The Fancy Fowl Poultry Show in Monroe, Georgia

Alright, are you ready for this???

Let me start at the beginning. I finally got to sleep Friday night around 10:30 or 11:00 pm. It is hard for me to go to sleep when I am anticipating the excitement of the coming day. I had set the alarm for 3 am, but woke up at 2:30. Too excited to go back to sleep I layed their contemplating the coming day. At almost 3 I got on up and showered, got my lucky shirt on of course...and ohhhh it is so lucky. :) Rain had been predicted for overnight so I had put RainX on the trucks windshield. Lucky for me I didnt run into much more than a light rain. Most of the time it was just a light drizzle. Still, it was dark and it was wet, so I was extra careful. I got out of the house around 4:50 am. Dwain had called the night before and wanted to go also so I was going to be meeting him off an exit off of I20 coming through Atlanta. I met up with him at a Walmart and he parked and rode the rest of the way with me.

I had an interesting time in those five minutes I was waiting on Dwain. I hadnt even gotten into the parking lot good and some guy backs up in his PT Cruiser and rolls his window down. I just look at him. I roll my window down a little and say to him "YES???" He says back in a slurry voice (its 6 am on a Saturday morning, I am assuming this guy has been out all night partying and cruising) "HEYYY babeee...I was just wanting so say hello to you and tell you how beautiful you are." I just looked at him and said..."OOOOkay!!!" and rolled the window back up and drove on past. I decided it would be better to park and turn off my lights so I wouldnt draw anymore unwanted attention. Nope. I didnt even get parked good to take my foot off the brake so the lights were not showing and some woman pulls up in her SUV and waves enthusiasticly with this big smile on her face like we are old friends. Oh boy, here we go...she rolls her window down, I roll mine down and she says to me. "I need to ask you something, but before I do I want you to pray about it." I just nodded my head with an absurd look on my face. Then she says something about she was low on gas, and she wondered if I could follow her over to the gas station and pay for her some gas..that she wasnt going to make it home...then it all went in one ear and out the other. So...not being the sucker I used to be...I replied to her with this..."Well, you know what, these big vehicles these days sure do take a lot of gas dont they, and as a matter of fact I dont have any money on me at all and I am waiting on a friend to come and meet me here so he can buy me some gas." SHE LOOKED DUMBFOUNDED...LOL. She didnt know what to say to that. Then after a few moments of silence she came back with this..."Well do you think your friend could help me out?" I said "No, I dont think so, he is just bringing enough for me." More dumbfounding looks...and then finally she said Okay..and went on her way.

Now I have no doubt that there are people in need out there. Don't drive up to my in your expensive SUV and tell me you need gas in your vehicle at 6 am on a Saturday morning and expect me to believe that you dont go around getting people to pay for your gas all the time, cause I have been dupped before when I was younger and I dont fall for that crap anymore.

Dwain got there and I told him about my parking lot adventures. He apologized saying he didnt know he was sending me into that kind of activity. I told him that was alright, I used to live in Forest Park, and I ain't scared. ;)

So we got on the road and it wasnt really that much further and we got to the area a lot earlier than I expected, but that was a good thing, seeing as we couldnt seem to find the place from the directions on the show pamphlet...lol. It said to pass a church and then the road we were looking for, Criswell Road, would be next. Never mind that we passed a hundred churches in the stretch of a mile! We did finally find it. I almost turned around, but Dwain said go just a little further and just around the corner there was our road! The church they spoke of passing was way before the road. Nevertheless, we made it.

Soon as we got there we got Babe and Buckbuck tested. Their legs are so heavily feathered the test person couldnt get the bands on so I pocketed them. As long as I have the test paper verification and the bands to match we are good. I found the coops and got them in their holes. We went back out and got the other four birds, the Polish and got them cooped in, but we were short one hole! Brian, the head of the Fancy Fowl Poultry Club just put two of his show birds into one coop and made room for one of mine. He said it didnt matter anyway, seeing as those were his birds and technically since its his show, he just has them there to look at, not to win anything. Brian kept saying I was going to be going home with some plaques. I wasnt so sure. We would just wait and see. I didnt want to get overconfident. Dwain and I went about browsing looking at all the other entries and taking pictures of them. He had already found a pair of Old English he loved and bought them. He ended up leaving with those and some fantail pigeons. This was the first poultry show he had ever been to and I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven. Heaven for us chicken fanciers anyway. ;) I saw a lot of folks and introduced Dwain to folks and he actually jumped right in there and was right at home in no time talking to all sorts of folks about all sorts of birds. He is going to be hooking one guy up with about fifteen Seramas from a friend of his that is looking to get into D'Uccles and out of Serama.

