Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

I love hearing the roosters crow, and I can tell apart many of their individual “voices”. They sometimes crow while I’m in the yard with them, but often it’s after I’ve left and gone to one of the other sections. One of the things I’ve read about aggressive roosters is that you shouldn’t allow them to crow in your presence, as that’s a sign of dominance. And you, as a human, should never crow at them or in response, as that’s challenging their position, making matters worse if you’re already trying to work on a rooster’s attitude. That’s one of the mistakes I made with Michael - my first rooster - I’d copy his crowing & of course then he’d have to respond! At our other house,  my brother’s shed was next to the chicken yard (& part of the “fence”) - Joel also started to crow at Michael. Since Joel is around 5’ 11” and I’m  4’ 10 ¾” , his crowing seemed to have more of an effect on the rooster than mine. Many times, I’d go outside & hear Michael & Joel having ...

Another beautiful early spring day with temperatures reaching the high 40’s. All the animals were very happy to finally have weather that was comfortable to be outside in. Since writing about “Little Man” this morning, I believe the Lord gave me the wisdom I asked Him for. When I was done feeding & letting out all the poultry, “a thought” came to mind to switch “Little Man Swede” with his son, who I’ll refer to as “Jr.” - they both look quite similar, but I don’t believe “Jr.” inherited Little Man’s attitude. I caught “Jr.” and carried him over to the SFH area, then put him down on the ground outside the fence where the other SFHs were. Next, I went inside the fenced-in area & caught “Little Man”, who by the way was a “good boy” about not crowing around me. I temporarily put him in an empty rabbit cage outside the bachelor roosters & ducks. By that time, “Jr.” had to be caught again, as he’d flown & walked over the melting snow to the outside of the Bielefelder’s area....

This week it’s finally started to act like Spring should! It’s been high 30’s and even reached the low 40’s yesterday! The Swedish Flower Hens were super happy to finally be able to come outside, although previously it has been so cold, they probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. Even still, I wish the weather would have cooperated sooner to allow them to go outside. “Little Man” Swede & I had some “lessen time” again, as with Spring comes increased ego and territorial behavior. He’s again crowing incessantly whenever I’m around, stands very tall & “stiff-leggedly” scratches the ground, while keeping his eye on me. If I make the “wrong move”, he’ll try to flog me. But since he’s one of the smallest roosters I have, it’s pretty easy to show him who’s the “bigger rooster” - usually by pinning him down and/or just pecking him on the head like a dominant rooster would do. Yesterday, I realized that when he starts crowing incessantly, I need to cut him off, as a dominant roost...

It's been a busy weekend, so this morning is the first chance I've had to update you all on the first "test" hatch results. The last thing I had written about was 5 eggs had pipped. Then, I had to go to work at the Heart of the Catskills Humane Society, and I wasn't expecting to return home to late that night. Around 12:45pm, my cell phone rang at work, and Mom answered the phone with, "Congratulations, Maria, you now have two chicks! Two of the green eggs have hatched, including the one that had pipped on the wrong end." She then began to describe them to me, and I asked, "Could you take a picture for me? My camera should be right there on the metal shelf in my room." She said she would and we said goodbye.  The first chick to hatch was an all-black chick with a small white headspot; later when I closely examined it's chick down, I noticed that it had faint "chipmunk stripes" down it's back, but the usual brown color w...

Last night before bed, I was checking in with fellow "peeps" (BYC term of endearment for fellow chicken raisers) who have also set eggs to hatch at the same time. This first "test hatch" is part of a small  Friday the 13th Hatch a Long,  so it's fun to check in with others & see how their eggs are progressing. I don't have any chicks yet, but just a few seconds ago, I heard loud peeping coming from the hatcher.  I woke up at 3:30am from a dream about chicks hatching again - and found the one that has pipped on the wrong end had pipped a short line & was trying to push off a "big chunk" of the shell! I looked and there was another pip. I managed to get back in bed until 5, then up for good. I guess the peeping has encouraged others, as when I just looked a few minutes ago, I had a total of 4 that have pipped! No, make that 5 - all 3 of the green eggs that are in the "cage" together have pipped.  Yesterday, I just brought...

