Comment below to win their Pelleted Goat Dewormer! Kills The 3 Major Gastrointestinal Parasites Most Frequently Found In Goats.

The Original...Still the Best!
•Can be safely fed to all classes of goats, including meat & dairy goats – even pregnant and lactating does.
•Conveniently fed as a top dress, eliminating the work and stress of shots and drenches.
•Unlike its imitators, Positive Pellet delivers its active ingredient (Rumatel) in a complete, balanced feed.
•Positive Pellet is a source of essential vitamins and minerals.
•Goats on Positive Pellet don't miss any of the essential nutrients in the daily diet.
•Positive Pellet minimizes the stress associated with deworming!
•Feed monthly for year-round protection.

Ingredients
Dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat middlings, corn, diatomaceous earth, cane molasses, feeding oatmeal, soybean meal, sunflower meal, cottonseed hulls, cottonseed meal, ammonium chloride, yeast culture, anise oil, calcium carbonate, salt, sulfur, ferrous carbonate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, saccharomyces cerevisiae, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract.

How to Enter

Comment in the form below to enter -- tell us about your favorite way of deworming your goats! If you repost this giveaway via twitter or facebook or write about it on your blog - or anywhere online - you may add an additional comment(or comments) for each time you shared the link (just make sure to share the url address in the comments' box).

This giveaway will end on 01/01/2012 at 12 PM PST. Open to all persons in the United States of America, even contributing authors of this blog.

NOTE: If you repost this giveaway via twitter or facebook or write about it on your blog - or anywhere online - you may add an additional comment or comments for each time you shared the link for additional chances to win! (just make sure to share the url address in the comments box).

Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner has 48 hrs. to respond to e-mail or another winner will be chosen. Winners will be announced via a blog post.

Manna Pro® Goat Treats is a fun, nutritious treat for goats. Made with real anise, delivering a licorice flavor goats can't resist. Comes in an easy-to-feed nugget form. Train your goats to walk on a leash or obey commands with these treats!

Ingredients:
Wheat Middlings, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Meal, Soybean Hulls (10%), Hominy Feed, Sunflower Meal, Cane Molasses, Dried Whey, Corn, Feeding Oatmeal, Linseed Meal, Ammonium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Sulfur, Iron Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Anise Oil, Calcium Propionate (A Preservative).

Feeding instructions:
Manna Pro® Goat Treats are designed to provide a nutritional treat or reward for goats. Goat Treats will not imbalance the normal ration. DO NOT over feed or offer free choice. Reminder: Feed is perishable. Store this product in a cool, dry area away from insects and rodents.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

What's your goat's favorite treat? Have you ever shopped in a supermarket and found yourself examining a product while thinking: "hmmm....I think the goats will like this?"

Comment in the form below to enter.

NOTE: If you repost this giveaway via twitter or facebook or write about it on your blog - or anywhere online - you may add an additional comment or comments for each time you shared the link for additional chances to win! (just make sure to share the url address in the comments box).

This giveaway will end on 08/11/2011 at 12 PM PST. Open to all persons in the United States of America, even contributing authors of this blog.

Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner has 48 hrs. to respond to e-mail or another winner will be chosen. Winners will be announced via a blog post.

I have a RIR that is 18 weeks old. We have 5 total hens. We got our first eggs last week. Not sure if she is laying yet. She stands by herself and then sits down and appeared to go to sleep. Her poop was white creamy color with clear mucous. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm so sorry about your hen's troubles. She does sound like she needs some help to get through whatever might be bothering her. My first thought was that she has parasites -- intestinal worms -- probably round worms. It might sound like an odd diagnosis, but your Rhode Island Red seems like she is behaving exactly like my hen did when she was battling an overload of worms. My 4 year old Ameraucana Hen acted extremely lethargic and was so "sleepy" she couldn't keep her eyes open. Even when we tried to feed her, she would act interested in what we were offering then promptly fall beak-first into the food and simply sit there without eating anything -- as if it was too much effort to even consume the food. Turns out she had an overload of parasites (despite our best preventative practices) even though most of her symptoms didn't match the book. But like I often say: "chickens don't read the manual!"

