Get back to work...

It took almost two years but I finally got a job. Hooray!! I know I should be thankful, and I am, but going back to work has made me realize just how badly I want to make my dream a reality. I had two years to make it happen and as it turns out, that wasn't long enough. Or maybe I didn't try hard enough. Maybe both. So, even though I am behind the eight ball now, I want to make it work more than ever. I miss my chickens. I miss my sewing room. Yes, it will be harder than ever to make this dream come true, but I also have lots of motivation. My boss is a very good business man. He is making his dream come true, through lots of hard work and dedication, and with lots of help from devoted employees. I want to do a good job, but if I'm going to bust my butt making somebody's dream come true, I want it to be mine. So, I will put in my time at the office, doing my job to the best of my abilities, but I'm going to make my time off count more than ever.

While I've been at work, my son has stepped in to help out with the chickens and he's been a great help indeed. I really don't know what I'd do without him, poor guy. Fortunately he really likes eggs, so it's kind of a trade off.

The Silkies finally have full run of the chicken coop. We moved the quail out into their own cage and removed the partition so the silkies are free to roam around and play in the grass. They have a lovely second story on their house, but they never want to go up there. They don't seem to like roosting like the other chickens, they just sleep in a pile in the corner of the hen house, like kittens. It looks nice and cozy, so I can't say I blame them.

Silkie Palace

 Busy busy busy!! We're all cleaned up after the flood and I finally have my sewing room back. Too bad I've been tied up with another project and haven't been able to enjoy it yet, but today is the day. I've been poring over my books looking for the next fantastic sewing project to tackle and I think it's going to be a messenger bag. I made a kid-sized one for my 5 year old nephew for Christmas and he really loved it. He won a wallet in a "white elephant" raffle at a Christmas party, unfortunately it was a ladies wallet. Fortunately he didn't know or care. He was so excited, he started carrying the wallet around with him everywhere he went. Being a ladies' wallet, it didn't exactly fit in his pocket, so I crafted a custom "man's bag" for him so he could tote his giant wallet in style.

Yes, I've been busy remodeling the duck pen into a Silkie Palace.  As you may recall, construction is not my forte'. But I did it, all by myself and I am very proud. It doesn't look half bad. It doesn't look great, mind you, but it is completely functional and secure, which is the most important thing, and the baby Silkies like it.

I am fairly new to raising chickens, so everything is unfamiliar. I can only go by what I've read (which can be quite contradictory), instinct and observation. The chicken flock has been pretty textbook so far, the ducks were vastly different from the chickens and my expectations, and the Silkies were different still. Different from the ducks and different from our first batch of chicks. The Silkies are Bantams, which means they are much smaller than regular chickens. You could tell right away that the day old chicks were very small. They ate and drank so politely, no flinging feed everywhere, no splashing in their water. Much neater that baby ducks, and even baby chicks. They peeped nonstop, even when nothing was wrong. I had doubts that they would ever be the docile lap-chickens that they were made out to be. It didn't help that one of the chicks arrived with a crippling injury. That poor baby was always crying, but sadly there was nothing I could do for her. I had to make a choice to either put Baby out of her misery or allow her to tough it out. I went with toughing it out. She has struggled and she's much smaller than the others, but she manages well enough.

Day old chicks willingly allow you to hold them and even seem to enjoy the warmth and closeness, but with each passing day they like it less and less. After just a few days on this Earth, they are less than thrilled with being picked up and make sad pitiful noises when you catch them. These Silkies were terrified of me. When I would try to hold them, they would freak out and trample the Baby, so after a while I stopped trying. It wasn't until they decided they liked spinach that they began to like my again. Now they have no problem being picked up, even Baby is cool with it. Actually, there is still one, Penelope, who hates to be held. Her nickname is the Screamer because of the awful sound she makes when you pick her up.

And now, some Silkie pictures to get you through the day.

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I've been avoiding you...

I've been dreading writing this post because it's a little painful and sort of embarrassing. But here goes...

October 13th started off quite nicely. The ducks were awake at sunrise, but so was I so I fed them their chopped greens and that seemed to satisfy them for a while. I brought out my camera and took pictures and video of the ducklings joyfully gobbling their "greens soup", then I led them down to the "swimming pool" . It was a little too early for swimming, so they rooted around in the compost heap for a minute and then headed back to their coop to finish breakfast and do their ducky stuff. I had a very busy day ahead of me so I finished my chores and headed off for a Costco trip with my mom and sister.

