One Makes a Departure From the Backyard Farm

Chicken formerly known as Olive. 

Remember the juvenile chicken that flew over the fence a couple of weeks ago that I just named Olive, because I am excited about the possibility that it will lay olive colored eggs.  This was a very special chicken, because it was one of 4 of our first eggs every to hatched here.  

Olive a combination of these 2 eggs.

  

 Saturday when my sister Debbie arrived for our Tulsa trip, her husband Ken drove her. Their son, Ben, met them here so he could visit with everyone.  Ben and Ashley live in Fayetteville, AR and have 4 extraordinarily beautiful children.  

Big Foot

Ken and Ben also have a lot more experience with chickens than I do.  When Ben was growing up, he actually raised them and showed them at the fair.  Anyway, they took one look at Olive and said I should have named that chicken Oliver.  And I should not be anticipating eggs of any color.  I was crushed and really wanted to remain in denial. I knew that chicken was too pretty to be a hen.  Anyway, I have to stick to my guns and not keep another rooster.  My small backyard farm is only big enough for one mean rooster and if I had any sense, he should become dinner. 

So Ken put Oliver in a box and took him home with him.  I do not want any updates on what became of Oliver.  But I did say that if the chicken laid an egg to bring her back.

3+1 and It's All Over

It's all over in the chicken coop. 
 Little Ace sat on eggs from April 15-May 25, because I am an optimist to the ridiculous degree. It takes 21 days for an egg to hatch.  She started with 9, 2 of which another chicken pecked holes in within the first 2 days.  So since I didn't gather all the eggs and then put them all under the hen at the same time, they were mostly going to hatch on different days.  So the worst case would have been that the last chick would have hatched on May 15th.  That's 21 days and 9 more for each egg hatching 1 a day.

On Wednesday, May 25, Trinity and Bridget came down that night and we candled the last egg that Little Ace had faithfully been keeping warm.  It was egg #5, that we thought was sure to be the 1st to hatch the first time we candled the eggs.  But alas, it did not appear to have a chick in it now.  Trinity boldly gave it the sniff test and was sorry he did.  He said, "This egg is not good."  So I had him drop it over away from everything, so I could see what was inside.  Yuck--don't know why, just curious--just had to see. So today was the first day that Little Ace truly enjoyed her freedom. It seemed to have taken her all day Thursday to realize she didn't have any eggs to sit on. She doesn't give up either.  I let her out early this morning and all day she played in the unplanted vegetable garden taking dust baths. Hens love sitting in dry dirt and throwing it all over themselves.  They do it to keep insects off.

 See how much small it is and by itself.

I titled this post 3+1 because the 4 little chicks, that made it out of the eggs, and lived are grouping themselves.  The chick that hatched on day 21 and the 2 that hatched on day 23 are always huddled together.  They have also grown very quickly.  I hate to predict that they are roosters.  But that is what I am thinking.  Time will tell.

Mr. Big Foot

The baby chick, less than a week younger, is always in a far corner alone.  The others don't pick or peck on it.  It eats just fine.  But it doesn't seem to be growing as fast.  It is also not as frighten of me or doesn't make as big of a fuss as the others.  It's very strange.  When I ordered day old chicks in the mail, they have always been very friendly and easy to train to eat food out of my hand.  These are not so easy.  Another reason I think they may be roos. I just hope the baby one is a hen--surely there will be one--ONE, oh please.
Anyway, I will not be keeping any of them that turn out to be roosters.  There will only be one rooster in my chicken yard and that is Big Foot.