I would de-worm your hen right away using the conventional chemical stuff. If she's that bad off, then waiting for the more natural herbal solutions might take a little too long. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge "anti-chemical" person but sometimes we do what needs to be done to save our animals. You need to have a long term routine / regimen of natural herbal stuff for it to be best effective. See if you can find Wazine at your local feed shop and follow the directions on the bottle (including the discarding of eggs for the recommended time). I would supplement with natural solutions as well. Give her plenty of probiotics and put apple cider vinegar in her water (1 part ACV to 3 parts water). In addition, she needs to rebuild her strength. If you don't have "Nutri-Drench" (the best stuff on the planet for sick poultry) then see if you can entice your hen to eat with some earthworms, a hardboiled egg, or some grated cheddar cheese.

My second thought of what might be wrong with your chicken is that she might be "Egg Bound." This might be more likely since she could be laying her first egg and having difficulty with it. I truly hope she isn't as this is much harder and scarier to deal with. There are a few definite signs of an egg-bound hen: she may be panting, have her feathers fluffed up, look exhausted and may sit with her wings drooping and tail bobbing. Her abdomen may look distended or be dragging on the ground. She may also strain from time to time. For an egg-bound hen, the best resource I have found is this website: http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickHensBroodiesChicks.htm

Although these are my initial thoughts, it doesn't mean that my diagnoses are correct. Without physical examination, it's almost impossible to tell what is wrong with your hen. I can only offer my thoughts and feelings on the matter and hope they are of some use to you. Please feel free to comment and let us know how things are progressing with your hen.

      Last year I purchased 6 RI Red pullets from the local Agway and 4 Khaki Campbell ducks.  I had never raised either before so it was a new experience.  I considered the joy of raising them for the eggs and a more eco-friendly alternative to ridding my yard and garden of unwanted bugs like ticks and such; I never considered the joy of having them just as pets, though I made it clear from the get-go they would NEVER end up in the stew pot.  But that is just what they've become--pets. 

     In my last post, I talked about relocating all 10 birds to the warmth and sanctity of my house during sub-zero temperatures.  Springtime brought a different challenge.  Rusty, one of myRI Reds (all of my RI Reds have names related to their color: Rusty, Ruby, Amber, Rouge, Copper & Penny...), stopped eating.  She also had diarrhea.  I found her hiding behind the kiddie pool I have for my ducks, just hunched over.  When I picked her up, she barely protested but she had lost weight.  Something was seriously wrong with my little girl.  My first thought was "Is she egg-bound?"  But, when I examined her, it was obvious that wasn't the problem.  I looked in some books I have for chicken care and then in some herbals for possible treatments but, though she had some of the symptoms of some of the maladies, she didn't have all of them and I was afraid--being a novice with poultry--of misdiagnosing her.  So I called the local vet and made an appointment.  (I should probably add that Brooklyn, Connecticut is a rural, agricultural town so many of the local vets, even if they don't treat poultry and/or livestock themselves, can usually refer you to someone close by who does...) 

     Rusty went to see Dr. Betsy Japp in Eastford, CT (3 towns over; about 15 minutes away).  Dr. Japp has been raising chickens herself for many years so it was a relief to find someone with so much experience--and more--a real love for chickens, which was obvious in her manner while handling Rusty.  In addition to a thorough examination--that Rusty bore quite patiently, I might add--and providing treatment for Rusty, who had ingested some sort of microscopic worm, Dr. Japp also gave some sound advice for caring for my chickens such as keeping a calcium supplement free choice in a separate feeder at all times and also, offering  my adult gals chick starter on occasion.  Now I know chick starter isn't exactly organic or eco-friendly and, as an herbalist, I am always looking for more natural ways to care for my pets and livestock.  But I'm also not totally anti-allopathic medicine either, believing holistic and allopathic have much to compliment each other if only both sides could put away their egos (sorry, one of my soapboxes...).  Anyway, Rusty came home with some antibiotics to treat the infection that had developed as a result of this parasitic worm.  She was running a high temperature and had to be quarantined for 10 days.  I put her in a large dog crate in a far corner of the rabbit barn where the other chickens couldn't pester her.

