Soap Opera Life

Sometimes Seven Cats Farm feels a little soap opera-y. Soap operas focus on who is sleeping with who, finding grandfather's uncle's brother's cousin's wife's long lost baby only to find out that it is your cousin to whom you are married, and on and on...

Our soap opera show today focuses on chickens. It's been awhile since we've visited out chicks and chickens here on the blog, so let's get caught up, shall we?

So, when last we left our heroes, Trudy had hatched four chicks and was being a great mom. Trudy continues to be a great mom, however one of her chicks got sick - it was something respiratory - poor thing was gasping for air and was sneezing. I separated the chick from Trudy and after trying to nurse her back to health, that chick died. So Trudy is down to three chicks - and they all are great.

In the meantime, we put another seven eggs in the (properly calibrated!!!) incubator. About a week before the eggs were to hatch, Candy went broody! Woot! I was thrilled and got busy moving birds around so I could put Candy in a carrier in what was to be the Chicken Nursery. So the bantam chickens were moved into the chicken tractor into the main pen, Trudy was moved into a larger carrier/ cardboard box where the bantams were, and we added the cleaned original Trudy carrier into the previous bantam area, aka the nursery. Candy went into said carrier and under her went seven eggs. Did you follow the bouncing ball? Phew.

Three days later and it's hatching day. I happen to have a migraine and am in bed, but The Lovey comes in to report that one chick has hatched and is fine. Yay!!! A few hours pass, and I decide to get myself up and check on the Candy and her chicks. Thank goodness I did. Although Candy was a great sitter, she was a lousy mother. She had killed two of her chicks, a third was hiding in a corner, and the rest of the eggs hadn't yet hatched. I got The Lovey and we moved the alive chick and eggs back into the incubator and moved Candy back into the main chicken hen (she is currently in broody rehab. More on that later).

So we now have five healthy chicks in a cardboard box brooder in our sun room. They are doing really well. Eight chicks with two different mothers - one is a chicken the other is a heat lamp. We are now encouraging all the chicks to be hens. Because you don't want to be a rooster at Seven Cats Farm.

Happy Monday!

So life on the farm continues...

There are four chicks that hatched. I am really happy about the black one - that is Alice's daughter (or son, but I am optimistic and think 'hen'). Alice is the original hen that was given to us a year ago. She's a trouper, has been through a lot and is a consistent layer. That's what I want, bravery and consistency.

Going under Mama to keep warm

Do you see the little chick's feet?

It's interesting to see Trudy's body language - she has gone from sitting flat (when she was keeping the eggs warm), to squatting. She is keeping these little chicks warm, but isn't squishing them.

She's teaching them how to eat and drink.

And on the other end of the spectrum, we have turkeys. Wild turkeys all around us. There is one mama who is showing her babies around the farm. I think we have counted 8 turkey chicks. They hid really well in the tall brown weeds we have all over. I don't get to close as I don't want to scare her. I like that the babies around here. And here is a different pair.

What a beautiful bird he is. When he puffs out his feathers like this, there is a sound like a drum that accompanies it. It comes from his chest. Quite interesting.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Trudy the Broody (hen)

I have a bossy mother. Do any of you out there have a bossy mom? Of course she would say the same thing about me, but that's another story. My mom informed me yesterday that the name of our broody hen is Trudy and stated that a blog post is in order.

Not Trudy - but one of the new ones

(And since Trudy is an expectant mother and will soon be the star of our farm, I guess my mom is right, although I would never tell her that. It can be our little secret - don't tell her).

So let's get caught up first. Our egg sales have been very successful and we weren't able to keep up. I asked a bunch of farmer friends if they had extra eggs and most said they were selling out as well. Pam from Peaceful Valley saw an ad on Craigslist and let me know a guy was selling laying chickens. I jumped at the opportunity and the Lovey and I got five laying hens. They began laying right away in their new digs and we've been able to catch up on our egg orders. YAY!

And then a hen went broody. I put a golf ball in each of the laying buckets we had to let the girls know where they were supposed to lay their eggs, and one chicken decided that she wanted to hatch the golf ball. A little reading (thank goodness for the internet) and, we placed said broody hen into her own condo, and put some fertilized eggs under her. How many eggs you ask? Why - Seven - of course!

Trudy the Broody

Trudy has been a good mother so far. She has been a diligent sitter, and her comb and face has turned a bit pale. Checking the internet once again, this is normal. She's not laying eggs, she's sitting - literally 24 hours a day (except for the few moments once daily where she gets off to drink, eat a teeny bit and poop), so paleness is normal.

Tomorrow is day 21... hatch day. If she continues to be a good mom, she will sit on these chicks for a bit, show them how to eat and drink,and then show them the how-to's of being a chicken. It should be interesting to watch. Stay tuned for photos as Trudy the Broody allows us to get close to her babes.