The farm
Dan and I went to my parents this past weekend. He was working for Dad on Sunday helping him with a job that had to get done that day. It sucks working on Sundays but he was working with a fun team of guys who made the day go fast. I got to go to Amy and Joel's with mom for Amy's birthday and just hung out drinking wine (man I love that stuff!) for most of the day. Like my dad said, we left in the evening with a car load of agrarian plunder. My sister, Cass, is taking 2 hens and 1 rooster from mom to see if she can get any eggs. We decided that since we're halfway (?) we would take them to our place along with another rooster for us to keep.
So the chickens!!! What a group of stupid chickens. I have changed my mind on what rooster I want. One is far more subdued than the other. I wanted the slightly smaller but more colourful rooster but he just seems so dumb to me now. All he does is frantically follow his hens around. There is definately one hen that wanders more than the other. I think that the colourful rooster would be better off staying with Cass's hens anyways. The other rooster has nice detail on him, is bigger (better for the freezer when he ends up there) and seems to get along better with my hens. Not that there is much getting along that is happening. The two groups seem to totally ignore eachother. They hardly even eat at the same time. They sleep on different perches and stay on opposite sides of the coop. Wierd, eh? I was silly and really wanted to see how mom's chickens would do outside so the first evening at our place I decided to let them out an hour before sunset just to get a peek of the place. That was dumb. The plan was to open the coop up, and let my chickens find their way back in (they were out all night) and then feed them all so that mom's chickens get the idea that they are fed at night. The trick here is to not have the goat inside because then there won't be any feed left. The first problem was that Mozz finally broke her red collar (that used to belong to Chloe, I think Hannelle gave it to her). The plastic just wore down from many pulls. So I had to find a spot to put Mozz where she couldn't get at the feed. After a few different rooms, I finally found one that she couldn't get out of but she BAWLED the whole time! The second problem was the actual chicknes. They weren't making any move for the grain that my chickens were already in and eating so I tried to shoo them in. Those chickens do NOT follow any kind of direction. You can't chase them because they will run to the side instead of in front of them. You can't lead them because the smallest pebble will distract them from the food that you are dangling in front of them. Chloe decided that these chickens are far more fun to chase than ours so she ended up making the problem worse by chasing the dumb rooster and adventurous hen all the way to the neighbors. So, I put Chloe in.It didn't take as long as it could have to get them in finally but I was steaming by the time it was all finished. Tuesday we were at Dan's parents for supper and so no anmials got out that night. Mom and I decided that part of the trick was not feeding them too much. You want them to be hungry for that grain. (James also told me that since they aren't laying yet, they won't really want that much food) So Tuesday I only fed them a bit, which they had to fight over with Mozz. On Wednesday I got another collar for Mozz, tied her up outside, planted lots of stuff in the garden and had a really successful evening. It felt good going to bed that night. I did let out the chickens again an hour before sunset and Chloe wasn't as interested as she was the first time. They were hungrier so they pretty much went in by themselves. Like I said, it was a good night.The ducks haven't hatched yet but I heard from Jim that muscovies actually take 32 days to hatch and not 28 so I'm not too anxious. Oh, and they seperated the nest into two nests and are now sitting separately. Hopefully when they hatch I'll be able to get some pictures here.
Work time! Gotta go. Have a good week!
So the chickens!!! What a group of stupid chickens. I have changed my mind on what rooster I want. One is far more subdued than the other. I wanted the slightly smaller but more colourful rooster but he just seems so dumb to me now. All he does is frantically follow his hens around. There is definately one hen that wanders more than the other. I think that the colourful rooster would be better off staying with Cass's hens anyways. The other rooster has nice detail on him, is bigger (better for the freezer when he ends up there) and seems to get along better with my hens. Not that there is much getting along that is happening. The two groups seem to totally ignore eachother. They hardly even eat at the same time. They sleep on different perches and stay on opposite sides of the coop. Wierd, eh? I was silly and really wanted to see how mom's chickens would do outside so the first evening at our place I decided to let them out an hour before sunset just to get a peek of the place. That was dumb. The plan was to open the coop up, and let my chickens find their way back in (they were out all night) and then feed them all so that mom's chickens get the idea that they are fed at night. The trick here is to not have the goat inside because then there won't be any feed left. The first problem was that Mozz finally broke her red collar (that used to belong to Chloe, I think Hannelle gave it to her). The plastic just wore down from many pulls. So I had to find a spot to put Mozz where she couldn't get at the feed. After a few different rooms, I finally found one that she couldn't get out of but she BAWLED the whole time! The second problem was the actual chicknes. They weren't making any move for the grain that my chickens were already in and eating so I tried to shoo them in. Those chickens do NOT follow any kind of direction. You can't chase them because they will run to the side instead of in front of them. You can't lead them because the smallest pebble will distract them from the food that you are dangling in front of them. Chloe decided that these chickens are far more fun to chase than ours so she ended up making the problem worse by chasing the dumb rooster and adventurous hen all the way to the neighbors. So, I put Chloe in.It didn't take as long as it could have to get them in finally but I was steaming by the time it was all finished. Tuesday we were at Dan's parents for supper and so no anmials got out that night. Mom and I decided that part of the trick was not feeding them too much. You want them to be hungry for that grain. (James also told me that since they aren't laying yet, they won't really want that much food) So Tuesday I only fed them a bit, which they had to fight over with Mozz. On Wednesday I got another collar for Mozz, tied her up outside, planted lots of stuff in the garden and had a really successful evening. It felt good going to bed that night. I did let out the chickens again an hour before sunset and Chloe wasn't as interested as she was the first time. They were hungrier so they pretty much went in by themselves. Like I said, it was a good night.The ducks haven't hatched yet but I heard from Jim that muscovies actually take 32 days to hatch and not 28 so I'm not too anxious. Oh, and they seperated the nest into two nests and are now sitting separately. Hopefully when they hatch I'll be able to get some pictures here.
Work time! Gotta go. Have a good week!
posted by Nicole at 9:30 a.m.
3 Comments:
It's been a week! Where are those ducklings? I'm glad I'm not a duck, I'd be just like Jemima Puddle Duck.
Mom, that is so funny. I was at Hannelle's reading that comment and we had to look up who Jemima Puddle Duck is. I read the story out loud to her and had it flicker through my mind all day. What a funny story. So sad about her eggs in the end though. She definately isn't as smart as my ducks. I don't think you'ld be like her though at all. :)
It is a typical Beatrix Potter character. 'Oh well all your eggs gotten eaten by the dogs, too bad so sad'. And such a sucker for a sweet talking stranger. Still she has a great name.
Post a Comment
<< Home