Sometimes when you have animals, you see things you can't un-see. We are about to experience our first emu mating season here at the Buck 'n Run Ranch. I am afraid we are going to see things that we really wish we hadn't seen. Until then, there's ...
Wordless Wednesday
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Guess the Breed Contest – $50 Prize!
The contest has ended! The winner correctly identified four of the five chicken breeds. The breeds are Dark Cornish, White Plymouth Rock, Buff Brahma, Dominique, and Cuckoo Marans. Thanks to everyone who took the challenge and congratulations to the ...
Book Give-a-way! Signed Copies of “Chickens in the Road”
Congratulations to the 4 winners of Chickens in the Road. Thank you to all who participated and we look forward to seeing you at the next giveaway. Michael and Mary O'Brien Farm blogger Suzanne McMinn from Chickens in the Road just ...
Martha Stewart, the chicken.
On October 4, 2008 we traveled with our granddaughters to CETA Foundation Ranch in Vacaville, CA to pick out our first chickens. Emily picked a Naked Neck and named her Judge Judy. Michael and I picked chickens, named them Nancy Grace and Paula Deen. ...
Monster N-Tune Headphones & Chance to Win!
This post is brought to you by Monster Headphones and BlogHer. Imagine my excitement when I opened a box from Monster to find a set of N-TUNE candy tangerine orange headphones. I was excited to be a part of the Monster headphone campaign as I ...
Update on the Icelandic Juveniles
The Icelandic chicks are about three months old now. Because Icelandic's are a landrace fowl, there is no standard color, pattern, or comb. You just never know what you'll get. I have nine beautiful chicks, unfortunately five are boys. I will have to ...
Emu Mayhem
A little back story: Chica has been on the outs with the other three emus since we moved here almost a year ago. For whatever reason, she started displaying mating behavior quite early. That set her apart from the others and resulted in her being ...
Shipped Egg Mayhem (Graphic Pics)
I was excited this morning to be receiving a box of shipped hatching eggs. My postal carrier delivered the box and I anxiously opened it, only to be horrified by what I saw. These were the eggs I received. I'll start with the obvious problem. Some ...
The adoption process…as it applies to chicks.
Some hens make horrible broodies but great Moms, meaning they can't hatch an egg to save their life, but the can sure love one from the incubator. This girl is a perfect example. She has been broody about three times this summer and has yet to hatch ...
The Chickens
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Chickens in the House
It is a bit out of control. I have a yard full of chickens and a house full too. I promised Michael I was done decorating with chickens but a trip to World Market got the better of me. I found this cute reproduction egg sign and I had to have ...
Hawk! In the chicken run!
This morning I went out to feed the animals at 7:00 a.m. I thought it strange that none of the chickens were out in the runs. As I started to enter the emu pasture, I heard a commotion. The emus were running around at the fence line between their ...
The Big Chicken Migration, Part 1
Last night, under the cover of darkness, we crept into the coop at the old house and yanked the Cream Legbars and Isbars off their roosts and put them in cages and boxes. The Cream Legbars were docile and easy to handle. The Isbars were hell demons, ...
Hatch Update
The mother of all staggered hatches is finally over. The last two cream legbars hatched a couple of days ago. The incubators are empty for the first time in ages. My goal was to hatch a few roosters to find a replacement for Reggie as well as an ...
Don’t chase Mama’s chickens.
The little emu girls, Chica and Loca, have taken to chasing the chickens. As long as the chickens are standing still, the girls are good. But if a chicken runs, they have to chase it. It's an emu thing. The boys used to chase them a lot but they ...
An emu’s work…
is never done. Our ever vigilant guard emu Stuart patrols the property tirelessly keeping intruders at bay. Lately his work not only includes keeping troublemakers out but in as well. We have a little white Icelandic hen with wanderlust. Most days ...
The Big EGGstravaganza!
I cooked over 300 eggs today. You may be wondering why or you may be wondering where I got 300 eggs. Let me explain. I have been holding Icelandic eggs for 30 days and not selling them. I had to do this because my broody girl Lukka returned to the ...
The Circle of Life
There is a saying about raising animals that goes like this, "If you are going to have livestock, you are going to have dead stock." We have been relatively lucky in that we have had very few losses but luck was not on our side this morning. When I ...
Broody Condo
When your hen decides to sit on eggs it can be a real disruption for the entire flock. She usually decides to sit in her favorite nest box which happens to be everyone else's too. Stubborn hens get in the nest box with the broody and add eggs to her ...