A Wild Day - And Then There Were 33

Awoke early Saturday morning to find an 'Active Weather' warning on the Weather Network. High winds, thunder and lightening and heavy rain forecast. Within half an hour of reading this, it got dark - very, very dark. Suddenly, about 6:30 AM the wind came up ferociously, thunder started to roll, and lightening flashed across the sky. For about fifteen minutes it rained so hard, we couldn't see to the end of our driveway! The power started to flicker, and continued to flicker on and off for about fifteen minutes. It was very weird; some of the electronics would buzz or beep as the power came and went. Just before 7:00 AM the power went out. The thunder, lightening and rain continued for quite a while - shaking the house at points.

Farmer Man went out to check the chickens when the storm abated somewhat, and found one poor Leghorn dead on the floor of the coop. We have to assume the thunder scared her to death, poor thing. Everyone else seemed fine, the coop seemed in good shape. We had to go into town; Saturday is currently the only day our dump is open and we were over-due for a visit. We were hearing stories everywhere about power outages in town, huge trees down and the Golden Arches of McDonalds, on the highway just a couple of miles from us, hit by lightening.

We returned to the farm a little after 10:00 AM, still no power. The storm had abated but it was still raining. What do you do in a power outage? We went for a nap! On waking, still no power. We watched some old John Wayne movies on the laptop until the power started to go, moved a table into the sun room and played some cards in the best light we had. Being without power for such a length of time became an issue: we couldn't cook or make coffee. We were worried about all our lovely Berkshire pork in the freezer, we were trying not to open the fridge to increase the temperature. The situation made us realize just how tied to the grid we are: couldn't get online, our phone didn't work, couldn't recharge the computer or the camera, couldn't cook. Because we're on a well, run with an electric pump, we even had to be careful of water use - using a bucket of rain water to refill the toilet as the day went on. We finally went out for coffee and some fast food about 4:00 PM. Thunder, lightening and rain had started up again. Just as the light started to fade, the power finally came back on! One of the first orders of business: looking into purchasing a generator!!

Dirty Girl!

It's been windy, rainy and cold for almost a week now. Hard times for a chicken, who likes to take a dust bath. Not much dust right now! So, The Hens have been trying, anyway, and getting something a bit more like a spa experience. I wonder if we could package and sell Aagaard Farms mud bath.....The results show the most on the white Leghorns, but I know the Isa Browns are a little caked right now, too.

And Then There Were 34...

We lost a chicken last night; one of the little white Leghorns was sluggish for a couple of days. Then, yesterday, she wouldn't move from the nesting box and by evening was very unresponsive. I moved her into a box in the greenhouse, which I thought would be warmer. Tried to give her water and make her comfortable and cozy. Although we are not experts by any means, we've done our reading and examined her for any signs of disease or parasites or injury. Nothing obvious. It was sad to find she had passed away through the night. We buried her this morning and said a few words. It's always hard to lose an animal, we just hope she had a good life here at Aagaard Farms and is now happily scratching away in a better place. Rocky now has one less Girl to guard; the whole flock seems a little quiet this morning, like they know someone is missing. Or maybe I just imagine that......

Hello, Ladies!

 A little treat for The Hens, and Rocky!  They love their scratch!  The Browns (Isa Browns) we raised from day-old chicks and they are quite comfortable with us.  We've handled them a bit since they were little babies.  The Whites (Leghorns) we acquired when they were older and they have never been as comfortable with us.  Plus, in my opinion, the Leghorns are just 'flightier', way more jumpy!  You can see Rocky the Rooster's body in behind the Browns.  He's fairly comfortable with us - he was hand-raised by a nice young man as a 4H project and has always been well treated.  And no, it doesn't hurt when they peck at my hand.  It's kind of like being gently poked with a fork.  A bonding moment, don't ya know?

A Stroll, and Then a Bath!

