Saturday, April 14, 2012

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner


 We have babies!  Say hello to the first of the critters to be born here at our little Hillside Haven.  I'm so excited!  We had to do some last minute improv since we hadn't really figured out what to do with the chicks once they actually hatched.  You see Mars built the nesting boxes about four foot off the ground. I was so worried about the little ones falling out of the nest but he kept telling me it would be just fine.  "Heck baby birds fall out of the nest all the time and they are fine".  Uhmmm ok.  
Come to find out, I guess he was right this time.  I went to check on the chickens ( which I had been doing like every hour or so) to see if we had babies yet.  Well, I walked in the coop and I'll be danged if there weren't five little chicks and a freaked out mama hen on the floor! 
  So we had to do a bit of moving things around.  First there was the matter of finding some place for the new family.  We have a cage that could be used and it's perfect for the time being. 
 The problem was that we have been keeping "Stew" the Rooster in there because he's mean as hell and beats up the other chickens.  He has a date with the stew pot but we just haven't got around to "doing the deed" yet. 
 We don't let them free range because the last time we tried that Stew(art) the rooster went back down the hill where he came from.  They made us come get and bring him home.  Hey, I told ya he was mean!  LOL  So he's been hanging out in the pen for the past couple of weeks.  

   So what to do with him???  Well, we have a spare spot in the rabbit hutch so we just moved him in with his new roommates for the time being.  Poor old Bucky the rabbit wasn't too sure what to think of him at first but everyone settled down pretty fast.
The next step was to get the other chickens out of the coop and out into the pen and blocking the coop door.  They are all pretty used to me and don't get all freaked out when I go in there but they don't really follow directions well!  So I told Mars to just walk in there and they would all run out the door. 
 Sure enough.... easy peasy.  So we set up the cage with straw and water and Mars caught the indignant mama hen and shoved her in the cage.  Of course she was totally freaking out because... well....."MY BABIES, MY BABIES".   After rounding up the chicks and having a family reunion everyone settled right down.  As soon as I opened up the coop for the other chickens to be able to come in....
Raggedy Anne  (the hen with the missing back feathers - thanks Stew!) Jumped up into the nesting box on the rest of the eggs and has been sitting there since Monday!  We aren't getting any eggs at the moment but apparently we just might have some more babies in a couple of weeks. 

20 comments:

  1. how fun, fun, fun. This makes me want to get chickens now. but we are waiting until we are done traveling, and building.
    peace n abundance,
    CheyAnne
    http://cheyannesexton.etsy.com

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    1. CheyAnne, they ARE fun. It's hard to believe how much I am enjoying chickens. And yes, do your traveling while you can cause once you start getting critters and raising a garden traveling comes to an abrupt halt. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. We used to have chickens, ducks, and geese but there were too many critters around here that had them on their menu.

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  3. We have lots of chicken loving critters around here too. That's another reason we built the pen for the chickens. I'm wanting to be the one to have them on the menu!

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  4. The babies are so cute.... Congrats on the newest additions!

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    1. Thanks Yart! I've still got a huge silly grin on my face.

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  5. Frying chickens in a few months!! FK

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    1. Heck yeah FK... bring your bad self on down and we'll have us a fine dinner!

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  6. So cute! We finally got rid of our mean rooster and have a nice rooster now.
    Don't know how the weather is going there, but, please---batten down the hatches, lady! What I saw on the weather channel does not bode well for Oklahoma!

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    1. Nice roosters are just ...well... nicer! LOL You can bet we are locked down with these storms moving thru. Kinda scary actually.

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  7. Sci,

    Congrats on the baby chicks, their adorable. I can hear your fryer heating up right now for that mean old rooster, lol.
    Be careful,the weather suppose to turn nasty for most of Oklahoma after 4PM til 4AM.

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  8. LOL Sandy! Good hot cast iron pan is just a waiting for him too. You watch yourself as well, you already had one close call this week.

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  9. How exciting! We have hens, but no rooster. No chance of getting those cute little chicks :) Congrats! Stay safe in the storms.

    Blessings,
    Red

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Red! Oh and btw I like the new "look" on your blog :)

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  10. I hope you all weathered the storms okay. [pun not intended] We were thinking of you.

    If Stew is as mean as you say [and I believe you] I think it would be easy to do the deed and cook him up. Sure the plucking/feather removal is a bit of a tedious task but for the ones you actually have to pull out you can just say "We loved you. We loved you NOT!" You're sure to end on a "NOT" and it will help pass the time until he is simmering. He just doesn't seem worth the trouble, especially if he is a danger to others.

    The chicks are so cute. How long did she have to sit on them? What type are they and why are they so many different colors? Can you actually crossbreed chickens and end up with "mutts" or is that dangerous or cause genetic damage? Do you know I know absolutely NOTHING about chickens, but would love to know more. Thanks!

    Hope you're okay. Hugs!

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    1. Oh Skippy, You got me laughing HARD about plucking those feathers! As for sitting on the eggs it takes them 3 weeks, during which time they hardly ever (I never saw her even once) get off the nest. All our chickens are mutts. Some folks say that its a great breed to have because they are really hardy. I still have SO much to learn about chickens but I learned one really important lesson this week. It pertains to feeding them. Called AAL Keep the chicks food AAL (above ass level) LOL!!!!

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  11. Sci,

    Hey Girlie, Are ya'll okay? Storms were nasty this entire weekend. I was hoping the tornadoes would hit in the open areas and not where people reside. Drop me a line and let me know your okay.

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    1. Boy Sandy, you aren't kidding about those storms. We lucked out here and got some high winds and rain but no tornados OR hail. Whew! Glad to hear that ya'll came out ok as well.

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  12. I recently won the Versatile Blogging Award and was asked to nominate others who have a great blog.
    You have won the Versatile Blogging Award. Keep up the great blogging!

    http://tomatothymes.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-won-versatile-blogging-award.html

    Lisa

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    1. WOW! Thanks Lisa, thats awesome! And thanks for hitting the button and staying awhile!

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