Buff Brahma On The Rocks

One of these rocks is
not like the others.


When I first looked at the rock pile I didn't see the hen. She just looked like one of the rocks until she moved.

Then she moved up

to one of the

water basins

for a drink of rain water.

She didn't stay up there very long.

I guess I disturbed her

when I was walking around

taking photos.

The myrtle (vinca minor) is so pretty and green this year because of the wet winter. Some years it suffers when it is a hot dry year with not much rain in the winter. It is a hardy plant and manages to hang on with little care from me as long as it has some shade. It might die back a bit in full sun in the summer if it gets too dry and hot, but then it will recover with the first rains of the year.

The chickens don't eat the myrtle leaves or flowers.

In fact, Nothing seems to bother the myrtle. 

Kristine told me she has some Western Tanagers living in the trees near her slider upstairs. I love this site, All About Birds, there is a great photo of the Western Tanager and lots of information. They are beautiful birds. I have only seen one once and Kristine said they move too fast for her to get a photo. They are supposed to be slow moving? I guess our Tanagers didn't get the word. Kristine and I had a lot of fun today looking up birds on this site and listening to the sounds they make. I can understand how people get hooked on bird watching.

Peek at the Past

(May 23, 2009)

Morgan is so funny!

[7 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Sprouts Day Two And A Night

It was sunny today! Soon those oaks will have tiny green leaves. We are going to be having warm days for at least a week.

Kristine brought home the latest Foreigner book by C. J. Cherryh, so I'm going to post this and then go to bed and read for a while and then hopefully go to sleep early so I can get up early and work outside tomorrow.

Kristine is searching the internet for information about grants or fellowships for undergraduates. Not an easy job at all to find the information you want. There are lots of sites that will take your money  to find grants. I think I will be spending a lot of time doing my own searching for grants.

Sometimes chickens hang out together. The Buff Orpington and Dark Brahma are friends.

They looked like they were dancing the chicken dance in the first photo.



They ate the lettuce I gave them and then they came over to the slider and spent some time watching us! 

I guess that is only fair since we spend time watching them.

The sprouts still look the same and today is not really day three because I started the sprouts in the evening,  so this is really more of a day two. I did cover the jar with a kitchen towel because I read that the sprouts do better in a dark environment.

I was afraid to hide the jar away in a cupboard because I might forget about it and bad moldy things would happen.

I made breakfast (bacon and blueberry pancakes) for for dinner again. 

Peek at the Past

(March 15, 2009)

I don't keep food lists anymore.

[8 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Biscuits On The Wood Stove

Take my picture! Hen Roo posed for a photo and now this Buff Brahma is posing for a picture too. In the rain. I didn't let the hens out today but they went outside anyway and stood in the rain in their pen and yelled at me!

I know it must have been something very unpleasant in chicken, so I'm very glad I don't understand their language. Body language is something else. Their body language said loud and clear that they were upset and wanted out of the pen right now or they were going to hide their eggs or ?

The raincoat has been retired. Morgan spent part of the day outside playing when the rain was fairly light. She wouldn't come back! I tricked her with the slider. She heard it open and came because she thought I was going to give the chickens treats. She always comes for that.

I made homemade drop biscuits on the wood stove last night and tonight. My method was first to pre-heat the iron pan and the lid on the wood stove on a trivit. While the pan and lid were heating I mixed up the drop biscuits. I ran out of butter tonight so I substituted partially with bacon grease. I think bacon grease is the secret ingredient in a lot of recipes.

Then, quick, I got the pan off the wood stove (I left the lid heating on the trivit on the stove) I oiled the pan generously, dropped the biscuits in, popped on the lid and put the pan on the trivit for 10 minutes. Then I checked to see how the biscuits were cooking. I decided it was time to turn them.

I brought the pan over to the cook top. Then I took the lid off and oiled it. Then I put the lid back on the pot and turned the whole thing up side down lid and all. Then I lifted off the pan. The biscuits were in the lid with the cooked side up!

Then I oiled the pan again and slipped the biscuits off the lid back into the pan. This time the uncooked side is against the bottom all set to brown. I love it when a plan comes together! They tasted so good! I really like knowing that I can cook on the wood stove if there is need. For now it is just a lot of fun!

[5 eggs today]

Clean eggs!

The wood ash stepping place is working!

Peek at the Past

(February 21, 2009)
Neat replica hoosier!
I want these!
Well, maybe not. The food bins are not safe for food storage. But the containers are neat. And the spice rack, and...

~:>

Smiles

Molting, Broody or ? - How To Identify A Laying Chicken

We are not  going to be culling any of our chickens that are not laying eggs. They are pets and even if they don't lay they do clear the property of insects, they fertilize and turn over the leaves, look good and are fun to watch. So, they all stay. However, I'm curious.

