This time of year is breeding season for the peafowl and geese, but I also have some very young residents at my farm that are already thriving - three baby Silkie chickens.
I love raising all kinds of chickens, but among my favorites is the Silkie. The Silkie, also known as the Silky or Chinese silk chicken, is a breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy, satin-like plumage. This breed is very calm and friendly. I have quite a few in my flock, and last month another three hatched right here in my incubator. They came from the 2023 Northeastern Poultry Congress - a poultry show held every year in Springfield, Massachusetts. Now, several weeks later, they're strong, alert, and will soon be ready to move into their new coop.
Here are some photos - and be sure to watch out for an entire show dedicated to hens and chicks coming up on "Martha Gardens" on the Roku Channel.
Down at the stable, we set up our incubating and hatching equipment from GQF Manufacturing, Inc. in Savannah, Georgia – a company that specializes in game bird and poultry supplies. There are several crucial conditions needed for proper embryo development in all birds. These factors include: proper temperature, controlled humidity, and sufficient air circulation.
The eggs are placed into the incubator where they are safe from other birds and closely monitored until they hatch. Chicken eggs take 21-days. While the eggs incubate, they are automatically turned once a day, 45-degrees each way, back and forth during this period. From days 17 to 21, they’re placed into this hatching cabinet, where it is still warm. Each egg has its own section, where it safe and cannot roll during the hatching process.
After the chicks hatch, they are placed into this cage in the same room. The room is kept very warm and the chicks are checked often.
Soon after, these three adorable chicks are hatched and walking around exploring their new surroundings.
This gray Silkie chick was a bit unstable at first, so we gently tape the legs for a few days until he gets stronger.
Fresh, clean water is always provided. In fact, every chick is personally shown where their food and water sources are, so they know where to find them.
The chicks are fed organic chick starter for the first six to eight weeks.
A heat lamp is placed into the cage to keep it extra warm. Baby chicks need constant monitoring until they are at least a month old. Chicks require an air temperature of 95 degrees during the first week, 90 degrees the second week, and so on – going down by around five degrees per week until they’re ready to transition to the coop.
Within days, they are all up and about and playing and interacting with each other. They also peck at each other playfully.
Wherever one goes, the others follow. There are eight Silkie color varieties accepted by the American Poultry Association. They include black, blue, buff, gray, partridge, splash, and white.
On the left is a stuffed toy we always put in with our chicks. They like to lie beside it and later use it as a perch. The red glow is from the heat lamp.
By the next week, these three are more curious and more vocal.
This one is also very interested in greeting any visitors that come by. Because they are raised here at the farm, they quickly become used to everyone on the crew and all the noises.
All these chicks have clear eyes and are very alert – signs of good health.
Here is a black Silkie chick – notice, Silkies have black eyes.
The chicks are now taller than the stuffed toy.
And look, one is strong enough to use it as a perch.
Meanwhile, Pete prepares the chicks’ next home – a small coop just outside the Stable.
Pete secures a galvanized steel eye bolt and chain from the ceiling of the coop to add another heat lamp.
The chain is adjusted to the proper height needed for the lamp – about a half foot, so the the chicks can safely sit underneath it if needed.
I also have Sweeter Heaters located in the coop. Sweeter Heaters are safe, energy-efficient, and reliable heaters for chicken coops and other animal enclosures. We got ours from My Pet Chicken.
I have two Sweeter Heaters in every coop at the farm during winter.
Here, Pete screws on the red bulb for the hanging heat lamp.
And gives it a test – it works perfectly. Any wiring will be safely secured away from the lamp.
The coop is now ready with sufficient heat sources. The nights are still quite cold here in the Northeast. Once the chicks are moved, they will remain here for another several weeks until they are big enough to move into the chicken yard to live with the others. They will still be monitored often to ensure they are comfortable and safe.
These three will be friends their entire lives. I am looking forward to seeing them grow and enjoy their time here at Cantitoe Corners. If you are interested in raising beautiful and productive chickens, please look out for my Roku show “Martha Gardens.” In an upcoming episode, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about hens, and chicks, and roosters, my favorite breeds, and give you a tour of my coops.