We had us a sausage and egg biscuit for breakfast there at the counter and they had all sorts of food cooking in pressure cookers and crock pots on the counters. Later we got us a BBQ sandwich and it was pretty good too! The food at these shows is never disappointing. After lunch we noticed that they were starting to judge the large fowl. They always do the large fowl last, but it doesnt matter because I am there for the duration anyway. Its just proper to stay the whole show if you are showing birds, even if you dont win anything. I cant stand to look. I go outside pacing around nervously...talking to folks til I cant stand it and I tell Dwain I am going in to peek. He stayed outside talking to folks. I went in and they had finished judging...and my eyes popped out of my head. I think they did anyway. My face got hot and I was getting really excited as I went down the row. Later I would get even more excited as Brian set out the plaques and trophies on top of all the cages of the birds that won. The plaques were very exciting, but the Large Fowl and Reserve Large Fowl Champion had not been chosen as of yet, until Brian placed that trophy on top of Babes pen. I lost my mind for a minute I think. I was so happy, I just can't begin to tell you how happy. You see, I am fourty years old, and never in my whole life have I taken home a trophy for anything...not even as a kid. Yes, I took dance and all that, but this is real, this was IT man, this was MY time to shine. I had Champion birds, and I had awards coming to them left and right. So let me show you some pictures now and stop yapping....First, the awards, then the birds with their awards...















and so...I came home very PROUD of my CHAMPIONS. :) It took me four years of doing this to figure out what I was doing, but I think I know what I am doing now!

Next weekend is the Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Associations show in Newnan, Ga. I will be there, along with Dwain, and Karen is going too. Of course Buckbuck, Babe, Kuckoo, Coco, Laverne and Shirley will all be there shining like the champions they are. Everyone has won something now except Buckbuck. Maybe the Newnan show will be his day to shine. :)

The rest of this week I will be busy as a bee. I want to get Phoenix's outfit done for this coming weekends show so he can hang out with me and draw a lot of attention with his cute John Deere chicken diaper outfit. ;) I will make at least one more entry, probably two showing picture of a lot of the birds that were shown at this show.

Ray (from the poultry show)...if your reading this, I did in fact take a super shot of one of your sons birds. I think it was Clyde. :) I also have pictures of both the campines and your daughters silkies she showed. I will post them tomorrow morning during my quiet and coffee time.

Priscilla and My Sussex, Shelbys Rabbit Tyler

I do have good news regarding this past weekend, but first I have to get something down on here in hopes it will ease my mind some and help my sadness to fade. I am better now, but yesterday was one of those days...one of those days of loss.


Early in the day yesterday I heard a ruckus on the side of the house where the pretties are housed and fenced. Everyone was sounding the alarm. Everyone was hiding in between the pens...screeching and screaming...sounding the predator alarm.


I got up from what I was doing to go and see. Unlike guineas...when chickens sound the alarm like this, there is really something threatening them and they are scared. When I opened the door and looked out there stood a hawk. Right there on the gate at the bottom of the steps going out to Buckbuck, Babe, and Derbys side of the house. I clapped my hands together and yelled at it to get out of here. It took off and sailed across the front yard to one of the bartlett pear trees lining the drive. Not good enough for me...more yelling and clapping sent it flying across the street to the patch of wooded area. It promptly landed on some dead branches straggling along the outer edge of the wooded area. It sat there and sat there. Soon crows saw it and began to harrass it. Crows will run hawks off. I didnt see anyone missing. Priscilla was standing at the bottom of the steps...just looking out at me.


This is where I should have stopped and thought things out. This is where I made my terrible mistake that cost Priscilla her life, and I am to blame for not thinking better and bringing her in right then and there. You see, she doesnt hang out in the pretties pen during the day. They dont like her over there. If you remember I had rescued her from being killed by them. It took her some time to heal. She lost half her comb but she became so tame and trusting of me. She knew her name and came to me when I called her. She is the one that comes in in the evening going straight to her little pen, getting in and having a drink of water and a bite to eat before settling in for the night. She never hesitated or cringed when I would pick her up. She loved the attention. She knew I wouldnt hurt her. Just the other day the wind had blown the screen door on the porch open. She had come into the porch, jumped up on top of Mochas cattery pen and began pacing at the kitchen window wanting in to see me. I was doing dishes at the sink. I asked Shelby to please put her back out of the porch for me. Now I wish I could see her pacing at that kitchen window. Normally Buckbuck and Babe are out there and she hangs around on their side with them, but they arent out there right now, remember, they are in the house on shavings in a box because I am showing them. So she was alone.

