Here a Chick, There a Chick!

I must say - I do enjoy my chickens. Most of the time - they make me laugh. Sometimes - the roosters really tick me off when they won't leave the hens alone. But lately - these two little devils have made me late for work every day. (It's a good thing I'm pretty much self employed).


Aren't they just the cutest little chicks. They are bantam cochins. I've been raising them since they were a few days old. They are incredibly friendly little hens. Every morning when I go out to the barn , they come running to see me, then have to be picked up and put on top of the old dog house (where I keep feed and water). Then they want to be petted and carried around and talked to. I spend entirely too much time playing with these chicks - pretty soon - they'll grow up to look like these two hens here.
These two white bantam cochins aren't quite as friendly. But I really like the cochin - they have a friendly personality - and are just the cutest darn things.


This beautiful black cochin is probably one of my favourite hens. She is so incredibly friendly. She also loves to be carried around - and in the evenings when I go out to do barn chores - she comes running across the barnyard to meet me - then walks along with me into the barn. I love the way her feathers are so black - with the green sheen to them. My friend Cate has another of the black cochins, and she's going to give her to me - hopefully next week when we get together.

This is a buff cochin. She's a bit on the nervous side. Her tail feathers are finally starting to grow back - but she is a nice little hen. She's terribly funny in the evenings when she's trying to get up on the roost - a bit bottom heavy - and she has to fly over from the water trough to the edge of the ram stall. Looks a bit like a lead balloon floatin g through the air.This last picture is of a Brahma hen. I picked these up from my friend Jesse a while back. Brahma's are a new breed to me. She's a bit stretched out in this picture (afraid of the camera), but they are very much like the cochins in many ways - they have the feathers on the feet, and the little fat bodies - they have lovely feathers around the neck - and the tails are like a little puffball of feathers - very cute. The two Brahmas that I have were obviously not handled at all, as they are incredibly wild - this picture was taken on zoom - and she was still pretty nervous.

When I got back from Newfoundland last week - I was greeted by 21 new chicks in the barn - hatched out of 4 different nests. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get some good pictures of them. We've put them in a separate stall so that the roosters don't bother them. So that will put me somewhere up around the 40 mark for chickens - lots of eggs around here. In a few weeks, Cate and I are going to a sale up near her place - it's called the fur and feathers sale, and it's held 2X a year. People come from all over to buy and sell chickens, ducks, peacocks, dogs, cats, sheep, llamas - you name it. I'm hoping to find a couple of full size cochin hens for my flock - and possibly a few more welsh harlequin ducks.

I'll also have to get a picture of Wren for everyone - and maybe the kittens as well - they will be leaving next week for their new foster homes.

It's Been a Long Journey

But now I'm Back. I've just spent the last few weeks travelling to Newfoundland and back.
My Darling daughter is going to Memorial University in St. John's Newfoundland. So - being her first year - I drove her all the way out, settled her into her apartment - and then drove all the way home. Total kilometers clocked: 8200 (for my American friends: approx. 4900 miles). That doesn't include the ferry crossing each way.

While we were there - we stayed in beautiful Petty Harbour. It's a beautiful little fishing village right on the edge of St. John's - with the houses all perched on the rocks.

Here's a picture I took at the entrance of the harbour coming around the bend .



We stayed with some very close family friends for a few days. We were socked in by fog for a
few day, so I couldn't get out on the boat to see the puffins and whales. This next picture is of the view from the front living room at my friends house. This is just outside the entrance to the harbour - and lots of times whales come in chasing the caplins, and frequently - seals and sea otters come up and bask on the rocks. Reluctantly, after 3 days, I had to leave.
However - I did make a bit of use of my time there. We did go out house hunting, and did find a little farm up near Cape Spear (which by the way is the most easterly point in Canada).
Negotiations are in progress on the farm. More Later.

AWWWWWW

Here's our first pictures of Kitty and her kittens. They were born on Sunday evening - in the garage - during a thunderstorm. Awwww - aren't they so cute.
Kitty is a little stray cat that has been hanging around for a few months. She was terrified of people at first - and now - she just loves human contact. She had the babies behind some sheets of plywood that were leaning up against a wall - on top of an old towel that had fallen on the floor. Tonight I went out and moved the kittens to a box with a nice clean towel. Kitty was totally relaxed as I picked each one up and examined it - then put it into the box. Then I picked her up and set her in with them. She didn't even mind the flash on the camera when I took the picture. I will be contacting ARF to see about adopting them out - and then, we will be having kitty spayed and keeping her for our little garage kitty. And at this time - I would like to get on my soapbox about the spay and neuter of cats and dogs - PLEASE spay and neuter. It stops the explosion of unwanted animals out there. So many are put down each year at shelters - needlessly - and many, many more are killed on the roads - or starve to death from neglect.
Please spay and neuter - sure it costs money - but it is the most humane way to deal with animals. And don't ever believe that every female cat should have a litter of kittens to be a better cat - I have 7 female cats here - not one of them has ever had a kitten - and they are all the most loving and gentle cats ever. Ok - off my soapbox now.