After shopping, my mom and my sister stopped by with my niece and nephew. It was a lovely sunny day and the kids wanted to see the animals so we went to the backyard & fed the chickens and ducks and dogs whole wheat spaghetti. Frank got some vegetable scraps. Everyone was having such a good time. My nephew Ryan wasn't too impressed by the chickens, but he was fascinated by the ducks. Everyone left, I had more errands, and when I got back home, I downloaded the pictures I took in the morning and posted them on my Facebook page. I was just about to write a blog post when my daughter called me from downstairs. She sounded troubled, but I figured she was going to tell me that our little dog Lola was limping. I already knew that. I had checked it out and it didn't seem too serious. Instead she told me something was wrong with the ducks.

"What do you mean?" I asked.
"They're all dead" she answered.

How was that possible? I was confused. I just saw the ducks, they were fine. How could they all get sick and die so fast? When I went outside to check, I understood. They didn't get sick. They were murdered. I was totally in shock. It wasn't gory or gross or anything, but just sad. Very sad. Five little ducklings, just dead. I knew that my dogs had done it. I knew they probably didn't mean to, and I knew that I had failed as a duck mommy. The dogs had never bothered the chickens, probably because the chickens are ornery. The poor ducklings had no defense. If they had been a little older maybe.

So, no more ducks. My duck plan is on hold for now. I really liked them and I thought they were super cute, but they were much more demanding than I thought they would be, and our yard isn't suited for so many roving birds. It's hard enough to keep the patio clean with chickens, I can't even imagine how it would be with ducks pooping all over it.

I leave you with the final video of ducklings enjoying their morning greens. R.I.P., little birdies.

Chickens Are Not Smart...

I like my chicken flock. They have lots of personality and are fun to watch. But they are not smart. I read a lot of books about backyard chickens and did tons of research online before making the commitment to raise my own flock, and I read more than once that chickens are much smarter than people give them credit for. With my limited experience in raising chickens I feel I can say with confidence that chickens are not smart. Some are clever, I will go that far. Nickie knows that I set the colander full of treats on top of the coop while I dole them out, so she jumps up on top of the coop and help herself. Maybe that isn't a good example, since Nickie prefers it when I hold her treat in my hand so she can daintily nibble on it. See? Not smart.

Every night I go out into the yard while the chickens are roaming free and I bring them treats in an old yellow colander. They are smart enough to recognize that this colander holds chicken goodies, like spinach or tomatoes or pasta or some such. Every night I sit in my same chair along side the coop and set the colander on the coop. Nickie gets that, none of the others do and actually that is probably a good thing. Just about every night, Nickie and Shirley rally at my feet and demand a snack, while Esther, Mary and Bev run back inside the coop and pace excitedly back and forth along the chicken wire barricade, peeping loudly and wondering where their yummy treat is. I have to get out of my seat and guide them to the outside of the coop and over to my chair. Esther will snatch a treat and run back into the coop at least two or three times before it finally clicks that the goodies are being distributed on the outside. Not smart.

Probably the not smartest thing that chickens do is they poop in their food and water. I mean really, who does that? Just about every other animal in existence realizes that pooping in their food is bad policy. It's not even like they are pooping in their dining room or kitchen, they are pooping in their dinner plate. Totally gross. I still like them though. They are hilarious and watching their silly antics is a great stress reliever. But they are not smart.

Home on the Range...

The fence is fixed and so the flock was free to range! We let them out about an hour before dusk last night so they had a little more time to explore. We're trying to ease them into the notion of free-ranging because our yard is so big and crazy. It's a quarter of an acre, but it's not a nice flat rectangle of a yard. We live on a hill, so the yard slopes back to front and also left to right, and it's terraced so there are four levels. There are trees and shrubs everywhere. It's pretty cool, but it would be fairly easy for a chicken to get lost back there. The first night we let them out they stayed right close to their coop. Last night, they must have felt a little braver so they expanded their circle a bit. I brought out a colander full of spinach and tried to get them to sit on my lap and let me feed them, but only Nickie was into that. The others sat there and took some bites, but they weren't really enjoying it.

After a few minutes outside, they got a little more daring. They were running around and goofing off like kids on a playground. There were a few minor scuffles as they challenged each other for position in the pecking order. I'm still not sure if they've got that figured out yet. There is no clear order as far as I can tell.