You see, the hawk came back a second time, landing in the exact same spot on the gate. I ran outside to shoo it away. Then I saw it. Behind the row of pens...one of the emus was picking at something on the ground...something surrounded by feathers strewn everywhere. This is why the hawk had come back. It had already made a kill, but I had missed it. The hawk had killed one of my precious first birds I ever raised. One of my speckled sussex girls. They are coming up on being seven years old now. They are old, slow and very heavy. This is why I believe she was killed easily by a hawk that was just not that big. Out in the back near the peafowl pen were more feathers...big feathers, little feathers...all torn out of my speckled sussex as she ran for cover behind those pens. She just didnt make it fast enough. I found her body...her whole neck area eaten down to the bone and her bottom jaw missing. The hawk hadnt had its fill. I have seen how much a hawk can eat..and they can eat a lot. Usually they tear into the breast meat down into the entrials and strew those about. Yes, I know, it is grizzly and gross sounding, but I have lived it unfortunately last year with one of my buttercup hens being killed.

I ran down the steps and out of the horses pen area into the back and around behind the pens shooing away the emu, disgusted by their behavior. Emus dont eat meat, why was it picking at my poor dead chicken? I can't say that I have an answer for that. I picked up her body and got her up to the porch. Storming through the house I was mad...and I told Ian what had happened and that I want him to get up right now and get the gun and get it loaded and kill that hawk when it comes back.

I have had one person tell be before not to do this, that they are protected. On a farm, you do what you have to do to keep your animals safe. Period. Its just the hard cold truth. A wild predator that finds a food source will keep coming back until that food source is gone. I can't allow that. Just the way it is.

The hawk was again across the street. I noticed that Priscilla was missing. I called and called Priscilla but she was not coming to my calls. I told Ian she was missing and he walked about looking here and there. I called and searched. Nothing. He came back up into the porch and then he saw it and he said to me "Kelly she's dead". I watched as he ran out to the pool deck, but the pole was out in the yard. As I came up the steps and into the porch I saw what he had seen. She had panicked. She is a lightweight bird and can fly very well for a chicken. The golden and the silver Phoenix are like this. She flew up and over the wall that serves as a blind on that side of the deck. She landed in the water. We never heard her thrashing about so I assume this happened when the hawk came back the second time. She had already drowned so we never heard her. I ran out to the yard and got the pole. We both knew it was too late, but I ran anyway. I got to the backside of the deck and handed Ian the pole. He pulled her in and set her on the deck. She was not moving. I said "Give her to me". He handed her over the railing to me. She was limp and cold and wet. I didnt care. I tried anyway. I opened her beak and put my mouth over it and shallowly breathed in air. I felt her neck and chest expand a little and backed off. I kept on doing that for a couple of minutes. Standing there with this cold, wet limp chicken...trying to breathe life into her again. Her heart was stopped. It had just been too long. I cradled her body in my arms careful not to let her lolling head droop down. I went into the porch...I sat down on a chair...and I cried. I cried so hard. This girl was special. She had an awareness some of the other chickens just dont ever develop. It wasnt fair. Ian had gotten the gun. He was going out to the edge of the street. He was going to try and shoot the hawk that was still perching at the edge of the wooded area. As I sat there cradling Priscillas body and crying I heard the shot...and I prayed he hit his mark. I got up and gently set her body down and headed out the porch door, down the steps and out to the front to see if he had made the kill. He was halfway back across the yard and I asked him. He had tried, but it was just too far away for a shotgun. The hawk flew off after he made the shot. Still, I have hope he may have wounded it enough that it will not be back. I do have the shotgun loaded with the safety on, chambered, ready. I will be watching today.

I went to bed last night...and as I fell asleep I wanted to stop thinking about what I should have could have done. If I had brought her in that first time, as she stood there looking at me...with those trusting sweet innocent eyes, looking at me for protection, she would still be alive this morning...laying her egg this morning, announcing the arrival of her egg...and then clucking about to be let outside for the day.

I am still sad, but it will pass. I have others that still depend on me and need me today, and I will do my best to be there for every one of them.

I will be back later with a full story and pictures on Saturday. I promise you won't be disappointed...it was a VERY eventful day. If you read through to the end of this sad entry, thankyou for listening. I just needed to get it out. Sometimes when you write about things it helps.

There was another death last week here on our little farm. Shelby's Flemish Giant buck rabbit died. She went out to see him just the day before and he was fine. This breed is only supposed to have a lifespan of five years. He was seven years old. She took very good care of him. She found him the very next day when she went out to fill his water bottles and feed him. He had passed away from old age. We knew it was coming. He was losing body mass. It doesnt make it any easier though. Shelby had her rabbit for half her life. Got him when she was seven years old. She called to me from across the yard and I came to see what was the matter. She said she thought he was gone. I checked. It hadnt been long, but he was gone. I took care of getting him out and taking him away for her. She cried...she went upstairs and sat and cried for a long time. I just hate it. It always hurts so bad.

