Rusty Bucket Farm

[fuzzi]

12 eggs today; the pullets are outdoing all my expectations for February. The fair weather certainly helps!

Today was fence repair day #1. I forsee several more, but for now I opened up one weedy corner that attaches to my house and porch, the fencing that reaches the following house corner, and the hog-panel/cattle-panel gate to hamper my escapees. I discovered Peppa is just flying up onto the roof of the main coop and hopping down, so I'll have to remove any chicken clutter nearby she's using to get extra air. Hopefully, that will allow at least her and Dora of my jailbirds to go free again...

Euphrate's eyes are stunning--she has all the undertones of a Black hen under her fabulous gold:
View attachment 4042794

This is Strawberry, Rusty's one beloved butt plucker. She has completely different eyelid shape, which almost gives her a lazy, indolent, or judgy expression:
View attachment 4042796
Even in my similar colored birds, they have different faces if you look at them long enough. In my childhood flock of 12 Buff Orpington hens, I could tell every one apart without leg bands. It's taken me much longer with my current girls but I think I'm nearly there! Strawberry makes it easy as she has such a distinctive expression.

More Strawberry:
View attachment 4042806
View attachment 4042810

Puffy Muffin, Rusty's daughter with a Buff Orp:
View attachment 4042815

Peaches, Rusty's daughter with a Buff Orpington, who had that awful injury last year, next to Daisy on the right. You can see the huge size difference Rusty's genes add to them:
View attachment 4042821
Poor Daisy has been standoffish and aloof since her molt, and even now she's looking very peacemeal! Every broody spell or so she's seemed to have a mini-molt, and even this time she hasn't let ALL of them go. You can see by the mismatched colors. I don't know if she's going to continue this slow, grumpy molt or continue laying soon. Comb says maybe eggs are on the way?

Chichin, one of the original Buff Orpingtons, is looking back in health after a heat-stroke scare that sent her into premature molt last summer. Comb says she's getting back into the swing of things.
View attachment 4042852

Pictures aside, I need to do an inventory of birds for this year:

Roosters: 2
Rusty
Yorvir

Cockerels: 4
Kloud (Yorvir, Daisy)
Grande (Grumpy, barred rock)
Ding Dong (Grumpy, barred rock)
Gubbles (Rusty)

Hens: 16
Daisy
Peppa (Yorvir or Robin)
Blue (Yorvir or Robin)
Hei Hei
Jubilee
Noodle
Marshmallow
Chicken Jane
Ms. Helen
Strawberry
Tendi
Chichin
Kazooie
Salty
Yuri
Puffy Muffin (Rusty)

Pullets: 9
Dora (Yorvir, ???)
Daphne (Yorvir, Daisy)
Mage (Yorvir?)
Misty (Rusty, Salty)
Sorsha (Yorvir?)
Dusty/Duster (Rusty)
Euphrate (Grumpy, barred rock or BSL)
Cathy (Grumpy, BSL)
Alisae (Rusty, his daughter Peaches?)

So 31 in total.

With feed costs going up I'm going to NEED to sell eggs, or cut non-producers; possibly both. I don't want to... but I can't justify hatching new pullets and all the accompanying cockerels along with having a surplus of eggs benefitting almost no-one. I might ask family and friends to see if they want to "go-in" on some feed costs and get their eggs from us vs. paying out the nose at the store. If I was actually supplying people that need it, maybe things would break closer to even.

Love that head-on shot of Strawberry!

 

[CoopBoots]

Picture from inside my house via an open window:

I know it would not suit most folks but I'm fully committed to using the sides of my house for fencing and wind-breaks / shade in the late afternoons and evening. I just adore looking out to see them enjoying themselves and being able to hear them, even the crowing. Maybe especially the crowing. It also keeps them further from the neighbors. I'm absolutely blessed with the space I have to work with... Just need the $$$ for additional fences and maybe an extra coop build.

Bonus photo so you can see Noodle the wry-neck, who has claimed a full, unconfined place in the flock. Yorvir doesn't appear to mate her and allows her full flock rights otherwise, and ive seen zero bullying. She now has total freedom <3

 

[CoopBoots]

2/28/25 Updates:

Gubbles is getting handsy with the ladies and fearfully aggressive with his humans. We're trying to work through it with treats at bedtime, but I worry he's too much Rusty's son for real improvement. Here's the adorable stinker:

Here's Rusty, trying to bite through welding gloves while he's helped down from his perch (he's not very steady on his feet which means we have to assist pretty often in the AM and PM:

Rusty seems to make just one kind of boy. I believe strongly in the genetic likelihood of handing on aggression and tameness thanks to our attempts to reproduce him, but nicer. Just isn't working out, and this is out of 7 boys!

His daughters all tend to fearfulness and either extreme bullying or a persecution complex. But I think another generation out with the hens paired with Yorvir will be a much better blend. I can deal with them as long as there's lots of space for drama to diffuse.