     The fun part was trying to stick a tablet, about the size of a Bayer aspirin, down Rusty's throat twice a day.  Once I had Rusty in my arms, opening the beak and placing it at the back of the throat was easy; it was "catching" Rusty from the back of the cage that I had quarantined her in.  Twice a day I would have to crawl into this cage (it's a cage large enough that one of my St. Bernards could stand up straight in it), getting covered in pine shavings, scattered feed and, yes, even the occasional dropping.  She would flap her wings in stark protest every time.  But, the amazing thing was how quickly she recovered.  Within a day, her feed bowl started emptying out.  She was drinking plenty of water again.  The diarrhea disappeared.  Within a week Rusty decided she'd had enough of that cage and boldly walked out one morning to play with the Quackers and Reds in the barnyard.  I let her go, bringing her back into the cage at night for her meds and, also, to make sure she got enough to eat in case some of the others tried to bully her away from the feed in the henhouse. 

      It has been over a month and Rusty is 100% better.  Two weeks after her near-fatal illness, she produced my first double-yoked egg.  It weighed 4 ounces!  She's always been one of my best layers.  But, I confess, when I walked in on her laying this egg and saw her all hunched over again, straining to produce it, I got scared.  But it was just a large egg...poor gal!  Now, she and her pals caper around the backyard together everyday, scratching in the dust and sunning themselves, seemingly happy just to be alive.  Though they have always come running the moment I go outside, Rusty has decided to follow me like some strangely-shaped lap dog looking for affection.  And her antics have inspired the others to do likewise.  She even comes to visit in the rabbit barn at night when I feed them, though she makes it clear she wants no part of the cage again. 

    I didn't plan on getting more chicks this year but, while Rusty was convalescing, I had a sudden increase in egg demand.  A good friend of mine owns a laundromat and has been telling her regular customers about my chickens.  I started getting phone calls: "Can you bring 6 dozen down?"  "I need 8 dozen this week" and so on and so forth.  I picked up a baker's dozen: 4 Silkies, 3 Araucanas, 3 Plymouth Barred Rocks and 3 Polish Frizzles.  I lost a Silkie chick the first night; the rest are feathering out nicely and growing strong.  Soon the cage they're being kept in will be relocated to the henhouse, where they will continue to live in the cage for a few more weeks so my Reds won't peck the "intruders" to death (advice given by a couple of more-seasoned poultry raisers on integrating new birds with the "old"...).  I say "obsessed" because the wide variety of breeds seems to me a sort of strange bouquet, not of flowers, but in the iridescent sheen of feathers dancing in the sunlight.  And these flowers chirp and cluck at me, filling my days with a joy I never expected to find with chickens.  Who knew?

Read his email below and use the comment box to share your ideas for Erik's rabbits.

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I’m looking for ideas for keeping the rabbits on my “urban homestead” cool and reaching out to my friends with knowledge in medicine, agriculture, engineering, science and common sense. They are very sensitive to heat and heat stroke. South Louisiana is a pretty hot climate for rabbits to begin with, but we are having very high temperatures even for our area, especially for this time of year. Another person I know who has a much larger operation said it is about all she can do to keep her rabbits alive right now.

It’s only the beginning of June and my rabbits are showing signs of being uncomfortably hot, so I’m trying to think of anything I can do. My preferred “silver bullet” would be some way to generally lower the temperature in the cage area.