Clean Cochins

Good Thursday evening. I now have Buckbuck and Babe in a box on shavings...in my bedroom. Yes, in my bedroom. There is no more room in the living room for chickens in boxes...so..here they are. You might think me a little insane, but trust me, I am not the only one that does this when its show time. I have been told so by others that share my enthusiasm for a clean bird. Today I experienced bathing giant cochins. Its not like bathing any other chicken. They have an unbelievable amount of down and feathers...and it takes FOREVER to blow dry them...when I say forever, I mean I was drying for 45 minutes and decided both I and the bird needed a break. Then I decided that break could be until tomorrow...when I will fluff them with the dryer some more. I am tired. I do love showing, but keeping up with the everyday chores, teaching Shelby school, and then getting birds ready for show makes me tired.

So what does getting a cochin ready for show entail? Well I will tell you. First you have to fill the sink or tub with enough water to cover their feet and part of their legs and let them soak while you clean the poo off their rear feathers. You see, cochins are really fluffy. If you have an enormously fluffy rear, when you try to poop, sometimes it gets caught in that fluff, over and over. So, said owner will have to loosen this ball of poop and get it loose from your rear. OR, she may do what happened to Buckbuck, since this process is gross and she didnt want to do it again. She had her daughter hold you backwards with your butt up in the air while she takes a pair of scissors and snips that ball of poo right off...and into the trash...wah lah...no more poo ball. ;)

You then fill an empty shampoo bottle with about an inch of baby shampoo and fill the rest of the bottle with warm water, shake and set aside. Drain the sink or tub, whichever you use. Now pour the shampoo water solution on the bird, all over, under the wings, on the neck, chest, back, butt, and lather up the bird. Rinse the bird thoroughly and squeeze out excess water...(don't squeeze the bird, squeeze the feathers...)

Now take a capful of Downy fabric softener and mix into a pitcher of warm water. Pour this over the birds back and tail. Don't rinse it out, just squeeze out excess and towel dry.

Now comes the drying...get comfortable, because you are going to be there awhile...lots of blow drying...

My hat is off to anyone that shows cochins. It is a lot of work to get them ready to show. Not to mention their feet are feathered and you have to keep them from stepping in their poo while on shavings. So you are checking the shavings from time to time to roll that poo off to the corner away from feathery feet.

I may sound a bit delirious in this entry. If I do, it is only because I am slap wore out and need a good nights rest. I am kind of achy from contorting myself on the floor and over the tubside and the sink (The tub didnt work out so well, so we switched to the sink) so Advil PM will be on the menu tonight.

The show in Monroe is Saturday. Its going to be a haul, at least a couple of hours drive...so I will leave out early. Friday night there is rain predicted...I really hope it doesnt overlap into the wee hours of Saturday morning. I don't like to drive in the dark...I really dont like to drive in the dark...while its raining.

Ian just called and a gluer is down so Tex and him are still working on it. His day was supposed to be over at 7 pm...but its going to be a bit longer tonight. I reckon I will go in there and make us some good old loaded up sub sandwiches. I make them like Subway does, cucumbers, green peppers, black olives, lettuce, onion, two cheeses and three meats, sub oil, salt, pepper and oregano, pickles,mustard,mayo...my tummy is a rumblin' so I am going to close for now. I hope everyone is doing fine and I will see y'all after the weekend. :)

Happiness is....

Happiness is....

Learning that your birds won not only Large Fowl Champion, but Reserve Large Fowl Champion also!

Oh yes, I took it all yesterday in the Large Fowl! I did actually have competition too!

Let me back up to the beginning though.

I got up to the show around 7:30 am. I was an hour and a half early so I got me a good parking space. I unloaded my four birds out of the truck and took them on in. Laverne and Shirley had already had their blood test this past show so they were good to go. Kuckoo and Coco got their test, and as usual there was blood smeared on feathers to clean off as best I could. I found my coops easily and got everyone put in their designated spots, got their little hanging cups and put in their food and water. Everyone was relatively calm and settled in for the day pretty easily. I did some last minute grooming since I had plenty of time before the judging was to start (9 am). I brushed mineral oil on their slate blue legs and toes to enhance their already good looking legs. I have a 'shine' spray I mist over them and run my hands down their bodies.

After settling in I went wandering about...looking for familiar faces and found Bobby, the guy I bought the moderns from. He was showing some of his lemon blue moderns. I talked to him for a while..then moved on to others. I talked to the guy starting up the BBQ grill...huge barrel grill sitting on a pull behind trailer to haul the enormous cooker. Talked to a few old timers that had been doing this for many years. Talked to this one guy, he wasnt showing but his buddy was. He later was the one that came outside (I was getting nervous while my birds were being judged so I just walked outside) to tell me my birds did VERY well. I ran in to see and read the cards and was just grinning from ear to ear. I of course was by myself at this show, as I am at most shows. He was so happy for me and so I told him I had to hug somebody to come here and give me a hug! LOL! He didnt mind, he seemed genuinely happy to celebrate this moment with me. For a little while I walked around, my face feeling hot from the excitement of my first big win...joking, telling Bobby if my head exploded off of my body to please pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call my husband to collect my remains...lol. I did call Ian at work as soon as I found out I won and he congratulated me and was so happy for me. :)

I had such a nice time. I always have a good time at the shows. Every show I go to I meet someone new and make new friends, and see everyone I made friends with the times before. So...how about some pictures to go with all this rambling?

