Key West Gypsy Chickens and More

I was missing from the Razzberry Corner blog for the month of September dealing with no internet connectivity.  And then finally I got the internet back, only to have to go away on travel for my day job.  And, to make it even more interesting, while I was gone, there was a surprise surge and outage at our house which finally killed our old office computer.  That's the computer I use to blog and which has all my photos.  The computer's motherboard died.  It was an old computer anyway.  I didn't upgrade already because it was still running, although it was old and slow and tired. 

And so I was gone another week on travel, and then home a week without a primary computer. 

Yeah, I have other computers in the house, but the home office computer is the one that I always use on the blog.  And honestly, as busy as I am these days, I don't mess around on a computer when I get home.  That's what I've realized about having an old farm - there's always so much work to do around the house and property or dealing with the animals, that there's no free time to play on the computer.  Maybe I just don't want to deal with the computer when I get home, I do that enough at work. 

I'm not complaining, just stating facts.

And so, this week, I got a new computer!  Yeah!  It's all shiny and fast and has cool features and I'm excited!  I'll have to setup my old hard drive in this machine so I can access my old files.  But right now, the new one is clean and empty and fast.

I'm posting some photos that I took with my cell phone while I was on the trip last week to

Key West,  FL.

I absolutely loved Key West! 

It was a warm, tropical, happy place.

I saw this big, old iguana on the side of the road and HAD to get some photos.  

I saw lots of smaller iguanas, but this one was huge!  He was approximately 10 feet long with the tail. 

He probably could have chopped off my head with one swing of that tail.  I know their tails are very sharp and can cut you if they swing at you.  He looked like a hundred years old, I was so lucky to see such a big boy.

  

The biggest surprise for me in Key West was the chickens!  There were wild chickens all over the streets of Key West!  The locals said they were protected animals and were not allowed to be killed.  They are called Key West Gypsy Chickens. 

It so amazed me to see chickens in the downtown area of Key West.  It made me feel right at home!

Here's a link to a webpage about the chickens:

http://sarah-goodwin-nguyen.suite101.com/key-west-gypsy-chickens-a100879

Once last week in Key West I was in the car in a busy intersection.  A big rooster and a number of pedestrian people were standing by the intersection waiting for the light to change so they could cross the road.  The people were talking, not paying attention, didn't even care a rooster was standing amongst them!  When the walk light came on and the traffic stopped, the rooster started walking big as day right across the crosswalk to cross the road.  The people noticed he was walking and followed along behind him and crossed the road.  I was speechless.  He lifted his legs high and proud and crossed the road.  I didn't get a pic of him because I was too amazed to move.

In the evenings the chickens roosted in the palm trees.  I looked around for eggs on the ground, didn't see any.  I was the only person amazing by so many chickens in a downtown area.  There were different colors of chickens; I seem to have only taken photos of brown roosters because brown was the most common color.  I noticed more roosters than hens; the hens were very small.  I watched the roosters having cockfights on a downtown pier one afternoon.  No one else seemed to notice.  I watched them walk amongst the people; no one else looked twice.  I did not see any chicken/car accidents or any dead chickens on the road, although I did see a human bicyclist get hit by a car and I did see a man laying drunk out by the side of the road. 

It was an interesting place!

 The Key West sunset was gorgeous.  As the weather is getting chilly at home, it was nice to get away to the tropics for a quick break.

Can't you just feel the warmth in the below photo?  (I was in my bathing suit when I took it!)

Alas, I am now back at Razzberry Corner.

Hopefully I will start back up the Razzberry Corner blog about all the going's on here at the farm!  Lots is going on!

Stay tuned!

Scaly Leg Mite Nightmare!

While I was offline for the past month, life went on at full force here at Razzberry Corner.  I have so much to blog about from the past month, such as the earthquake that hit Washington DC, then the hurricane that hit us, how it rained for an entire month, all the flooding that occurred, how we didn't have power or water or phones, the list of potential blog posts is huge!  And I haven't even begun to talk about the guineas or the chickens yet!  I'd love to share it all with you!

