In the News

Thanks to Chris Young, outdoor editor at the State Journal-Register, I had a nice mention and video piece in the paper and on-line.

Article
http://www.sj-r.com/features/x35745512/Feathered-travelers-a-new-sight-for-local-eyes?zc_p=0

Video

Freeze-Frame

This was an accidental phone photo, but I found it interesting in its randomness.

An evening by the fire

As usual, at some point nifty decides to chew on Ousier and the relaxation ends, requiring a complete shift of positions for everyone.

Remodel, of sorts

As the old cardinal had gone albino, I had the graphics on my van updated today. (Shameless plug?) And while I was at it, I had the sign company make me a nicer CCI sticker. The clear static one was growing things behind it.

 

Autumn Birds

Just a few of the birds in the yard on a gorgeous fall morning earlier this week.

 More goldfinches than you can shake a stick at. 

(Not that I'm sure why you would want to shake a stick at a sweet little goldfinch.)

 Goldfinches in the garden stream.

 They were joined by a yellow rumped warbler (at right).

 Another view of the warbler.

 Morning dove. I just liked his positioning in the autum color.

The first junco (aka snowbird) of the season.

Catching Up

The past few weeks have been crazy busy, so here's an attempt to catch up.

I love that fall is here. I just hope the weather remains pleasant for long enough to really take advantage of it.

A mini dose of autumn color.

My mums don't get enough sunlight to do very well, but I still appreciate their attempt.

 Nifty has long had an issue with one of his canine teeth and after it broke in half during a play session one evening, he had to have the remainder extracted. Thankfully dogs, and retrievers in particular, are so resilient, one would never know by his actions that all this occurred.

Stitches closing up the site of the extracton.

What was the visible tooth is the smaller section. The root below the gumline is the huge section.

The chicks have all matured, and with little roosters starting to crow, the extras all had to move out to Meg's rural farm. I kept one red hen and one Icelandic hen.

The big "chick" still follows her little mom around. Odd but cute.

The Icelandic is the pretty spotted hen at the back. 

I love chicken humor.

The cool weather has prompterd evenings by the fireplace.

Introducing Sparkplug.  With two dogs already in residence, I certainly didn't need a third dog, but sometimes taking one in is just the right thing to do. In this case, it's also proving to be a great fit. At age 13, Sparkplug is simply a very nice, and easygoing, little dog to have around. The medical baggage she arrived with is slowly getting unpacked and sorted out. She's a tough old gal, so I think she'll do great.

She loves her sunbeams.

And burrowing into warm blankets.

The Flock

The chicks are completely feathered out now and still growing. Really little chickens now, rather than chicks. They love their free time out of the coop.

A few more pics of the 4 weeks old Icelandic chickens hatched from eggs out of Lyle Behl's birds, some from both of the lines he has. You can learn more on his site http://www.behlfarm.com/blogengine.net/page/Icelandic-Chickens.aspx

This final one is the little Old English Game hen (front) and her adopted chicks of mixed heritage. At 4 weeks old, they have now all outsized her.

Growing Fast!

The two families of chicks are about two weeks old and growing quickly.

The Black Australorp hen and her Icelandic chicks hunt for bugs.

The little Old English Game hen and her standard sized chicks take a hearty dust bath.

 At this rate, her chicks will outsize her very soon.

Playing "Airplane?"

Unflaterring photo of my leg, but it shows how small the little hen is.

The chick have become very atheltic.

Peeps - Rounds Two

Over the weekend, the Icelandic chicks hatched out in the incubator.

Right from the start, these chicks were much livelier than the standard chicks. When I had left for work in the morning, there were just a few tiny holes pipped in the eggs. This video was what I saw when I got home in the evening.

The next morning, when everyone was completely dried and fluffed, I slipped all the chicks under the sitting black Australorp and gave them the day to bond, then safely sat the peeps on the floor so they wouldn't have to bail out of the nest on their own. Mama hen wasn't sure she was ready to leave the nest, but the calls of the chicks eventually pulled her out.

Chicks, Day 2

 A little black puff appeared overnight.

Time to move them from the communal coop and into a temporary nursery until the other hen hatches hers and every is steady on their feet.

First meal. I love how Momma instinctually makes the "here's food" noise.
She also seemed stiff footed after sitting in her nest for so long. Those nails also grew out while sitting, so they got a trim right after this video was shot.

Peeps!

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Wow, I'm long overdue for updating here, but here are some extra cute photos of the expanding chicken flock to make up for it. 

The big hen was off her nest, while the little one sits tight.

 More eggs in incubator.

 The first to hatch. Still a little wet.

 Dried and fluffed.

 #2 - Bet you didn't know chickens had belly buttons!

 I love the demonstration of stages.

-All dired and fluffy.

-Drying.

-Just hatched,

-Still working on it.

 "Hands off the kids!"