Fair Faces

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and soon everyone will be thinking about baby chicks and new flock additions. But in the meantime, I wanted to look back at some of the faces of the poultry I met at our local fairs. I love taking a peek at the earnest eyes, inquiring faces and the unusual. I hope you do too!

Sick Barred Rock at Vet

The other night I was going out to dinner so I put the girls in their coop/run for protection in case I didn't get back before dark. At that point I noticed one of my barred rocks was walking a little slow and seemed to be waddling. I said a short prayer and hoped nothing was wrong.

Unfortunately when I fully closed the coop that night, I found the barred rock laying on the floor, not perching with the others. This is never a good sign! I also noticed that when I picked her up, her abdomen was hugely swollen.

At first, I thought she was egg-bound, so that night I soaked her belly in a tub of warm water for 20 minutes and she slept in my bathroom where I had run the shower at a high temperature to get the humidity up.

By morning, it was clear none of these methods were working. The strange thing was, and is, that other than her swollen belly, the barred rock was alert, eating and her comb/wattle were perky and a bright healthy red.

So, as a last ditch effort, I took her to the vet. I know it sounds weird, but I had to do something. The vet pronounced that the situation was dire. My "barty" was not egg-bound, her abdomen was filled with fluid. There are many possible causes for this, from a shell-less egg that entered her abdomen to ruptured reproductive organs or liver problems. All these issues are more likely to arise in older chickens, and considering my "barty" is four years old, the vet suggested we put her down.

I just couldn't do this. My barred rock was too alert and happy to be "talking" with everyone. So the vet suggested that maybe antibiotics would help. He admitted he doesn't see many chickens, so why not give it a last ditch effort. He also suggested that we draw some fluid from her abdomen to relieve her discomfort and to see if it would give us a clue about her condition. The tech held her and the vet was able to draw three of the shots, that you see below, full of fluid. The fluid was inconclusive, but it did give the "barty" immediate relief.

So, for now, my barred rock is home and recuperating well. She's got an outdoor run for the days and an indoor run in the garage for the nights. She's eating and drinking. And, if you didn't know better, you'd have no idea anything was wrong.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a recovery, but she is an old girl, so only time will tell.

Catching Up...

I apologize. It's been a while since my last post. Somehow with summer and back-to-school, my postings took a back seat.

I was just in the back yard feeding my flock some treats and thought this overcast, blustery day would be the perfect time to catch up.

Considering the extreme heat and drought, my chickens fared well this summer. Once the heat got going, we moved them to a deeper part of the woods during the day. This kept them a little cooler and happier. Nonetheless, we did lose one barred rock. I think her death was heat related although I'm not sure. It was actually bizarre. My husband and I took the chickens some cool fresh water late in the afternoon. (In the heat, the chickens loved this treat.) They were all gathered around the bowl drinking when my barred rock fell over and died. The whole thing took about 30 seconds and left me shocked by its suddenness. The only good I can find is that our barred rock didn't suffer.

Beyond that bizarre death, lots of good things happened late in the summer. Rupert, our unexpected buff orpington rooster, grew into a gorgeous mature bird. He is beloved by everyone. He's not cuddly like our hens, but he's really cool. He keeps track of all the hens. He inspects all new visitors. And, he keeps our hens safe. If there's a hawk in the sky, Rupert will let you know.

Also, our spring hens have grown into beautiful mature birds. I like to marvel at all the color combinations that come from one breed - red sex links. They've all started laying and are giving me lots of eggs to sell to my customers.

Overall, things are good here at Elm Ridge Farm and my chickens are happily enjoying the cooler days of late summer/early fall.

Fair Chickens

We visited our local 4-H fair and found some really cool chickens. What fun to see so many different varieties...

White Cochin Bantam

Naked Neck Silkie Bantam

Rhode Island Red Rooster

Old English Game Bantams

White Silkie Bantams

Wyandotte Rooster

Black Tailed Buff Rooster

Mille Fleur Belgian Bearded d'Uccle Rooster

Mille Fleur Belgian Bearded d'Uccle Hen

Ameraucana Makes Her Own Nest

Big Muff is one of our beautiful and reliable Ameraucanas. She's also our wanderer. Almost no height of fence will stop her. Sturdy top or not, she'll hang on and get herself to the other side. Even clipping her wings doesn't make a difference.

During our recent heat wave, Big Muff was undaunted. it didn't matter how many times we caught her, she could always be found right back on the concrete pad outside our garage. We really worried about her, because the temperature on the concrete was stifling. She'd sit there and pant and we'd try to catch her without causing her stress.

Then, as I was mulching our beds, I found out why Big Muff was so insistent. She had been making her own clutch of eggs right next to our front door under the arborvitae. I couldn't believe it! There were twelve beautiful green eggs that the raccoons, who are around every night, had not touched.

So, I kept an eye out, and sure enough, Big Muff eventually made her way to her nest and went right in.

I decided to pick her up and put her back in her coop. Then I promptly cleaned out the eggs. This seems to have broken whatever cycle she had going. Now, she's laying in the nest where she's supposed to lay her eggs.

I'll never know if it was the unbearable heat, although she picked a hotter spot than her coop, or having a rooster around, that made her decide to build a nest. But, it was really cool to see.

Three Easy-To-Grow Herbs

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. They’re not fussy and usually, you can just plant them and let Mother Nature take care of the rest. It’s best to try to meet the growing requirements stated on the label when you buy the plant. But even in that regard, herbs give you lots of leeway. Many will thrive in both full sun and partial shade. They usually don’t like wet feet, so make sure your site is well-drained.

Since the growing season is upon us, I encourage everyone to experiment with a few easy-grow-herbs that can even be tucked in among your other garden plants — no fancy herb garden required!

Wildlife Wednesdays: Gray Treefrogs Making More Frogs!

We found this pair of Gray Treefrogs on the ground beside our pool. I eventually had to move them to a nearby tree since the chickens and our cat, Beth, really wanted to eat them. They were a pretty cool sight to see!

It's amazing the size difference between males and females.

The by-product of their efforts!

Since the pool cover is coming off soon, I've spent the last few days moving tadpoles and eggs to a pond in our local State park. This way they've got a chance!