But, you know, life does not stand still.

Saturday I was touched by the baby deer story and had to share that on Sunday, despite the fact that it was a current event and not something that I had saved up in my mind to share.

And Monday's post is yet another breaking news story.

Meet Lilly.

Lilly is a bantam hen, part Americana.  She's the daughter of Lucy, I made sure to hatch a Lucy egg one year because Lucy is a sweetheart.  And so Lilly was born.  I've raised sweet Lilly from an egg.  Lilly is even sweeter than Lucy, if that's possible.  They both have the same personality. 

Stay with me here, here comes some details...

Somehow our chicken got scaly leg mites in the past year.  Scaly leg mites live under the scales on the feet and legs, spending their entire life cycle on the birds feet. They spread by direct contact with other birds. The scaly leg mites bury under the scales and it is the irritation of the skin that causes the thickening of the scales.  The legs and feet may become swollen, tender and have a discharge or exudate forming under the scales.

They can be brought in via wild birds, such as starlings, sparrows, crows, swallows, etc. They can be picked up at poultry shows, sales, auctions, anywhere there is contact with other avian life. They can be carried in with rodents who enter the coops or pens in search of food. Early intervention is necessary to prevent debilitation in the flock.

We saw that we had a mild scaly leg mite issue many months ago and started treating the birds immediately.  We use Adams Plus Pyrethrin Dip.  This is used for ticks and fleas on cats and dogs.  We just make a warm bath and dip just the chickens feet and legs in the bath for a couple minutes each.  We repeat every night, or once a week or as often as we think it's needed.  We do it at night time.  It gets rid of the scaly leg mites, no problem. 

I read online to try Vaseline on the chicken's feet for leg mites, and so I tried it, but it makes a gooey mess.  It didn't get rid of the mites, but the next morning the birds had softer feet. However, they ran outside and everything stuck to their sticky feet, and then they were covered in dirt and mud.  Maybe I applied too much Vaseline, I don't know. 

But anyway, the dip works well for us.

During the past month, I'm sad to say that there was alot going on, with the earthquake, hurricane, constant daily rains, flooding, possible tornadoes, roads all over the area closed making driving to/from work near impossible, power, water, internet and phone outages at our house, with Randy starting a new job, and me going away to training for 2 weeks, with Bob the outside cat getting lost, two guineas being murdered, and horribly, to top it all off, somehow the scaly leg mites returned with a vengeance to our chickens!

And we were too involved to catch the leg mites immediately, and so it got worse.  

I noticed on my first full day back at the house on Saturday that Lilly was limping.  Badly.  I inspected her and saw scaly leg mites, a really bad case of them.  I covered her feet and legs with Vaseline, as they were obviously paining her and I didn't want to make the pain worse by putting the Adams dip on her sores.  I let her loose in the chicken pen and she looked to be limping less by evening.  Saturday night all chickens were dipped, except for sweet Lilly.  She got more Vaseline. 

Sunday morning I inspected Lilly again.  Blood was running down her legs.  Scales on her legs had become softened by the Vaseline and possibly she or another bird picked at them, making sores on her legs.  She was horribly limping.

And so Lilly came inside.  She sweetly stretched out her legs and let me put more Vaseline on her feet and legs, and I put gauze over the Vaseline, and wrapped each leg and foot in vet wrap bandaging tape.  So now she cannot even walk.  I fed her some peas, put her in a dark bathroom on some towels, turned out the lights, and put a towel over the crack of the door trying to keep it really dark for her.  I've checked on her every few hours, turning on the light, offering her broccoli or peas as snacks, she prefers peas.  She seems to be resting peacefully and doesn't even attempt to stand when I come in with food.

I don't know how long it'll take for her legs to heal, but if no one is picking at them I'd think they'd heal quickly.  I hope the mites aren't too bad.  Once the sores heal I'll dip her.  Maybe next time I check her legs and re-wrap them, her feet can stay unbandaged, so she can walk some.