Here is my set up:
• They are under a metal roof under a pecan tree. The metal above them only gets direct sunlight for a brief period in early morning.
• The area is basically open on all four sides except that on the east side there is a chicken house about three feet away. The area toward the East beyond the chicken house is a garden (open area). To the north, south and west there are trees in a sort of savannah (not so thick there is no air flow, but for sure the trees reduce some breezes).
• I have two tiers of cages (with corrugated plastic at a steep angle in between so waste from top does not fall on the ones below).
• I have things set up where there is “bedding” below the cages and chickens scratch around below mixing the manure/urine in with the bedding to prevent ammonia buildup (with chicken wire affixed such that the chickens can’t roost and poop on the cages).
• The whole operation is on a vacant lot. I have municipal water but not gas or electricity.

Here is what I am currently doing/planning to do:
• Given them water that is partially frozen so the water they drink is good and cold.
• If things get bad, I’ll put a 2-liter bottle of frozen water in each cage.
• I give them feed with low protein content to help keep body temperature lowered.

Observations:
• I would expect the rabbits on the top tier to be hotter (because they are closer to the metal roof), but it is the rabbits on the bottom that show signs of being hot. I think this must have to do with air flow, but I suppose the heat from composting manure below their cage could be a factor.
• It appears that sunlight is blocked well enough and any kind of extra shading I could provide would be more likely to block air flow than lower the temperature.
• The weather in our area is very breezy these days, so that’s a plus.
• My solution has to take into account that at some point in the year the weather won’t be hot (though I don’t think I’ll have too many problems with the weather being too cold in our area.

Some thoughts I’ve had
• I have heard of people wetting the rabbits or wetting their ears. I don’t know if this is safe.
• I’m wondering is some sort of water feature (like a kiddie pool, buckets of water, etc) nearby would help. If rabbits sweated to cool, it would seem to have a negative “heat index” factor, but since they don’t I wonder if the evaporation would help.
• I wonder if some sort of misting device might have an air-conditioner effect. Not sure how to best produce an appropriate mist.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Would you recommend adding Nutri-Drench to my new chicks water after I get them? If so, how long do you think, and how much?

I really can't say enough about this stuff. It is hands-down, one of the best things you can have on hand for your chicks and full-grown hens.

For the first few days, I recommend 1 fluid oz per quart.

After that, the recommended dosage is (per gallon):
5-14 days / 2 fl oz
2-4 weeks / 1 fl oz
4-6 weeks / 0.5 fl oz
6 + weeks / 0.25 fl oz

You can keep them on that for maintenance but I generally use it at times of stress or illness. Also, I personally recommend alternating days with fresh water that has no additives.

For those looking for Nutri-Drench, you can find it here: http://www.peddlerswagon.com/p-245-poultry-nutri-drench.aspx

My hen (about 3 years old) seems very poorly. She is not eating and her legs seem to have gone bandy,and sometimes her wings droop. Her comb still looks very red but is drooping a bit as well. The last 2 nights we have had to lift her into the chicken house. She also seems to sleep a lot.

First, I'm very sorry about your chicken and I don't mean that lightly. I know it's hard when one of your flock is suffering and she does seem to be in a bad way. Unfortunately, without personal examination or more in-depth information, it's very difficult to determine the problem.

Some quick thoughts that come to mind are:

1.) egg binding.
2.) intestinal parasites
3.) internal infection (i.e. egg yolk peritonitis)

If you could comment and let me know any further details on her condition, we can narrow down the problem.
1.) Is her poop runny? Does it look (color) different?
2.) When you say her legs are "bandy" -- is she squatting? Or are they bowed out (like a cowboy)?
3.) Any discharge from the eyes/nostrils?
4.) Does she move about at all during the day?
5.) When did she lay an egg last?
6.) What breed is she?
7.) How many other chickens do you have?
8.) Is her stomach swollen / warm to touch / tight?

In the meantime, you may have to force feed her to keep her alive and you may want to provide her a safe box in the house. One of the best solutions to force feed a chicken is the Nutri-Drench -- I've kept many a sick chicken alive on this stuff. But if you don't have it, you can actually feed her raw egg yolk (yeah... weird, I know) through a syringe dropper.