Daisy is back in the box!!

We are overrun with eggs. The pullets are jockeying hard for nest-box space despite the abundance of laying locations available. I've created two more spots for egg emergencies as the hens are quite merciless.

Will we have a broody soon?! I think I have some green eggs lined up... Somebody stop me lol

 

[lightm]

I'm told that eggs are at 1 dollar per egg in many places.

 

[fuzzi]

My gals are going gangbusters on eggs, 4-5 daily. I'm enjoying it.

 

[CoopBoots]

My gals are going gangbusters on eggs, 4-5 daily. I'm enjoying it.

It is definitely a blessing. I set up a table next to my mailbox with eggs and a little money jar... I'm only asking $4 a dozen, and even if I sold every egg we get I doubt I'd cover feed costs, but every little bit helps and that's undercutting the non-organic factory style eggs sold at my local stores. Someone could just walk off with them of course, but then I guess they really needed them. We'll just try it and see!

Rusty was spicy this AM and my husband got some video. I stole a few frames from it to share:

That's a huge bite of sleeve he's got there, which he shook before release! He got the hand earlier >< but luckily just left a bit of a bruise.

Here he is, grumbling against the affection he's receiving. Look at those spurs!!! I guess we're lucky he's not more dexterous. I need to dremel them down a bit just to keep them reasonably as he's too slow and plodding to shed them on his own.

 

[CoopBoots]

3/9 Updates:

Kloud, Misty, Mage and Dora (my worst escape artist girls) have found a new home as a flock with someone looking for grown birds. I'm so excited to get them launched as their own flock! Meanwhile, I can work on the rest of the flock's dynamics.

Of course, I came home to find Grande (one of the half-Rock boys) assaulting Noodle. She's just fine as Yorvir rescued her, but I popped Grande and Ding Dong into the newly emptied escape-proof run to control the chaos. I'll continue pondering their future while the rest of the flock enjoys the now guaranteed peace.

I also have a neighbor who will reliably buy my excess of eggs, so we miiiiight be able to hatch a few babies and even expand the run this year! I'm putting everything into fencing and supplies.

Picture tax later when I can get back outside!

 

[CoopBoots]

Tax:

My current spare boys, Grande (the boss of the two):

And Ding Dong:

Both sons of Grumpy, Yorvir's (at least half) brother.

Rusty is still improving with the weather:

His son, Gubbles:

Did you do a double-take? Because I did! He is his father's clone!

A poor picture of Sorsha, hatchmate of Misty and Mage. She was always the wildest of the three, so it's probably almost the first time I've been able to include her visually. Her red seems diluted, and I'm not sure what the color is formally called, but I find it quite pretty. She won't miss her sisters as she is bonded to the main flock, and she's growing tamer as she matures.

 

[CoopBoots]

I thought Rusty was my biggest bird. He may in fact be biggest, but weight-wise he is nothing on his beloved butt-plucker, Strawberry :

I mean, just look at that crop! My arms hurt just trying to hold her a little bit for the picture. An absolute unit.

This is concerning because of the fatty liver prevalent in my hatchery Orpingtons. I lost 3 in total to probable fatty liver issues; one in particular right as she tried to resume lay after being broody broken. Apparently the hormones involved in inducing lay can provoke the sudden rupture or other issue with the liver, and if they have fattened themselves to brood and haven't lost it, the risks are worse.

To be fair, I've seen zero signs of any of Rusty's girls trying to brood in his coop and I don't expect her to try. It just looks as if she's camping next to the feeder every day with no competition (I'm almost certain she is head-hen of his flock).

Do I try kicking her out to compete with the larger flock and hopefully lose a few lbs? She's beautifully healthy otherwise, although I couldn't say if she lays at all. Her picking at other chickens is her worst sin, and it has always been mild enough it required no intervention...

 

[CoopBoots]

She spent the night sitting and is still there now! She's now on 8; six almost definitely hers (but close to a month in age since I've been collecting so long), one unknown that she was already sitting on, and one very old one from Peaches, Rusty's daughter. This last egg would unite Rusty and Yorvir's genetic line if it actually hatches...
View attachment 3779494
Mood: You aren't awake, haven't had your coffee yet, and someone opens your East-facing blackout curtains to "help you wake up"

This was March 23rd of last year? So it's about time for Daisy to sit, right?!

I need more chickens like I need higher taxes, but I have a hard time imagining springtime without some little floofs around my pseudo-farm.

Picture tax; I might have posted this before but I get Rusty and Gubbles mixed up these days.

Gubbles even caught Daisy the other day He's sneaky and surprisingly dexterous, which he certainly does NOT get from his father I wonder if she prefers him because of how much she used to like Rusty?! She's never warmed up to Yorvir in all this time. I just have difficulty in thinking of him as anything other than a baby. He doesn't even crow!!!