Another Sunny Morning

It may seem uncalled for to some, but I have to start my entries with the fact that the sunshine has graced us once again this morning! Its so beautiful to see, I do love sunshine. It was in the twenties again this morning. I think winter is finally coming this weekend. We are in for some really cold nights...down into the teens, Wednesday on through the weekend. Winds are coming with that Thursday night...which will make it feel like we have taken the plunge into the arctic tundra.

Yesterday I got the two silver laced pullets (pullets simply means any female chicken under a year old) looked over yesterday. They didnt appear to have any pesky mites but I sprayed them with Frontline spray under the wings, on the back of the neck, and above their ummm, well you know, where the eggs and poo come out. ;) You have to be careful where you spray the Frontline, you dont want to spray it at the base of the tale on their back. That is where thier oil gland is. It is what they will rub their head on and then rub on their bodies to keep their feathers looking nice. I went ahead and checked Coco and Kuckoo over and found they did have some bugs...so I sprayed them with the Frontline spray too since I was already out there with the bottle. Today I am going to clean out Clydes old house and put in fresh shavings, fresh food and water and put the two girls in there tonight. Wednesday they will get their bath and blow dry. Thursday they will be looked over for STUBS (fifth paragraph down on this link). Any final grooming will be done. I have some 'shine in a bottle' you could call it that I use on my birds. You can get this at Sallys Beauty supply...it is for human hair, but is great for making the birds feathers shine. You have to be very careful not to use too much though, or you will end up with an oily looking bird. Their legs will be shined up with mineral oil. Their toenails clean. The two girls will look very nice. Friday I will probably just fuss over them...just out of sheer anxiousness. ;) Saturday morning I will leave out around 5 am, just to be sure I get there in plenty of time. Cooping in deadline time is 9 am. The birds have to have under their wing pricked and be tested for any diseases. They will then get a band on their leg that is good for three months. That means they will be ready to go and won't have to be tested for the other two shows I will attend in February.

The eggs in the incubator that I am hatching for Tex are doing well. Five were fertile out of eight. One of the five is questionable as far as its development. The amount of veins are less than the others. It doesnt appear to look as strong and thriving as the other four. We will see how that one turns out.

I had a sick Red Star...one of my layer girls. I didnt even mention her in my past entries. Sometimes these things happen over the winter. Winter is hard on any animal. She moulted, but did not grow in her feathers as well as the others. Moulting is so hard on a bird. They need all the nutrition in their feed to go straight to the feathering out, that is why they stop laying eggs at the time of moult. She was in a weak state. I gave her all the usual things, antibiotics, a vitamin and mineral supplement, high protein food, but she was just too weak and didnt make it. I used to get very upset when any chicken died. Its still disheartening. I have to admit that I am attached to certain ones more than others. They pick me, I don't pick them to be buddies with. The ones that have these big personalities are the ones that become more of a pet to me. In the case of this Red Star, she was not one of the ones that I was close to. Like I said, it was disheartening. It always is, to lose any of them, but not gut wrenching pain like I feel when one of my buddies goes.

The Golden Phoenix pullet is all healed up. She wants out of her pen. I have tried once already to put her back in the flock she came from, but they were not nice to her at all. I ended up pulling her out by the end of that day. She retreated to the roosting pen most of that day just to be left alone. I don't know what to do with her. I could try to put her in with the layer flock. I have silver phoenix hens over there, so why not a golden phoenix. It is hard for just one hen to be incorporated into a new flock. She takes a lot of abuse before settling into her place in the flock. I am still up in the air about what I want to do with her right now.

I will close todays entry with a few morning pictures I took, because the sun is shining, and that alone is enough reason to take pictures. Oh, before I forget, Bill, you asked about those chicks I raised up a while back? The last ones I raised were over last Spring and Summer. They were a mix of giant cochins, golden phoenix, serama, white crested polish, and some of my own mixes I made up. They are together in what I call the "pretties pen". I have taken pictures of them before, but not recently. I hope this answered your question. I will see about taking some pictures of them today and will post them tomorrow for you okay? :)

On with a few pictures...




Eddie on the left...Troy on the right. With those thick winter coats the cold doesnt seem to bother them much.




Tiny says good sunny morning to everyone

Now this robust big young rooster here...will be rehomed soon. A friend of a friend needs a strapping young man for his flock of hens and he seems like the man for the job. He is not a bad rooster, just overzealous with my ladies, and is really just an extra out here, so he needs to go to a new home. He will be well cared for and very happy. I am hoping they will be coming to get him soon.




Thats all I have for today...everyone have a fine Tuesday and I will be back tomorrow morning with some new pictures of my progress towards getting ready to show my two girls. I think they need names. I already have a Thelma and Louise...the two silkie girls. How about y'all give me some good names for these sisters. Tell you what. Y'all give me names, and I will pick what I like the best. The ones I pick, I will send a little prize in the mail to you...how about that? So a contest then. Put your thinking caps on and get creative for me. :)