We’ve been having fairly nice weather on the homestead for the past week or so, but yesterday and today have been absolutely beautiful. It got up to around 95 degrees yesterday, and today is looking about the same. Bernie built three more benches for me to put around the creeks so I can sit in the shade while the puppies splash around and play.
One rainy day last week, Bernie decided to make a bed side holster. We certainly don’t worry much about anyone messing around here at night, but we have been startled awake by the occasional bear looking for a midnight snack in our yard. The bed side holster allows his gun to be readily accessible – and it’s always a good idea to be prepared for things you may or may not expect. Bernie’s bed side holster is really nothing more than an old license plate and a defunct ankle holster that he riveted to it.
It only took him a few minutes to make, and it works like a charm.
Friday night I came up one short on the head count when I went to tuck the chickens in for the night. I looked around through the woods and could not find her. We eventually found her in the garage. She had apparently sneaked in there sometime during the day, and managed to knock over a lawn chair we had sitting against the wall. She was trapped between the folded legs and looking pretty puny when we found her. I freed her and put her in the little infirmary I built in the coop. She was very thirsty and spent quite a while drinking water. Both of her wings were hanging limply by her side, dragging the ground. I was a little concerned, but the next morning when I checked on her, she had laid an egg and was fussing to get out with the others. I released her and she spent the day free ranging with the rest of the flock. Both of her wings still hang down a little, one more than the other, but they seem to be getting better. This morning they aren’t hanging quite as low as yesterday, and I am hopeful she will be back to normal in a few days.
I’ve still got one Silver Leghorn laying soft shelled eggs. Of the 19 laying pullets, she’s the only one that continues to have this issue. I leave crushed oyster shell down for them 24/7 and feed them back egg shells each day. They free range, and have a good quality layer feed available at all times. I hope this girl’s little egg making parts get it together soon. Here’s a picture of the egg she layed yesterday afternoon. I’m squeezing it a little so you can see how soft shelled it really is.
It’s Sunday morning and the day is warming up nicely. Time to get outside and get busy. Diesel and Dolly love yard work, but we’re having a hard time getting them to understand that the pile of twigs and branches we are gathering needs to remain a pile. Each time we put something in that pile, one of the pups will grab it and deposit it right back on the lawn – tail wagging the whole time. It takes longer to clean up the yard this way, but it sure makes it much more entertaining.
Hey – do you “tweet”? I’ve finally given in and joined the Twitter community. Great way to see at a glance what’s going on with friends. If you are interested in following my tweets, just go to Twitter, search for miss1cent, and then click “follow” – or click on the “follow me on Twitter” link in the sidebar on my blog page. Twitter is free, easy, and kind of fun! I tweet when the blog is updated too.
Bee Free,
Penny
oh my what a pretty chicken she is…. hope she is gonna be ok…. maybe she wanted to try out the garden chair lol….
Mabel laid a couple of those soft eggs last week, but all seems to be okay now…. when I get a soft one or I break on accidently when carrying it to the house me chickens rush up and love to eat it lol must be a little like eating ya auntie maud or cousin sue lol
The 2 boys aint bonking the 2 girls so much now….. I was last week debating whether to let one of the boys go somewhere else.. but all seems to of quietened down a little now and Janet and Mabel are both laying one egg a day…… so we will see, I would really like another couple of hens though to give us more eggs…
The gun thing I find a little scary lol….. either for a robber coming in your house at night or a bloody bear, do bears actually break windows to get in?
x
Thank you Marmitetoasty – she’s one of my Golden Penciled Hamburgs. They are pretty birds – but very flighty. And usually very loud. I was surprised she didn’t raise a ruckus while stuck. But I guess she could have and I would have probably thought it was just a Hamburg announcing she had laid a golden egg. They carry on something fierce before, during, and after they lay. I think she’ll be ok. It really hasn’t seemed to slow her down.
I feed the soft shelled back to my chickens too. They are perfectly safe to eat, but I find them pretty unappetizing! My chickens go crazy for them as well!
Glad to hear the boys have settled down some. I hope you can get a couple more hens. You give them a great home – and I’m sure you’d be rewarded with eggs a plenty!
Don’t be ascared of the gun – we have MANY. And I’ve not heard of bears breaking down windows, but I have heard of them getting into chicken coops – and we’ve had them destroy bee hives in the past. A shot in the dark will chase them off pretty good though. It’s too dark to be concerned with trying to hit one – we shoot into the ground just for the noise. But I have heard bear makes and excellent meal…….. As for robbers, we’ve never had one. And they’d be smart not to show up here
Awww hope she gets better! This may be a dumb question (I’m a city girl, you know) but why do they lay soft eggs??? I’ve never seen that before. And can you eat them? Just curious.
Hi Nicole – it’s not terribly uncommon for young layers to lay soft shelled eggs at first. It usually only last for a short while. Their bodies are new to laying and working out all the details of yolk, white, surround with shell. It is also sometime a sign of a lack of calcium, as that’s what egg shells mostly are. In the case of my little pullet, she’s been laying soft shells for many weeks, even though she has plenty of calcium available in the layer feed and in crushed oyster shell and I am a little concerned. Some hens, through genetic defect or the like, never lay a “normal” egg. Some people will cull a hen that has this issue. It’s not a big deal to me. I will keep her regardless. My chickens are mostly pets. But it’s something I have to keep an eye on as sometimes the eggs will burst before she can lay them and the shells will become “stuck” in the vent – which could kill her if I don’t catch it. I check her vent each evening, and often have to pull out the burst shell.
And yes. Soft shelled eggs are perfectly safe to eat. But, to me, they are quite unappealing. I get plenty of eggs, so I feed the soft shelled ones back to the chickens. They consider it quite a treat!
This is a way cool idea. I know my dh is going to want to make one now. Thanks for sharing the idea.