First Honey Harvest

We decided to harvest some honey today and give the new extractor a whirl (heh.  No pun intended!)  The first step is to rob the bees.  I used Bee-Gone and a fume board to send the bees in the top box back into the lower boxes.  This allowed me to remove the top honey super with no problems at all.

We brought the super back to the garage, where we uncapped the frames.  Joanna remembered exactly how to do it from the one lesson she had last year at the Honey Bee Festival!

Then, we put the uncapped frames into the extractor and we were pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy it was.

 We only had about 3-4 frames worth of honey, but it was such a joy to see it flowing!

We ended up with about 6 pounds of liquid gold.  It's very light... and very delicious!  Now I just need some cool labels to make the jars pretty.

We still have the other hive to extract, and there should be even more honey in there.  Fingers crossed!  As it is now, those six bottles of honey cost us about $150 each!!!!

EAS 2013 Conference

I just got back from an amazing bee conference in West Chester, PA.  My friend Donna Rae and I left Tuesday morning and got back yesterday afternoon.  It was a full schedule of classes and seminars, so my brain is mush right about now.

The highlight for me was Thursday, when we spent all day learning about Apitherapy and how bee stings and hive products are used to treat many, many medical conditions.  It was absolutely fascinating! 

We got to hear some renown speakers... Dennis VanEngelsdorp (above), Tom Seeley, Wyatt Mangum, and Buddy Marterre to name a few. 

And... I bought an extractor!  This means that in order to harvest honey, I don't have to wait until I can go pick up the extractor from the Guild, and I don't have to worry about bringing it back.  I am excited to taste our first drops of liquid gold!

We met some really nice people... Hi Kenny!  and Mary, who actually teaches at the same school my mom used to (small world!) and lots of other beekeepers from all over the eastern seaboard. 

The five hour trip home turned into ten, because we stopped at every non-scary looking thrift store and farm stand we saw on the way!  Next year's conference is going to be in Kentucky and the year after that it's going to be in Quebec, so it will be a few years before I can go again... but I definitely will be back at some point!

Integrating New Members of the Flock

Whenever you add new chickens to your flock, it's good to isolate them at first to make sure they are healthy and don't infect your other chickens with respiratory issues, cocci, mites, or any of the other problems that can come with our feathered friends.

Clara Belle and Windy came from a local woman who has lots of chickens and is a certified wildlife rehabilitator.  There were peacocks and turkeys and deer and goats and ducks everywhere!  It was important to me to get our new chickens from someone local, and who I knew took proper care of them.  Unlike our current chickens (before we bought them, anyway), these have free-ranged and know what it means to forage.

There was, however, an outbreak of cocci earlier in the year, so Becky recommended I treat for it because it can flare up with stress (moving to a new home, being handled by kids, etc.)  This is a fairly common problem in flocks, as they are bacteria that live in the soil and can be spread via poop.  Thankfully, Tractor Supply carries Corid, which is the medicine needed to treat cocci (which can certainly be fatal).  It comes in a powder form, and it's as easy as mixing 1/2 tsp per gallon of water.  Chickens should drink that water for 5 days.

So, during these 5 days, CB and Windy will be isolated from our girls, and will be kept out of our yard. It's quite probable that we have cocci in our soil (everyone does) and that our girls have developed immunity, but since there are like 9 different strains, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Last night, CB and Windy slept in a crate but this morning we brought them in to the bathroom so they could stretch their legs.  They are eating fine, but I haven't seen them drinking, so I made a mash with the Corid Water and their feed so at least they are getting some of the medication that way.

Once their 5 days are up, we will bring the crate outside and set it near the chicken tractor, so our girls can become familiar with their scent but won't be able to peck the snot out of them (It's Scarlett I'm worried about.  She's the boss!)  Then one night, we'll just place these girls in the coop on the roosts and hope for the best in the morning when they awake and find themselves all together.  Unfortunately, most of this will fall on Stephen's shoulders, as I'll be away at the EAS Conference next week!

Incidentally, look at Windy's legs (the one on the left).  They are not yellow like CBs, which makes me think she might be a Light Sussex instead of a Colombian Wyandotte (this means her name is all wrong, but it's stuck!)  She's larger then CB, too, even though they were hatched at the same time.  I do admit to wondering if we again fell victim to the Wyandotte late-maturing rooster trap, but since the Sussex mature faster than Wyandottes, that would make total sense.  Time will tell.  (The other reason to buy from a local person is that if 'she' turns out to be a rooster, we will return it and not be left up the creek without a paddle.)

