Tips For Homemakers

My son, Brian gave me a new blog for my birthday in November.   I kept saying I wanted to write about my experiences with my chickens.   I am so excited.   I have already started writing on the blog.  I still don’t have the format of the blog right yet.  My daughter, Bonnie is suppose to help me with that and now that Christmas is over, she can probably get on it. I want some chickens and barns on the background.  I will definitely have to get my digital camera skills working.   I will be staying with my daughter, Amber after the birth of her first child in January so she can help me with that between changing diapers.  lol

Because I went to NC for two months, just as our two chicks were hatched by the momma hen, I missed out on watching them grow.   So, I was eager to start hatching chicks in the incubator.  The two chicks have grown into beautiful chickens with unique coloring.

My first experience with the incubator wasn’t very good.  I only got two chicks out of about 20 eggs.   I didn’t have a hygrometer to measure humidity so I think that was the problem.

Our second incubation was much better.  I am only hatching out the green/blue colored eggs.  So far, we have 8 chicks.  Also, our Silkie hen was sitting on eggs and she is the proud mother of six.  I certainly have learned how protective mother hens are with their chicks.  Fortunately, the pecks don’t really hurt but she is so fast and she surprises me.

We have the mother hen and her six chicks in a child’s play pen with a heat lamp on them in our shed.  We put down some newspaper and then covered it with straw.  We put a tile in the corner to sit the water on and then put the feeder in there for the chicks and a bowl of scratch for the mom.  The weather has been cold here in Florida and the babies and mom are safe from predators and the cold.

We also purchased four Silkies (hopefully, hens) at our local Swap Meet held at a feed store.  I saw a chicken hawk in the trees near our house yesterday and I quickly locked the Silkies in their secure 4 ft by 8 ft chain link cage.  It is also 4 ft high so they have lots of room.  They are so small and fluffy.  I can’t imagine one of them weighing more than two pounds.  Easy prey for a hawk.

We have also built some chicken houses which cost about 125 dollars each and we are very pleased with them.  They are 4×4x8.  We used the deck concrete blocks as the base so the houses could be moved.  Also, the concrete blocks allowed there to be room on the bottom so the chickens could quickly run into the house from any side if there was danger from hawks.  I will take pictures and also provide info on building on another post.  Our first house only took maybe three hours to build and the second house only two hours.  I  painted the outside of one yesterday in our 72 degree weather.

There are Swap Meets around here where you can buy and sell your animals and plants.  Kind of like a flea market but it is mostly about animals.  It is a good outlet for selling your excess animals but also meet some really nice people.

Selling/buying on Craigslist under Farm and Garden is also an option.   I have purchased chickens from Craigslist and have been very satisfied. The great thing about buying from Craigslist is you go to the home and you see the way the chickens were raised.  You can see if it looks like a healthy situation so you don’t bring sick chickens home to infect your flock.  One time, when I was looking to purchase chickens, we encountered a snake on the cage of the chickens.  It wasn’t a poisonous snake so I wasn’t afraid but the seller screamed for her husband to come help.

Also, you can get ideas from the sellers regarding housing needs for your chickens.  Every one has a different set up for their chicken yards.  Mine are free range but they are in a large fenced-in area to separate the types of chickens.  If I weren’t hatching eggs, it wouldn’t really matter if they were all together.

My newest trick I have learned is how to determine the sex of the chicks.  I have learned so much from the backyardchicken.com website.  The forum with everyone giving their suggestions/comments has been great.  People have asked the exact questions I wanted answered.   I love the pictures of the chicks and chickens, too.  Who knew there were so many breeds?

Well, it’s time to feed the baby chicks and chickens and dogs.   It is suppose to rain most of the day so no painting the chicken houses today.

I hope everyone has a hobby that keeps them as fulfilled as my chicken addiction does me.  I spend a lot of time designing chicken yards and the housing.   I will end up making some money from all of this but I doubt seriously if I make any profit but it will help pay the feed bill.  lol

Retirement is around the corner for my husband and we will be spending our days gardening, raising chickens and running the roads.  It is a good thing chickens don’t need a lot of care and we can be gone for a couple days at a time.  Good neighbors help, too.

My mom was recuperating from her hip surgery so I was washing and drying her clothes.  I brought the clothes to her to fold to give her something to do.  She noticed one of her “good” towels was in the laundry pile for her to fold.  Evidently, I wasn’t suppose to use that one.  Oops.

