. . . and went to live in their new chicken tractor home yesterday.
They had their first encounter with real, live, green grass. And I think were a little perplexed at first. But a couple of hours later, all seemed to be well. There are provisions to lock them up each night safely in their little chicken house (complete with roosts) which is the right hand part of the chicken tractor.
I thought I'd include a picture of our teen-aged goslings, hatched the very end of March. From left to right, that's Will, Curly, Annie and Skidmore. Sad to say, Curly has a severely deformed upper beak. It's twisted far to the left and I've been surprised he can eat and drink in any kind of a normal manner. But he's growing as fast as Will, Skidmore still being a bit of a giant, so he's doing okay. He will be destined for freezer camp this coming fall, because the deformity could be a genetic thing that we don't want to take a chance of passing on.
In the meantime, all four are good buddies and are living a very good life eating and pooping. A lot.
The goslings are getting so big! There's a pond across the road from us at the beach. We always have ducks and geese in there. The other day, I counted 20 goslings. Now to some, that is just the coolest thing. But to us who live nearby, well...all that poop you're getting, multiply that by 20. It stinks, too. Lol!! They are cute though. I have a question about snakes and your chickens. Do you get snakes in their nesting boxes? My neighbor was gathering eggs from hers the other day and put her hand right on top of a snake. Yikes! That alone would have made me poop my pants!
ReplyDeleteLaurie - If I put my hand in a nest box to collect eggs and encountered a snake you would hear me scream all the way to your house. Then Papa Pea would have to come revive me 'cause I'd be out cold. So, no, we've never had that happen, thank you very much. Won't snakes eat any eggs they come across? We (happy, happy) don't have many snakes up here -- too cold I guess -- so that makes me very glad.
DeleteOh, yes. The pooping! That tractor is a piece of art. They must be so happy to be out, doing what chicks low to do. I'm always amazed at how quickly they grow!
ReplyDeleteSusan - They sure do feather out faster than goslings! The best thing about the "chicken tractor" is that we managed to make it sturdy and yet light enough that it actually moveable! Takes two people, of course, but it's easy to move.
DeleteThat is a fantastic chicken tractor! Your goslings are really growing. "Freezer camp", that's funny (well, not for him...) -Jenn
ReplyDeleteJenn - I know some folks will not understand, but many of our birds are destined for freezer camp come fall. By getting a good cross section of birds, we hope to eventually end up with good breeding pairs so they will raise their own and we won't have to keep purchasing and brooding(!) hatchlings.
DeleteHa! Love the tractor home. Looks like they are enjoying it. Enjoy all that poop, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteKristina - Well, you know, for years we haven't felt we produce enough fertilizer here on the homestead. Now with the addition of the geese and ducks, we've definitely taken a step in the right direction!
DeleteMama Pea, can you re-post your post on making dill pickles? I bought seeds for pickling pickles this year, and can't locate it via searching, thanks.
ReplyDeleteKristina - Are you referring to the dill pickles we've fermented . . . or the ones I can via water bathing?
DeleteProof again that if we want to raise our own animals and food there are endless options and ways of doing it. Sun, Grass and bugs....chicken heaven!
ReplyDeleteFiona - Let's face it . . . if we all want the healthiest, most nutritious food for our family, the best way to do it is from start to finish under our own supervision. Then we know exactly what has gone into the food we eat. The fact that we also know how it's processed and that it's the absolute ultimate in "freshness" counts for a lot flavor-wise, too!
DeleteGreat tractor for them! I love seeing all your various fowl.
ReplyDeleteGlenda - My blog serves as a good record of my own for of all that goes on, but I sometimes wonder if I'm boring readers to death. So thank you very much for your kind and supportive words!
DeleteJust this morning, the fella we buy our duck eggs from was telling us about one of his hogs that was afraid of grass when she first encountered it. It had been born in one of those gawd awful mega hog farms--all concrete and steel and no daylight. She was the picture of contentment lolling about in the grass , shade, and mud hole. How different her life is now............
ReplyDeleteYou , of course, treat all your birds the way they should experience life. It's grand to see such happy fowl.
Have a great weekend
(I am hiding from the HORDES of tourists!!!)
Sue - Blessings on your duck egg man who rescued that hog from the sorry conditions! How quickly animals will revert back to their "normal" way of living when given the chance.
DeleteI went to town this morning to pick up all I might need for the coming weekend. (Do NOT want to venture in there with the throngs of tourists! Yes, I'm anti-social, why do you ask?)
Our weekend is forecast to be more of the same wet, soggy, foggy weather, but the wildfire danger is now way down. Whew!
I enjoy all the new things available for people with chickens these days ~ like "chicken tractors." What a cool idea. I saw one for sale on swap and sell the other day. Almost makes me want to get chickens!! I wouldn't get that bothered by the snake anyway ~ I'd just grab it and pitch it. But, I wouldn't appreciate them eating the baby chicks. :)
ReplyDeleteFoxyLady - Something tells me with your love of and attraction of foxes, chickens wouldn't be a good idea at your place! ;o}
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