Here are my four pretties lined up in their coops at the show...





Here are some of the birds I was up against. There was a LONG line of these Black Copper Marans, Both hens and roosters. I reckon there was about ten or so of these. The remaining competition was a black austrolorp hen, and a black austrolorp rooster. This was a smaller show, so the large fowl were not judged by class and then the large fowl champion judged from those classes (for example Laverne won Reserve Continental at the last show, that is a class) All large fowl were judged together as one group.








After the judging on the large fowl was finished I went up to Tommy Lee, the judge that judged my birds, (I like him a lot, not just because of his judging SKILLS ;) but he is one that is willing to talk to you, he takes the time for folks)and asked him if he would take a picture with me since he was the one that judged my birds. At the time he didnt know which birds were mine, the cards you will see on down this entry are folded shut at the bottom so they judges cant see what the number is of that owner, thus assuring they judge the birds by the birds and not the owners reputation.






The poor man I asked to take the picture for me didnt have a clue how to work my camera. I tried to help him out and show him and eventually he did take a picture. By the time he finally did take one I look like I was in pain rather than smiling...from trying to keep the smile going until he took the picture.

So...Shirley won Best Variety, Best of Breed, and Large Fowl Champion...





Coco won Best Reserve Variety, Reserve Best of Breed, and Reserve Large Fowl Champion...





Kuckoo placed with a number one, and Laverne placed with a number two...after Shirley and Coco...which means basicly, third and fourth place out of the four Polish there. There were no other Polish there, so the four of them were competing against themselves for that breed. Here are their cards. They still did fine. Like I have said before, some birds can be disqualified or not deemed worthy of show, such as the Rhode Island Reds judged at the last show...the were deemed Production Reds. So to have a number is still good. :)


I did take some pictures of some of the other birds there...but I will post those on another seperate entry.

Next weekend is a bigger show..in Monroe, Ga. I am on a roll...I hope I stay on a roll. These birds are precious commodities now. Now they are deemed Champion bloodline, and I am so proud of them. We will be seeing about extending this bloodline just as soon as possible by hatching out many more of these beautiful birds.

Answering Johns Question

I meant to do it before now John...and intended on putting it at the end of the post I made earlier today. Then I didnt, so here I am again. ;)

John asked how I came to have chickens, want chickens, be involved with chickens.

I started to think back, and I can't really say at what point it struck me, but I do know I didnt even know where to find chicks, much less buy them. I had no idea there were hatcheries you could buy from. The Market Bulletin and other online Farm related ads were not known to me. Someone on a message board said I could call up the local feed store and ask about it, so I did. I called up Swints in Jonesboro. He gets in layer chicks, turkey chicks, ducklings, sometimes even rabbits. He gets them in starting about the end of January. So I visited Mr. Swint and his wife about this time seven years ago and bought five day old Buff Orpington chicks from them. Not before doing a lot of reading and research on how to care for them though. I didnt want to kill them right off the bat! I brought them home and loved them so much I went back a couple of months later and got 5 Speckled Sussex chicks. I lived in a neighborhood, but the neighbors never knew a thing since I had no rooster to make noise. The babies didnt go out for about three or four months anyway, not til around the end of May.

At this point I knew nothing of Poultry shows. Even if I had, I just had hatchery layers anyway. In most shows you are going to see a lot of mostly unusual breeds, not just standard layer breeds. I was content with what I had...til the next Spring rolled around. By this time I was in pretty deep and loved my girls like anyone would love a dog or a cat. The next Spring I bought 5 Black Austrolorps and 5 Barred Rock chicks. Once again, all girls (pullets). The year old girls were now out in the yard in their own house I built myself with a run attached to it. I didnt like them to be out in the yard roaming unless I was home, so that was what the run was for. I have pictures I have posted way back somewhere in my old journal archive that I can pull up, or John you can go a huntin' over there. I have pictures and the story over there somewhere.

We were looking for a house, to move to the country. We knew what we wanted, and wouldnt settle for anything less. This was to be our last house purchased until we retired...hopefully in Florida one day. Right before we moved I bought five Americauna chicks...and told Ian we had to be moving soon. ;)

The rest as they say...is history. On my first journal I ever wrote I had a detailed account of this much and on forward from there...it locked down on me and I was never able to get into it again, so I started a new journal. Then of course, AOL decided to kick us to the curb, so here I am now...but the journal link to the right in the sidebar that reads The New Chicken Chronicles is all the entries before we moved to Blogspot.