Do any of our readers have any information on what this chicken could be afflicted with? Comment below - thanks!

Commenter #11! Stacy!

This winner was chosen randomly by random.org. Thanks for everyone for participating. For more giveaways, keep checking out this site.

Thanks to Manna Pro LLC who sent these boxes to us to share with y'all. Be sure to check out the company at their website: http://www.mannapro.com/ I had an exchange of emails with the Assistant Brand Manager and she informed me that they will be adding several all-natural products to their poultry line that should be available in spring 2011.

They are also striving to show support for a nurturing, connected lifestyle. With a motto: “nurturing life” they are seeking to help people find the resources they need to care for their animals and have a positive relationship with their life and their food. Manna Pro Products, LLC , formed in 1985, has deep roots and connections to some of the feed industries pioneers who paved the way for excellence in animal nutrition.

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Poultry Conditioner should be fed as a supplement with other feed or scratch grains. Poultry Conditioner can be mixed into the feed or fed daily to individual birds.

MIXING: Add Poultry Conditioner in with your current feed at up to 25% of the mix. Poultry Conditioner can be added to scratch grains at up to 50% of the mix.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Do you add supplements to your chicken feed? If so, what kind? Comment in the form below to enter.

NOTE: If you repost this giveaway via twitter or facebook or write about it on your blog - or anywhere online - you may add an additional comment or comments for each time you shared the link for additional chances to win! (just make sure to share the url address in the comments box).

This giveaway will end on 4/09/2011 at 12 PM PST. Open to all persons in the United States of America, even contributing authors of this blog.

IMPORTANT: Sometimes entries will accidentally go to the Spam folder. However, I do go through the spam and all relevant entries will be approved so your entries will be counted!

Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner has 48 hrs. to respond to e-mail or another winner will be chosen. Winners will be announced via a blog post.

     The new rabbit barn proved too chilly as this was a very harsh New England winter with gusty winds, sub-zero temperatures and over 3 feet of snow dumped in Northeastern Connecticut.  Needless to say, the rabbits were re-located into the house.  But the biggest challenge was this being my first year of raising chickens and ducks. 

    I love my chickens and ducks.  They spent the better part of the summer and fall following me around the garden.  Of course, I created a "monster" as I also try to maintain a backyard habitat.  Wild birds, squirrels, chipmunks and even a lone toad often grace the feeders I keep filled.  One afternoon, after my cockatiel had continuously turned his nose up at the seed mix I bought him as a treat, I decided to toss it out on the walkway for the squirrels.  Lo, and behold, I didn't take into consideration Miss Ruby & Co. hard at work in the garden looking for bugs and such.  As soon as I tossed the seeds, all 6 of my Rhode Island Reds came running.  This is what started the "monster".  The bag of seeds was 10 lbs.; Smoky the Cockatiel had scattered a few handfuls on the bottom of his cage but the bag was almost full and, well, I spoiled my "girls" for the next few weeks with handfuls of sunflower and pignon seeds.  Eventually, it got to be a routine.  I would let them out of the coop around noontime.  Within minutes, they would travel across the backyard, scoot under the fence and come running around the front of house to the feeders.  It always made me laugh to see them passing one by one before the kitchen windows. 

     My Khaki Campbells would bring up the rear.  But seeds just aren't their thing.  I tried various vegetables that I had read were favorites with ducks: tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, etc.  They would eat a few but never unless I tossed them to the ground; I was hoping they would trust me enough to eat from my hands.  All summer I tried but they always stayed just outside of arms reach, looking as though they really wanted those greens but too afraid to take them.  The Reds weren't shy at all.  Almost all of them love to be scratched between the shoulder blades and, when I would come out with the seeds, a couple of them would actually hop right in front of me and hunch those shoulders for what they decided was their due.  Any hesitation on my part illicited a proper scolding by pecking at my toes! 

