Chickens after Frank's Adios

Frank is gone. We expected "Major Chicken Trauma" and a halt in egg production. It took me awhile to coax the hens out of the barn Tuesday morning, but they finally went out for awhile. They still spent most of the day huddled together by the hay bales in the barn, but they laid eggs. By the time Gramma got home that day the other chickens were starting to try and mingle.

The new chickens started to come out of the paddock yesterday and the girls were still laying eggs. I also opened up the two coops making one large one Tuesday. I did this once before but had to close it back up again because of Frank. So this morning when I went down to do chores all the chickens were together in the smaller half. Yay. So Frank's departure seems to be a good thing not only for Gramma and I, but for the chickens also.

Driveway & patio

Yesterday the concrete guys came and got started on forming up the driveway and patio.

This morning they are going to pour the patio and if all goes well they might pour the driveway too. If they don't get to the driveway it will probably not get done till next week as it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday. Gramma and I are pretty excited. I'll post more when it's done.                                                   

I also managed to get the egress window cover made. Now we won't get anymore rain, frogs, toads, mice, or rabbits down there.

Weather and chickens

Well we are sitting here happy because the worst weather missed us. Tornadoes to the West of us, South of us, and North of us. They missed the Farmer Daughter and the Boy and his family too. Thank goodness. Some places West of the Twin Cities got softball size hail. Yikes! Gramma and I unplugged the TV's and computers and played some cards. Cards are fun. Of course she kicked my butt, but it's still fun.

Here are the Marans out in the paddock. They are going a little farther each day.

Here is Frank and the girls in the paddock.

Here I am feeding Lucy from my hand. It's one of her favorite things.

Right after Gramma took this pic we headed back to the house and Frank attacked me. Drew blood on my leg and bruised my shin. I know I was wearing shorts, but I should be able to do that without fear of injury.

So this is last pic I took of Frank shortly before it happened. This is the last pic I will ever take of Frank. He goes to that "Great Chicken Coop In The Sky" on Tuesday. I promised Gramma I wouldn't do it till she was at work. Oh well. Bummer. But I've had enough. I would like it if she could walk down to the barn without a stick and without fear. Goodbye Frank.

Sister visit, chickens and hail

This weekend my sister and her husband drove up from Georgia for his Mom's funeral. They stayed a couple nights with some friends and then on Tuesday they came up here to stay the night and visit. So we had a nice visit and went out to dinner last night. I think my sister enjoyed the animals and she wasn't attacked by Frank so things were good.

This morning they left for home with an overnight stay in Illinois. Not too long after they left we had a storm, so it's good they took off when they did.

We have been letting the Marans out in the morning without the other chickens so they can have some freedom without being harassed by Frank. Well they haven't ventured outside the barn, so yesterday I tried to lure them out with grain, but they wouldn't go past the doorway.

Then this morning they went out the backdoor into the paddock,so I got Gramma and my camera and we got some pics. Hope they come back.

This morning we had a pretty good storm and got hail here for the first time since we moved here. It was about the size of peas and cranberries and didn't last long, thank goodness.

Last night Jowly had her babies. She had 11 and 10 made it. She was in a stall in the barn, but decided she didn't like it so she let herself out and went to the big shed where we have been putting hay, and made a nest and had her babies. I think she is going to be a good mama this time. I took more pics but only 2 turned out. So check out the Farmer's Wife's blog and Sugarstone Farm for more and better pics.



We took the next to last load of hay to the Farmer Daughter's today and picked up a wagon running gear. I'll make a round bale hauler out of it and hopefully cut down my field to shed time in half.

It was interesting getting the thing strapped down and hauled home as it was wider than the fenders on our skidloader trailer, but we made it. Then the FD came over with her trailer and got the last load of hay. YAY. I get my shed back and therefore the garage too. We are happy.

Fishing

On Tuesday Heidi and I went to the lake. The grass was not too bad. The fishing was very good. I tried trolling for walleyes with a spinner and leach and caught a nice sunfish. I turned around and caught another. So I put on a bobber and caught some more. Then I started to catch some bass. Some small ones, and then some pretty nice ones. It slowed down and I went back in and ate supper and went back out and caught a few more.

I forgot my camera so here is an after pic. After I cleaned them and after I got home. Wednesday I went out in the morning and caught a walleye and some more bass and a few sunnys. Caught some really nice bass. Wednesday afternoon went back out and started catching sunnys one right after the other. I think I caught about 40 in about an hour. I got tired and moved to a different spot. No fish there. So I got enough for 3 meals for me and Gramma. We are happy. But there is a sad note too. My sister in Georgia called and her husbands mother died. So they are coming up next week for the funeral. Be good to see them but sad too.

Sparkle home, New chicken adventure

Yesterday I took another load of hay to the Farmer Daughter's and picked up Sparkle. Thank you again FD for finding her. She doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from her misadventures.

She went right to hunting mice in the barn. Good kitty. I know this isn't the barn, it's the deck. So what.

We also let the new chickens out for the first time yesterday. There were no fights so when I get back from the lake we'll do it again. You may recall an earlier post when we sexed the new chicks based on something we found online about their wing feathers. Apparently this does not work with French Black Copper Marans. It is beginning to look like we may have 5 roosters and 1 hen instead of the other way around. Bummer. Now I have to process more chickens and roosters don't have a lot of meat, they are all legs. I processed (Nice word isn't it) one of the FD's tom turkeys yesterday as he was starting to become very aggressive and was attacking her. Free range turkeys look a lot different from store bought ones when their feathers are removed. Can't wait to taste him. Gotta do some chores and go fishing. Bye.