Hawk

12/8/2012

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On Monday morning the water company was in front of the house working.  They were pretty loud, and all that I could hear. I walked outside to get something out of my car, and didn't see any of the birds. I heard what sounded like a cat meowing, and thought maybe the ducks had cornered one of the kittens in the coop. So I walked down, and as I got closer I could see a big grayish bird chasing around the chickens. So I started running, and it flew away. It had killed one of the call ducklings and an easter egger chick. One of the japanese hen's got an injured eye either from the hawk or being trampled by someone running away. She is looking much better now though, just a little scabbing left under her eye now. So the flock is on lockdown until around noon each day. They aren't very happy with it, but it's a compromise we'll have to deal with. I feel safer letting them out later, and they still get free time. I'll be going through the kids room soon and looking for baby toys they've outgrown I can put in the coop for the geese. They get bored easy, and I need the room with Christmas coming up soon. 
 
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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful meal and day today. 
I got my first egg from the japanese. I walked to the coop and saw a hen and the rooster in the nest box all snuggled up. Then went back later and found the egg. Hoping Spot has been taking care of her out of the nest box, I'm excited to hatch

Fall

11/16/2012

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Well, I have a lot to catch up on here. I got a lovely quad of mottled japanese bantams. They are a little over a year old. Sweet, quiet little birds. There was a mishap with their quarantine cage, so they got moved into general population sooner than expected. They appear healthy as can be though, and are adjusting well. They aren't used to free ranging, and although they've been in the main coop for a week haven't ventured out yet. The coop/pen area is about 220 sq feet though, and they have it to themselves for the most part during the day so they are happy. Quiet little birds, the roosters crow is squeaky. And so far, he's been very quiet. We'll see if that changes as he settles in, he shows quite a bit of spark every now and then. They've settled into the existing flock peacefully, no fighting at all. Ok, enough blabbing about my chickens, here are some pics. 

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My serama chicks are growing, and still keeping me guessing about their sexes and colors. The oldest pullet, Marilyn, has discovered mealworms, which I've started a colony of. She now watches me whenever I am in the chick room very closely. I'm going to need to grow a lot of these, and I think I'll have some very friendly chicks. 
The ducklings prefer the wheat fodder I am growing. They go nuts over it. Have even jumped out of their brooder a few times when they see me getting it for them. I've never had ducklings jump so high. 



Busy

10/27/2012

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It's been a busy week again. I finished weatherproofing the baby pen outside and got my oldest chicks and ducklings moved outside for good now, unless it just gets super cold. Bumble has adjusted great to her new pen. I got a few more serama chicks. And a pair of mandarin ducks. I love these! I attended my first poultry show as a poultry owner/plan on showing person. Loved seeing all the birds, and my kids had a wonderful time. I can't wait until spring when we will be showing our own. 

Babies

10/21/2012

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This week I've hatched out 2 adorable seramas and 6 cute little call ducklings. 2 of the ducklings were gray, and one gray pied it looks like. I'll be keeping the gray pied and gray for my breeding program. I will be adding a pair of mandarin ducks to my collection Tuesday. I'm extremely excited, I have been looking at and thinking of getting a pair for awhile now. Pics in a few days! Also, the poultry show in Sedalia will be coming up soon. I'm not showing anything, but am still attending to learn and see what goes on so I'm ready in spring. It's going to be a fun week!
 
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This little duckling hatched out fine, with half a dozen others. I didn't notice anything at first, but when I looked at them closer I realized she had white dots in her eyes and I believe she is blind. She is about 2 weeks old now, and acts pretty normal. I noticed she must be rubbing on something in the brooder, or just developing some odd bald spots under chin and on her neck. I think 

 
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This has been a busy couple of weeks. I've hatched out about half a dozen or so call ducklings, and 2 easter egger chicks. The broody hatched one, the other was a few days late, and after the broody left it ended up being an assisted hatch, but is doing great. I've finished enclosing the bantam coop and have put the pigeons out there, yay! Cleaned the coop and run, added fresh bedding and all that stuff too. A few more things to winterize it, and I'm set. We added 2 new kittens to the family too. I'm hoping when they are older they will help keep the stray cats from hanging out in our yard. 

 
Last night I heard the dogs barking loud enough to get me up around 3 in the morning. I grabbed my flashlight and went outside to see what was going on. There was an opossum in the bird's yard. I valiantly chased it off with a stick. Once it had ambled it's way out I fixed the wire so it couldn't come back in again. Luckily it was just in their yard, not the coop although the coop is pretty safe. There have also been quite a bit more hawks in the air lately, but we have a pair of crows in residence who have done a good job warning and chasing them away. Today I walked down to lock them up, and the geese were outside of the yard. They are always inside by the pool until I put them inside each night. i thought something was odd then, so I walked around the yard and coop, but didn't see anything out of the normal. I thought I heard something moving in a tree, but thought it was highly likely I was just being paranoid too. So I put the ducks and geese in, and locked them up. As I was walking away I heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from behind the coop. I stopped, wondering what on Earth...then I heard a few hoots and a few minutes later an owl flew right by, with a rabbit. This is after having nothing except a few stray cat's bother my birds since last fall.                             So in conclusion, remember fall and the end of summer bring out the predators. Some trying to gorge themselves to build fat reserves for winter, and many raptors starting to come through during migration. It pays to be e

 
Well, this is my first time "blogging". I don't have much to share, busy trying to learn how to set up a web page. Fall is approaching quickly, and there is a lot to be done outside soon, so I hope to be started on that soon. A few babies hatching in the incubator, pretty much just a normal day here. 

    IttyBittyBantieBarn

    Hi, I'm the owner of Itty Bitty Bantie Barn. I had originally planned on an information page, but I think the links page should cover most of that when I'm done. So instead I've decided to start a blog in it's place, and hopefully I can cover some information here.

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