     Summer passed, then autumn and, suddenly, winter was here.  Even in the brutal cold, my Khakis wanted at least a bucket of water to duck (no pun intended!) their head under each day.  They would quack so merrily as I poured some tepid water into a rubber bowl for them that I nicknamed the 4 of them, the Quackers.  Of course, their joy in dipping into their make-shift kiddie pool in 20 degree temperatures had me also thinking they were "quackers"!  Though they followed me around the coop every morning, they still stayed at least arms' length away. 

     In January, the local weatherman predicted wind chills down to 35 below zero.  We had experienced single digits and survived them with extra hay, a heated waterer and heat lamps going all night (not exactly eco-friendly but necessary in such conditions...) but, having read carefully everything I could about chickens and ducks, I knew anything below minus 20 was just too cold and I didn't think the heaters would be enough.  As darkness approached, I began to get a little nervous.  Would the coop be warm enough for them?  Though there is a ridge vent in the roof to control any excessive moisture, most of the time,  it did not seem to diminish the warmth or add any drafts.  On any other night, I could go out to the coop and it would be fairly comfortable.  But would it be this night?  I deliberated on and off, wondering what more I could do to ensure their comfort.  Finally, as I watched the 11 pm news--in a vain hope that the forecast was changed to a milder overnight low--I decided there was only one thing I could do.

     I've been told my love of animals borders on insanity; most people are probably right.  Of course, though I missed him dreadfully, I was almost grateful my beau was away from home this night; he definitely would NOT have agreed to this plan! 

     At 11:15 I started dragging into the gutted living room (in the process of a DIY remodeling...) some portable fencing I sometimes used for the rabbits.  I laid a thick pad of old newspapers on the floor and surrounded it with the fencing.  Then, still questioning my sanity and wondering if I'd ever be able to even lay hands on my ducks, one by one, I began carrying in my fine feathered friends.  

     My first trip out to the coop decided it for me.  I wasn't insane.  My ducks, though they have nesting boxes in the henhouse, usually opt to sleep under them instead of inside of them.  There is a 6"-8" space below.   I usually pile fresh hay underneath for them to snuggle up in.  When I opened the door, all 4 ducks came running out of their nests.  Though there was also a thick carpet of shavings on the floor, each of them was alternately picking up their feet, trying to keep them from touching that chilly floor.  Slowly, I tried to approach them but they ran around in circles, avoiding me.  So I started with the chickens.  There was many a questioning squawk as I took each one from their semi-warm nest and carried them out into the already -15 degree air; each of them quieted as soon as I opened the back door and brought them into the much-warmer house.  After all 6 chickens were inside, I shook my head and thought, "Good luck with the ducks!".  Every subsequent trip to the barn had sent them skittering into a far-off corner, quacking loudly in panic; this was not their normal routine and they weren't sure they liked this change of pace...especially as each trip saw one of their Red friends disappearing into the night.  But I had come this far; I couldn't stop now. 

     Back in the henhouse, it took about 5 minutes to "trap" one of my drakes in a corner.  His quacking grew ever more alarmed as I picked him up and cradled him against me to still his struggling; I was afraid he'd hurt either himself or me as those wings are pretty powerful.  The other 3 continued to quack and run around in circles as I "spirited" Duncan away.  Halfway across the yard, he gave an exceptionally good struggle and I thought for a split second I would lose him but I managed to hold onto him.  Like the chickens, he quieted as soon as the warmth of the house reached him.  I even felt him relax against me in an almost-human sigh of relief.  The rest were easier.  It was almost as though they knew I wasn't taking them away to be harmed (or perhaps Duncan's disappearance frightened them so much they were afraid to resist further...).  My second drake, Dweezil (I always had a "thing" for Dweezil Zappa in my youth; I'm not so sure he'd appreciate having a duck named after him though...lol!), was next in line and then the two hens.  The amazing thing about them is both Dixie and Delilah tucked their bills under my chin and gently grabbed the skin on my collarbone to hang on as I carried them in. 