She looked kind of teary-eyed when she said how silly it was that she didn’t let even her now deceased husband use the new towels.   She said she was wondering what she was saving the towels for anyway.

It made me think how many times we “save” some things for special occasions.   Like only using the good dishes when there is company.   Or only sitting at the dining room table when you have company; if not you eat in the kitchen.

You are not promised a tomorrow.  Better to enjoy life now and not have those little regrets later.

I am sure my NC family thinks I am crazy.  I am spending about two months there caring for my mom and her broken hip so we have plenty of conversations involving my chickens.

Two chicks hatched out the day before I left for NC and I was so excited.  They are Silkie chicks mixed with an Aracuana daddy.  I didn’t get to see them grow because I was gone three weeks and they are much bigger now.  Boo hoo

I have found some interesting websites where other people are raising chickens and writing about their experiences.  A woman who sells eggs and chicks lives close to me and has a website named chickenzoo.com.  She has all kinds of animals and lives on two acres like me.

My chickens give me a lot of joy.  It is fun to see what the baby chicks will look like.  I now have 33 chickens including the babies.  One of my Aracuanas just laid it’s first green egg.  I have an incubator so I will be hatching out some baby chicks in the spring.  So eggciting.

I think I may start a chicken blog….it would a diary of my ideas and happenings while raising my chickens.  I have designed a chicken house and found some cheap shortcuts for caring for unexpected situations.  I am looking forward to finding a name for my blog. 

Mom fell and broke her hip on October 22.  It was a clean break and she had three pins put into her hip.  The doctor said she should totally heal.

I flew to NC to help out since it really is a round the clock job to take care of someone who can’t get around.

My mother is such an active person and keeps a spotless house even at the age of 86.  The physical therapist said it is even harder for people who are so active to adjust to not being able to do anything without assistance.

I feel so badly for people who don’t have four daughters to work around the clock to make sure the patient is cared for and kept in good spirits.  We have realized how important it is to keep her thinking positive thoughts.  She is working really hard to do the therapy twice a day and walk with a walker.

Mom has such a sweet spirit.  She got all weepy when she was thinking about how all of us girls work so hard to take care of her and some people end up in a rehab center and then go home to an empty house.

Guess there are some advantages to having a lot of children.

My dad has been passed away now for almost three years.  I am so thankful my mom did not follow him like a lot of couple’s do.  My father-in-law died and within a year, my mother-in-law had passed, too. They were only in their late sixties.  My dad was 92 and now mom is 85…86 next month.

Well, we go to Biloxi to the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort which is so beautiful…think it is a four star hotel.  My husband and I use to drive from Florida to NC to pick up my parents and then to Biloxi and then to NC and then to Florida to take my parents on vacation (total of 3500 miles).

So this past March, Mom was sitting at a quarter slot machine and a very sweet, handsome man starting talking to her.  Since then, they have been talking on the phone.

We traveled back to Biloxi the end of July just so she could see him again.  Now he is in the hospital in GA and she is wanting to go see him there.   Boy, like can get complicated.

My three sisters are there with Mom and take great care of her.  I am way down here in Florida and don’t help out much anymore since Dad has passed away.   For me, it is rather painful to go home and not have Dad there.  I guess my sisters had to get use to it but it hits  me every time I walk through the door and see his recliner.

I have had a very blessed life….my friend’s parents have passed away a long time ago.   My high school friend, Brenda had a triple by-pass this past week.  My best friend is taking a number of pills for high blood pressure, diabetes and thyroid problems.   I take no medication.    I had three healthy children who have college educations and careers.    Just one grandchild so far but she is beautiful, intelligent and great manners.  My son and daughter-in-law are great parents.

And then there is Calvin.  A man who waited for me for over thirty years.  Never married.  Loved me since we were 15/16 years old.   Growing old with Calvin is going to be wonderful.  He is so sweet and patient and never says a mean word to me.   We are anxiously awaiting his retirement which is less than two years.

I can totally understand why my mom wants another relationship with a man.  She was with someone she loved for over 56 years and misses the feeling only a man can give you.

During one of my son’s visits to Florida, he commented on our dog’s good behavior.  With our two acres, he suggested we take in dogs since we seem to be good with them.

Well, my daughter’s house caught on fire and during reconstruction, we offered to take her two dauschands to our home.   We told Jack and Max they were coming to Grandma’s for a country vacation.

