What do you do?

We had crepes today and I love them with strawberries, so the girls helped by cutting up all the strawberries so they were ready for dinner. After we ate, I realized that we had all these clippings leftover and I had to throw them in the trash. For the first time in at least 6 years I didn't have chickens to toss my leftover parts to and I was a little disturbed at throwing them in the trash. Interesting moment, but I guess we'll survive.

Hanging around the house together

This was the rest of my "confused" costume, that I didn't end up wearing

because the pig nose was uncomfortable.

Naomi loved being a flying pig!

And she danced around the living room.

We are all done with having animals.

The pigs have been slaughtered (still waiting to get the meat).

Today the kids loaded up all the chickens into the trailer,

and Kevin took them to a friend's house so he could add them to his flock.

All gone are the chickens!

Domonique enjoyed playing withe some salt dough

which she received at the Trunk or Treat last night.

What a pretty rose!

Harmonie made a double tulip, with leaves.

Chicks are getting bigger

Now you can really tell that the chickens are different. The black ones with white spots are Kemiah's barred rock chicks. The darker redish ones are Marissa's. 

This is one of Xiomara's, even though it looks similar to the easter eggers.

Lots of roosters - their combs are definitely bigger.

When you first open the coop door, they all run to the back corner. But there are a few of them that will then come speed walking back to check you out. There is one buff rooster that comes back and gets right up to you. We call him Silly.

Check out those chicks!

I mean the baby chickens. The kids wanted to play with them so they took a few out into the yard. They are now living in the coop in the garage and it seems to be working just fine. They are just so cute and fluffy and fun to watch. The kids try to handle them a lot while they are young so they are nice when they get older. Unfortunately, I think we may have several roosters that won't be able to stick around for very long.

Can you see the different chickens?

Lots of buffs

Some reds

A couple barred rocks

A couple easter eggers

A good mixture.

He is a chicken herder.

These chickens are so funny.

(It's probably true of most chickens.)

They love to come to us when we come out.

We usually give them food.

Benjamin is feeding them wheat.

It's time.

After 7 ½ weeks, we decided it was time to take our 10 meat birds to the butcher. I made the appointment for Thursday, the 22^nd. The kids and I packed everything up and headed out at 9 a.m. so we could be there for 10 a.m. – the lady needed time to clean up and head to school. Anyway, it was a nice drive and I found my way without any problems. It was a bit chilly when we arrived and no one was waiting for us. I thought that was a bit odd but what could I do? We stood around wondering what to do when a lady came out of the house. I told her we were here with our chickens. She said, “Not today.” She came out with her notebook and we eventually found my name and the 22^nd. She apologized because we weren’t on the calendar and she had already cleaned up for the day. I left my chickens and we agreed that it would be done Friday. The kids and I packed back into the van and headed home.

Friday morning we did the same thing – except this time we didn’t have to pack up the chickens. We drove out the same way so I could stop and take a couple pictures of things I had noticed the first trip….

A tree growing out of another tree. I thought it was a wonderful example of “grow where you are planted” and “help those around you.”

A wonderfully neat looking house and property. It’s not for sale but it looks vacant. I just had to stop to get a few pictures. Not really sure because it's not like we'll buy it and move there. Just a neat house.

 

As we got to the poultry processing place, she was finishing someone else's birds. I thought we were ready but it was a bit more traumatic. Everyone handled it very well and walked away if they needed to. We watched the process and it was certainly an education for all of us. Several of the kids were asking questions as the woman cleaned the birds.

Harmonie was more interested in the dog.

The kids played for a bit after we were done.

The girls were excited that the dog was more friendly today than yesterday.

On the way home, we stopped by a place that was selling pigs. Kevin wanted me to get some information so we did. The kids enjoyed walking through their barn looking at all the pigs and seeing all the little baby piglets. We will probably get one and raise it for meat. The kids were all excited at the idea of getting a pig. I made sure they understood that it wouldn't be around for very long and that it's whole purpose would be to feed us. They were still excited to have a pig. We shall see.

