Farm Report: January and February Egg Counts

We're letting three of the feathery-foot daughters of Turendot, our Cochin hen, have their own babies this year. So far I've counted 5, with #6 trying to hatch out yesterday. Here is a recent photo, with a bold blond chick. The others have a tendency to run and hide when I take out the camera. But not our little Lana Turner. She can't wait to be discovered.

We are having all kinds of flowers here on the farm, from the fruit trees (apples, plums) to the daffodils:







But we are still having night temperatures in the 30's. We could yet get some snow, but who knows? Rainfall this year has been below normal.

Pat has more photos on his blog: Spring at Robin's Wood


The EGG REPORT:

January: Bantams 49, Large Hens 37, for a total of 86.

February: Bantams 68, Large Hens 26, for a total of 94.

Current total this year: 180.

We would have had more eggs, but since we have three hens sitting and hatching, they stop laying eggs until they raise their chicks. We also lost a hen in a hawk attack a few weeks ago. A rooster, too. That's one of the things that prompted me to let the chickens start raising their babies early this year. We need replacements. That's the way it goes on the farm.

End of Farm Report.
     

Rain, Fowl Dramas and Power Supplies

I haven't been posting lately, for a couple of reasons. Getting the farm ready for winter has meant putting extra effort into completing a few projects before the rains start happening full force.

There have also been some dramas with our fowls. Our flying Mallards completed their fall molt, and began to fly. We had clipped their wings when we first got them a year ago, so they would not fly away. But now that they were used to this being their home, I thought it would be safe to not clip them. It was glorious, having them fly around the farm, then spiraling down around me for a landing. I was hoping to video tape it for the blog. But last Wednesday, they flew over the house and vanished. At sunset, the male returned by himself.

Dilly, Dally and Dolly before their Fall molt.
As of Wednesday, it's been "Goodbye Dolly".
I can't know what happened to the female. I think she would have come back if she could, so I fear the worst. So it seems we've learned the hard way that we need to keep their wings clipped. We clipped the drake, so he will stay and keep our female runner duck company, and not risk getting shot or eaten by something.

Then on Halloween, a hawk attacked our bantams, I heard the commotion and got out the front door just in time to see it about to get one of the nine baby chicks. I chased it off, but a count of the chicks showed that there were only eight left. I didn't see it fly off with a carcass, and I couldn't find a body, so I wasn't sure what to think. Much later in the day, a recount showed that there were nine chicks, so one must have been hiding really well.

There's been several things I've wanted to blog about regarding the election, but my computer is having problems. I think it's the power supply, it seems to be overheating, and probably needs to be replaced. All things considered, I haven't been on-line as much as I'd like. I'll have to try to get it all sorted out soon.