Well - a few posts ago - I promised to put up pictures of our new lambs. I know - you thought I meant little lambs. No, no.

On August 1st - I went to Ottawa with my DH and took some sheep to a friend who is just starting out with Shetlands. I took my daughter back to work in Ottawa - she was home on leave for the week. Then we stopped at another friends farm who is downsizing her flock, and we came home with 3 shetlands - 2 of them lambs, 1 was a mature ewe that I had sold her last year. This first little cutie is Galya. She's an all white little butterball. I need a few more white sheep in my flock as I am having so many calls for white fleeces that I can't fill all the orders. So hopefully she turns out nice. Her fleece is quite dense - she does come from Whistlestop Lerwick genetics, so I am quite hopeful. She is still quite shy, but we're working on that.

This next little darling is still unnamed. I'm thinking of calling her Wren, or Gwen. I haven't decided yet. She too is shy. She is out of Greta - the ewe that I brought back - Greta is a mioget - so she also carries mioget genetics. I love her big moorit spot - and her pink nose.
I have a soft spot for pink noses.
That's her mom Greta standing behind her in the picture - she is a cute thing. If you talk to her - she'll bleet back at you. She's got a very soft fleece which I have high hopes for. Her mom has a long, wavy - but very soft fleece. This little one has quite a bit of crimp in hers - but also very soft.

What do you think - Wren - or Gwen?

More Fowl

This post is about the male fowl on this farm. As I stated in my previous post, I have been raising chickens for about 18 years or so. We started out with a few chickens at our first country property, just for eggs. We have had as many as 40 chickens, and been down to as few as 2 when a raccoon got into the coop once. At times, I have debated getting rid of all of the chickens - as I did earlier this year. However, right now, I find myself enjoying them once again. By the way, I am allergic to feathers - only mildly though - as long as I don't stick my face in their feathers - or sleep with them - I am fine.

As far as roosters go - I try not to have too many at any one time. However - sometimes it's hard not to have several at one time. I find that if you have an average of 6 hens per rooster, then there is less fighting amongst the roosters, and the hens don't suffer as much from overly-eager roosters. In other words - give them all their own little harem - and they're happy.

So here goes: This first fella is our largest Rooster on the farm. He's a dorking - which is an older breed. If you notice - he is standing beside a couple of regular size Hens. "Cuckoo" stands about 18" tall. He also has 4 toes, which is a distinguishing character of this breed. I am currently looking for some dorking hens for him - as he is doing a number on the feathers of my much smaller hens.
This next rooster is an Americauna - which is a cross of the Aurucana. He is my last Americauna rooster that I have left. At one time, I had 14 of them. I'm also down to only one Americauna hen, so I am looking for some more of them as well. Although he is smaller than the Dorking Rooster, he isn't much smaller. He stands around 14-16" tall.
This little fella is a bantam rooster. Like the Sebrights - he is small - and feisty. He's probably about 6 years old now - and doesn't mix it up like he used to with the other roosters. I do like the bantam roosters as they are very proud little birds.
This little buff Silkie rooster has just left us. No, he didn't die. I sold him to a young fella just outside of London, Ontario who also likes the silkies. Note , he has a lovely walnut comb. He was a feisty young fella. One night as I was gathering eggs - he came up behind me and just nailed my hand so hard I thought he had broken it. I wasn't really sorry to see him leave after that incident.
This old guy is my white silkie rooster. This poor guy is notorious for getting tangled up. If there's a piece of string anywhere in the barnyard - he will find it. He has deformed spurs, so string does get wrapped around his feet easily. He's getting old, and is relatively gentle. One thing I find is that the silky roosters don't engage the other roosters at all - but the others will pick on them.
This little fella is my favourite rooster. He is a buff cochin bantam. I just got him from the young fella near London. I hadn't planned on getting any roosters from him - but this fella just caught my eye. He's very docile and loves to be petted and held. I like him so much that I am going to pick up his brother this weekend.
And last - but not least - and not a chicken - is Norman. He is a Toulouse Gander. In my last post, I mentioned that Norman is getting attached to Alice. Norman came to us 4 years ago after his parents were killed by dogs. His current owner noticed our nice pond and asked if we would like him. I just happened to be looking for a guard goose and said yes. Norman is my pet, and will follow me everywhere - when he's not following Alice. He will walk by your side and chat to you as you wander through the woods or the pasture. He does on occasion get angry and mix it up with one of the sheep. But for the most part - he gets along well with everyone.