Poor Lilly. 

Who knew mites could do this to a hen?

 

Signs were made and put up down the hall going to Lilly's bathroom...

Lilly hates the cats, although they love her. 



Good Luck, Lilly-girl!

Get well soon!

Babysitting a Fawn

Yesterday a mama whitetail deer left her fawn for me to babysit all day.  Often mama deer leave their babies in my backyard.  The mamas know the babies are safe here.  The babies just hang out, bored, waiting for their mom to return.  Sometimes I have twins, yesterday I babysat a single baby deer. 

I don't know what the mama deer have to do that's so important that they leave their babies all day, but this is a normal occurrence in this neck of the woods.  Maybe the mamas go shopping for cool new winter coats, or maybe they're getting a pedicure and paint job on their hooves, who knows? 

And so the babies are left alone in my yard.

I went out at noontime and offered the baby a couple apples that were starting to go bad.  He ran and hid behind this tree, thinking I couldn't see him.  I just put the apples down for him. 
His mama obviously taught him about stranger danger. 

It seems my voice really scares deer, so I have learned to be quiet around them, and they are less afraid of me. If I talk to them, they literally scream and gallop away. I have heard many deer scream just because I talked to them.

I guess deer like people to be quiet like them. 

...Or maybe it's just my voice?

Although this little boy is getting big and fat, he still has his baby spots.

He's looking around here, wondering when in the world his mama is going to come pick him up! 
"Hurry up, already!  I'm bored!!"

Strangely enough, the baby deer was left ALL NIGHT LONG in my backyard.  I was really worried thinking now I had a permanent fawn, thinking that maybe the mama was killed when she was crossing the road in front of her hoof salon.  The baby waited until it got dark, constantly looking around for his mama, then he curled up in the bushes and slept.  In the morning he walked around, looking, wondering, aimlessly.

At about 8AM this morning, Sunday, two female deer showed up in the backyard.  I watched with bated breath, hoping to no end that one was the missing mama.  One of the two deer put her tail up in an odd position, I have no idea why, and walked slowly around to where I knew the baby was hiding in the bushes.

And then the baby came bounding out, all long legs jumping around his mama.  His tail was wagging a thousand miles an hour, just like a happy dog wags his tail! He bounded around his mama a couple times, they smelled noses, then he dove under her and drank her milk for a long time.  His tail continued to wag.  She stayed still and let him drink for at least five minutes.

The other female deer stood nearby, grazing on brush.  Possibly she was last years baby?  Often the yearling baby females return to stay with their mother after the next baby/babies are born.  The yearling baby boys go off with the bucks to learn to be men.

The mama deer wouldn't let her female companion deer too close to her baby, and the baby had no intention of leaving his mama's side as the three of them walked away into the deep woods.

And so life goes on here at Razzberry Corner.

Red Velvet and Cream Cheese Heaven

I don't even know where to begin in my first real blog post after a month of no internet.  So very much has happened.  I don't even remember where I left off....

So I started by looking at photos I had left in my camera that I didn't transfer over to the computer...

Ah ha!!! 

I remember now!

Those cupcakes.... Those beautiful, wonderful, delish cupcakes....

I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I had never made red velvet nor never made cream cheese frosting.  I was hesitant, but did it for a friend.  I like my buttercream icing, why try something else?  And I'm not too keen on chocolate, either... isn't red velvet a relative of chocolate?

Ha, now I'll never ask that again.

Those cupcakes were my very favorite cupcakes ever.  I loved the cream cheese icing.  I put red sugar on top to decorate them. 

I just downloaded the recipe online.  Who knew there were such secrets like these recipes just lurking out on the internet, waiting to be downloaded and tried? 

Now I can't wait to try all sorts of other baking ideas!  My horizon has been expanded!

I'm Baaaaack!!

Well, hello there!!!
I'm back!
My Internet in my home has been out for the past month, but now it's fixed!
You all have missed so much in this past month! 