Nickie was the only chicken to figure out where the spinach was coming from. Alas, Darling Nickie prefers to nibble her spinach like a lady whilst you hold it for her, so this was not working out in her favor. She mostly just flung spinach everywhere to the delight of her flock-mates awaiting on the ground below.

Backyard chickens...

So the foxtail crisis was dealt with, however, both dogs are now having sneezing fits. It seems they have allergies, according to the vet,and have to be on allergy meds. I find that kind of amusing.

The chickens have taken their first tentative steps out into the yard. We've only let them out in the evening because we don't want them to go too far just yet. The yard is still pretty messed up and dangerous for chickens. In fact, when I walked the yard last week to survey its condition, I discovered that one section of the fence was basically hanging on by about two nails and that the ground underneath it had eroded pretty badly. Poor Greg got dragged away from whatever he was doing that day to repair the fence. Ah, homesteading.

So far, the chickens have only explored the area right around the coop. Maybe it's because we only let them out just before dusk, or maybe they are just very cautious, but they like to hang out close to home. And they travel around in a tight little cluster almost like a school of fish but with more personality.

Chickens Love Spinach

Even though I know I need to get a job, I am really enjoying my time at home playing "homestead".
I love to get up and feed the chickens, tend to the garden, cook and even clean. Along with job hunting and computer class, I've been sewing and making jewelry. I've also been researching making homesteading a reality and not just a fantasy.

After doing my chores, I love to kick back in the yard with the dogs and the chickens and sometimes Frank the Tank, the tortoise. I bring treats for everyone and they all gather around and we have lunch together. So far I have discovered that chickens LOVE spinach and so do tortoises, but dogs, not so much. Dogs eat carrots 'Muppet style', which means they will take them from you, chew them up and let the pieces fall out of their mouths and all over the ground. Tortoises will eat carrots, but they have to be cut into small pieces. Chickens politely refuse. Dogs and tortoises do like pineapple, but the chickens do not. The chickens love grapes though. I think grapes are their favorite treat so far. They just go crazy over them.  I have to give Esther whole grapes so that she will run off to the corner and peck it to bits, otherwise she will just gobble down the cut-up grapes before the other birds even have a chance . Haven't offered grapes to Frank so I don't know how he feels about them, but I bet he would be a fan. The dogs also eat grapes 'Muppet style'. Everyone likes tomatoes, figs, peaches and bok choy. And now you know that.

What's new...

I've been slacking on my posting duties. Been busy with my chores, and taking classes at the Career Center so I can get certified in Office 2007. I need to be able to put it on my resume'. I am also trying to re-learn touch typing so I can get a typing certificate. I am typing without looking at the keys right now, so this post will take about 10 times as long as usual. I gotta practice though, no matter how frustrating it is. It is really embarrassing to be at the Career Center and be typing this slow. I type about 22 words a minute, which is not very good.

The chickens are doing great, though. They love being out in their pen, and as soon as we finish securing the yard, they will be able to range freely for part of the day. They are so cute, they get so excited when they see me coming out into the yard. I bring them treats, like the ends of the tomato (the part you don't eat) and grapes, and they love spinach. I have a table and chair set up next to the pen, so I can eat my lunch outside and of course I must bring goodies for the animals. It's like Dr. Doolittle out there, me eating my lunch while dogs, chickens and a tortoise all beg for treats. I love it.

Here's a short video of the chicks enjoying some corncobs that I saved from our dinner last night...

The Chicks Have Moved Out...

Out of the house and into their henhouse, that is. It's about time, too. They were getting mighty stinky. We don't have a garage, only a carport and I didn't think it was safe enough to move them outside in just a cardboard box. Even though we live in the suburbs, there are lots of critters roaming around. As I've mentioned before, we have two or more well established squirrel colonies in our backyard as well as a bunny family.  I doubt squirrels or bunnies would do more that just scrounge chicken feed, but we have also seen raccoons in our front yard and they would love a free chicken dinner for sure. So, we had to wait until the chicken coop was finished before we could safely move our little flock out of the house and into the carport. It's been pretty cool at night so they are still using their heater, but I think that by next week the nights will be warm enough that they can be moved out into the yard.

It may seem small, but when we move it to the yard, there will be a secure chicken run attached to the coop.