     It was an interesting night with 6 RI Reds, 4 Khaki Campbells, 6 cats, 2 guinea pigs, a parakeet, a cockatiel, 4 rabbits and 2 St. Bernards rooming with me!  Poor Gary would've been calling the men with white coats to take me away...ha! ha!   And I carefully avoided all mention of this living arrangement in the letters I sent him that week...

     I had to place a board over the makeshift pen to keep chickens from trying to roost on top of the portable fencing...and thus, free ranging around the house all night long!  They spent a day and a half with me, patiently accepting their more confined quarters until temperatures came back to a milder degree and they could be returned to their coop.  The only "mishap" was one of the drakes escaping the pen to hide under the seldom-used clothes dryer for awhile.  He emerged moments later with cobwebs stuck to his bill only to race into the kitchen then behind the woodstove and eventually behind the woodpile where his escape was blocked. 

     Warmer days and nights are in the offing now.  Daylight Saving has begun and the snow, once over 3 feet deep--and more where it drifted--is finally melting away.  Though they didn't seem affected by their short trip indoors, little by little, my ducks have lost their shyness in the chicken yard.  Though the chickens will always be more aggressive by nature, The Quackers no longer run away when I approach them and I quack with them in greeting each morning.  It is as though they finally understand that they are loved and cared for or, at the very least, recognize me as a source of shelter and comfort. 

     Last week, Delilah rewarded me by giving a slight "hunch", almost chicken-style, allowing me to pet her...

I thought well, if it worked once, maybe it would work again.  This time I had 6 little chicks hatch to my delight.  I used my little Mini Brinsea incubator and all but one egg hatched successfully.  The last egg was not fertile.  Trying to be thrifty and save on electricity, I thought why not try a hen with these chicks because she will keep them nice and warm.  I won't have to run a brooder.  I went to the hen house and picked out a hen that I thought would be good, nope she didn't work.  So I tried two more that I thought would make good moms and they weren't up for it either.  I tried full sized hens, Orpington, Americana and a black Alstralope because the eggs had come from full sized chickens and a Lt. Brahma Rooster. I thought a big hen would be better. These particular hens are not only known for good egg production but for being good mothers but none of them wanted anything to do with these chirping little fuzz balls. I decided to go back to the younger hens because that's where I got the Silkie.

I had my choice of banties, silkies, or cochens.  Since all these chicks had feathered legs, I decide to go with a beautiful, white cochen.  She didn't mind having them nestled right up to her and get right under her like she was their momma.  They instinctively knew exactly what to do and so did she.

I don't know if other people have tried this or if they have had success with trying to get a hen to adopt chicks.  I'm sure that there are people out there that are way more experienced at raising chickens than I am.  I wanted to share this experience just in case there was someone new out there that might enjoy the information.  This isn't an easy thing to accomplish.

I have been told that if you have a broody hen already sitting on eggs, you can sneak chicks in with her in the dark. That wasn't the case.  I didn't have any broody hens and the full sized hens weren't in the market for chicks and quickly rejected them, by pecking at them.  I removed the hen quickly because I knew it wouldn't work.  The unique thing to me is, neither of these hens were laying eggs, nor were they broody.  Not only that, I didn't put either hen in with them in the dark.  I brought both hens in to the chicks with the light on and both hens graciously let the chicks cuddle right up to them.  They were both about 5 months old, yet they accepted these chicks and instinctively protected them and care for them.  Silkies and Cochens are suppose to be good laying hens and good mothers and this has proven to be the case.  This has been an experimental process but it has worked out well for all of us.  The chicks have all been healthy and I haven't lost any of them.

The added beauty of all of this was that my daughter left November 17th for Navy bootcamp, which was hard, and on December 17th, these little beauties started showing up.  It made my Christmas a little more bearable without my baby.  I was so happy that the little white cochen had accepted them so that was also a bonus. The chicks hatched between Friday and Saturday and had a mom by Sunday evening. The white cochen didn't have a name yet, but since she was so sweet and it was so close to Christmas, Angel was the most appropriate name I could give her being that she was all white and she was their guardian.