 

Fast Growers

These are the meat birds we picked up at the beginning of April.

They were little chicks then.

So cute and fluffy.

Here's the comparison...

you can see our two hatched chicks in back.

They are actually a few days older than the meat birds.

They eat chick food high in protein. And they eat and eat and eat. Every time I go in to see them, they are ready to be fed. One more month for these little guys and then we'll see how they taste.

What have we done?

Remember when I told you about hatching our own eggs? We had one successful one hatch and that was exciting. Then we stopped by Tractor Supply Co. on my birthday... Kevin decided we would try to actually raise and eat Cornish hens. Well, he didn't decide that until a couple days later so he came home with 10 Cornish hen chicks. The day after, we had another one of our eggs hatch! It went much faster this time and I got video instead of pictures. It was amazing - almost like giving birth but not quite. I took the newly hatched chick to be with the others, except that I put it in a small shoe box. I just wanted to get it under the heat lamp to keep it warm. When I checked on it later, there were two other chicks in the box with it. Later on, Kevin decided we really should separate the Cornish hens from our chickens because they should be eating different food, so he put the wall between them. The newest chick is alone by the wall. It is fun to see all the little balls of fur and to hear them cheep. I sure hope this new adventure goes well. We found a butcher in a town not far from us so at least we don't have to do it ourselves. I'll keep you posted.

Goodnight Chickens!

The new chickens are a little strange.

This is how they go to sleep at night.

There are roosting bars inside but they just pile up.

There's a bunch on the inside platform as well.

Silly birds.

Thought this might happen one day.

I had some left overs that the kids weren't eating, so I took them out to the chickens. Since the weather has been nice they are out in the yard instead of staying in the house all day. The 6 or so that were out in the yard today were excited to have some new food. Due to my poor planning I had to make two trips out but oh well. After lunch, I was laying on the couch reading to Kemiah and Xiomara when the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor, James. He wanted to talk to me and I invited him in from my couch (my back hurts a lot now and it feels better when I lay down). He wanted to talk to me outside. Fine. I got up and went outside only to hear him sort of whisper, "You have a dead chicken." That has happened before but I was surprised because I had been out twice and there was no dead chicken. He said it was in the wading pool and talked like the chicken had been dead a while. Totally surprised me! Then he added the clincher... "There was a huge hawk pecking at it." Oh my. The hawk must have swooped into the yard and scared those poor chickens. There were black feathers all over and a poor dead chicken. I assured James that the hawk had just killed the chicken, and we both wondered why it didn't fly off with it. Anyway, we bagged up the dead chicken and I put the other chickens into the coop window in the garage. I wonder if they'll come out again tomorrow? Kevin and I talked about the hawks and wondered if they'd be able to get into the yard. I guess during the winter they'll take what they can find.

What would you feed a chicken?

I had some old alfalfa sprouts in my fridge as well as a little bit of tuna fish salad. I thought, "Toss them out to the chickens and see what happens." I tossed the alfalfa first. They looked at it, smelled it, and one even pecked at it but they were not interested. Maybe I should have rinsed them off first. Then I tossed the little bit of tuna salad. It landed in a lump and they were all over it. Really! I'm so serious. They were fighting over the tuna fish - with mayo and celery. Who'd have thunk?


Of course, if you know my chickens maybe that all makes sense. I have also tossed old shrimp and they loved that. And Kevin and I saw a couple chickens fight over a toad that entered the chicken yard. Yes, my chickens are meat eaters.


Egg update - we bought wood eggs to try and get the chickens to quick eating their own eggs. It isn't working. They are still eating them and now one of them has returned to her brooding habits (that's where she sits in the nesting box all day trying to hatch the egg). Maybe it just takes time and they'll stop soon.

Strange things are happening on the farm.

My chickens are really a weird bunch. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe they are lacking something in their diet. Maybe they are sick. Yes, I think that's it. They have been eating their eggs for a while. Cannibals! I have no idea which ones actually break the eggs but I think they will all eat the stuff if given the chance. There have been a few times that I have gone out to collect eggs and I have found one of these...


