Take a Look at Nature's Charm & Critters on Our Small Farm May21st - 27th, 2017

As stated in my last blog post, here are more pictures of the wild beehive I had access to, and am in the progress of saving.

Evidence of an older hive - the old comb left.
Copyrighted photo to Tracey R. Simmons 

All pictures are copyrighted © to 

Tracey R. Simmons, creator of Paws4Hearts Rescue, 2017.

Wild Beehive and My Beehive Update

The original wild beehive found.
Copyrighted Photo by Tracey R. Simmons

I have kept what was supposed to be exciting news to myself for months waiting for it to actually happen. A work friend and her husband were buying a new place. On a warm day in February, they discovered the property also contained a wild honeybee hive. They said I could have it. I got to see the worker bees going to and fro on March 9th.

Not having the experience or knowledge of how to extract a wild beehive from a building, I asked my beginning beekeeping teacher if he'd help me. During the wait time, I worked on preparing a new hive location. 

My schedule stayed open to jump at getting this hive, but I had to wait for the help. Finally, this past Sunday, May 21st, I loaded my supplies, and drove with anticipation and some fear at this chance. You see, honeybees will defend their hive, the brood, and the queen when their hive is disturbed. This means these worker bees, all girls, will sacrifice their lives by stinging. Bee suits are not one hundred percent sting proof.

Roger, my beekeeping teacher, began taking each comb from the ceiling, looking for brood (baby bees) and a queen - none.

Looking for the queen and brood.
Copyright photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons

I saw that more comb was above the ceiling, so a panel was pulled off to reveal a load of comb, honey, and bees.

Even more comb found above a ceiling panel.
Copyrighted Photo by Tracey R. Simmons

The search continued for the queen and her brood. We got into lots of comb filled with honey. As we extracted it, honey dripped from the ceiling and covered our gloves.

Eventually, Roger realized there was no queen, so there would be no brood. The hive was a living, yet dead hive. The worker bees would be dead within four to six weeks - the life span of a worker bee. I was extremely disappointed, to say the least.

Copyright photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons

How could this be, after I'd seen them working back in early March? The hive grew so much that it needed to split - this is when they swarm. The old queen will have laid brood and a new baby queen. Once that new queen developed, the old queen and about half the worker bees would leave to find a new home elsewhere.

The problem occurred when the new queen flew out to mate. She got killed somehow. Sometimes a queen is eaten by a bird. She could have started flying across the roadway, been hit and killed by a vehicle. There is no way to know how she died, but it means she never had a chance to lay new brood which creates a continuing living hive.

Copyrighted photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons

The sad thing is the evidence shows this hive had been at this location for years, and another older hive existed on the other side of the ceiling. It was a great loss for the bee population, especially with all the various things that have greatly reduced the honeybee population in the United States.

For me, I was not just saddened, but extremely frustrated because I have once again felt the "sting" of disappointment of trying to be a successful beekeeper. Further, I have not been able to get my second hive up and filled with a family of honeybees since I first started in 2013.

P.S. I am trying to capture the existing worker bees into my hive box. If I can get them to go in, I could buy a queen. This is a very big long shot, but worth at least trying. Much thanks to Billie and Asa for trying to help me in my endeavors at being a beekeeper by allowing me to access to getting this hive.

Putting comb into hive frame.
Copyrighted photo to Paws 4 Hearts/Tracey R. Simmons

Take a Look at Nature's Charm and Critters on Our Small Farm - May 7-13th, 2017

Torrential rains hit the Midwest for days. It came down so hard and fast that it made it difficult to do anything more than run to feed & water the chicks and chickens, and grab the hens' eggs. Flowers are blooming about a month ahead of what is normal. Sticky hot days are in the forecast for next week. The mystery chicks continue to grow and get their true feather coloring, which allows us to know what kind they are for sure now. Some chicken bloggers say not to feed wild birds because of the diseases they can carry. This farm is in a heavily wooded area, so no matter what there are wild birds around. I have had a bluebird house up longer than I've had chickens. The bluebirds were not happy with the pileated woodpecker that came around. Both mommy & daddy dived-bombed that "Woody Woodpecker," but I couldn't catch it on video. (I do keep feeders well away from the chicken areas. Plus, wildbirds do not have access to chicken feeders. They are hung underneath the chicken house.)

 

Columbian Wyandotte

Black Star

Red Star

All pictures were taken and are copyrighted ©

to Tracey R. Simmons, creator of Paws4Hearts Rescue, 2017.

Imprinting/Bonding with Chicks

One of three Ameraucana Chicks purchased
from a farm store. She is the smallest.
Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017

I have been a chicken keeper since 2014. Some may say that is not a long time; or that I don’t have much experience, but one thing I did, before getting any chicks, was read/research as much as I could find at the time. For me, this research was in the form of books. I know for a fact that this sets me apart from a lot of others who get chickens who know nothing about their care before buying them. As a former licensed wildlife rehabilitator and an avid animal lover/rescuer all my life, one thing that bothers me are the number of people who get an animal without any prior knowledge of the proper care of said animal.

I have extensive knowledge and experience in animal care, but I will never say I am an expert, because there is always room to learn more. My experience has helped me ponder and figure out a situation I have recently observed. I have a theory when it comes to chicks purchased from hatcheries that are mailed directly to you, and those chicks at farm stores that have been put into large brooder tanks waiting for humans to purchase them, which can be days, even weeks.

