Merry Christmas from the farm!

Christmas pictures of Chickens!


It was a lovely Christmas this year! Q-Tip dressed up for Christmas pictures.
white silkie
 We got another few inches of snow. Oh...and Peppers babies hatched! She had decided this egg setting thing wasn't working for her in the cold so she left the nest about a week before they were due to hatch. I felt bad for the chilled little eggs and put them in the small Brinsea. 3 hatched! First out was a little polish/silkie cross. Then 2 pure silkies. 1 white, 1 black. (of course I forgot to get a picture of them all!) All 3 went to their new home today!
fluffy chick

Next due to hatch in the incubator is our winter surprise....GUINEAS! Guineas aren't supposed to be laying after the end of summer. About a month ago, I started to find what looked like Guinea eggs on the floor of the coop. My spring hatches had just gotten old enough to lay. They started and stopped all in the same week! 

I put all the eggs in the incubator with doubts that they were even fertile. 4 started to develop. 2 quit in the first week, but the remaining 2 are going strong and due to hatch on New Years day!

I also have a few more silkie eggs in the incubator, due to hatch with the Guineas. Hopefully they will all hatch and we'll have New Years babies! Finger crossed!

~L

Snow, Snow and more snow!

It's been snowing for days here! At least a week. At first it was just a dusting that would clear up when the afternoon sun warmed the ground. Now it barely gets a chance to settle before it starts again. At least the wind isn't blowing! 

Snowing on the farm

Every morning I shovel the fluffy stuff out from in front of the coop. Not much I can do about what's already packed down. If I can keep them from sinking into the snow though it might help a bit. At least their feet won't be quite as cold! So I shovel a small area for them to come out and stretch their legs. 
frozen chicken duck coop
They go over to the small pond and like to go under the brooder and pine trees. Normally there's at least a dozen of them out there, but not today! I think they've had enough of the snow and want to stay inside where it's warmer! The ducks didn't even want to come out! I finally convinced them it was ok to swim with a few buckets of warm water added to their mini pool. 
ice pond ducks

Xander is a water-hog and had to be first in! lol The others quickly followed, taking turns of course! 
winter duck care

It will be awhile till they can use their regular pond....it's frozen solid! Their summer duck house is covered with snow. They spend winters in the coop with the chickens for warmth.

blizzard chickens

So far so good.....I'll probably add a heat lamp soon. We're using the deep litter method again this year, and there's enough chickens, ducks and guineas to keep each other warm. I'm also thinking about wrapping the run in heavy plastic to give them a protected 'outdoor' area. Plus that would cut down on drafts through the edges of the pop door. Sounds like I have my weekend project all planned!

~L