Most of the time the shells are shattered but I find it extra irritating when they just clean out the insides.


But that isn't the strangest happenings (mostly because it has been going on for so long). A couple weeks ago I found a dead chicken in the chicken yard. When I got closer I realized it was missing it's neck and head. Gone. No where to be seen. I had to shew away a couple other chickens that were actually pecking at her remains. (These chickens are sick.) Then a week later I found another dead chicken but she wasn't missing any parts. The very same moment I found the second dead chicken I noticed another chicken eating something. It was not regular food so I looked closer. I realized what ever it was eating, it was stuck. I went into the chicken yard and found the chicken. As I got a better look I realized she was trying to swallow a baby bird. I have no idea how she got the bird. There are no tree branches with nests over the yard. I was able to pull the bird out of the chickens mouth and save the silly chicken. What was she thinking? Would she eat her own baby? I don't know what's going on. Either way I figure it's time to get rid of these crazy chickens and start over. Unfortunately, we should have ordered the babies back in April because we're a little late on replacing our egg layers. Whenever we do order new ones I think we should figure out how to clip their beaks so they don't peck at each other and don't peck at the eggs. Maybe that will save us some of these issues in the future.

Tying up the loose ends.

Once the snow melted, the first time, I found some dead mice near the chicken yard. They were not in one piece so I was baffled as to what had happened. Really strange. I knew there were probably mice hiding and eating and multiplying but hadn't actually seen any. Then I noticed some holes at the bottom of the bails of hay. Since the hay is all over there were some strange holes all over. At first I thought they might be from the chickens and ducks just digging to find food. Today it was all made clear. I was filling the waterer when I heard squeaking. I turned around to see a chicken jump out from behind the plastic pool holding something in it's beak. I stared and realized it was a little mouse. The mouse squeaked again and the other chickens took notice. The one who had "the prize" ran all over the yard trying to hide but other chickens kept bothering her. I stood there, stunned, watching my chickens getting all excited about a little mouse. So, we certainly have mice in the chicken yard. But, I feel a little better knowing that the mouse issue will at least be kept under control as the chickens take care of them. I had no idea the chickens would be interested in mice. I hope they stay interested and continue to catch them so that the population is kept under control - sort of.

Thank You and Sorry.

Yesterday, after dinner Kevin mentioned the chickens. I confidently said I had already taken care of them. He pointed out back so I looked out the kitchen window. There were two chickens out of the chicken yard and the hatch that we use to get the food and water was open. I thought I must have just not latched it, so I headed out to close it up. I actually had to toss 4 chickens back into the yard. Once I was in the chicken yard, I found an egg on the ground. I decided to check the nesting boxes to see if they had laid any more. They hadn't. I almost went inside but was prompted to check inside the coop. Some of the chickens have started to lay eggs on the lowest level, so maybe they laid another one there. I almost dismissed the prompting because I have to move a hay bale and some cardboard to access the hole in the coop just so I can get the eggs. I decided to go ahead and check. To my surprise I saw a possum sitting where the eggs might have been. Oh dear. I ran back to the house and hollered for Kevin. He came out and we were able to chase the possum out and then got it out of the chicken yard. I ran back into the house to get my camera - assuming I'd never see it again because it had decided this was not the place to be....


This is what the inside of the hen house looked like - lots of feathers that aren't normally there.

Today, I went out to feed and water the chickens and gather eggs and to my disappointment the possum was back in the same place but had a dead chicken next to it. It was sitting on several eggs as well. (At least it hadn't eaten them.) What was I supposed to do? Kevin wouldn't be home for several more hours! All the chickens were wandering around the yard and I noticed that both the food and water feeders were still full so I had some hungry chickens. I did call Kevin just to get his opinion on the matter. He suggested I try to catch it and put it in an empty trash can so he could help deal with it later. I decided I would need help in taking care of this critter so I went over to my neighbor's house. Fortunately he was home and was willing to get on some boots and come over to help. I gathered some tools that I thought might be helpful. When my neighbor came over I showed him where it was. When he saw where it was he asked, "How would you feel about me shooting it?" I still can't believe what I said... "Would you?!" Knowing that it came back this time I knew there was no other way to stop it from coming back again so my neighbor got his hand gun and took care of the critter. We bagged it, and the chicken, and then I bagged it again. What an adventure (if you can call it that). All my kids ended up outside... maybe I shouldn't have told them what was happening when I asked them for the trash bag.

