Reflecting on Life

Well, now that Blackie has been dead for a week, it has been anything but quiet around here. Henrietta has been following all of us around, and even coming into the house. I catch her making cooing sounds I think she is looking for the other chickens. I also think she is lonely, so I am in the process of getting more hens to build up our flock.

I had a visitor this evening and she was surprised at my current life style of having a chicken, a garden, canning, dehydrating, and even juicing. What has become my normal, is in a way not the "normal" 32 yr old single mom, (especially what is portrayed on TV). I have always felt older than the average female my age even way back when I was 23 and married, going through life as a married woman, when some of the women I knew were obsessing over the latest celebrity gossip and it felt so petty compared to my life/ marriage struggles.

I also think because I surround myself with online bloggers / Facebook fan pages of farming and chicken families, that I forget that I'm not the average struggling single mom "poor me" mentality. I make due with my situation and make the best of it with a smile on my face. Also between gardening and taking care of my flock, I get a lot of therapy and my garden is progressing well, and even though my flock is down to one, I'm getting through it. Surprisingly well!

Please comment below if you have any thoughts on the matter.

---

Plus here are some pics of Henrietta in the house!

Blackie My Rooster

I'm sad to announce that Blackie (my silkie rooster) died this afternoon.

I've been asked to spare the gritty details of how he died. For the record I know why he died, but as for Sunshine and Rainbow I have no idea why they died, or if their deaths were related or not.

So below are some of my favorite pictures of Blackie...


As a young fluffy chick, he was originally named "Valentine" by Ava

We had no idea Blackie would be a rooster, because we went to a chicken farm where they sex their chicks....

----------------------------------------
Still fluffy, he enjoyed sitting in my purses and going places

------------------------------------------
Sitting in a basket on our way to a chicken play-date.

---------------------------------------------------
The question has already come up about if I will be getting more chickens, and the answer is yes... not sure when but I do plan on getting our flock back up to 5-6 chickens depending on the situtation.

Sad News!

I am sorry to announce that Rainbow (Lavender Silkie) has died this afternoon...

Her cause of death is unknown. I did do a beak to talon inspection and nothing looked to be out of the ordinary. The only thing I know is she had not laid her first egg and she was a little over 6 months old.

I did hear some high pitched squawking the past couple of days, and even today she had what looked like the beginnings of clear liquid, no shell egg. But since Friday she has been distant from the flock, staying in one place for hours at a time...

When I went to see her this afternoon, I turned her upside down to inspect her vent (where the poop & eggs comes out) and then when I turned her right side up, she went into convulsions, fluttered to the ground, and then died.

The commotion caught Henrietta's attention to came over to inspect, then Rainbow's eyes were closed, and there was no more life in her.

I put her in a paper sack, and put her in the garbage can. Then washed my hands, cleaned the coop, gave the flock new water and let everyone know the sad news.

Henrietta!!

She laid her first egg today!!!

Pictures of my flock

it has come to my attention that my pictures of my flock does not do them justice. So I was reading online on, "How to take pictures of your flock" and got a few pointers.
Such as:


Get on their level, lay or sit on the ground.

Give them treats, this gives them something to do, and it brings them closer to me, because I am giving them food, making it easier to get the right shot.

Give it time.

So here are some better pictures of my flock.

No Raccoons Allowed

I can hardly believe a month has flown by and I'm glad to report that IF Ricky Raccoon has come back for a visit, he has come un-noticed.
I have become a light sleeper now, on half alert as I sleep under an open window at night. One early morning about 4 am I heard a loud splash, followed by loud gulping (of water) and then some scratching (something climbing out of the pool). By the time Blackie crowed at 6:30 am nothing was in the backyard.
A few nights ago I noticed more than half of my carrots had been uprooted from my above ground planter box, and then the next night more were uprooted. So I just uprooted the rest and threw them in the yard for the chickens to eat.
I have gotten better about putting their food in the coop with them at night, so that any animals are not drawn to my yard for the free food. But some nights I forget and will find their food dish knocked over and empty. So someone came by for a free meal.
We are have been eagerly waiting for eggs, and so far nothing. I know they will start laying when they feel like it, but we have past the 6 month point in their lives, and every morning I go out to their coop just hoping.
I read somewhere online that if the girls sleep in their nesting boxes at night they are least likely of laying eggs in their boxes. So on August 31st. I put up a perch (pole) and I had to move them from their boxes to the pole for a few nights after that. But now when I put them to bed at night, the girls are perched on the pole and the roo is on the shelf next to the pole (he has always perched on the shelf).