Chickens in the House? Sure, Why Not?!?

We had some cold days and nights. One night it got down to -33. The chickens and ducks were NOT happy out in the unheated garage.
So...

Tarps on floor, hay on tarps.

Cab moved, but Inky looked lovely!

The chickens and ducks are pretty content inside. However, I neglected to tell the Dalin' Man we had taken over the room that has the access door for the basement so the chickens would have a warm place. Soooo...in the middle of the night, he decided to go check on the furnace. He didn't turn on the light. He was surprised, the chickens were outraged, lol! Everyone recovered nicely.
And it is snowing again, but it is warmer today!

Mailbox and snow, getting a little art-y!

The road out front.

I intended to drive down to Littleton today, but with a winter storm watch going on, I decided it was best to hang around the homestead today.
So...a day of cleaning, doing stuff around the house and maybe even some sewing (if I'm lucky).

Hellllloooooooo Ladies.....!

Say hello to Henry and Zepplin:

 Henry is a rental buck. Charming, gentle and oh-so-handsome! The girls reached the end of their milking cycles and we decided to get a decent buck to breed them to. Gabby and Champagne already adore him!
Zepplin is a half grown rooster given to us by a neighbor that got him from a friend who received him in an order of female chicks she ordered from a hatchery...sometimes it happens!

I think my girls and Henry will make lovely kids!

Zepplin is our *Rooster-in-Waiting* in case Cab can't fulfill all his duties. I also plan to catch Nuggets free range half grown chicks (that are now hens) and tuck them into Zepplins little coop.
So...working on the future here!

A Break in the Weather and Dreams for the Future!

We had rain last night...blessed, blissful, cooling RAIN!
I finally got a semi-decent nights sleep, too. Nothing like the sound of rain on the roof and outside the window to lull you to sleep! Better than any sleeping pill out there, I bet.
Because of the rain, the temp dropped almost 20 degrees...now, that's a Good Thing!
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With the Darlin' Mans retirement day getting closer and closer, my dreams of our future homestead are getting clearer and clearer.
We have made some decisions, among them, our future livestock purchases
Here are some of them:

Icelandic goats! Sturdy and great for any homestead in Northern climes. Great for milk, meat, wool and pelts! Beautiful, aren't they?

Milking Devon cattle. Milk, meat, oxen and hides. Perfect homestead cow! And so purty!

Now, the Darlin' Man wants a mule or two, but I want a horse or two. So, we are still stale-mated on that one!
Chickens...well, he is leaving that one up to me and I am still a bit indecisive.

We found out that we will have a bit more money than we thought to start up the homestead, but since we haven't gotten the money YET, I am still sorta hedging my bets.

Haven't picked our pig breed yet, though I am definitely leaning towards the Gloucester Old Spots.

How adorable are they!?!? Squeeeeeeeeee! Look like little piggy banks brought to life!
Also very lean, good breeders and good mothers.

Do I give *points* for the cuteness or attractiveness?
Yes...yes, I do.
I think if you like the way a certain breed of livestock looks, you are likely to take better care of it.
Probably why I don't want a mule.
Those suckers are ugly!

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Surprised Again!

Remember Nugget?

We thought we had lost her, then she came back.
She would spend a few minutes here and there and then disappear again to who-knows-where.
Well, she showed up again...but not alone!

Nugget is a momma!
She appeared with 10 little chicks, but we were only able to catch 9 of them. We put her in the old hutch that Ugly Betty and her chicks were in, which meant we had to put Betty and her chicks somewhere else. We temporarily put them in with our new ducks...but then one of the chicks drowned in the ducks wading pool.
So, we built Betty and her two remaining babies their own little coop with a small house so they can have shade and get out of bad weather. Betty was so pleased, when my son had just finished attaching the gate to the pen, she walked her chicks up and marched right in!

So, our flock has almost doubled! Nugget is being a very good momma. She makes sure her  wee chicks eat plenty of the chick starter and the treats we give her, clucks to get them over to the waterer and fluffs out her feathers and snuggles them all down at night to keep them warm.

I guess that explains Nuggets prolonged absence!

Get In Line, Ladies!

Quirky fowl behavior here at Frippery Farm!
The chickens have a coop with nesting boxes. Lovely coop, comfy boxes.
However, they all prefer to wait until I let them out of the coop and then they race to a spot behind the pallet we stack hay and feed on. They stand in line to lay eggs there! Oh, sure, I might find one or two eggs in the actual coop, but the girls consider this little area, wedged behind the feed pallet and a cinder block wall THE "perfect" spot!  One day last week, they deposited a total of a dozen eggs there!

A few eggs in the "perfect" spot

Gloria taking her turn

The line, with Pender being the bouncer. Dolores looks impatient!

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The peafowl are breeding! Although Pericles is not fully mature (he is only about 2 1/2---3 years old, full plumage happens around 4 to 5 years old), he is doing his darnedest to impress his ladies!

"Check it out, Ladies!"

"Looks good, no? "

I think he got a bit tired out, lol!

And the ladies have responded! We now have a couple of peahen nests built by Persephone and Pandora...and Persephone's nest has eggs in it!
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The weekend project of a new goose pen is complete:

Yes, a new home with a pool!
We went ahead and moved them in already. We carefully slid a large piece of  plywood under the nest and transported it intact to the new pen. Heloise and Xander LOVE their new pen...especially the pool! I think Heloise will continue to hatch her eggs, as she rearranged the nest and was setting the next morning.

So there's the fowl update this Monday morning!

Goat-a-polooza! (and Chicken-po-looza, too!)

A beautiful morning here! Bright blue sunny skies, no wind, temperature is cool, but not cold.
So, in celebration of Spring, I released all the goats and chickens to frolic in the backyard today!
and frolicking they are! Okay, the chickens aren't frolicking, but the goats are, especially the little ones!

