Big Baby Chicks Update

We got the 4 Welsummers plus 2 (1 barred Rock, 1 Australorp) when they were 1 month old. They moved out to the coop within their own enclosure at 2 months old. Now at 3 months old they're starting to really interact with the rest of the flock.

I've found that a slow introduction where new chicks or chickens are living together, seeing each other, without touching leads to a successful integration. 

And the big babies still love dust bathing in fresh shavings! That was the first thing they did when we brought them home and they still love it. They'd been brooded up to a month old in a wire bottom brooder, I'm sure the fluffy shavings felt nice to dust bath in. here is some dust bathing action right in the new bag of shavings.

Ducks Update

Our flock of 10 ducks is doing fabulously. Average day is still 6 duck eggs with an occasional 5 or 7 egg day. They're very happy with all the puddles that melting snow is producing. They're even more happy that their pools are no longer covered in snow.

Duck prints from day before froze overnight

A rare 7 duck egg day

Maple update end of March

Maple sugaring season is well underway. I'm quite surprised to have already over 8 gallons of syrup made. This is the most I've ever made in one season and the season is still going strong. I thought the 7 gallons from last year really was my upper limit for our small operation. The weather has been so up and down since mid February it's been more like 2 maple seasons in one. We started early when there was a warm up. Then the weather got very wintery again and all sap flowing halted. Later everything warmed enough again and the maple has been flowing ever since. I must admit at this point I wouldn't mind being done but might as well see if I can get 10 gallons and some candy. The new outdoor gas burner has been working wonderfully. I didn't mind boiling in the kitchen for the last couple years but now I'm reminded how nice it is to boil outdoors and keep all the excess moisture out of the kitchen.

The challenges (and reward) of winter chicks

In our area we have long, cold winters. I didn't set out to have winter chicks since I knew there would be challenges. When an opportunity presented itself to buy a couple Welsummer chicks, a breed I've wanted for awhile, I decided to give it a try. These chicks were hatched January 22nd. When we purchased them they were already almost a month old. Now they're just about two months old. The chicks we chose were 4 Welsummers, 1 Barred Rock and 1 Australorp.

The first challenge came when we got them home. These chicks were big and they were bored. They'd lived in the farm store brooder for far too long, possibly because many don't think about buying "spring" chicks in January or February. They'd been feather pecking each other out of boredom and all of them had bare backs! That was quickly fixed by giving them treats, a play cage with things to do such as perches and shiny things to explore and making sure they had high protein treats so they could re-grow those feathers. 

The second challenge was...they were already big! Chicks grow fast, they were almost too big for the brooder I'd set up so I quickly changed to a larger brooder cage. 

Third challenge...winter weather! By four weeks old in summer (By a few days old in fact) I would have chicks outdoors daily getting natural sun, grit from the dirt, grass and bugs. Thankfully we had a warm stretch around their 5th week and I got them outdoors and even on bare ground for awhile but then we had three big snowstorms in a row and the ground was long buried. To get some greens and fresh foods into them with snow on the ground I gave them some chopped up leafy green vegetables, with some chick sized grit for digestion. 

Fourth challenge, they're coop ready by 6 weeks but it's so cold out. To combat this challenge I gave them some time in the coop each day then returned them to their indoor brooder at night. After the first few days of this and seeing that they didn't seem cold I moved them out to the coop, in a large dog kennel cage and moved their brooder heat plate with them just in case. They didn't need the heat though and chose to sleep perched on sticks in their cage. Chicks are hardier than we sometimes give them credit for, once they're fully feathered they can live in a safe, insulated, ventilated coop even in cold climate winters. 

For the last week the chicks have been exploring the coop with the flock, the flock has accepted them and all is going well. they still sleep in their own cage within the coop at night, until they're a bit bigger. It was a little harder to raise winter chicks but the rewards will be eggs by summer! Can't wait to see those terra cotta and speckled Welsummer eggs!

Photos- big chicks exploring the coop. they love getting on the highest roost bars. 

Nor'easter, growing chicks and maple syrup upgrade

Wednesday into Thursday we had a big old Nor'Easter snowstorm. Sixteen inches of new snow right when spring is supposed to be working its way in is a bit disappointing. Not much to be done but carry on.

The dogs always love playing in new snow, for a little while anyway.

 KitKat said no thanks! And he headed right back indoors.

 The ducks don't mind but the chickens are not impressed.

 Where oh where have my maple sap buckets gone?

 The snow is coming down fast and soon Bigfoot the black cochin is turning white!

In spite of the storm it was time for the baby chicks, now almost 7 weeks old, to move to the coop. The coop is cozy and they have more space in this dog kennel cage than they did in their brooder. Also they will get to know the flock. 

When it was shut up time I found that i couldn't close the coop door! the snow was so heavy on the roof of the attached run that the roof was sagging a bit. 

 When I realised this I cleaned off the roof right away. I'm glad I got this hint of the problem, the next morning I heard of many who had damaged coops and runs from the weight of snow or in some cases falling trees or branches. It was quite a storm.

Surprisingly the maple sap has been flowing even though we've gotten cold and the buckets were buried. It's almost time to boil again.

A box arrived this morning which should make the next boil a lot faster and easier. What is in that big smiling box below?

 A new propane gas burner! Our old one broke a couple years back so we've been boiling in the kitchen. It will be nice to take all that evaporation back outdoors.

Of course Linnea thinks the giant box is the best part of this new purchase!

Ducks Update

Hard to believe we've only had the new adopted ducks for a few weeks. They are indistinguishable from the rest of the flock. You look close you can see who is who but at a glance you would never know that they didn't grow up together. Every day we get 6 eggs from 7 layers (the 2 rouen females aren't laying yet), seems a different one takes a day off each day. We haven't had a 7 duck egg day yet but I'm sure it won't be long before we do.

We had a big Nor'easter snowstorm on Wednesday into Thursday. Thursday morning the chickens were reluctant to go out into all the new snow but the ducks loved it.

The ducks found a little pond (big puddle?)  area when we had a warm up and lots of snow melted. they didn't forget about that pond when the snow covered it up, they made their own path and uncovered the now much smaller puddle.

The ducks shovel faster than I do!

The pond has become a puddle to be uncovered from snow but the ducks weren't dismayed. They found it and dabbled around in the icy mud.