Bad Hawks 6-25-12

We hate having a pair of hawks living in our neighbor's trees. The hens can't be out in the yard roaming free. They have to be in the chicken tractors if they are in the yard so they are protected from hawks. At 8:30 this morning I heard the hawk in the backyard. Looked out to see it circling above the coop area. We ran out to chase it away. It probably caught a mouse and was in our pine tree eating it.

The hawk is right in the middle of this picture. Can you see it to the right of the big trunk?

Hate these hawks. This is the male. He's twice as big as the female.

Juneau Is a Rooster 6-25-12

We are sad to officially report that Juneau is a rooster. He is trying to get his voice heard. We have 4 chicken programs lined up for July and will keep him thru then so he can be a part of them. But sadly he has to go back to the breeder. :(

Juneau

Buffy Getting Braver 6-17-12

I am reading on the porch. Buffy came to the edge of the porch, the closest she has ever been to me.

I put out Buffy's food and stayed on the porch.  She sneaked on the porch and ate.  I'm making progress with her.

She's so cute. I'd love to be able to pet her.

Pearl Back with her Friends 6-17-12

Pearl's wound is healed shut, so we put her, with her bandaged foot, back in the coop area.  None of the chickens bothered with her foot.

Barney up on the nursery again.

Buffy and Barney 6-16-12

Barney, on the right, is very tame now.  I'm working on Buffy. She comes to eat every evening, but I have to be in the house for her to venture onto the porch.

Hummingbird 6-16-12

We love sitting on the porch and watching the hummingbirds come to eat.

Chickens in Tractors 6-15-12

Since Pearl is stil having her foot soaked every day and bandaged, we have kept her separated from the other girls.  Today we put Sophia in with her because she is so gentle. She did not go after Pearl's foot.

Ellie, Lacey and Harriet

Buffy in the Yard 6-13-12

There are chickens in the chicken tractors. Buffy is a new stray I am trying to tame. Today was the first I saw her just hanging out in the yard.

I zoomed in on the above pic.  She's so cute!

Barney, Juneau and Frizzie 6-12-12

Here is Juneau and Frizzie in their nursery. Barney, the stray cat I adopted, is drinking water off the tarp on top of the pen. It rained last night. He has water in a dish, but he likes it up there.  The birds don't mind him at all.

Pearl Outside Again 6-11-12

After being in the house for over a week, Pearl was standing more on her foot. We thought it ok to put her back outside during the day.  Instead of the coop area which is dirt, we put her in a chicken tractor in the grass. It gave her grass to eat, fresh air, and room to move around. She is by herself because we thought her bandaged foot would be something most of the hens would peck at.

Early Risers 6-11-12

It's 6:30 am. I woke up, looked out the window, and the girls are already lined up waiting for someone to come visit them. They are so spoiled!!!

Pearl's Surgery 6-9-12

We got brave and operated on Pearl's foot. I wrapped her in a towel and laid her on her side, talking quietly to her while Parke used an exacto knife to cut out the scab and squeeze the infection out. Pearl did great.  Parke did great. I was a little queezy.  This pic is after surgery.  I'm soaking Pearl's foot in the the koi fish solution. 

Pearl was so good thru all this.  She really trusts us. She left me hold her during surgery and now soaking her foot.

Packed it with neosporin and wrapped it up. (BTW, I did not wet my pants. The cats were curious as she was soaking her foot and she jumped out of the water, spilling it on my shorts.)  Pearl is a leghorn. If you get white eggs at the grocery store, this is the breed they come from.

Our First Children's Program 6-8-12

We did a program for a 5 year old special needs class. I wasn't allowed to take pics of the children. We were outside. We set up a fence along the building to put the hens in after we took each one around to each child.

This is the vegetation along the wall.

This is what it looked like after the chickens were there.  

Can you tell where the chickens were? They loved eating the weeds and looking for bugs for dessert.

Pearl's Bad Foot 6-3-12

The past couple weeks we have noticed that Pearl lays down a lot, which is not like her at all. Today I noticed that her one foot was swollen and had a scab on the bottom.  I contacted Penn State Poultry Extension to see what it was.  It is a very serious infection that is almost always fatal. Neither the vet at Penn State or our vet gave any hope that she could be helped. A chicken can injure the foot, and an infection gets in there. I got on www.backyardchickens.com and did a search there on the problem.  There are two remedies. 1. There are chemicals for koi fish that get skin ulcers. By putting the fish in it for 5 minutes a day, the ulcers disappear. It has been successful in treating bumble foot also. I called every fish store within 50 miles of me, with no luck in finding the chemicals. I found in online in Georgia and had it 2-day shipped. I am soaking her foot for 5 minutes a day.  2. Surgery.  Some guy on backyardchickens.com tells you how to do it and has pics. Parke and I decided to do that also. We will probably have to do it a second time in the weeks to come to get out all the infection in there. For now, I am keeping Pearl in the bathroom so she doesn't have to move around or get it dirty. I am determined to do what I can to save her life.

Finn in New Bedding 6-2-12

I got new bedding for the guest room. I took it out of the packaging and Finn thought it was for him.  He spent most of the day in it. I couldn't disturb him.  I waited till the next day to put it on the bed correctly.

Hummingbird 5-21-12

We love our hummingbirds.

Aunt Ollie and Baby Chicks 5/20/12

My aunt likes to visit the chickens, especially that babies.  Here she is with Juneau and Frizzie.

Parke's Napping Companions 5-19-12

Doesn't everyone nap with four cats in the room?