This post is WAY overdue.  My only excuse is that I was in Boston visiting my wonderful friend Jenny and when I got back I had a new computer waiting for me to learn.  It’s a Macbook and I am used to using a PC.  And I am a techno-dummy so the adjustment period will be longer for me than most!

We really are feeling an awful lot like chicken world these days.  As of this morning we’ve had 12 hatchlings.

It all started last week with Puffy Fluffy:

I wasn’t too sure we’d get more than 2 or 3 hatches out of the 15 or so that our broody hen, Amelie, was sitting on.  In our experience, the hen would get sick of sitting on those eggs after the second or third and then abandon the half – baked eggs still in the nest.

Amelie, though, has proved herself to be made for broodiness and motherhood.  She’s stuck it out almost to the bitter end.

Emily has named them all (with the exception of Puffy Fluffy) after characters in the Hunger Games trilogy and the Harry Potter series.  So please welcome Prim, Clove, Fleur, Twill, Madge, Wiress, Tonks, Bonnie, Effie,  Ginny and Minerva.

There are at least 2 chicks that are a cross of Sicilian Buttercup and Buff Brahma. (Funky weird comb plus fluffy feet equals awesome).

I am only sad that we didn’t have any blue eggs to hatch this time or eggs from our funny “hatted” chicken, Delia:

Next spring?

Losing little chicks is one thing – they’re very fragile and any little thing can doom them.
Losing an established member of your flock is quite another.
Two in one day?
That’s when we start to worry.
This morning Emily found one of our new ducks, LaQuack, dead in the front coop. She had seemed just fine last night and there was no evidence of sickness or trauma.
That was quite a surprise to us, and of course sad. We felt worse for her hatchling, Fanny, than we did for ourselves, though.

I’ve never lost a duck before, so I was puzzled as to what could have been the problem.  I made a mental note to look into possible causes after cleaning up and showering.

Then Emily opened that back coop, and to our very great sadness, found that Big Jim, our lovely and sweet Barred Rock roo, had also met his fate.

Emily and I spent the day cleaning all of the old bedding out of both coops and putting fresh in.  We also put a holistic wormer in their feed along with a vitamin supplement and antibiotics in their water.  These are all a shot in the dark,  since we have zero other symptoms, aside from the fact that most of our hens have stopped laying eggs.  I wasn’t overly worried about that fact before; egg laying can stop due to stress, changes in light and or temperature, or regular molting (loss of old feathers and growth of new).  But it can also occur due to illness.  The fact that our hale and hearty rooster died means that there is more than likely some illness afoot, so we are treating it as best we can.

I am worried for the rest of our flock tonight, and I am sad we lost such a lovely and gentle rooster. It seems crazy to be upset over a chicken, but there you have it.

I am also puzzled as to why we lost a duck out of the coop where the hens have NOT stopped laying.

I am comforting myself for now with a quote from Dr Seuss (I believe).

“Don’t cry because it’s over.   Smile because it happened”

I’ll smile that we got to spend time with these funny and beautiful creatures.

We’ve been looking here and there at some small farms in the area and fallen in love with some. We’ve had our hearts set on more than one only to be disappointed when they’ve been snatched up. We still are waiting on our tax return – even though we filed on the very first day allowable – and we are depending on that to give us the cash we need to move. As if that weren’t frustrating enough, now I’ve had so much chicken – related woes that I am losing sleep  over it.
We got  48 chicks from a hatchery and we promptly lost 12 to what we think is “pasty butt” a condition that shipped chicks can sometimes get. I did everything I could to save the remaining chicks and thought we were in the clear. We’ve been having to keep them in the garage because the brooder-shed was not warm enough even with the heat lamps, and I fear that we may not have lost as many had that been better heated. Now we’re losing more. Paul and Emily moved them back out to the brooder since it’s been much warmer and they are older and we wanted them to have more room, but we’ve lost 4 more  in the past two days. I don’t even know what I am doing wrong but I can’t bear it.
On top of that, my grown chickens have been roaming free because our fencing system had broken down, and they were flying over the gates. I was very worried for them so I made a smaller pen out of the t-posts and welded wire from the larger pen. They still would not stay in it.
Today I clipped their wings. I think this might finally be what keeps them in place and safe, but just as I was starting to have some sort of faith in the universe again, we discovered that sweet Benny, our one and only blue egg – layer, is gone. She is nowhere to be found, and I am heart sick.

I can’t express how deeply I resent this house, this property and the whole broken – down housing market right now.  I am desperate to be away from here and in a better position where I am allowed guard animals and there’s a  real fencing system to protect our flock.

Despite all of this, I want to thank all of you who have been such an amazing support for us through all of this mess and who still believe in us.  Knowing that you are all out there pulling for us is truly what gets me through.

It’s finally been warm enough here lately that we can fill up Paddy Duck’s little swimmy pool and let her get some water exercise.

I’m still amazed at how much I love ducks – they are cute, they are smart, they are a hoot to watch.

Paddie’s grown into quite a lovely duck, and quite a good watch-duck.  She’ll quack noisily whenever anyone comes down the driveway or opens the front door.

And now, she has some non – chicken company.  Remember those little ducklings we brought home almost exactly one month ago?

They’re now big enough to be outside.

That’s right, those huge ducks (“Fanny” and “LeQuack”)  are just over a month old.  In fact, they’re big enough that Paddie is rather nervous around them.

I’m pretty sure we have a male and a female there.  I’m hoping so, anyway.  In Paddie’s case, we’re fairly certain she’s a “she”, but as we have had no duck eggs yet…..we have no concrete proof.  Two females and a male would be a happy trio.  Here’s hoping!