It’s a very special time of year for the peafowl at my Bedford, New York farm - it's the beginning of breeding season.
From now until early August, the peacocks display their stunning and iridescent tail feathers, strut back and forth shaking their hindquarters to produce a rattling sound, and make loud calls to the females. The peahens tend to choose males with the longest, most colorful tails. It’s always very interesting to watch these mating rituals up close - the "tail show" can be quite amazing. Many of you comment on how much you enjoy the posts on the animals at my farm, so I thought it was a good time to share this update on my gorgeous birds.
Enjoy these photos.
As many of you know, I share my farm with an ostentation of beautiful peafowl – peacocks as well as peahens. Their pen is outside my stable, completely enclosed to keep them safe from predators. Here is a beautiful “blue boy” perched just outside the coop. Peafowls are very hardy birds, and even though they are native to warm climates, they do very well in cold weather as long as they have access to dry areas away from strong winds. These birds will spend most of their days outdoors, and nights in their coop where it is warm and cozy.
Peafowl are members of the pheasant family. There are two Asiatic species – the blue or Indian peafowl native to India and Sri Lanka, and the green peafowl originally from Java and Burma, and one African species, the Congo peafowl from African rain forests. All my peafowl are Indian.
Both male and female peafowls have the fancy crest atop their heads called a corona. Male peacock feather crests are blue or green in color, while female crests are a more neutral shade of brown or cream. This is a female – a peahen. All my birds are friendly and come up quite close to visitors.
During the mating season, the peacocks will do their ritualistic dance to attract the hens. Here, one of the youngest peacocks is fanning its tail in competition for the females. Although his tail is still very short, he does his best.
The stiff rear feathers underlie the front feathers and provide support when the whole tail is raised. At this stage, this bird’s tail is not very heavy, but it will grow longer and more showy as he ages.
During the dance, the peacock turns in circles showing off his tail. This display is known as “train-rattling.”
Another young peacock fans his tail nearby. He is also doing the ritualistic dance. These males start practicing their dances when very young.
Peacocks are polygamous by nature, often having several partners during the season, and after courtship, and mating.
Here is a white peahen, who doesn’t seem so interested in these young peacocks. Notice, the females are less iridescent with more muted colors and markings, and no long tails. She continues to forage for food on the ground. The birds get a healthy mix of cornmeal, soybean, and wheat. I also feed the birds spinach, cabbage, and squash. In the wild, peacocks are omnivores – they eat insects, plants, and small creatures. They do most of their foraging in the early morning and evening.
This hen is watching the activity from her perch. While these birds are ground feeders and ground nesters, they still enjoy roosting at higher levels. In the wild, this keeps them safe from predators at night. My outdoor birds all have access to natural perches made from old felled trees here at the farm.
Here’s a young peacock opening his tail inside the coop.
All peacocks and peahens will look you in the eye, but if you stare at them or seem aggressive in body movements, they will feel threatened. I love how friendly all my peacocks and peahens are with people.
And here is a mature male with his gorgeous tail feathers hanging behind him. After breeding season ends in August, the males lose their long tail feathers and then grow them back before the next breeding season begins. The train gets longer and more elaborate until five or six years old when it reaches maximum splendor.
Peacocks and peahens are very smart, docile and adaptable birds. They are also quite clever and very curious. This is a mature peahen.
The beautiful feathers of the peacock grow to five feet long when mature – that’s longer than the bird’s body.
And, a mature peacock can have up to 200 feathers in his tail, which can weigh about a half pound during mating season. Peahens usually choose males that have bigger, healthier plumage with an abundance of eyespots.
Here is one of my adult peacocks turning his body as he starts lifting his tail. Researchers found that the longer the train feathers, the faster the males would shake them during true courtship displays, perhaps to demonstrate muscular strength.
And here is a peahen watching with some interest – maybe.
Once a peafowl pair has bred, the peahen will usually lay about three to eight brown eggs. It then takes about 28 to 30 days for the eggs to incubate before hatching.
No matter the species, these male creatures boast impressively sized and patterned plumage as part of the courtship ritual – it’s so interesting to watch.
As beautiful as peafowls are, they don’t make very melodious sounds. Peafowls have 11 different calls, with most of the vocalizing made by the peacocks. Look at this bird’s train. One can see this “tail show” several times a day from each male in the enclosure during the season.
