ALL THE CRITTERS

Hi Ya'll! Deliverance here with news from the farm.



We are trying to hatch them beautiful eggs this spring. I have 40 eggs in the incubator and we are at day 7 of 21, so right now it is just a matter of turning them 2-3 times a day and making sure there is enough water in there to create some nice humidity. I am very eager to see how many I can hatch this way. I have a couple of hens that don't mind "sittin'" but that is usually after the weather warms a bit more. Right now they are just interested in the two rooster I have left after killing time.



I had 6 roosters thru the winter, they were young and didn't bother the hens too much during the colder months but once it started to warm up a bit it seem like they were "hell bent for glory" and chased everything that moved!! Well, you know, after a while the hens started to show the wear and after one of my setters got hurt and died that was all she wrote for them. So now we are down to two roosters. Stumpy is a white and black Easter Egger, very large, good looking rooster that got hurt when he was just a chick and Frederick (my better half) nursed him back. He walks with a slight limp but that don't slow him down none. And then there is Woody. Woody is a Spanish Gold that wears a very large head of feathers that go in every direction. We call him the "Rock Star" because of all the feathers and if he ever grows his tail feathers back he will be a beautiful bird (and look more balanced as well). It would seem that all those roosters were a bit jealous of Woody plummage and made sure it didn't stick around long, even his headdress is looking better these days. Woody and Stumpy are very happy without all the competition and they have all those pretty hens!! Hopefully they are fertile roosters and we have a bunch of babies this year.

If you will all remember back to the first blog that Willfull posted, you will recall a rooster by the name of George. George is no longer with us on the farm. He has moved to greener pastures as they say. I raised George from a hatchling, carried him around in my bra or pocket when I was outside working the garden or what have you. He had become quite a large part of life around here and I do miss him a bunch. I don't hear the other roosters in the morning as well as I heard George because George had his own house up on the back porch. He was a very well cared for bird. And now he is gone. I had given one of the neighbor boys a couple of hens last year, they were sisters and were always together. Well one of them past away a few weeks later and "Goldie" was left to be alone thru the winter and of course being raised the way he was George couldn't be put in the regular coop with the rest of them birds. He wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in there. So he has moved in with Goldie and could not be happier. Yeah, I know, it is silly to miss a bird with as many as I have around here but I just got used to him crowing at 4:30 in the morning and all day long for that matter! It got so I would have to take him out of his house in the morning and put him in the garden during the day so he wasn't digging up all my flower beds. And now with spring coming on I need the garden, of course, so I was going to have to find a place for him anyway. This way it is a win all the way around. George gets a new home with Goldie and I get my garden back. I do miss him talking to me all day tho! But he and Goldie are doing well and we are hopeful that they will start their own flock!



Well I had better get this day started, it is almost day break and there are chores to do. I hope that you have enjoyed this conversation with me and will be back soon. Willfull and I do enjoy the farm and sharing it with you. Willful, I hope you are having a great time and hurry home from your adventure. I miss ya!! Until next time....