Oh, my, I don't even know where to start!

However, you'll have to wait till tomorrow! 

Sorry! 

This post is just a tease! 

I cannot take the time right now to post properly, but I want you to know I'm excited to be online again.  I've missed my online personality, it's a part of me, and mostly I've missed all my online friends. 

I did find time to do other things instead of being online, like working out, and working in the office, taking a computer class.  So I have stayed busy; and time never stops here at Razzberry Corner!  You know how it is on a farm, there's always something going on!

Stayed tuned to hear all about the past month's adventures!

And current activities, too!



King of the Coop

NYC Visit

Last week Randy and I visited New York City.  I had a blast and thought I'd share some of the photos I took.  I totally was a tourist, snapping photos everywhere.  I may live in the country, but I love the city, any city, every city.  We parked in Times Square and took to the street on foot.

 

I thought the building below was very pretty.  Don't know what it was.

The billboards were amazing!  There are no billboards allowed in Washington DC, so I'm not used to them.

The people...there were so many people!

I call this man "Metal Man".  He was painted silver and looked like a statue.  He was great!  But he wasn't too happy when anyone snapped a photo and didn't put some money in his pail!

7th Ave.  M & M world

Here's a street band.  They were great!

Gotta love NYPD!

Hhere's a hot dog vendor.  I wanted a hot dog, even though I wasn't hungry, just to have a hot dog from the streets of NY!

I'm such a tourist!

Guinea Keets Go Free

Today is the day!!!  Are we ready?

Today is the day that the 12 teenage guinea keets go free to be adult guineas. 

We have a rather large chicken pen, and the keets were raised by the chickens in the chicken pen and in the chicken coops.  The 3 adult guineas, the parents and aunt and uncles of the keets, live free and wild.  And now the keets will be free, too, to live as guineas.

Of course the keets don't understand.

They want to be chickens, living in the confines of the chicken pen and coops.  They have to be shown what it's like to be a free guinea, roaming free over the fields, eating bugs, sleeping in the pine tree.  They have so much to learn, so much a head of them.  And their future begins today.  With one small step out of the chicken pen.

Here we go...

First we had to round up all the guinea keets.  The easiest way to do that was to confine them in the coop.

They didn't like being captured in the coop.  They knew something was up.

We rounded up the adult guineas - we wanted them to see the keets going free, to guide them, to show them what it's like to be a guinea.

We had to find the adult guineas.  There they are, way out in the field.

We rounded them up to the chicken pen area.  Of course it rained this morning and the grass was all wet.  Today was supposed to be mowing day, so the grass is tall, too.

And then we let the small guineas out of the coop into the chicken pen that we used as a mama and baby chicken pen.  It's separate from the main chicken pen.  The keets were cautious about this new area.
The chickens watch the keets intently from their side of the fence.

The adult guineas on the outside (left) watch the keets inside the pen.

And then we let the keets loose to be with the adult guineas.  Of course the keets wanted only to return to the safety of the chicken pen.  The chickens gathered on the inside of the fence, worried about their comrades on the outside.

Hopefully everyone does well as the keets transition to being adult guineas.

In these videos the keets are only thinking of returning to the chicken pen.  It should be an interesting day today! 

Hopefully soon the guinea keets realize they are not chickens, and they start enjoying their freedom.

Today starts a whole new life for our keets!

Black Vulture Baby Update

The other week we went and visited the black vulture baby.  His parents and him live in a little old fallen apart house beside our big old fallen down tobacco barn.  We have several old structures on the property is disrepair.  The vultures love these old buildings.  I like having vultures around, as they assist us in cleaning up the property.  I find it absolutely amazing that vultures make no noise except a hiss and a grunt.  The opposite of the guinea fowl.  The guineas and the vultures all get along nicely, too.

Ok, just to recap - this is what the vulture baby looked like one month before ~ he was tiny (about the size of our hand) and off-white and puffy.  Very fragile-looking.

