In Other News...

Thank you everyone for your kind words on Hanks passing. He was a good rooster through and through. He was special. It means a lot that y'all stopped in and said a few kind words to this crazy chicken lady. I did call Mama and tell her that her favorite rooster had passed, and then it all came out. My face screwed up into a tortured look, I know it had be awful looking...then I started bawling. Mama consoled me, telling me I did everything I could. I am okay now, but I will miss him for a long time.

Its raining here this morning, but I knew it was coming. Its a bit windy to go with that rain too. No outdoor fun today. I don't mind. When it rains I can stay in and spend a little more time visiting your blogs. I can also get a bit more housework done seeing as the outdoors does not call me when its raining outside. Only when the sun is shining and its warm does it call me.

Monday the three of us went to visit Tex and Debbie. Tex has a relative that gets a deal on chicken (to eat) and was kind enough to share this deal with us. We came home with over 40 pounds of chicken tenders for about ten bucks. Pilgrims Pride brand too, not a bad brand of chicken.

While we were there I got to see those babies that I had hatched for Debbie...they are growing and getting so beautiful. Here are a few pictures of them...she has had two of those white crested blue polish come out a really light color gray, and they were so beautiful...she offered one to me, but I didnt take it, I dont want to be greedy. She already gave me the four and then Shelby got the only Salmon Faverolle chick that hatched. The other one I thought was one, turned out to be a cochin.












After showing me the chicks we went down the hill to see all her other chickens. Her son has his game chickens down there also. She has been using some of his pens for her chickens and he has been grumbling about it some, but I told him later to be nice to his Mama and share.

She has a pretty pair of splash or mottled cochins, I am not sure if they are splash or mottled. He looks more splash, she looks more mottled. Whatever they are, they are really pretty birds.






Here is a picture of Tex's pheasant below...






Two Black Tailed Japanese roosters...bantams...






A whole flock of Golden Penciled Hamburgs...Dwain is looking to buy these. I sent him this picture and he really likes these...






A couple of Jacobs games down below...








They were also so kind as to dig up one of their yellow bell bushes for us to take home. Debbie has a really green thumb. She has grown a lot of these from just snapping off branches from an existing bush and she says they root really easy. She also dug me up some of her peonies that came from her grandmothers flowers.

She had other chickens, but I didnt get pictures of all of them. She has what I believe to be a nice pair of Seramas. I am not an authority on breeds though, so don't hold me to it. She has a nice pair of Crele Old English too. She also has a flock of bantam Golden laced Sebrights.

She is stressing though, because she doesnt have the room for all these chickens. She does, but remember, she is using Jacobs pens..some of them. She needs to get some pens built, but like me, she is a very busy lady. They are the ones that have the exotic birds if you remember me posting a lot of those pictures before. A lot of these birds have come from an elderly lady up in Commerce, Ga. that had a stroke and can't keep up with all her birds anymore, so she is getting rid of most if not all of them. Debbie and Tex came home with a lot of them this past visit to her house, and Debbie doesnt want to keep them all. The next trip up there Ian, Shelby and I are going with Tex and Debbie to visit her, and maybe help rehome some birds. I can take some, and the ones I don't keep I can easily find homes for them. I did come home with her trio of bantam Silver Spangled Hamburgs. She says that the daddy of the male in this picture below won many awards at poultry shows. If the two girls will lay, I will hatch from this trio and then I will have a bantam breed to show next year.






Better pictures of these three will come later.


Last but not least, Dwains eggs (a second batch he sent to me) have hatched. These are serama babies. I started out with fourteen eggs...two were not fertile and were tossed out. Five died in the shell at some point in development. One died hatching out. It didnt make it out of the shell on its own. A lot of times I will help the baby out of the shell if it looks to be having a hard time. Sometimes they are too big in the shell and cant get turned around to peck out. I try not to though. Its best to let them do it on their own. If you help one out, sometimes the belly button will bleed a few drops and that worries me. I haven't had any die from helping them out, but it still worries me. I helped two out with this bunch, four hatched on their own, and then the one that I didnt help out (and I regret this now) died in the shell. Here are the six babies that made it....








The babies I have been hatching for myself are getting to where they are hopping up on the sides of the box they are in...I tell them to stop being bad and stay in the box...lol. They don't listen very well. I guess I will have to cover them soon, or put them in a larger box...I dont know which I am going to do, but I will do something about it today. Here are my bad babies. ;)







I know this has been a rather lengthy entry for me. I hope it has been a little entertaining today. I am going to go get a fresh cup of coffee and then go see what some of you fine folks are up to today.