Hatching Baby Quails (Quail?) . . . .

My friend Caleb (an 8th grader at CMS) has been raising quails now for over a year now. He has about 15 mature adults, and he has over 40 in the incubator due to hatch next week! If you've never seen pictures of these babies, look through my older posts. They are the size of a big piece of popcorn with legs. SO CUTE!!! If you've ever thought about raising your own quail (quails?), let me know and I'll get you in contact with Caleb.

News on the Farm

I haven't posted in some time, because sometimes I let my perfectionist notions get in my way. If I don't have ALL those chickens, am I really doing anything special?

YES! Every morning when I get up I open my blinds to see my happy chickens grazing around in the yard, and it makes me happy. I see the little goaties milling around in their pen and it makes me smile. Then I look out the other window to see the remaining Silkie Bantam and his companion - a blue cochin bantam hen - and make sure they are doing well. I get 5 or 6 eggs every day, and that is plenty for the seven of us in my house!

I know the chickens would be safer in their pens, but they are SO happy scratching around freely in the grass, under the trees, in my front flower bed. Daniel is my Buff Orpington Rooster, and he is VERY friendly. He would intimidate anyone who didn't know him, because he not only approaches you, he won't really go on and mind his own business until you PET him, yes . . . pet him like a dog. He prefers to eat out of the bucket you are holding or out of your hand to eating out of the feeders in the pen.

I named the Rhode Island Red rooster Cap'n Barbosa (Annie thought that was the best choice for him, and he IS the boss of the entire flock). So, I named the bantam rooster Jack Sparrow. The gorgeous Silver-laced Wyandotte rooster is named Scutt Farcus, because his personality is as pleasing as that character on "A Christmas Story" who bullies all the nice kids. However, Cap'n Barbosa, Daniel, and the Barred Rock rooster (that I haven't yet named) keep ol' Scutt on the run most of the time - especially if he gets to close to me! I don't ever turn my back on that one, though.

As for hens, I have 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Gold-laced Wyandottes, 2 Silver-laced Wyandottes, and 7 Aracaunas (blue-green egg layers.) I have male and female French Black/Copper Marans, and 2 mixed bantam hens (black with some gold feathers) who are my best setters.

I've allowed the hens to hatch 2 sets of eggs, and although their hatching percentage(30 - 40%) isn't nearly as high as mine in the incubator (80 - 90%), it is SO sweet to watch those hens with the babies! I've lost 4 of babies that were out with the hens to predators - probably hawks, so their brooding success rate is low.

Right now, I'm not interested in raising more baby chicks - last winter was very harsh for this neck of the woods, and I can't take the heartbreak of finding "deadies" in with the babies. :-(