Here’s a closer look at the gorgeous eyespots on this mature male’s lower portion tail feathers.
Peafowls are stunning to look at, but do not underestimate their power. These birds are extremely strong with very sharp spurs – just look at the legs and feet of this peacock. Full-grown, peacocks can weigh up to 13-pounds. Females can weigh up to just under nine-pounds. I wonder if we’ll have any peachicks this year, stay tuned…
Skylands, my well-loved home in Maine, is under a blanket of snow.
The recent snowstorm, which covered my Bedford, New York farm with about six to seven inches of snow also hit Seal Harbor, Maine - it was the most significant snow we've had in the region this season. As you know, I don't get to visit my home in Maine as much as I would like during the winter months. Fortunately, Cheryl DuLong, who works at Skylands, is a wonderful photographer, and always keeps me updated by sending images of the property whenever she can. The weather there was a bit colder than here - in the high 20s, so the snow was light and fluffy and beautiful.
Enjoy these photos.
As soon as Cheryl arrived at Skylands, she went out to start taking photos. The snow was so pretty and still untouched.
Here is a clump of young spruce covered in white. Up in Maine, the snow was lighter and more powdery. The light fluffy snow forms when all layers of the atmosphere are below freezing. Because the air is cold, all the way down to the surface, snowflakes don’t melt, and that allows the individual flakes to stay light and fluffy.
The snow stuck to many surfaces including this ledge going from the back driveway to the front of Skylands.
Can you see the fir trees covered in snow? A little snow cover is actually good for the gardens, trees and plants. Snow cover helps keep the soil from freezing deeper in the ground preventing root damage. For small evergreen and non-deciduous shrubs such as rhododendrons, snow also helps to lessen the impact of desiccation or loss of water in the plants.
Cheryl captured this photo of the snow stuck to the trunks of the trees. Sometimes one can tell the direction of the wind by looking at how the snow accumulates on the bark of trees.
Here is a faux bois bench up at the lost pools, which are located just above the front circle.
This is the smaller of two lost pools at Skylands. It has no water now, of course, but during summer when my grandchildren were much smaller, they enjoyed wading and playing here and searching for frogs.
This is the larger of the two Jens Jensen–designed lost pools with its natural stone formation – now all covered with snow.
This is a view looking down from pools into the woodland.
Along one of the footpaths, this little light looked almost like a snow covered mushroom.
This image looks down toward the driveway of Skylands. Everything was covered in white, but weather forecasts expected temperatures to rise again into the high 30s, so this winter wonderland was not expected to last long.
This young spruce tree’s branches were completely disguised by the snow. Thankfully, the snow was light, so there was no damage to any trees or shrubs. When possible, the crew will also sweep some of the snow off the nearby trees and shrubs, especially if they are weighed down.
This photo shows the sunlight shining onto the snow covered rocks and trees. In the upper left corner is a gray box protecting one of the many garden urns at Skylands.
Here’s a mature spruce with all its snow covered branches. Spruce trees are pyramidal in shape with needles that are sharply pointed and square. I have many spruce trees as well as fir trees at Skylands.
Buried beneath this light layer of snow are the new buds of the wild blueberries growing at the edge of the driveway. These wild berries are so sweet – we harvest many during the summer.
Outside the front of my home is a circle garden planted with hay-scented ferns, purple smoke bushes, and spruce trees, Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’. When I found these trees, I got many to plant here in Maine.
Here is the back door and porch surrounded by spruce trees, maple trees, and hemlocks.
One of our favorite photos is the one taken of this dining room double pane window which faces south. One can see the beautiful and clear reflection of Seal Harbor and Sutton Island in the glass.
This is my favorite spruce tree, which can also be seen outside the dining room window. It is very tall and very old. Unfortunately, it may be nearing the end of its life – it loses a few branches every year.
Here is a view looking through the branches of the same tree out to the bright blue ocean beyond. Skylands is paradisiacal in any season – I can’t wait to return. Cheryl took all these photos just in time. Like us here in New York, Maine is also expecting another storm tomorrow, with perhaps more rain than snow.
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