What is my theory? I believe it all has to do with imprinting, and that time period being longer than what some researcher have stated.

According to www.dictionary.com, “Imprinting – rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object, as attachment to parent, offspring, or site.”

www.medicinenet.com has this to say: “Imprinting psychological: A remarkable phenomenon that occurs in animals, and theoretically in humans, in the first hours of life. The newborn creature bonds to the type of animal it meets at birth and begins to pattern its behavior after them. In humans, this is often called bonding, and it usually refers to the relationship between the newborn and its parents.”

The darkest Ameraucana chick.
She has blue legs and feet.
Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017

As a wildlife rehabber, I was taught about imprinting. I know that the time period that an animal can imprint is controversial. Some say it is only a few hours after being born or hatched. Others say it is thirteen to sixteen hours. Another researcher states it is thirty hours, and there are still more time frames stated.

I believe imprinting can have various factors, which can cause the time period to fluctuate, which is what I have seen with my chicks. I believe that window of opportunity to have your chicks imprint to you, bond with you can still be open several days after the chicks have hatched.

With my mail ordered mystery chicks, I now have experience-buying chicks both ways; previously I purchased them from farm stores. I noticed something right away with the mystery chicks – they were friendlier than the ones I’ve gotten from the farm stores. I mentioned this to the work friend who had ordered the chicks. She said she agreed. This set into motion my desire to figure out why. 

With the mystery chicks, I could put my hand in the brooder box, wiggle my fingers and the chicks would come running to my hand. They loved/love to hear me say, “Hey, chick, chick, chick.” These things started on day one – several hours after I’d let them have time to rehydrate, eat, warm-up, and settle in after being shipped in the mail. When these chicks were/are picked up, they peep with contentment, and love to be petted and held. Now that they are older and outside, I can let them out in the yard and call them back to their house. Plus, they stay close to me.

Nearly two weeks ago, I purchased three Ameraucana chicks from a farm store. This has allowed me to have a current view and comparison of both ways to buy chicks. Instantly, I noticed the farm store chicks showed great fear of just seeing my hand, or hearing my voice. When picked up, their peeps were/are of alarm, rather than contentment. They struggled against being picked-up/held, with only small progress shown in this area up to this date.

My “mystery chicks” came from Murray McMurray Hatchery. According to a McMurray phone rep, Kim, these chicks are put into the mail within an hour or two of hatching. Straight-run chicks would be boxed up the quickest. If you order pullets (females), the time would put them closer to the two-hour mark, because they have to be sexed (determined whether they are males or females) prior to being boxed up and shipped.

In the case of the mail-order mystery chicks, they had time to view humans before being shipped, yet they are not bonded with those hatchery humans. I believe the shipping time, inside of a box, might be kind of like being put back inside an egg-shell waiting to hatch, allowing the chicks to then view the human (me) that immediately started taking care of them in a quiet home as their mom – imprinting/bonding, even though it was well past the various time spans stated for imprinting.

The third Ameraucana chick.
Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2017

When it comes to getting chicks from farm stores, those chicks start out with the same process at the hatchery, one to two hours in that environment before being shipped in the mail. At the farm stores, these chicks are put into large brooder tanks. They have food and water dumped into containers, and left “alone.” There is no immediate close, loving interaction with a human, and it is not a quiet environment. With some farm stores, people have access to the brooders, so these chicks look up at, what I am sure appears to them as huge monsters - people/kids staring down at them, grabbing at them, in some cases dropping them, along with all the noise, and more.

Then for example, someone like me comes along to buy three of the Ameraucana farm store chicks. Many days have past, closing the hatching/imprinting/bonding window time. Fear is already present in the way these chicks react. How do you bond? Or can you even bond?

I do believe the farm store chicks can bond, but it takes more time, effort, and patience, but I also realize that some may not despite all my efforts. What do I do? I spend time with them everyday, holding and talking to them. When reaching into the brooder box, I leave my hand at the chicks level and let them come near it, moving slowly to gently touch them. I use the same phrase – “Here, chick, chick, chick” when I talk to them. Tenderly, I pick a chick up, hold it close, stroking along her neck and back, and talk to her.

In conclusion, I have seen the evidence that the imprinting/bonding time with chicks can vary from what the studies that have been published over the years, state. I believe that the shipping process, which is the time the chicks are still absorbing the yolk, and being inside the shipping box, has something to do with the imprinting time being able to be delayed, if the chicks are going straight into a home. I believe purchasing directly from a hatchery is a win-win for the humans who want to have chicks that are pets/friends.

(I wish to thank Murray McMurray Hatchery's phone rep - Kim for answering my questions which helped in the writing of the post.) Click below to view their website.

Murray McMurray Hatchery website

Take a Look at Nature's Charm and Critters on Our Small Farm - April 23rd - 29th, 2017

It has been incredibly busy around the farm, which is why I missed doing a post. Things have been done to move the existing bee hive even further from the road, with more work needed. There has been lots of chick care, with an additional three chicks added to the seven mystery chicks. Plans to convert a 10x12 ft. stall into a bigger chicken house are in the works. This will allow the chickens a nice area to run around in during the cold months of winter. Plus, more flowers are in bloom.

All pictures were taken and are copyrighted ©

to Tracey R. Simmons, creator of Paws4Hearts Rescue, 2017.