Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[Denim Deb]

I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. Even w/the bedroom door closed, I could hear a chick peeping. I finally got up at 4:45 and went and looked. The one that pipped yesterday is out! I don't recall if I mentioned that I have 7 of RU's eggs in there or not. She had one green egg layer and something killed it. She still had 7 of her eggs, so I put them in there. Well, one of them has pipped! I'm hoping to get home this afternoon and find a bunch of chicks in there. I'm planning to spend the night at the farm so I can try to slip the chicks in under the hen. She's been on the eggs for about 2 weeks, so I'm hoping she's been on long enough so she'll be fooled.

 

[Denim Deb]

OK, hubby's left for work. It's kind of wet out there. I just might go back to bed!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm jealous! Even my DH is still in bed...he's got a dental appt this morning so he doesn't have to be at a office early this morning....

I've already been out and fed chickens so I guess I better jump in the shower... grumble....grumble

 

[Denim Deb]

I went back to bed for a bit, now I'm up again. I was supposed to get hay today-ain't happening. It's too wet. And, I'm not really sure what all I'm going to be able to get done at the farm. I really need to clean my field, but don't think I will. I didn't have a chance to look at the flat tire, and I don't feel like messing w/it in the rain. Maybe I'll pull some weeds if it's not pouring. After all, they should come out fairly easily.

I still have the same-one chick out, and 1 pip. I'm really hearing one right now, don't know if it's one of those 2, or if it's a 3rd one.

Days like this I really wish I had my own place. I don't really feel like going to the farm because of the weather. There's not a whole lot I can do-but I have a ton of stuff that needs to get done here.

 

[Denim Deb]

I now have 4 out, and 1 more (at least) is pipped! I told my broody that tonight she was going to become a mother-but I don't know that it sunk in or not. I have a feeling it's going to be very easy to slip these chicks in and get her to accept them. She is the kind of broody you hope for. In spite of checking under her 2x a day for other eggs, and trying to move her 2x, not once has she tried to peck me. And, even though I stood there w/the door to the coop wide opened while I cleaned the poop out of there, other than clucking some at me, she didn't get upset. I just hope they all finish hatching out by 8:30!

 

[Denim Deb]

Didn't have the time to really update how my experiment went.

When I was ready to go out to the farm, I still had the same, 4 chicks and 1 pipped. And, I needed to leave. So, I took the whole incubator w/me. I figured kick all the other chickens out, slip the eggs under her (after removing the dud eggs) leave the incubator on the floor so she'd hear them cheeping, then after awhile, go and slip the chicks in under her. I don't know if I didn't wait long enough, didn't get them under far enough or what, but while they were happy to be w/her, she wasn't happy to have them in there. She kept turning her head and trying to peck any that popped out. I kept waiting, hoping she'd be OK, but finally decided I couldn't take the chance. So, I scooped them back up, put them back in the bator and went home.

I checked on her when I got to the farm yesterday. The one that pipped was out. So, I decided that I'd bring the 4 out w/me today and see if I could add them to any she had. I was hoping I'd get there, and she'd be off the nest. I wanted to just put all of the chicks in a container, move them into the broody area, then move her. She was still on the nest w/the one. There was another one that had tried to hatch, but it looks like she squished it accidentally. So, I went and got a chick, picked her up and put the chick under her. I let her back down-she was fine. I waited several minutes and did the same w/the 2, then the 3rd, then the 4th. She accepted all of them!

If she's still on the eggs tomorrow, I'm going to have to do something to get her at least down on the ground. The one chick fell out a couple of times. I'd hear it peeping away real loud, would go and check and it would be out of the nest box. It couldn't get back in. (RU's going to check on them this evening to be sure they're all in w/her-it's going to be rather cool overnight.)

I'm still having problems w/my mower. I managed to get my cart dumped the other day. I tried leaving it running so I could clean the field, dump the cart again and mow. Well, it wouldn't stay running. Right now, the cart is full again, but I didn't have time to try and dump it. I'll be doing that tomorrow.

I got my first 4 RBs today! This looks like really nice hay. And, not only do I have all of my RBs ordered for the year, I also have all of my sbs as well! For the first time since I've been caring for my horses, I'm not going to have to worry about getting the hay in and having what I want. I had wanted some sbs last year, but never had the money to buy them, nor a place to put them. This year, I finally will. That will make my life so much easier.