More Chickens

I knew almost immediately after Clara Belle went to his new home that we would have to replace him.  Three chickens were barely keeping us in enough eggs (each kid can eat a 4-egg omelet like nothing!) and this was the height of the laying season, not the dead of winter.

And then Scarlett stopped laying (she's recovered from her abscess but now she's molting, so she's still not laying) and Rosie went broody.  One egg a day wasn't going to cut it.

So.....

Allow me to introduce Clara Belle (II) and Windy:

They were hatched in April, so they are actually even smaller than CB and Rosie were when we got them.  They should start laying sometime in late September/early October.

Clara Belle (on the left) is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.  It made my heart sing that Joanna now has a chicken she can actually hold (the first CB was huge.  I thought it was the breed.  Nope!)

Windy is a Colombian Wyandotte.  These birds made their debut at the Colombian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) in 1893.  Having read "The Devil in the White City", I learned all kinds of neat facts about the Fair... one of which is how Chicago came to be known as "The Windy City".  Contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with the wind.  It has everything to do with the fact that New Yorkers were upset they didn't get to host the Fair and pretty bitter about how Chicago talked up their city.  So, the New Yorkers started referring to Chicago as "The Windy City" because they were bragging so much.  Anyhoo, all that to say that's how Windy the chicken got her name.  I also suggested 'Bernie' after Daniel Burnham who was the ingenious architect behind the White City, but the kids latched on to 'Windy' and that was that.

These are not chickens that have been used to human handling, but they've seemed to enjoy the petting they've gotten so far.  The plan is to keep them in the pen, separate from the others, for a few days to ensure they are healthy.  At that point, we'll slowly introduce them to the older girls by placing the cage in/near the chicken tractor.

Welcome home, girls!

Welcome to Athens

I've been MIA all week...  because I've been knee-deep in VBS.  The theme this year was "Athens" and I was snack coordinator.  I had a ton of fun coming up with authentic Greek dishes for the kids to try.  There was homemade red pepper hummus and tzitziki, homemade bread with dipping oil, nut-free baklava made with dried fruit, olives, grape leaves, Feta, octopus, figs, dates, and apricots along with rustic crackers and grapes and melons.

The kids loved it, even though it was all 'real' food and not typical of the usual VBS fare.  And they ate all the octopus!  I was so proud of them for trying new things.  There were no sugary drinks, either.  Just water from "the well in Athens."

 

 They loved the bread, of course!

 Colorful veggies, dried beans, and wheat berries served as decorations.

 It was truly a feast!

Now it's on to other things... like packing for my trip next week to the Eastern Apiculture Society Conference in PA.  I am very much looking forward to it, especially Thursday when I will be immersed in Apitherapy classes.

But first... we are anticipating several new additions to the Homestead.  Stay tuned!

Scarlett Update... but First, a Bee Update

We got in the bees today.  We confirmed the queen is alive and well in our single-story Nuc.  Which means it's ready to go to a new beekeeper!

The last time we got into the 2-story Nuc, there was no queen.  So we left it alone for 3 weeks and were thrilled to find lots and lots of eggs in it this morning.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find the queen even though she was obviously there! So, in a couple of weeks we'll get back in and make an effort to locate her.  As soon as we do, we can mark her and send that Nuc on its merry way, as well.

In other news, Scarlett continues to be spoiled rotten, living in the kitchen.  She's walking fine and putting weight on her left leg.

And trying to escape the little 'cage' we made to contain her under the kitchen table, since she is back to being able to jump.

Her abscess is beginning to heal (look away now if you don't want to see a picture!)

You can see where it's closing up, and the lump is definitely getting smaller. 

I'm just spraying it a couple times a day with Vetericyn... keeping an eye on it to make sure it's not getting red or hot.  So far, so good.

Not For the Faint of Heart

I love looking out the kitchen window while I'm doing dishes and watching the chickens peck and scratch.  It's so peaceful.

If only it was all roses and no thorns, but alas... chicken-keeping has it's disgusting side.

