develop strong, healthy legs and feet.  We lost nearly 2 dozen of our babies to splayed leg disease and curled feet.  Elizabeth did a yeoman’s job of playing nurse to about 30 more of them, and was able to keep them alive and healed, by splinting their little legs and even doing some little “chick aerobics” of sorts.  After replacing the chick starter with a high vitamin, (more costly) feed, further illnesses were prevented.  But we sure learned a huge lesson in the care & feeding of baby chicks.

After a few weeks, we have turned the 77 remaining chicks, and 14 surviving ducks outside.  The ducks are roaming the yard and the chicks are in a chicken coop out back.  We have just now begun to let them free range during the day time.  We now have about 115 chickens and roosters , 21 ducks and 6 geese running around in our yard.  An additional 20 chicks are in an outside cage, in between the brooder and the coop.  They’ll be ready for the coop in another week or so.  Just about the time that we have another 25 eggs due to hatch from our incubator.

All in all, the past couple of weeks have been quite hectic for yours truly.  I felt like a one legged old man in a butt kicking contest, I was so busy.  And that’s my excuse for not having written in this blog for so long.  That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

I am still having a ball with all of this critter care, folks.  Thank the Good Lord that I no longer have a real job to go to…I don’t think I could handle such a thing……..  Until next time, y’all take good care of yourselves…..

The Caddo Farmer…..

 

Chatter from the Farmer’s Wife

The Farmer took care of a few honey-do’s this weekend…put up new ceiling fans in bedroom & living room…hoping to reduce cooling costs this summer! Also swapped out the light fixture in the bathroom.

He moved Silkie chicks & bantam Frizzle Cochin chicks from indoor brooder box to outdoor brooder cage…about 3 weeks in there and they can be moved to their coop, I hope…then will have to start watching to see which ones I want to pair up…Those I decide not to pair up, I think I’ll just let them stay together as a mixed flock…

The 7 & 8 week juvies got their first taste of being outside the grower coop this afternoon. The Farmer opened the coop door and we just sat back to observe. Our alpha roo, “Big Daddy Duke”, started to get a little belligerent, but a certain Farmer reminded him who is the true alpha male on this farm…lol…Once Duke decided to take his attitude elsewhere, the juvies decided to venture out & explore a little bit, but stayed pretty close to the coop. Watching them made me realize I need to have the Farmer help me separate some of the  juvies from the main group…I have bantam Brahmas & some d’Uccles I want to separate out from the LF juveniles, & need to get it done before we start letting the juvies out for extended periods of free-range time.

Looks like we’re turning into the local “rescue” farm. A neighbor brought us some young Cornish Rock X’s Friday evening (they were her grandson’s 4-H project, they are not little birds!) She also brought 9, 3 day old CRX’s. And, since we don’t have the heart to turn them into supper, so I dunno what were going to do with a dozen & a half CRX’s, other than just keep them as part of the menagerie.
Our coop is divided into two rooms with the dividing wall made of lumber on the lower third & chicken wire on the remainder with a connecting door so the Farmer can go into one from the other without having to go out and all the way ’round to the other side.  Each side has it’s own door to the outside and a separate run as well. We put the half-grown birds into the unused side, and closed the gate on the run. That way, the established flock can see & hear the newcomers without being able to fight with them. Joe says once the other chickens get used to them being here, we’ll turn them out to free range and “do what chickens do.” Better hurry…’cause the newbies are in what will eventually be my “banty” coop.
Y’know, I don’t remember chickens being so much work when I was a kid…maybe ’cause I wasn’t the one doing it! And, to be honest I still don’t do much, beyond tellin’ the Farmer what to do…lol…
Hope y’all have had a blessed weekend.
Live, Laugh, Love & Be Blessed…
Catch y’all later,
the Farmer’s wife….

Bucky & Belle…

Yeah, I know that I said yesterday that I simply loved the sound of my 6 crowing roosters in the early morning.  I should say that I love the NOTION of the crowing roosters at 5 o’freaking clock in the morning.  Jeepers, but another hour in the sack would have been a blessing this morning.  But crow they did, causing the goats to bleat, the geese are honking, the ducks are quacking, the chickens are up, the cat is clawing on my chest and the dogs all want out to do what dogs do.  (Except for the puppies, who still use the training pad.  Sometimes.)  But God is great, and I am here for yet another adventurous day on the “farm”.  As I awake to a cup of coffee, let me tell you about “Bucky” & “Belle”—two of our newest additions to our extended family.

 On February 17th, the Lord blessed Elizabeth and I with 2 brand new baby goats, the last of 6 to be born on the farm during that week.  It was truly a fantastic week around here, as I am totally in awe of the wonder of it all, and I cannot get over the prideful feelings I have when my “critters” present me with their progeny.  That week, out of my 6 nannies, 4 of them gave birth.  Two had twins and the others had single births.  The month prior, another nanny had a single kid, and the last little lady is too young to be making babies.  (I think).