One phase of my "simple life" that I have been avoiding is growing a garden. My half-hearted attempts have been met with crushing disappointment, and my very fragile self just cannot handle it. Everything I've planted has been devoured by squirrels or rabbits or raccoons. I have no idea who the culprit is, I just know that when you go out to water your seedlings and some jerky animal has nibbled them to the ground, it is not a good feeling. I am usually a positive person, sometimes delusionally so, and it takes very little to bring me joy. It also takes quite a bit to really crush my spirit. Even with the hardships we've been facing lately, I know my family has it pretty good, and I have so many wonderful people in my life, I feel very blessed and happy most of the time. But a girl can only take so much. Last year, when I poured my heart and soul (I'm also a little dramatic) into my tomato plants only to have very single tomato eaten while still green was almost too much. This year, they've been nibbled to nothing before they could even bloom.

About a week ago I noticed that a bird or squirrel had dropped some sunflower seeds into the planter box where we dump our dogs' water bowl, and the seeds had sprouted. I was so excited! I love sunflowers! I told everyone in the house about the miracle sunflowers that just sprouted up all by themselves. Isn't nature wonderful? Uh, no. About three days later I went back to check on them and guess what...Gone. Eaten. All that was left was a forest of green stems poking out of the soil. Without leaves, plants can't survive, so I knew they'd be shriveled up in a day or so. I felt like crying. I wanted to kick a squirrel so bad that day.  It sounds dramatic I'm sure, but a feeling of doom just poured over me. I want a garden so much, but I have no idea how to stop the squirrels from destroying it.

I scored some cheap tomato and pepper plants from Home Depot a couple of weeks ago. Knock on wood, they are still alive and well. I decided to move them to my upstairs deck. I've had some pretty good success growing tomatoes in containers there. I guess until I solve the squirrel problem, I will just have to be a container gardener and not a farmer.

Chick Update... 4 Weeks Old

It's amazing how much some animals can change in such a short amount of time. It's hard to believe that chickens raised for meat are ready for the table at 6 weeks old. My girls are being raised for eggs, so they won't be ready for at least three more months. They are changing so quickly. Sometimes overnight!

Emergency Chick Relocation

Chickens are not super smart. Yesterday, I noticed that the chicks were trying to dust-bathe in their bedding, which is a custom mix of shredded newsprint, pine shavings and sand. I thought, "oh, they must want more sand" so I poured some in the center of the brooder. They were terrified of it. They freaked out at first, then finally settled down in the corner of the brooder, away from the scary sand pile.  After a few minutes, they summoned up enough courage to hop up on the perch and look at the sand from a safe distance, but they still wouldn't go near it. I was hoping they'd get over their irrational fear soon because they would have to cross the sand if they wanted to drink.

When I went back to check on the chicks they had overcome their fear of sand in piles and had worked it into the rest of the bedding. Then I realized their heater wasn't working. Yikes! Although you can use a high-wattage light bulb to keep chicks warm, I happened to have an infrared ceramic heater and thermostat which I bought when we got our Sulcata tortoise. Frank the Tank was no longer using the heater because he bailed his nice warm doghouse and found his own shelter out in the 'back 40' a couple of years ago. I chose to use the ceramic heater because I could more easily control the temperature, and because I didn't want to have the poor babies subjected to the constant glare of a red light bulb. Well, last night they didn't have a choice. They had to stay warm, so they had to endure the creepy red glow all night long.

They also needed to be moved to the "Big-Girl Brooder" because the heat lamp I have is so intense, I couldn't hang it far away enough to keep them comfortable in the old brooder. Luckily, I had already built the new brooder. I just wasn't expecting to move them for another week or so. We set up their new digs as fast as possible before it got too cold. Even though their new home is much bigger and the light is further away, it may still be too much for them. When I got up today & checked on them, they were all huddled up in the corner, far away from the heat lamp. I bit the bullet and went out to purchase a replacement heater this morning.

Baby Chick Update - 10 Days Old

The chicks turned 10 days old yesterday. Woohoo! Happy Birthday, lil birdies! They have lost much of their little chick fuzzy-wuzzy roly-poliness but they are still cute to me. They have adorable personalities. I think they are going to grow up to be very pretty chickens.

