Tiramar Farms: We now have chickens!

   I am extremely pleased to tell you all that Wonderland now has chickens! I feel like a "real" homesteader now. Obviously I haven't quite reached that point yet, but I'm getting closer every day. I'm not sure what exactly officially makes me a complete homesteader - maybe when at least 50% of my and my families food is homegrown? - but there's no doubt that having the chickens has brought me one step closer. We even got our first egg yesterday!
   Anyways, enough about me. I want to tell you about the chickens! We now have four standard Rhode Island Red hens and one rooster. We did have five hens, but - unfortunately - we lost one to heat stroke. We almost lost another, but thank goodness I was able to save her by bringing her inside and giving her water with a syringe. She was so weak she couldn't stand when I brought her inside, despite being sopping wet from Mom trying to cool her with the hose. I inadvertently named her "Miss Chicken" because that's what I kept calling her, due to her lack of a name. It was hard losing the one, especially so soon after we got them, but saving Miss Chick helped to ease that a bit. We've already put blood, sweat, and tears into the chickens - literally. That's how homesteading (or owning animals at all) can be sometimes, though. I read a quote yesterday that I think really applies to homesteading, particularly with livestock - "Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them." - Leo Tolstoy. In any case, I have learned that chickens are very susceptible to heat. I was very relieved when I found online that death from heat is a common problem, and sometimes no matter what precautions you have in place, they will still die. I now know what to watch for, and how to help prevent heat stroke in my birds.
   Rhode Island Reds, or RIRs, are a very popular brown egg laying breed. They weren't actually the breed I was looking for originally, but I'm very pleased with these calm, beautiful birds. Watching them hunt for bugs is a real hoot, and even the rooster is gentle. He has yet to threaten to use his spurs. I'll admit I was a bit afraid of him at first, but he's proven himself to be a fine roo. The breed was developed in Rhode Island, as the name implies. McMurray hatchery has this to say about the breed -

"This is one of the most famous and all time popular breeds of truly American chickens. Developed in the early part of this century in the state of the same name, they have maintained their reputation as a dual purpose fowl through the years. Outstanding for production qualities, they have led the contests for brown egg layers time after time. No other heavy breed lays more or better eggs than the Rhode Island Reds."

     I do still hope to add Light Brahmas and Silver Spangled Hamburgs next year, but for now I'm content with my RIRs. I am going to add a few more hens, however, to keep my hen-to-roo ration at a decent number. I don't want my rooster overworking my girls, and causing them to lose feathers and such. They may be more RIRs, or I might end up just finding some mixed breed hens, or maybe Easter Eggers if can find any. I think a few EEs would be fun to have around, for those funky eggs. =]
   I'm feeding them Purina's Layena Sun Fresh laying crumbles. I trust Purina brand and use it for almost everything, and I also like the fact that this mix is "natural" and contains no animal proteins. Obviously chickens are omnivores and eat bugs, but I do not trust a feed that contains animal fats and proteins for livestock such as cows, goats, chickens, horses, etc. I do not want my animals to be fed brain matter or animals of the same species as them. It's my personal belief that eating brain is wrong, morally and health wise. I feel that eating something's brain is eating it's "essence" so to speak. Living beings personalities come from the brain, and while I know that once something is dead it is no longer inside of it's brain, I still feel it is disrespectful and wrong to eat somethings brain. That is like eating the being rather than just it's body, if that makes sense. I also believe that eating brain matter can lead to diseases such as mad cow. (Read this interesting article - http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/victim23.html ) I also feel that cannibalism is wrong, even though in the wild animals are sometimes cannibalistic. This isn't the wild, and they don't have to be cannibalistic to survive, so I will not allow them to be cannibalistic by choice.
   Okay, I have obviously been going down bunny trails. Sorry about that. Long story short, I am extremely excited and happy to finally have chickens. I just love them. One of these days I hope to have enough chickens to be able to sell eggs and maybe even chicks.
   My camera has finally been returned to me repaired, so I can finally give you some decent pictures!