That is it for the male fowl - oops - I'm wrong. We do have some drakes on the property as well - but they didn't want to come up for pictures tonight, so I will have to talk about them another time.

Just in General

The weather has cooled considerably, and life is much calmer here. It's been busy. We've been delivering and picking up sheep, sorting sheep for shipping, and getting ready for the cross Canada trek to Newfoundland in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday, I went to Fergus (actually, I went to IKEA in Hamilton), and met a friend, Shauna Gray. She has sold her farm, and is moving, so she gave me a couple of chickens that she had left.

These little guys are Silver Sebright Bantams. They are very tiny 6 - 8" tall (there is also a hen in behind one of the roosters). They are feisty little devils. I came out to the barn this morning to find all of my cochins sitting in the aisle outside the chicken stall - with the 4 Sebrights guarding the entrance. The cochins are very docile gentle chickens - so we'll see how this works out.

I have been raising chickens for the last 18 years (even though I am allergic to feathers). I will post some pictures of my other types of birds soon.

While meandering through the barnyard today with my camera - I just couldn't resist taking pictures of a few of my favourite fleeces on the hoof.
This first fleece is Jillian (click on the picture to make it larger). She is a medium gray .
Lovely single coated with lots and lots of crimp. I'm looking forward to spinning up her fleece next year.
This one is Gabriella, a beautiful soft white, crimpy single coated yearling ewe. Both of these girls are super friendly - and really love to be cuddled. That's what I love about Shetland sheep.
They are cuddly.

OK now, and for the completely bizarre (and where was my camera)??? I was walking out to the barn tonight to put the ewes into their stall (yes, my sheep are spoiled) - but we are dealing with a black bear on the property right now. I did a double take as I walked out - Norman - our Gander, was very gently grooming Alice, my elderly white ewe over by the fence. I watched in amazement as he picked at her wool. I called her over, as I thought he might be intimidating her, and she calmly walked away - obviously she was enjoying this. I went back out a few minutes later to see him at it again. I must try to get pictures. Very bizarre.

By the way - Norman has in the past also been very attached to one of our female llamas, and our rottweiler dog. I'm sure he's deranged.

Stay tuned for updates on the new lambs.

And Funnel Clouds

I was walking up from the barn tonight after work - when what should appear:

So - I quickly dashed into the house and grabbed my camera and snapped an entire series of
pictures as we watched the funnel cloud forming - and ultimately fizzling. This was just over the
town that is to the south of us - about 1/2 kilometer away. It was ultimately scary - and very transfixing at the same time. I was standing just outside my back door about 20 feet from the house taking these pictures. There were actually 3 funnel clouds all in a row - this one was the most pronounced.

Oh - and don't think I was overly calm. I was yelling at my son between shots to get the cats downstairs into their cages in the event it came down. I am a storm watcher - they fascinate - and terrify me at the same time.

And now - the main portion of the storm is approaching - I guess I'd better sign off before our house gets struck by lightning - again.

Here There Be Dragons

As Promised - I am posting some of my most recent raku pots. Click on the picture to make it larger if you'd like to see more detail. The first picture is of one of my dragon pots. Now - with raku - it is a low fire glazing technique which gives lovely lustres.
The fun thing about raku - is that you never really know what is going to happen. See the green dragon pot below.

The funny thing about the green dragon - and the red dragon - is that they are supposed to both be the same colour. They are the same glaze - Turquoise. Everything depends on the heat tempurature, the location in the kiln - and the reduction process. I was surprised to say the least - however - very pleased.

This pot here with the dragonfly was an oopsy. The picture was very hard to take - the flash
keeps making the dragonfly too bright. However - if you were to get a good look - the dragonfly is a very lusterous red glaze. The rest of the pot is supposed to be a black and white spot called naked raku. When you quench the pot - the glaze is supposed to crack and fall off - it didn't.
However - if I could show you the pot - because the glaze stayed on - and only flaked off in small areas - it has the look of being very old and fragile. Sometimes oopsies are OK.

These last two pots I picked up in early June while on a pottery run. They are by a small pottery shop in Miller Lake , Ontario - about 4 hours from here - called, what else - Miller Lake Pottery. Funny thing - the guy who makes these pots used to live just down the road from me - and we do know his family. It's a small world.
Rob Nantais (the potter) - makes these pots loosely based on the Lord of the Rings. They are a big seller. The jug on the left is a wizard (Gandalf) - the jar on the right isn't really based on any of the characters - but he does all of these faces in pots, mugs, jars - they are quite captivating.

That's it for pottery tonight.

It's still crazy busy here - we have sold several sheep - and deliveries will start in the next few weeks. I also have to start preparing fleeces for the mill, and I have several pottery commissions to get done as well. Let's couple that with a trip to Newfoundland in August - and it's going to be one busy summer.

And I said I was going to take it easy this year - Yeah Right!