I chose 3 different breeds of chicks, each for their own special reasons. Three of the five chicks are White Crested Polish, two White Crested Blue and one White Crested Black. The blues aren't guaranteed to come out as true blue due to the genetics of chicken coloring. They have a 50% chance of being blue, 25% chance of being black and 25% chance of ending up splash, which is a mixture of blue, white and black. I was kind of hoping to get one blue and one splash, but it's still too early to tell.  I chose this breed because they look fancy and when I was doing my research, I read that they were a friendly breed and at this point, that's is what I'm looking for. After I ordered them, and upon further research, I read some conflicting information about them. Some books said they were skittish and flighty, others said they were friendly and funny. I guess we'll see. I'm trying to handle them frequently so they stay tame. Of all the chicks, the Polish like to be held the least. They complain loudly when you pick them up. I named them after my grandmother and her sisters because they are scrawny little loudmouths.


I got three of them because my research indicated that they might be picked on by the flock so I figured there would be safety in numbers although the Sisters (as I call them) are usually the ones doing the picking.  Polish aren't known for prolific laying, but hopefully between the five hens, we'll have enough eggs to keep us satisfied. This is Mary. It looks like she is going to turn out true blue.

The fourth chick is a Dominique. I chose her because she had all three of the attributes I was looking for in a hen: good looking, great personality and abundant layer. She makes the prettiest little peeping sounds, and she enjoys being held. The other chicks are sprouting feathers like mad, but darling Nickie is still a little black fluff ball. Even her new tail is fluffy! I'm pretty sure she is in charge of the brooder. Sometimes I offer the babies treat like roly-polies or pincher bugs, and Nickie is almost always the first in line.

The fifth little chicken is an Easter-Egger. Her name is Esther but I call her Kitten. She is the sweetest of the chicks. She loves to be held. She would probably sit in my hand and be petted all day long. She is the biggest chick by far and has the most feathers. I don't know if they are going to stay like this but I hope so. Her markings are absolutely beautiful! She was chosen because of her sweet disposition, dependable egg laying and beautiful egg colors. Easter-Eggers may lay eggs that are green, blue or even pink! We won't know until the first one appears in about 5 months.

For their 10-day Birthday the chicks went on a little field trip. Just to the backyard, but hey, they're only ten days old. I put them in a cage on the lawn while I cleaned out the brooder. At first they were nervous but after a minute or two they got into it and started pecking and scratching at the lawn.

So cute!

Baby Chick Watch...

Baby chicks are hilarious. Every time I pass by the brooder box I have to peek in. They are so comical,  I end up standing there for several minutes watching their goofy antics. It's hard to get anything done! They just crack me up with their child-like exuberance. I know, I know, it's because they are chicken children but it's still funny to me. Maybe it's because they're birds so you don't really expect them to have much personality but they do. They act like pre-schoolers on the playground. They run everywhere they go, scuffle with each other, and scurry around in little packs. The way they hop off their perch totally reminds of a kid, because kids don't just step off of stuff, they jump off of it. Hilarious.

The chicks turned on week old on Monday and I can't believe how much they've changed! They're growing real feathers and losing their baby fat. The changes happen overnight. On Sunday, none of the chicks had tails. By Tuesday, they all did. It's pretty cool.

We Interrupt This Purge to Bring You Baby Chicks....

Yesterday as I was getting ready to start my chores, I got a call from the post office informing me that my shipment of "live birds" had arrived. Baby Chicks! Ooh, darn, I wasn't quite ready. I had the brooder box built, I visited the feed store last week and bought chick starter, and I had the waterer and feeder in my possession, but I hadn't yet put it all together. It wasn't a big deal, but I was so anxious to finally have my chicks and I wanted everything to be just right.

 The babies arrived safe and sound from My Pet Chicken. They were even more adorable than I had imagined!! I carefully removed them from their mailing box one by one and dipped their beaks first in water, then in chick food as I had seen Martha Stewart do on her recent show devoted to backyard chickens. And then I just watched. It was fascinating! I was mesmerized! I wanted to share it with someone, but nobody was home except for my son Julian. He had worked until midnight the night before and was sound asleep. I so wanted to wake him up & make him look at the chicks with me, but I didn't. Besides, Julian doesn't get excited as easily as I do. I knew he wouldn't adequately appreciate these marvelous little fuzz balls. So, I sent a text with a picture to my friend Timbrely because I knew she would share my joy. I think if I had encouraged her, she would have left work just to come over & see them.

I had so much to do but it was nearly impossible to tear myself away from the "Baby Chicken" show. They are just so stinkin' cute! I would do some work, then check on them, do a little more, come back for a quick peek. Fold laundry, pick up chicks and pet them til they fell asleep in my hand. Not a productive day, to say the least.  Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.