With tragedy, come new beginnings at the Real Country Life. Last month our flock was struck by a neighborhood pack of dogs and they got a momma bantam that was laying on 27 eggs!
The Story
Raising chickens and protecting them from the many dangers that exist was never something I dreamed of as child. The COVID- 19 Pandemic was the beginning of our chicken farming. My husband had previously had chickens and ducks so I thought it would be great since I love animals and wanted to instill that into my son.
We had a small family and at the time, lived on 100+ acres of perfect grazing land with a large pond. Unfortunately, we did not own the house and as Americans, we wanted it all. A house would be in our future but land in Central Texas is expensive so we were only able to get about 1 acre. We were able to get a fixer upper on the Guadalupe River in a rural part of South Texas.
I absolutely love our chickens and I know that I have to ensure that they have a safe place to live and nest, it is just so hard sometimes.
The New Location
We moved into the new home with the whole family: myself, my husband and my son as well as 1 dog, 1 cat, 4 ducks, 12 hens, and 1 rooster. Due to the nature of the river valley, lots of predators began getting too close. We lost all four ducks within one month of our move. They were Indian runner ducks, which left them pretty vulnerable since they don’t fly.
Our bantam up top was the victim of some hungry dogs and she left 27 eggs to be cared for. We had a small incubator that could hold about 1 dozen eggs so I purchased the Little-Giant 6300 model incubator, it did not have a turner, so for three days I would turn the eggs every few hours. Our timeline was kind of sketchy because we were not sure exactly when she started incubating the eggs or how many there were. The above picture was taken on 08Feb23 and the tragedy occurred on 26Feb23.
The first egg did not hatch until 03Mar23, which should have been a sign that something was not right. Bantam eggs typically hatch after 18-20 days and this is day 23.
Witness the birth of one of our little chicks!
I will be creating an enclosed space for the chicks to graze once the weather gets warmer. It is clear that we are feeding wild animals in the area with our flock of beloved chicks so unfortunately they will be in a much more restricted area. Hopefully that will keep them safer. I hope you check out my YouTube Channel to watch the progress and join my email list!
https://youtube.com/@Smartheather
TheRealCountryLife.com