No pips yet! Come on little ones, you can make it! While I'm waiting for eggs to hatch, I thought I'd write about the other happenings here at the hobby farm. I haven't written much yet on this blog about the ducks, but we've been discussing various things over on the  BYC NY Chicken Lover's thread . One of the things that came up was ducks. Here's some of what I wrote: I have 10 Muscovy ducks - one of which froze her feet last week, but must have heard me talking about culling her. So, she's been making great attempts to recover, eating just fine, her feet haven't turned black, etc. Tuesday night she went under the coop, even though I'd blocked it off with hay, she pushed it down & it was impossible for me to get her out. So, I left her there, expecting that she'd not make it the night, even though she'd seemed to be doing better. Yesterday morning, when I began filling their water & food bowls, out she came - walking norm...

Before going to bed last night, I added some warm water to the "Cooler Bator" to increase the humidity for the "1st Hatch" eggs in lockdown. When I woke up around 3:30 am this morning, I got out of bed & checked the "Cooler Bator" - no pips, but the humidity wasn't close to being high enough. So, I added more warm water, to the tray beneath via a funnel and tubing. The humidity did climb, but I decided to go ahead & add a sponge & small container of water.  I had to open the lid of the hatcher to do so, but I think it'll be ok. It spiked to over 70%, but when I checked again at 5 am, it was around 60%.  I do have to calebrate my other hygrometer, to double check it's accurate, but since the accepted range is between 60% - 70%, there's some wiggle room.  Oh, by the way, I had trouble with the auto egg turner in the Genesis 1588 incubator getting "stuck" & the control arm popping out of place. I think it was...

Candled & moved the 9 remaining 1st "test hatch" eggs to the Cooler 'Bator yesterday morning. They hadn't lost enough moisture yet, even though I've been doing a dry hatch. Probably due to adding "fresh" eggs to the incubator (& double-stacking), resulting in less surface area of the eggs to be exposed. I re-candled last night & this morning, and they've lost more, so probably by tonight I'll add some water. I think they might be a day late, anyways, due to cooler incubator temps when I first set them. This morning they looked more like what I remember when I've put eggs in lockdown before. No internal pips yet, so I don't think I'll have any "early birds". Dreamed about chicks hatching last night, so I'm obviously excited about it. Still have to get chick starter & set up the brooder in the "storage room". I was planning on selling all the chicks asap, but since so few made...

Woke up at 5am this morning to candle all the eggs for the 2nd hatch in the incubator; removed 4 as they were definitely clear or were too cold when I set them. But, amazingly besides 7 iffy eggs, it looks like around 44 are developing veins! A little early to be candling some, but saw veins nonetheless! So cool when you can actually see them, as later on it’s just a dark “blob”. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the eggs that I’d marked “very cold” or “cold” were actually veining, as I half expected them not to even start. Hardy little embryos, but only time will tell if they have everything needed to actually hatch. I’m not sure about the 1st hatch eggs, though, they don’t seem to be losing any extra moisture, and some of them haven’t finished “filling up” the egg. Granted, they have until Monday, and they may be a day or two late due to the incubator being cool the first few days. But, I’m not convinced that they’ll hatch. I hope at least some of them do, but I’ve ju...

​ The last two years I've incubated eggs in the incubator and under a broody hen at the same time. Most of the time the hens have "adopted" the incubator chicks and have been one big, happy family! The photo above is of Daisy & Lydia's combined brood in the spring of 2013. She shared responsibilities, and chicks obviously knew who their "Moms" were! I still had to supply additional heat, as the hens couldn't keep all the chicks warm at the same time. But, I think it's a good trade-off for what the hens taught their brood. Also in 2013, I ordered  "Surprise Special" pullet chicks from Ideal Hatchery, and when they arrived, I gave them to "Alix", a Black Sex Link hen.  ​ But I made the mistake that she was still sitting on eggs due to hatch within the next day or two. So, she ended up trampling most of the chicks that were just hatching. Out of all the eggs she was sitting on, only 3 chicks ...