Oh, yeah, lol, I totally got carried away. I will tell you why I got my own chickens. There was a house not too far from my parents that had a sign out front that read Fresh Eggs For Sale. I had never had the pleasure of experiencing real eggs. I bought some and WOW, was I impressed. Store eggs taste like cardboard. If I cant have fresh eggs, I wont eat eggs at all. Not worth the time or the money. After experiencing the rich orangy (not pale yellow) yolks of real eggs, I had to have my own. So, I got chicks, and raised my own. This one little thing, eating fresh eggs, turned my whole life into what it is today. Isn't that a hoot? :)

Birds Sold, Coco and Kuckoo, New Outfits

Some love guineas. I tried to love guineas. Year before last I got guinea keets from Collinsville Trade Day Flea Market in Alabama. I raised them up, and once they were mature, they began to pick on my chickens. At the time, there were only three, so it wasnt too bad. A feather pulled here, a feather pulled there. Then the female guinea matured and layed twenty three eggs last June. In July, 22 of the 23 eggs hatched. Some of the babies disappeared, later to be found caught up in something or trampled on, dead either way. That left sixteen babies that grew up big and strong and healthy...and LOUD. Counting the parents (two males and the female) that made 19 guineas. In the summer guineas are happy and content to roam and eat grass and bugs. When winter is here they are a very unhappy bunch and do their rendition of whining and complaining..which is 'HA HONK' from the girls all day long, and the chattering noise from the boys...all day long. After a while, this grates on ones nerves. The country is a place that is supposed to have peace and quiet with the occasional farm animal sounds. This was not the case with the guineas. I traded 8 of them to a neighbor for three of his buff orpington hens, a deal in my eyes. Still, that left 11. Eleven can sound like a hundred after a full day of chattering and ha honking. I gave Dwain three. The remaining ones were caught and put in a holding pen. I put a sign out by the road without much success, GUINEAS FOR SALE. Then it dawned on me...to use Craigslist. So I did, and along with the guinea ad I put in the ad I had put in the Market Bulletin (with no success)for the white crested polish and the golden phoenix roosters. I got a call from a woman in Cartersville, but she said I was a long way from her...(not REALLY)and wanted to know if I would bring them to her. I told her I would meet her half way...then, well, to be perfectly honest, a better offer came along, so I lied through my teeth and told a story to the lady, the end result being they werent for sale any longer. The offer came from a man that wanted ALL the birds. The guineas and the roosters. AND he would come and get them. That was just much easier for me. I was not looking forward to transporting those guineas to a parking lot and having to put them in another cage, HOPING they didnt slip through my fingers and get away in the process. I look at it this way, if she wanted them that bad, she should have come to get them here at the house.

So this morning the guy showed up right on time at 9 am. I had the birds all ready for him. We put them in his cages, he gave me my money and he was on his way in no time at all. I was happy, he was happy...all went smoothly.

Now it is so peaceful and quiet again here. All I hear is an occasional rooster crowing (which I never get tired of hearing). The emus do the job keeping anything out of the fence that isnt supposed to be here, so I dont really need the guinea troop alarm anymore. One time out of a hundred there might be something actually out here. Crying wolf is a guineas specialty..I think anyway.

Yesterday was spent giving Coco and Kuckoo a bath and a blow dry session. They are all clean and ready for show now. They have been so good. I want you to see just what they are in, and you can see they could easily jump out, but they haven't not even once. Here are some pictures of them that I took this morning.

A few close ups of Kuckoo's head...





I bought some new material to make more chicken diaper outfits for Phoenix. I got some small print John Deere material and some small print bumble bees on yellow material. The John Deere outfit will be to match my John Deere shirt when I take him to tote around at the Newnan show. Jerry and Mike want to see this chicken diaper contraption, so he is going with me. The bumble bee material will be for a spring outfit. Spring is right around the corner...I hope!





I will now close this Friday entry with a picture I just took a couple of hours ago of those four adorable GROWING white crested blue polish babies. :) They are so precious.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. The weather here is going to be sunny, dry, and in the sixties for days on end. I am going to thoroughly enjoy it! I will be back Sunday morning to make an entry on Saturdays show. Until then...XOXOXOXOX

Kuckoo and Coco

I pulled Kuckoo and Coco in and put them in a box of shavings two nights ago. They have been so good. I don't even have a fence around them like Laverne and Shirley have. They stay in their box like good chickie poos. I was going to give them bathes and blow dry them last night, but the day just got away from me. I had to make a trip to the Tractor Supply and then to Walmart for the animal and people food. Before I knew it the sun was going down and I was rushing home to throw everyone a late supper before dark. I made it, barely.