It's a very nice day in the neighbourhood!  Currently -6 C, projected high of -3 C (about 26 F).  Farmer Man had gotten some nice straw on the snow, spread out around the chicken coop door.  We 'seeded' it with some nice scratch and hey! if Rocky and The Hens didn't come out to play!  They're having a nice little stroll in the sunshine - getting their Vitamin D.  I noticed that The Girls (the Leghorns) were looking a little dingey and dirty.  Now, in case you don't know, chickens have dust baths.  They snuggle into a little depression in the dirt and then throw soil up onto their backs with their wings and feet.  In their wood chip bedding, there wasn't much chance for a good bath.  The Chicks (the Browns) weren't looking as bad, but the white hens, well, it wasn't their best look!  So, we devised a little bath: a large size kitty litter box filled with potting soil (Sunshine Mix without fertilizer), a little sand and a little diatomaceous earth.  Although the Chicks were the first in - The Girls are looking better already.  And, as the weather is suppose to stay quite nice, the snow is receding in a few places so they may be able to dust bath under the spruce trees soon.

Teeny Perfect Egg!

Out to the chicken coop first thing this morning (well, after my first cup of coffee!).  Not in the nest boxes, but in the corner under the roosts, I find this perfect little wee egg.  It's such a beautiful little thing!  Now, The Girls, the Leghorns, are a year old and have been laying since June '09.  Why one would lay such a tiny thing is a mystery to me!  For the photo, I've included a quarter, for perspective ( a shiny new Canadian Olympic quarter!) as well as some of the regular eggs.  I wonder how they actually make those awesome, handpainted Ukrainian Easter Egss........

Chicken Coop in Motion

With the help of the crew, we're somewhat caught up; work on the chicken coop progresses. We've got walls, two out of four isn't bad for a couple of days work between harvesting for CSA and the Neighbourhood Country Market. We'll have a south facing window and door, and there will be a window on the east side. Little chicken doors, at ground level, will be on the north and east side. New fencing will be built, tight up on the building. We're probably going to divide the coop and the two doors will open onto two separate pastures. That way we can keep the Isa Browns and the Leghorns separate: tooooo many girls for Rocky, otherwise. Don't want to stress the rooster, don't you know?

The Girls Get Down to Business

Babies get all the attention, and our Leghorn hens must be feeling a little left out of late. The Girls are doing fine. We're consistently getting fourteen to seventeen eggs a day and the sizes are getting larger. They have a pen larger than our living room and kitchen combined, incorporating five large, old spruce for protection and shade. They happily scratch and cluck all day, particularly enjoying the couple of mole hills in the pen. They've gotten very comfortable in their makeshift coop; we no longer find any eggs outside under the trees, they are all in the coop. As the real coop gets constructed, we wonder about transitioning them into their new home. We may take their nest boxes and move them into the new structure, for some familiarity.

We wonder why we're not getting more eggs in a day. Officially, hens lay every twenty four to twenty eight hours, so maybe the Girls are just not co-ordinating their schedules. We've also wondered if Funky Butt is capable of laying with her deformed rear end (is that politically correct to label her?) The first hen we ever named was Old Mama, because she seemed bigger and older from day one. Maybe the supplier snuck a mature hen in and she IS older and not laying consistently. She has seemed more lethargic in this heat, as well. Well, nothing to do but wait and see!

They Grow Up So Fast...

The chicks are growing rather quickly! It's only been three days they've been with us and we can already see changes. Particularly the wings; the babes have little wings all of a sudden, with little spotted feathers where only fuzz used to be. They are getting a wee bit bigger, too. Not really noticeable but a little heftier. They are a little steadier on their feet but there is still some rough-and-tumble around the food dish. They picked up on the eating thing really fast; they all try to stand in the dish for best pecking. Quite cute (oh, no, there's that "c" word again!)

The 'girls' are doing very well, too. We got seventeen eggs today, almost one from everybody! They have definitely filled out a bit since they arrived. They've settled in rather nicely: all the eggs were inside the roost tonight, and almost half were in the nests! It will be interesting to move the 'girls' into the finished chicken coop and it will be reaaaaally interesting to try to mix the two groups! The 'girls' are Leghorns and the 'chicks' are Isa Browns, so at least we'll be able to tell them apart!