Then my girlfriend’s apartment complex found out she had an extra dog.  She being the dog lover that she is, rescued too many dogs.  Four dogs in an apartment….not good.  The apartment complex told her to get rid of the biggest dog.  So, until she finds another home for Krista, we now have a 75 lb black Lab to dog sit.

We actually had six dogs for a few days.  Amber has her dogs back and I am going to check with Michelle today as to her progress in finding a place for Krista.   She is a sweet dog but she almost knocked me over yesterday.

I am definitely a dog lover.  I have never been one to care much for cats but they are adorable when they are kittens.

But what is really cute is a baby chick.

I only see my grand daughter two or three times a year.  She is now 7 years old.

This year when I went to my son’s house for Thanksgiving I took a few craft items to share with Madison.   We had so much fun.  It also helped me to stay focused on her.  Making memories !!!!!

I bought a artificial wreath to decorate.  We went to the park and collected tiny pine cones and some of the Sycamore balls.  We painted them with glitter paint and let them dry.   We attached them with green pipe cleaners.    I also bought some very small red jingle bells that I attached together in bundles of three with the green pipe cleaners and attached to the wreath.  Then we added some candy canes for some extra color.

I also bought a pottery kit which was $20 on sale.  It was great.   We made one large and two small bowls…cups???  They air dry and then you paint them.  Great for sitting on your dresser and putting hair accessories or change, etc.   My daughter had taken a pottery class so she was a lot of help and enjoyed the time with her niece also.  Now I am thinking I want my own real pottery wheel.   Retirement is right around the corner…plenty of time for that stuff.

I also bought a few of the foam Christmas ornaments to put together, with glue.   Also, we painted some sun catchers.

My grand daughter cried when I left and it broke my heart.   It also made me feel good that she didn’t want us to leave.   I am looking forward to retiring and being able to go visit more often.

I love you, Madison.   I am very blessed to have such an intelligent, beautiful grand daughter and three great kids and an exceptional daughter-in-law and son-in-law.

I was thinking about buying an incubator because I keep paying for new chickens as the older ones die.  But fortunately, I have a hen that sat on the eggs long enough to hatch five of them.

A few tips for anyone wanting to let a hen hatch eggs….

If you have more hens laying in the same nest, make sure you mark an X on the eggs you want to hatch out and remove the other eggs.  It takes 21 days for the eggs to hatch so I kept removing the eggs after there were eight eggs for her to hatch.   The eggs hatched out every other day.

Our hen would help peck the shell once the chick broke thru the shell.  The sixth chick pecked it’s way thru and then died. My husband and I had helped one other chick out of the shell by breaking part of the shell away to make it easier for it to get out.  Unfortunately, we didn’t help the sixth one because we were on our way to work.  Darn it.

We actually used a large plastic kid’s toy box without the top when it got closer to the 21 days.  We made a nice nest with hay and transferred the eggs while the mom had a fit.   We needed something large enough so the chicks could get out and walk around and have enough room for the food and water, too.  It was perfect.

We also made a rain cover which was a 4×4 board with four legs which were about 4 feet tall.   It kept the rain off the box and allowed the mom room to jump out and  get food and water with the other chickens.

We later transferred the chicks and mom into a 4×8 chain link cage with a heat lamp.  We live in the country and the danger of some animal preying on the baby chicks is very likely.

The chicks are a couple weeks old now and really growing fast.  I wanted to put the mom back in with the other chickens but my husband insist that we leave the mom with the chicks.   Sweet, huh?

Now I will put a perch in the cage so the chicks can start perching at night.

Just hope they aren’t all roosters…

Remember I told you we have an uninvited armadillo living under our shed who comes out every night and makes havoc in my yard. I read how you need to capture it and move it to an area that has water so that was my plan.

My husband, daughter and I came home after dark and there in our front yard was the culprit just digging away in my yard. Well, I remembered I had a 5 gallon bucket in the trunk of the car. I walked right up to the armadillo and tried to put it over him. He seemed oblivious to our presence even with the car lights shining on him. He was a little bigger than the bucket opening so I didn’t manage to catch him that time. He ran about 20 feet away but he ended up cornering himself so I did manage to get the bucket over him.

Then I had my daughter run inside and grab the extra large cookie sheet I have and I slide it between the bucket and the ground. My husband flipped the bucket upright and carried it to the car.

We flew down the dirt road trying to get to a place to release it before it pushed the cookie sheet off the top of the bucket. We found a spot about a mile away and released it knowing there were a couple of small ponds nearby.

This is most excitement we have had in awhile and we laughed through the whole thing. Making memories!!!!