Ian has a cold now. I don't think he got it from Shelby and myself though. He went out and about last Saturday to Brandsmart and three Walmarts looking for me a fancy new crockpot. Not my idea, HIS idea. The crock pot we have works just fine, but he thought it was time for an upgrade since the one we have was given to us twenty years ago this May, for a wedding gift. He is getting to where he wants to do some of the cooking too. All that Food Network he is watching gives him ideas. A while back he cook a Piaya dish(Sp?) and it was delicious. I could get used to him cooking dinner for me! ;)

So I am two days away from the Calhoun show. Yesterday I checked Coco and Kuckoo for STUBS. Coco had a few tiny ones in between her toes. Kuckoo had some whoppers in between his toes! Tufts was more like it! I got them plucked out easily though. They are such tolerant birds. It is so cold outside right now the heat pump is not working so well. We had this happen before when it got down to nine degrees for several nights. It has been getting down to 15 degrees for three nights now. A heat pump pulls any heat out of the air and utilizes it into the house. When it gets this cold, there just isnt any heat to pull. We have to resort to starting up the propane wall heater which quickly heats up the downstairs. If I want to give these two a bath today I will have to crank up that wall heater I reckon. Tomorrow and the weekend show promise of highs in the sixties and I am SO looking forward to that.

Last night while Ian and I were watching tv (a George Carlin tribute on PBS) Kuckoo kept losing his balance on their perch (Its the same size as what they are used to, a 2 x4) when he would fall asleep. I went over and picked him up and carried him back over to the couch with me. I snuggled myself back into my blanket and layed him down on my chest. He got comfortable and was KNOCKED OUT! I mean really really sleeping heavily. I would laugh while watching tv, because they would show clips from George Carlins performances, and he wouldnt move, didnt lift his head, nothing seemed to startle him. He actually had his head laying down on my chest, fast asleep. I was gently rubbing under his wing and he spread it out loosely to get the full benefit of my under wing massage, but he still wasnt really awake, not really.

I had Shelby take a picture of the two of us last night. Now bear in mind this is me, totally relaxed. I wasnt going to jump up and throw on make up, or change out of my night clothes, or brush my hair, so you will just have to accept the real me...I have. If I hadnt, I wouldnt be able to show this picture...but I wanted you to see just how relaxed Kuckoo was...




He is just as cuddly as any cat or dog...just as warm and fuzzy. I sure do love my Kuckoo. :) It made me kind of sad to think of putting them back outside after the shows are over...so I think I may see about making these four (Laverne, Shirley, Coco, and Kuckoo) their very own pad. I am going to be line breeding Kuckoo with his daughters this Spring anyway, so they can all be housed together. I want to make them a really nice new place, yep, I already got something forming in my mind. ;)

The Chicken House

My house...is beginning to look more like a chicken house...sort of. ;)

Right now I have 56 of Dwains eggs sitting on the counter in the kitchen, waiting to be put in not one, but TWO incubators he provided me with to hatch his eggs.

I have 26 eggs from Tex waiting to go into the incubator I currently have.

I think this is going to satisfy my hatching itch, don't you?

Dwain apol0gized for the two incubators needing to be cleaned up before use, but I can clean them up, no big deal. The one for Tex's eggs is clean, I just need to put it back together and get it running to the steady temperature of 100 degrees.

THEN...there is the box I made for Coco and Kuckoo to go in today, sitting on the living room floor next to Laverne and Shirley. I want to get these two in and bathed and blow dried today.

Then there are the usual daily grind chores. Laundry, dishes, cooking, feeding animals, picking up around the house, homeschool. Oh and I need to make out the grocery list for tomorrow.

I reckon it is gonna be one BUSY day...but the sun is up and the coffee is brewing. Its looking like a very promising day. :)

My younger sister texted me last night after I had already gone to bed. She wants to come and visit me this weekend. I don't mind, but she is gonna have to tag along with me at the show in Calhoun if she wants to see me. I am fixing to kick it into full chicken showing mode today. I got a show every weekend for three weekends, and more birds to get ready for the shows!

Ian says I need a heated lighted house out back just for my show chickens, to house them and keep them clean and ready for show. He says he wonders how much that would cost. Isnt that thoughtful? I know what your thinking, he just wants all these chickens out of the house at this time of the year when I am showing...but I dont think that is it. He doesnt complain about it. He just tries to think of better ways for me to enjoy my hobby. :)

Time for me to go, I got a full plate today. Everyone stay warm and have a good day. XOXO

Groundhog Day

I see that the groundhog Phil up north has seen his shadow, so they will endure six more weeks of winter there...down here at the Yellow River Game Ranch the General Lee did not see his shadow today...so hopefully we will be having an early Spring...good news for us here down South...if you take the word of a groundhog that is. ;)

http://www.yellowrivergameranch.com/

Rainy Monday Ramblings

Is anyone else having trouble making their letters large? I still can't get it to enlarge, so I put the print on bold, hoping that would help with being able to read my nonsense. ;)

My my, the rain is falling down steadily here. It is dark, breezy, cool and wet. Good weather to hibernate away for the day. We had a nice weekend here weather wise. Saturday was sunny and warm, and Sunday was sunny and even warmer. My friend Dwain ended up coming over yesterday instead of Saturday. He brought his friend Ron with him. Ron wanted to see my array of animals too, especially the emus.