This is Scarlett.  She was a wild thing when we got her.  By the time the farmer had caught her the second time (she escaped from her box), Abby was in love with her.  She was clearly the roosters favorite and was in rough shape, so no rational chicken-keeper would have bought her. 

Sometimes I'm not rational.

She's a great layer, so she earns her keep.  What follows is a story with graphic pictures that are not for the faint of heart.  If you don't like gross, look away.

Now.


Please.


Thank you.


Ok, on with the story.

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered Scarlett had a lump under her left wing. 

My wonderful husband went on a search and scored a syringe from Rite Aid (for free.)  We tried to figure out what was inside the lump, but couldn't get anything out.  So we figured it was a fat deposit like dogs sometimes get.  We decided we'd keep an eye on it.

So we did.

But it wasn't red or hot, and it wasn't growing... and it wasn't affecting her in any obvious way, so I quit worrying.

But last Wednesday, something was clearly wrong.  Her tail was down and she was slumped in the corner of the chicken tractor.  And for the first time in 3 months, she didn't lay an egg.

An internet search revealed all kinds of possibilities... none of which were good news.  My mind immediately went to egg-bound, even though she wasn't straining or going in and out of the nest box.  So, I fixed her up a steam bath and tried that.  Supposedly, it relaxes the muscles and makes it easier to lay.

On the step below her is a pan with boiling water.  The towel kept the steam in.  And although she wasn't moving, I gave her some food and water to make sure she stayed put.  Her appetite was fine, so she ate.  We attempted this several times over the next day... but it never resulted in anything but a big poop.

There was also some rubber gloves and KY jelly involved, to help lubricate the eggs passage.  Not one of the top 10 moments in my life.

And still, nothing.  By this time I knew she probably wasn't eggbound, because after 48 hours the hens usually die.

Then what?  Internal laying?  Because we still hadn't gotten an egg out of her.  A thorough check revealed no signs of swelling, so probably not.

By this time, of course, I figured it could be Mareks... but she wasn't getting any worse.  In fact, by Saturday night, she was toddling around the yard.  And if it WAS Mareks, it was too late to isolate her, as the others had already been exposed (I have no idea if they were immunized, or not.  Not that that really matters, anyway.)  She had no signs of leg paralysis... but she DID show signs of limping when she walked.  But I couldn't figure out which side was bothering her.

(Tail back up, eating grapes and left-overs, with big brother Max guarding her.)

Sunday morning, the girls and I left for our get-away, so I left Stephen with burial instructions should she decide to keel over.  She spent the day inside, and he kept her in at night, too.  She was still eating and pooping and her tail wasn't limp, so that was a good sign.  And he had to work on Monday and Tuesday, so she went back out in the tractor with the others.

Yesterday when we returned, I once again found her crouched in the corner.  So she came inside yet again.  I was thinking she might have bumblefoot, although there was only a little spot on her foot that I didn't think was the typical scab... so I made an epson-salt bath and gave her a soak.

At this point, she was looking irritated with being inside, so I brought her out to see what she'd do.  She was definitely more mobile than she had been all week, walking from the house to the compost pile and back.  Yet at 7pm, she put herself to bed and went to roost in the coop.  This was more than an hour earlier than normal, so I decided she should be in for the night.

When I went to pick her off the roost, I noticed she was covered in goop.

And sure enough, her abscess had popped and was draining.

The smell was disgusting.

I flushed it out with Hydrogen Peroxide, which I've since been told probably wasn't the best idea.  Warm water would have been better.

 This is the huge hole that resulted.

 I had to use a q-tip to clean it out, while gently pressing to remove all the goop.

I knew the wound needed to stay open to drain, so I added some triple biotic lotion (without any 'caines' in the ingredient list, as they are harmful to chickens) and put her back in the cat carrier for the night.

She can't go back out until the wound heals, as we don't want Fly Strike (google it, it's disgusting).   I've been told that could take two weeks or more.  She is going to be one ticked off chicken at that point... I can already tell today that she is more like her old self and really irritated that she can't be outside.  She's walking without a limp, eating voraciously, and getting really good at pooping where there's no newspaper on the floor.  (We made a little 'cage' for her under a table, where she can walk around and scratch for treats.)

As you can see, Max is taking his job of guard-cat very seriously!

I will keep you updated, but I am hopeful that the worst is over.  What next?