My garden is doing good. I managed to get my tomatoes tied up. I finally have cantaloupe up. I still need to set up my poles so I can make my trellis for my vine crops, but that won't take long at all. I finally have potatoes coming up, so I've been adding old hay to them as needed. I can hardly wait until I can start to eat some of this stuff I'm growing. So far, all I've had is a little bit of asparagus and some peas. They were yummy.

 

[Denim Deb]

Well, that hen was STILL on the nest this morning. And, RU told me that 2 of them had been down yesterday. The one was shivering. She put it back in w/the hen, but it wouldn't go under her. So, she pulled the hen's wing away from her body, then stuck the chick there. She could not believe how calm this hen is. Not once did she try to peck at her, all she did was cluck at her. So, since this hen is proving to be a keeper, she now has a name-Emily.

To get her off the nest, I put some shavings down on the floor. Then, I put the chicks on the floor, then I put the eggs in one corner. Next, I grabbed Emily and put her on the eggs. The chicks were quite happy to be down. They ran all over, got something to eat and drink. Emily decided that this was fine. Not once did she try to get back in the nesting box. I was going to move her into the broody pen, but we have a massive storm heading our way. It means that my other chickens will have to get under the coop tonight and tomorrow to get out of the weather, but better them then having to worry about the chicks.

My tack stall was a mess. So, I got that all straightened out this morning B4 heading for my Bible study. Then, I dumped and scrubbed my water tank, scrubbed the water buckets and filled everything up. This way, if the farm loses power, my horses have water for a bit. I also put the battery in my mower, drove down and dumped my cart. B4 I left, I disconnected the battery in the hopes that it would start again later in the day.

Once I got back, I got Stormy fed, then got the rest of my field cleaned! I had another whole cartload. So, I decided that I'd dump it once the horses were back in the field. W/that done, I got hay out, filled hay nets and covered my hay. That was NOT easy. The wind had picked up. Once I was finally able to get the tarps on, it was then a matter of tying it down.

Checked on Emily and the babies, got the chickens put away, and connected the battery in my mower. The mower started right up! So, I go down, dump the cart, and head back up. The mower died. I was able to restart it a couple of times, but it kept dying. I ended up pushing it out of the field I was in. So, that meant I had to tow it back up and I had to wait to do that. LF had the vet out, and she was parked in my way. So, I had to wait until she left B4 I could get my mower. Went back to my tack shed, and put the windows in, and cleaned the litter box. Got that done, and saw the vet leaving, so I went back, put a strap around the mower and towed it up. Fed Cindy and was finally able to leave.

Got home, cleaned some of my hay shelter, fed the goats and the bunny, and weeded the front some. I still need to do dishes, but I'm beat! So, I'm relaxing for just a bit B4 I go do them. I'm hoping I can get to bed early tonight.

 

[Corn Woman]

You are one busy lady Deb, I love a good broody hen to pick up some of the extra work at my house. I always try to put in the chicks at zero dark thirty and have had great success but then again I just have to go "out back". I love my green egg layers they produce earlier in the year and don't stop until around Halloween or later, plus none of mine go broody which is great because the crazy Welsummers and Buff Cochins won't give it up despite my every attempt to break them.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm glad that I have her. I lost the broodies that I did have, and haven't really been able to get another to go broody on me. I'm planning on trying later in the summer to see if I can get another one to go broody. I've come up w/an idea for how to hopefully move one if I get one, and what to do w/her if I can't.

 

[Denim Deb]

We had Andrea blow thru yesterday, so I left Emily and the babies in the coop. I don't know how happy the rest of the chickens were. I'd say some of them might have been madder than a wet hen. But, today is supposed to be much dryer, so I should be able to move them today. I just need to put up some type of tarp or something so they have a shaded area as well as a dry spot to put the food.

The belt finally came for my bike! So, I should be singing, On the road again later today.

W/all the rain, it looks like my tomatoes have grown several inches. So this evening, I'll have to work on them. I've been trying a Florida weave w/them. But I'll admit, it's not that easy to do, and it hurts my back. I have some that aren't tall enough yet to do anything to. So for them, I'm going to do what I had originally planned-make a "trellis" out of baling twine and then tying the plants to that. Then, whichever is easier, is what I'll use next year.

W/all the rain, I'd say the majority of the beans I planted are up! I hope so cuz that area needs to be weeded. Hopefully, I can do that on Monday. Then on Tuesday, I'll get my next section of corn planted. Next year, I'm hoping it isn't so cold for so long. I would have liked to have gotten some corn in in April. Then, I could have possibly had corn by 7/4-which would have been nice.