And here he is now!  He's a big boy.  He's almost the size of an adult vulture.  But he certainly looks weird.  He is getting some black feathers in, thank goodness.  He still has that off-white puff all over him.  He doesn't fly yet.  The parents still feed him.

Both parent vultures were with the baby when we visited.  They both flew away from the home, and they were not happy with our intrusion into their home.  One of the parents flew overhead, watching us closely while we visited their son, and the other took off.

In a couple minutes the second vulture was back.

And he brought re-inforcements.  Another pair of vultures came to assist.  I thought it was amazing the one parent took off and got help from another vulture family.  How sweet is that?  We think the other vulture family lives in another old house on our property.  They probably have their babies there. 

To me it is interesting how vultures live in family units, one male and female raises a family.  They seem to be smart, they run to neighbors when help is needed.  The neighbors immediately come to help.  They are quiet, aren't able to yell at would-be attackers.  All they can do is fly around above.  Silent, beautiful birds.

I hope we have many more vulture babies in the upcoming years.

No More Guinea Eggs

It is with a heavy heart that I say that all Guinea Girl's eggs were killed and eaten a few days ago.

Guinea Girl was sitting on a nest with 15 eggs.  She was quite proud of her soon-to-be babies.  She rarely left her nest.  She would have been a great mother, I believe.  In the beginning of her broodiness, we tried to remove her from her nest, but she fought and fought us to stay on her nest of eggs.  She was willing to risk her life by staying on the nest overnight, despite all the dangers of sitting on the ground overnight.  She didn't care, she was a mama, and that's what mamas do.  They take care of their babies.  Even if their babies are still eggs.  Our guineas know about dangers and monsters at nighttime.  These are the 3 last ones that survived a terrible month of attacks every night.  I believe all 3 of these last guineas were attacked during the month long war on the guineas, but they survived.  I believe this because their feathers were all torn up and they were terrified during the days.  But they are the survivors.

And Guinea Girl was willing to risk it all again for her babies.

Guinea Girl

 We had decided to take Guinea Girl's eggs away from her, even though she was a great mama guinea.  We were going to give them to our broody chicken hens.  We now have 2 broody hens, Charlotte and Bella ~ they are the same 2 hens that raised all our guinea keets from eggs earlier this year.  Those keets are now teenagers/young adults.  And here the same 2 hens are broody again.  It was a sign, and so we were going to take Guinea Girl's eggs away because we didn't think it was safe for her to sit on the ground all night.  Guineas are blind in the dark, and it is very dark in our woods at night.  We were going to take the eggs away last weekend and give them to the hens in the chicken coop.  The hens are safe in the coop - no monsters can get to the chickens. 

Guinea Girl following the white Guinea Boy, her mate

And then one evening last week, before the weekend came, the grey Guinea Boy didn't come home to sleep in the pine tree.  We were worried about him, thinking  he may have been attacked during the day.  We searched for him, didn't find him or any signs of an attack.  Girl Guinea was sitting on her nest that evening.

And then, the next morning, Guinea Girl was eating breakfast with the 2 Guinea Boys up at the house.  What???  Why wasn't she on her eggs?  Where did grey Guinea Boy come from?

We immediately ran outside, crossed the fields and went into the woods where the nest was.

And the eggs were all broken and scrattered about.  None was left alive.

We were happy Guinea Girl survived whatever attacked her overnight.  She easily could have been killed.

But Poor Guinea Girl lost her 15 babies. 

I don't know why the male guinea stayed out all night the night of the attack, or if that even has anything to do with Guinea Girl losing her eggs.  But it was just weird.  Our guineas are creatures of habit, and he broke his habit for some reason.

Now we know, eggs cannot make it in our woods.  We will never let this happen again.  I am very sad because I know those eggs were forming into keets, and I know how adorable keets are.  I expected at least 7 of those 15 eggs would have hatched ~ our success rate with eggs is about 50%.  Sadly, not anymore.

The grey Guinea Boy