Neala...she has such unusual markings!

Nina escorts her little ones out of the pen.

Nina keeps close watch as they explore

Mama Nina tucked Nola and Neala under the milk stand when the other goats got too close for comfort!

Gabby and daughter Gerte browse through the hay box.

Lily and Liam

Champagne checks out the view from the back porch!

Liam climbs on EVERYTHING! But, he got stuck on the milk stand and then on the wheelbarrow and had to be rescued!

Gabby going to check out the chicken coop

Some of the girls enjoying the sunshine and a dust bath!

The chickens are not impressed by the goats. They especially don't like the wee ones...Liam and Max have been chasing the chickens around the yard...that all stopped when Pender, the rooster, decided to chase back!
Hope you all are enjoying the day and the weather has improved where you are!
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Later today I will be posting a rather political post. Some things are *gnawing* at me and I have to write about them.
But before I take the time to do that, I need to start some bread dough for dinner tonight and get some laundry on the line!

Sunday Morning...

Penar and his girls over by the milking stand

Max, Xander and Heloise enjoying the sunshine

Persephone and the new peahen, Phobe

Phoebe is smaller, Persephone has the white patch on her wings

They get along well, as long as Phoebe agrees that Persephone is in charge!

Lily is still waiting...and waiting...to kid

Yup, bagging up and pouchy goat butt...she is close!

Pendar looking magnificent as usual!

Yes, we have acquired another peahen. She was offered to us at a price 1/4 of what peahens usually sell for, so we decided to go ahead and get her. We named her Phoebe.
Lily is getting closer and closer to kidding...just wish she would go ahead and kid already! Poor thing is waddling around her pen and seems to have that "Oh, I am so fat and miserable" thing going on. Frequent ear scratches and tummy rubs help.
Little Max is growing by leaps and bounds and enjoys head-butting the geese. Tonight he will spend the night with Gerte and Gustav in the kid pen, as his mama will be milked in the morning. We have been conditioning Molly to the milking stand, but she is still pretty fidgety, so milking her will be a definite TWO person job!
Pendar loves being "cock of the walk" now that Red is gone. He takes good care of his hens and Ugly Betty has moved out of the peafowl pen and into the chicken coop! Pendar made sure the other hens didn't pick on her and Betty has adjusted well.
That's Sunday morning here, hope all of you are having a lovely day, too!

Everyday Disasters

We all have them...small disasters that occur when we don't pay attention for just one moment.
We knock a prized glass bowl off a counter *crash* or we forget about the casserole in the oven because we are trying to get the clothes off the line before a storm hits and we have to resort to fixing sandwiches for dinner because the casserole ended up a rather large burnt hockey puck.


Today, I was inattentive for just a moment while I was milking Gabby.
Sure enough, just as I was finishing up...she planted a hoof dead smack in the middle of the milk pan.
ACK!
While Gabrielle is a lovely goat, she is not a fastidious goat when it comes to getting pedicures. She walks around in her pen, which, as can be expected, has goat poop and urine all over it.
So, I finished milking, put Gabby back with her twins and took the milk inside.
First, I gave some to Siona and our new dog, Baby, and they were VERY happy that their morning kibble was more like a bowl of cereal.
Still had plenty of milk left.
So....

 Yes, the chickens got it! All seemed delighted at this unexpected gift. Red, as you can see in the last picture, started crowing his head off. I am sure he was announcing to his chickens that HE somehow brought this wonderful treat to them.

Everyday disasters....they happen...

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

Every morning after milking, I open the chicken coop door and scatter scraps on the ground outside. This encourages the chickens to get out and about a bit. This morning, Baby (our rescued stray) decided to join in the fun!

The chickens don't seem to mind and even Red, our psycho rooster, is okay with the strange creature that has joined his flock!

Lets Get Ready To Rumble!

As you can see by the header picture, Red and Pendar are NOT getting along well these days!
I let the chickens out every morning to wander about the yard while I tend to the goats.
Pendar and his lady love Ugly Betty live in a coop with the peafowl.
Red, of course, has his harem in the bigger chicken coop.
Red and his ladies:

Forgive the bad quality of the pics...a little hazy!

Well, Pendar and Ugly Betty get out of their coop at the same time...and Red feels since he has the rest of the hens,he should have Betty as well! Pendar does not agree with Red on this point, and as is common among males of many species....this leads to chest beating, challenges and, finally, they come to blows.

No one has been hurt, as what they mostly do is fluff their ruffs out, flap their wings and then fly at each other while the hens scamper for cover.
As you can see, Red, our psycho rooster, is larger than Pendar. This does not matter to Pendar! He will defend Ugly Betty to his last breath!
I do find it funny that after a fight, Pendar runs over to Betty and checks her over as if making sure she is okay....and Betty clucks softly while preening herself. Pendar then crows his darnedest, proclaiming to the world that he has defended his lady successfully again.
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Speaking of chickens...we have a new one!
A friend had five chickens, but because they had a dog that wanted chicken dinners, they quickly ended up with one.
They didn't want the fifth one to end up like the rest, so they gave her to us!
We named her Bess and figured we would put her in with Pendar and Betty as we thought putting her in with the big flock might end up with her being pecked.
WRONG idea!
Betty, who is tiny, proceeded to go absolutely crazy on the new hen! Pecking her, flapping her wings at her, jumping on her and just generally harassing the crap out of her!
"Stay away from MY rooster! I KNOW you weren't looking at him like that! "
So, I tried putting her in with Reds flock.
It worked! The hens accepted her in, shared their food and water and even Red was calm about it.
We named her Bess.

I know...she looks like every other chicken we have here...except she has these black under-feathers, so I can pick her out of the crowd easily!