   I wanted to know which hens were laying eggs and why some of them weren't, why and when some molted, and how the broody business affected egg laying, etc. So... I went on a Google search and I found a site here (University of Kentucky) that not only explains a few things and it also has photos!

   There are photos of a good layer and poor layer, vents and fat deposits, and more. I'm going to read this over a few times and then maybe check my hens at night when they are on their roosts.

   Not all of our hens have yellow skin so I would need to use the other methods to check for layers. At least now I know how to identify which chickens are laying. I think it is interesting how the hen uses up the yellow pigment and then goes off laying and replaces the pigment and then starts up the laying process again.

   These photos show the chickens yelling at me yesterday to let them out of the pen, the hens squeezing between the slats, and then running off to the woods. Do they stop to say hi or thanks? A few stick around for a little bit. I think they are the smart ones who want to find out if I have treats.

   This is, Shorty, the short legged Buff Brahma that wasn't expected to survive because she was half the size of the other chicks  and in such bad shape the feed store added her to the box of chicks for free because they didn't think she would live if left with the other chicks. So she was a freebie.           

   When Kristine went down to the feed store to get the second batch of chicks (actually we'd already gotten 4, but they seemed to need a few more buddies before they'd stop peeping all night long) she  was given two buff brahma chicks, when she'd originally only asked for two. The girl who was getting the chicks said,"Oh. We're going to give you this one for free. We don't think its going to make it."


And indeed, the freebie chick was half the size of the other chicks, and crouched, and weaving slightly, and none too bright of eye. Yep. It was probably a goner. But she took the miserable little thing home anyway, and tossed it in with the all the others, bringing the total number to 7.  3 dark brahmas, 3 buff brahmas, and 1 lone cochin.


They dog piled that night with Death-bait, right in the middle. The next morning, DB was up, eating, and actually frisky... Kristine came to the conclusion that although it was undersized, it just needed less crowded conditions to do well. Today she's sort of short in the leg, but otherwise quite alive and perky. (This paragraph was written by, Kristine. I always get this tale mixed up, so she volunteered to set the story straight.)


   Shorty and the photo of the Wyandotte yesterday both have yellow beaks and yellow feet. So, I think this means that they are getting tanked up on yellow pigment and ready to lay soon?  When we start getting more daylight?


PS:
Here are two more sites I found. I still think the Kentucky one is the best, but these have additional information. Florida Poultry Judging Manual and the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

[3 eggs yesterday]

[2 eggs today]

Peek at the Past

February 1, 2009

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Smiles

Windy, Rainy Day

This is a photo I took yesterday of a Buff Brahma hen. I think she is a cutie and still pretty even though she is molting. She is a laying hen. Well, at least I think she is laying because she has a small comb and her wattles are small, and she has a fluffy bum. I have a few hens who are looking and sounding more and more like roosters. I've posted about them before, like Orp/Roo here. And there is a black Australorp in that photo that is looking and acting like a rooster too here. These hens started changing after our rooster was killed by a coyote.

I did a little work in the kitchen, but after the light went out I gave up. I finished up some more measuring tonight. I was figuring out how and where to put the screws and drill the holes to hold the old drawer fronts on the cabinet. Tomorrow I will do the drilling and put drawer fronts on to make sure they are level then take them off and do some painting. I have to remember to take some photos.

The wind was barely moving the Fall house flag, when I took this video this morning, yet the tops of the trees were blowing back and forth. And as the wind would hit in stronger gusts the flag would whip around and then the trees would really move. You can hear a clunk or two of stuff hitting the roof. I was making pancakes for breakfast and never got back to taking pictures. I made a big pot of chicken soup for dinner tonight and tomorrow. This storm is supposed to be out of here by Thursday, only cloudy then and back in the 70's. There was lots of noise last night made by stuff hitting the roof. So, I didn't sleep very well and neither did Kristine. In fact I went back to sleep today partly because it was cold and also because I was sleepy. The chickens are fine and Morgan slept the day away too.

[5 eggs today]

Tom collected the eggs today.

Smiles

~:>

Ouch!

This is a pretty Buff Brahma that I have been finding in the top old nest box. She has made a nice cozy nest for herself and I have been finding her there for about the last week. I guess she is broody or the cooler Fall weather has caused her to look for a warm spot. She lays medium dark brown eggs that I especially like for my breakfast. That look says go away I'm busy!

My brother built this house in the 70's and I guess there were no flush boxes made then for the heater control in those days. When we first move here I used to have something hanging over this box so I would notice it and not bump my head. For some reason I took it off and I'm sorry. I was looking somewhere else and crashed my forehead in to the side of it. Thank goodness I didn't hit the corner or that would have really caused a problem. A little ice pack and I'm fine, but...

I went and found something to hang over it again. These little pigs can do guard duty. Makes me feel like such a clutz.

[5 eggs today]

Smiles

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