The blue skies have returned and the weather man says we are going back into a dry cycle. 
We are still very lucky though. Our dry spell is nothing like the droughts they are having down South. All weather is relative really. An Australian drought would devastate this area. And a mid west drought would be a Hawke’s Bay dry summer.
But the local crops will come in thin and short. And the price of grain (and feed) is already beginning to rise. Lately the price of meat in the stores has begun to rise too. I read that ground beef is the highest it has ever been. So for the farmers there will be a shortage of hay and very expensive grain. Sustainable looks better and better every day. 
The lady down the road is downsizing her flock to cope with the rising costs. So our chickens are being asked to share their grain with the chooks from down the road. 
Awaiting their night time release are eight big Rhode Island Reds. I have enough clients to sell their eggs to, so their grain is covered as long as they keep laying. Rhode Island Reds are good winter layers and these are still young. So they be able to segue into the farmy cycle easily.
Of course Sheila is looking forward to meeting the new arrivals but has discovered to her horror that she cannot fit through the gate anymore!! Thank goodness. 
The Duke of Kupa left you a gift. 
The nights are cooler and he is beginning to shed. So beautiful. The design of these birds is superb.
Good morning. Daisy gets her third hormone shot on Sunday and then the vet will come to breed her. I hope she gets pregnant the first attempt so that she can calve next years calf on the spring grass. Though it will not be much earlier than this year. I really do not want her calving much later. Milking into the deep winter will be hard on her and me.
You will remember that this year you and I are going to New Zealand in December for a few weeks, so I am hoping to be able to dry her up by then. If not I have stand-by milkers, a lovely retired couple from down the road. You cannot dry up a cow who is milking a large amount of milk. It is dangerous for the animal. The cow kind of slows down herself and once her production has dropped right down, then we can stop milking and dry her up. So I have to be prepared for both scenarios. And be guided by Daisy herself.
Have a lovely day.
celi
What was happening on the farm a year ago? Quite a bit by the sounds of it. Sex on the farmy is the first time the animals began to really find their voices. This is still a funny read!
The Kitchen's Garden 
74 responses to “Adopted chooks”
I am starting to realise that you really call chickens “chooks”. I thought it was an affectionate diminutive:)
Morning Roger, we call them chooks in NZ, their call is chook, chook, chook! Funny the things you learn on the internet! c
Congrats on your new chooks, but bummer for the lady down the road! I hope the hard times don’t continue to get harder for everyone there.
Hoping you have a great day! 🙂
Morning Gwen, she has kept a dozen, it would be terrible to have no chickens! c
How lovely to find Kupa’s jewel like feathers strewn about. It was interesting to read about your plans for Daisy; I’ve always wondered about how and when the dry spells come.
I hope to allow her to be dry for 4 months. It all depends on her of course. morning siobhann.. c
That photo of Kupa’s tailfeather is postcard-worthy, C… just perfect!
I’ve got the go-ahead for both chickens (where do you suppose the word ‘chook’ comes from?) and dairy goats (found a small slaughterhouse nearby that will make that possible), but my Learning Curve is steep…Any chance you could do some Day in the Life posts on keeping chickens?
Oh what a wonderful idea, I can definitely do that! And Angel will LOVE having chickens to feed! and goats at last!! c
Not til spring or summer, but the plans are PLANS now, not wishes… 😀
you will need to order your chicks for the spring too, (it will take three months until they lay) sometimes it is hard to get the ones you want, I presume you want friendly layers?
Your adopted chooks have come to a good home – lovely photos especially the peacock feather.
Cute Sheila picture.
Can you check the link again? I’m not able to get this one to connect. 🙂
You are going to have to put me on speed dial!! i checked it and reloaded it. Good catch.. again.. I will have to start loading those the night before when my brain is in gear! Thank you again.. c
the interesting things I learn from you – as always, a great post
I think of this often and since you are a farmer, I will ask you. The prices of corn here and meat in general everywhere continue to rise because of the drought. Does this help farmers with higher prices at the store, or make is worse?
The higher prices in your supermarket would not as a rule flow back to the grain farmer. For the corn and beans he is offered the price of the day, if he does not like it he will store his grain a bit longer and sell it on another day when the prices are higher. This is his paycheck. If there is not a lot of grain to sell, he will be holding out for more money, When they sell their grain for higher prices then the stock farmer will have to pay more to buy it from the feed mill to feed his cows. Then he will sell his meat for more to recoup his feed bill. Though most of the meat you buy in the supermarket is grown on contract by enormous consortium feedlots. In fact most of the meat in the US is grown and marketed by only four major companies. If you buy it at the farmers market your cash will go directly to the farmer. I hope that actually answers your question and i did not go off on a wild tangent! morning terry.. c
Great post! Wonderful that you could provide a nice home for the chooks, they will be very happy at your place, I am sure….
Poor Sheila! She’s grown too big for her own good. I had wondered when and how Daisy would stop producing milk. You teach me something just about every time I come here. 🙂
I hope she tails off nicely by herself before the real cold comes! Just imagine milking in an ice storm!!! c
We’ve milked at 15 below zero. NOT fun!
That does not sound fun at all.. Everyone would be suffering, did you bring the cow inside, at that point I would want the barn to be adjacent to the house like in the old days!! have you got water yet?.. c
No water yet. Michael says it’s electrical. UGG!
So much to think about as the seasons change! Here too, we are thinking of the rising costs of things. And stocking up the freezer for school lunches and dinners on the fly! Good luck with the chooks…it’s been a long time since I heard them called that and it brings back fond memories….
Yes like you we have to make sure we have stocked up well for winter. i don’t think we will starve this year!! c
I learn so much on this blog — today about milking cycles and planned calving and fitting it all into vacations.
Oh yes Sharyn, a vacation has to be well planned.. it is amazing how many people I need to replace me!! c
Love the “calling card” from Kupa and the chickens insistent impatient peering through the chicken wire.
They were SO pleased to get out of their transition cage, First i just had to Make sure that we did not start a war!! c
Yes, Cecilia, replacing you would be major, that is why it is so important you take good care of yourself . Many many depend on you not just physically and emotionally, but “educationally” too. I’m trying to say you know so much — on top of doing so much .
Mother Equus has spoken!
When you put together a group like this, in the Comments Lounge.. we are all learning. I have learnt heaps from you guys!