When the got here I gave them the tour and introduced them to all my favorite boys and girls. Derby followed close behind checking the newcomers pockets. Isnt that strange. After having him for over two years, he still remembers his previous owners always having treats for him in their pockets, so he checks newcomers because we dont carry treats around in our pockets to indulge him constantly. Thats how he came to us a hundred pounds overweight in the first place. We changed his eating habits and he has lost that hundred pounds, but he still remembers, that is evident!

Later we weighed some of Dwains Serama roosters he brought over for me to look at. All but one were too big for breeding purposes. They were all still very beautiful birds though.

I took them over to the Runnin' Wild Ranch to see those folks spread of land with various animals on it. From llamas to bison to zebra, longhorn, west highland, to brahma cattle, they have a little bit of everything roaming out there. I have posted pictures of this place before on my journal from AOL. They enjoyed seeing these fantastic animals.

I had cooked chicken and rice with northern beans with ham in it for lunch. We ate lunch and sat around talking. Ian was home all day too, so he was able to hang out with us.

As they were getting ready to leave I remembered I was supposed to be taking pictures of our visit, but I got caught up in visiting so much I never even pulled out the camera! Maybe next time.

Tex brought Ian 26 more eggs to work today for me to hatch. He went back up to the lady's house that he got the cabinet incubator from and got 12 Polish eggs and 14 Salmon Favrolle eggs. I am going to hatch these for him, and I am hoping with a successful hatch I will be rewarded with keeping these first four I hatched out already. :)

Dwain is also going to be sending Ian home with two incubators of his and 48 eggs from a friend of his. These eggs are from silkies and from seramas. I am getting my hatching itch out this way without filling my yard with more birds...and I kind of like it this way. The only hatching I plan on doing for myself is from the silver laced polish and maybe from the brown red modern trio. The two girls are starting to lay now that they have settled into their new home. Don't worry, I am confident I will be able to give Tex all of this batch of babies back to him, and all of Dwains babies back to him. I know my limits, and though its hard, I will keep myself within my limits.

Last night we went to a friend of Ians for the Super Bowl. I am not a big fan of sports. Ian loves hockey and soccer. He grew up playing soccer. With that said I was exposed to it a lot when we were dating on up until his body just wouldnt let him play anymore without serious injury. After he tore his rotater cuff in his shoulder that was pretty much the end of it. Anyway, the whole time we were there I dont think anyone really sat in front of the tv and watched the football game all the way through. After all, the end is all that really matters. We sat around and talked. Donna, Ians friends fiance' was a great host. She had all sorts of munchies for everyone, wine, beer, cokes...the whole nine yards. Shelby and I went downstairs for a short while with her 15 year old son to see his newly repainted and rearranged room. It reminded me of Ians room when we were dating. Ian had red walls with Iron Maiden posters plastered all over. Her sons was black and red...with Iron Maiden, Green Day, The Ramones, and a few other bands plastered all over the walls. He played the drums for us, but really takes to the electric guitar and played some on that for Shelby and I.

All in all it was an all right time. I told Donna I was just glad to go to someone elses party for a change...lol. We tend to be the ones that always throw the parties for occasions such as July 4th and such.

I missed the pregame, but heard later that Journey played. Not THE Journey, in my opinion, because Steve Perry is not with them anymore. Since Steve left, they have had two replacements. The one they have now is Phillipino. I looked up the performance on Youtube.




I am sorry, but that is horrible...Steve Perry has been labelled as "The Voice" for a reason. He is irreplaceable. I read up a little on why he left the band. He said it was a hard decision, but he wanted to have a normal life. Part of this had to do with his mother having cancer. His relationship with his girlfriend was not well either. He came out with an album in 1994, of which I didnt even know about until right now! Here is a song from that album that I thought was great...




Now...just so you can hear and remember the original Don't Stop Believin' as opposed to what was played at the Super Bowl...here is..Steve Perry...to me, he WAS Journey.




Back then in the 80's up above...below is more recent...LOOK at his HAIR! It is so so long in 1994. There is talk and rumour of a new CD this year from him, I will be looking for it.








http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9838A4818FE761BD

Above is a link to the VH1's Behind the Music on Journey...its in five parts.