About 2 days after the birth of “Bucky & Belle”, I went out to the goat yard only to find the two little darlings lying next to their mother, who had died sometime during the night.  Of course, I was devastated at the loss of my goat, but not nearly as upset as the two little newborns were.  They, of course, had lost their mama, and were much too young to fend for themselves, and it was left up to us to become surrogate mothers to them as the remaining nannies were too busy with their own kids to make room or bother with 2 more.

Soooooo, off to the farm supply store I went, after substitute goat milk, nipples, colostrum and a couple of bottles.  Elizabeth, being the seasoned country gal that she is, took the lead in determining the feeding schedule as well as the recipe for formula and the method of feeding them.  At first, it was touch and go, as neither one of our babies had a clue of how to go for a bottle, having only had two days at their mama’s udder, but after constant mouth prying ind head holding, they figured it out and began their bottle feeding.

Our kids have healthy appetites and let us know in no uncertain terms when their little tummies are empty.  (About 3-4 times a day).  While their incessant bleating and crying can, at times, be annoying, I realize that this is NOT their fault, and they are simply hungry and in need of nourishment.  My urge to choke the life out of them quickly fades when they latch on to that nipple and suck like mad, their little tails wagging back and forth with unbridled joy at their meal.

Our little babies developed the digestive affliction called the “scours”, or diarrhea.  Beth and I have continued to struggle with this, and I have made several trips to town in search of the latest recommended remedy for the problem.  We have given them canned goat milk, baby rice cereal, powdered milk and Pepto Bismol, as well as many combinations of the above.  While we have had varying degrees of success, our little fellas are still having problems from time to time, yet they seem to be fine otherwise.  Any other suggestions would be appreciated, not only by Beth and I, but Bucky & Belle would also be grateful I am certain!

I will be a very happy camper when these two siblings get around to eating some solid foods and the time comes to get them off of the bottle and out with the rest of our little goat herd.  Although Bucky & Belle have been a major pain in the butt for us to deal with on top of all of our other charges, I consider it an honor to be able to assist in nourishing them into a state where they can better fend for themselves.  In that sense, Bucky & Belle will always hold a special place in this old man’s heart….

Welcome To The Caddo Critter Farmer!!

Howdy y’all!!  My name is Joe, and I am a 63 year old retired “city-boy” who has transplanted himself into the country out in the middle of the Great Lone Star State of Texas.  I find myself living with my wife, Elizabeth, on our small, 2 1/2 acre parcel of land, forsaking the trappings of the city and all of it’s conveniences as well as it’s incessant noise, crime and corruption.

Prior to arriving here in Caddo one year ago last December, I had never lived with a chicken, rooster, goat, or any other critter other than the usual dog, cat, hamster or rabbit…..Never even eaten a real farm fresh brown egg, still warm from the nest.  I was green as they come, and none too wise on the ins and outs of being the steward of my new domain, although I was, and still am, quite eager to learn.  Hence the genesis of this blog, The Caddo Critter Farmer.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am relatively clueless to all of this, but I will also state unequivocally that I have learned much in this short amount of time.  Our “critter count” as of this writing is 6 roosters, 30 full grown laying hens, 75 4 week old assorted breed chickens, 25 one week old assorted Silky and Frizzled Cochin chicks, 5 adult ducks and 18 1 month old ducklings, 6 geese, 13 goats, 7 dogs, one cat and a partridge in a pear tree.  Well…no partridge, but we ARE getting some Guinea fowl eggs to hatch out in a couple of weeks.  We also have 40 eggs in our newly acquired incubator, and are attempting our first indoor hatching.  we should know if success is ours in about 5 more days….Excitement abounds at the Caddo Critter Farm, yesseree!!!…

I am very interested in sharing stories, tips and anecdotes relating to the whole business of raising and husbanding all of God’s creatures, as I find it all quite nourishing for my soul as well as giving me a sense of purpose as I live out what time the Good Lord will allow me to enjoy.  Some folks think me crazy, but there is something extremely comforting to me to hear my 6 roosters try to out-crow one another as each new day unfolds on the old farm.  They wake up the goats who wake up the geese and ducks who get the dogs up and at ’em, and I open my eyes to find that I am still above ground and not 6 feet into it.  I never know what all my critters have in store for me for the balance of the day, but I would not trade my lot in life for anything that the city may have to offer.

So welcome to our world, folks.  Feel free to kick your boots off and drop me & Elizabeth a note or two.  Let us know of things that may be fun to try with our critters or what may make for a better experience in our effort to commune with nature and nurture those of God’s creatures that we have domain over. We would LOVE to see pictures of your animals as well as anything else that comes to your mind as it relates to the rural life.

I will enlist the able help of my bride, Elizabeth, to keep this blog going and I hope and pray that this can be the start of some new friendships with like minded folks….

God Bless Y’all…

Joe