So, I am thankful that the Spirit prompted me to check for eggs. I'm thankful that I actually listened and obeyed the prompting. I am sorry that we had to kill the possum. I am sorry that my chickens have been tramatized - several of them are sleeping outside the coop tonight.

Winterizing

The chickens now enjoy some straw around the coop. There might have been a better way but this is working so far. There are a few extra holes now that have become nesting areas so we find eggs in them as well as in the coop nesting boxes. We don't find eggs around the chicken yard anymore but we do find an occasional surprise nest of eggs outside the chicken yard. Hopefully that will stop as the weather turns colder. The straw can't go all the way up on all the sides because we have to have easy access to the nesting boxes, and to the food and water inside the coop. We are trying to come up with another way to help keep them warmer - maybe blankets hung on the doors to help keep out the cold. Kevin also closed off the yard so they can't go in the garden area anymore.

$2.00 for a dozen

Our chickens are laying eggs and we are getting quite a supply in the fridge. Anyone want some free range, farm fresh brown eggs? I just need to find more recipes that use eggs or feed my kids hard boiled eggs. They say they really like them so they would be super excited about that. If you want some, bring an egg carton and some money and I'll even let you gather them from the yard - it's kind of like an Easter egg hunt because some of the chickens aren't laying in the nesting boxes. They lay them where ever they want. Fortunately their yard is all packed dirt (and poop) so it's easy to spot the brown eggs. I'll let you use my poopie shoes to go in the yard so you don't have to worry about cleaning the soles of your shoes.

Homemade Chicken Coop

Kevin thought long and hard and this is what he came up with. Our original discussions were for a single level 8 foot square type of house, elevated off the ground a bit with two doors and ramps for the chickens. After thinking about it, he decided this would be better.

He picked up some pallets for free, broke them apart, and used that wood to build it. He used some particle board that was left in the garage for the roof and then used roofing shingles that were also left in the garage - so it's roof matches the roof of our house. He built in 4 wheels but they don't roll so well on the grass so we will have to put boards under it when we want to move it around the yard.

Here's the initial frame work and the chickens temporary pallet housing.

Now the roof is finished, the wire mesh is on each level and the ramps. The nesting boxes are on the top level ready for egg laying season. They have gotten really good at getting up to the top level for night time but during the day they have a hard time getting to the food that I put on the second level. I don't know why that is... so I have to put the food down on the ground a couple times a day and they go into a feeding frenzy! Silly chickens.

Kevin will be adding walls to the outside. The walls on the nesting box level will have hinges on them so that we can get to the eggs. But for now, this is where our chickens live.

Maybe this is why they like to hang out by the gate. Now they perch in the house rather than on the fence so that makes us happy.

Chicken Yard

So here it is! We finally got the fence up (actually, two weeks ago) and they have adjusted just fine. The constant daylight and heat was a little much for them so I ended up trying to make some shade for them until Kevin made the coop. I'll post about that sooner or later. The chicken yard is right behind the garage and we hope it's plenty of room for the flock that we have.

Here are Emily and Kemiah in the yard with the chickens.



Now you can see the back of the garage. There is space between the fence and the garage so that we can snow blow or mow that area without any trouble.


Now you can see the sidewalk/path that comes from the back of the house to the fenced yard.

This is what the chickens do to you when you come in the yard. I'm not sure why but the gate was their favorite place to hang out when we first put up the yard. Maybe because they knew that's how we got out...

Yes, Kemiah is carrying a red chicken under her arm like it's a normal thing for kids to do. I guess for our kids it is becoming a normal thing. She had just tried to get another chicken under the other arm but it didn't work out so she just kept the one.


Showing off their chickens.