HMMMM.....

I don't know what has happened but our "Easter Eggers", the green egg laying chickens, have forgotten how to lay eggs...I don't know if they have gotten stressed by something or if the shorter days are confusing them or if they are having health issues. They have not layed a green egg now for 7 days....hmmm....

1st day of Fall

We are still here...I havn't posted any new pics because our lap top is currently out of commision and I guess I am spoiled and don't want to sit here at this desk top! The Flock has made it through thier 1st summer and now we are headed into shorter days...I am told that egg production may decrease a little bit, but we will have to wait and see. The State Fair is starting this coming weekend and the girls are excited to go see the animals including the other chickens...maybe I can get some pics to help identify our birds. We will keep you posted. Oh yeah, I just got back from New Mexico, but I failed to get a pic of a chicken for exhibit here...did some pics of a few cows.

GUSTAV!

What is left of hurricane Gustav blew into town overnight and left a litter of leaves all over my yard...and it has rained almost all day....curious to see what kind of rain fall total we end up with they were forecasting 7". I wondered if the rain would stress the chickens like the heat did to the point where they would not be able to produce eggs...but they were fine...in fact today we hit our average of 7 eggs and the hurricane really kept the heat down today, I think we were in the low 70's. I may have to figure out how to hook up a live web cam so ya'll can watch the chickens 24/7!

Holding steady

Now that the temps have been a little cooler (80's - 90's instead of 100's) our flock seems to be happier and egg production is up! Whatever the foot issue was the one chicken had seems to have passed...hopefully we are past the hottest temps of the year...but that may just be a dream as we are now only in mid-August.

Down to 11

The heat got one of our Araucanas. She just couldn't recoup from the heat no matter what we tried. Today we moved them to even more shade and I have rigged a fan so during the hottest part of the day they can get a little airflow...we also added a third container of water. The bad news, as if heat was not enough, one of our three Silver Laced Cochins seems to have hurt one of her feet. We are hoping that our flock does not fall to 10 anytime soon. We will keep you posted!

Heat may be bad news

The heat of summer may take a toll on our flock. We have one chicken who seems to really be struggling. We even brought her into the house to see if we could cool her enough to survive. We probably won't know for another few days as we are forecast over the 100 degree mark for the next several days. The heat has also caused enough stress that egg production has become a little erratic. Hopefully we all will be able to survive!

more chickens of the world

While we were in Branson at Silver Dollar City we ran across another Turken...

the comb on our Turken is just starting to come in, we will post a pic soon. Our friends just to our south have reordered chickens following the "Devastation in Dewar" earlier this spring, with their order they also received a Turken. It seems to be a breed growing in popularity in our part of Oklahoma!

For those unfamiliar with the breed, here is a description:

Half chicken and half turkey? No, the Turken is all chicken but unique because of its turkey-like bare neck, less than normal feathering around the breast, under the wings, and around the vent. In spite of the feather shortage, Turkens stand cold weather very well, are good layers of brown eggs, and grow to 6 pounds or more, making a fine eating bird. The hens are also good setters. The origin of this breed is uncertain but more recent development in Eastern Europe gave them the name Transylvanian Naked Necks. They are now standardized for show in White, Black, Buff, and Red. We have purposely kept our Turken flocks mixed in color (including silver) for a more colorful and distinctive offspring. Baby chicks hatch with bare necks and are easily identified.