Chicken Trails: The Pupalotte Kids

Hasty Acres introduces the 5 day old, Pupalotte kids - all 25 of them! Nature, in its tiny, fluffy stage.

-The Pupalottes are little bundles of energy with growing wing feathers, some just a little, a few - over half already!
-The Pupalottes already flap their little wings fervently as they jump/fly short distances.
-The Pupalotte personalities are developing; l'tle Ms. Pupalotte, pale yellow with teeny black spots, is my fav; she sits quietly on my arm and seems to enjoy her head and chin rubs.
-Most of the black Pupalottes, the cockerels, are more flighty, less touchable.
-A few of these black Pupalottes quickly peck at my finger if its close to them, while the others are more approachable.


More Pupalottes on the way; Hasty Acres awaits...

Nature prevails.

Egg Trails: A Baker’s Dozen

By George, they almost did it! We collected a baker's dozen of eggs today, leaving only two pretties not producing as yet. We're singing egg-praises to our productive flock today at Hasty Acres.

The usual egg singing that goes on most of the morning was a bit louder today; now the cause is clear. At one point in this morning’s loud rock concert (a bit off key), we peeked into the coop and chuckled at the line of singing hens that ran from the chicken door to the ladder below the nest boxes. We need more nests...was the general consensus. So we added 3 extra milk crates to the nest area to hopefully assist them in expediting their morning chores.

We sat watching our flock through several cups of coffee today. We couldn’t be more pleased with the final flock members, following our final culling last month. We had a couple of White Rock roosters who thought they owned the place! They made the girls scream and kept the flock in an uproar for hours. They brought $3.25 a piece at the monthly auction!

3 roosters remain, an Americauna and 2 Cornish. You’d never know they were on the job if you weren’t watching closely. The girls cooperate quietly for the most part due to the gentle care they get from their mates. The dominant guy is a gorgeous Americauna whom we have dubbed Mr. B.D. (big daddy!). He’s mostly wheaten-colored with a stunning rust saddle across his upper back. His prominent tail sports lovely, rust-laced wide feathers with a nice complement of saddle feathers laying down both sides of his lower back. There will be a photo shoot soon; he just needs to get a little more camera-ready.

The remaining flock consists of 2 Light Brahmas, 2 White Leghorns, 4 Americauna pretties, 1 darker reddish hen that may be a Rhode Island Red cross, 1 reddish and white hen who resembles a Golden Comet, 2 Shiny black hens with some reddish lacing on their chests – possibly Black Star crosses, 2 Black hens with slight Columbian-type white collars resembling a Birchen Maran and of course - our new Buff Orpinton.

Our flock is growing strong and productive and we are enjoying the 6 to 13 eggs a day.

As always – particularly in our backyard chicken flock these days…Nature prevails.

Tasty Hasty Eggs: Breakfast Trails

Hasty Acres presents our first home-grown egg-fry. When our hens started laying their first eggs 4 days ago, we were excited. Today, after enjoying this tasty egg-fry made with our home-grown onions, some pre-baked yellow potatoes, red pepper dices, a few mandarin orange decorations - and - of course, the main attraction, a combo of white and brown eggs from our pretties, well...yummbly fits!

Though a lot of the hens are singing their gotta find a nook to lay this egg song, most have yet to discover the stylish nests waiting for them on their wall. Grass hay lines their nests made from matching milk crates; all 5 of the cubbies have a white golf ball in the middle...hints are good...

We traded a rowdy Rock rooster for an overly broody Buff Orpington from my dear friend who knows more about chickens, farming and everything else in life - than I will in a hundred years!

Buffy thinks she is setting on a nest full of eggs...all the time! When approached - by human or peer, she puffs up, sticks out her wings and clucks up a storm. She really looks BIG and BAD. I have no problem understanding her..."come near my babies and I'll pluck every one of your feathers - or eyes - take your choice"! Even the Rock roosters take heed. This chicken is a trip! I hope she will be one of our main setters next spring.

"The incredible, edible egg" is a phrase to ponder when trying to regulate your diet while ingesting healthy, nutrition-packed food.

For anyone hesitating to eat eggs, here are some links to browse for healthy information about eggs. http://www.eggnutritioncenter.org/content/nutrition-facts-panel

As always, Nature prevails.

Trials on the Kitty Trail

Nature and her beauty, abound around us yet again this day. The stunning blue of a Colorado sky holds up the wisps of clouds that hang in the air above Hasty Acres.

But the trails of Nature are not so natural, or fun, for our kitties.

Three unhappy kitty faces peer at the camera from their new kitty trail, a few hours into captivity. A difficult maneuver for us, since this goes against our belief in the 'nature' of Nature. But, if these kitties are to be adopted and cared for by humans, they need to go down this road. The alternative allows them to reproduce in the wild, in an area filled with their predators, human and otherwise, and few safeguards.

They are temporarily in a large cage with a shelf in the back third for climbing/exercise, food and water below, and one end open to a tray in the bottom filled with a mixture of sand and kitty litter for now, since they are used to sand.

The cage is in the chicken coop feed room; we left the feed room door open last night so Mom and Dad could visit, to minimize the stress on all concerned. We saw both Visitor and Blackie nearby, resting with the kitties in the afternoon and evening. Starting tonight - for about a week, we will leave the cage door open and the feed room door closed. Mom and Dad will still be able to visit through the chicken coop chicken-door where the hens go in and out. They will be able to interact through the screen door that separates the feed room from the main coop.



"CAN"T A GIRL LAY AN EGG IN PEACE THESE DAYS, WITHOUT PREDATORS ROAMING IN AND OUT OF HER HOUSE!!!"


We will supplement their dry kitten food with a kitten milk supplement.

Hopefully in about a week, the kitties will understand that food now comes from humans so when they are transported to their new home at the nearby farm, they will stay there and become 'at home' in their new environment.

We are of course, getting our kitty fixes with holding and cuddling them several times during the day. We think that this too - is best for all concerned!

The kitties on this kitty trail...are not the only ones learning hard lessons. We are less than comfortable with Nature...not so naturally...