This is NOT a Farm!!

Coop Designs - Yay Autocad!

2010-04-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

So Dan and I have started playing around with "Google Sketchup". It's actually pretty complicated... and very addicting! All of a sudden it's 3 hours later!

Anyway, these are our plans. I mentioned to Dan that it would be nice to have a "chicken tractor" so we could move it around when the grass in the pen was sufficiently decimated. So, he drew up a neat tractor for me. Then I started playing with it and came up with another idea... Both plans are designed to fit in the back of a pick-up truck and are meant to hold about 5 chickens at the most. (We'll probably have 3 full size hens and maybe a silkie bantam.. I love those!)

Dan's plans:

My plan:

They're pretty similar huh? What do you think?

Mini-Farm Ideas are Forming!

2010-04-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

Hi All!

So I've decided to start planning my VERY mini farm project here in the Adirondacks. We are going to build a very small chicken coop, closer to a chicken "tractor" really.. Our yard here is very small, and I want something that can come with us when we move. I am planning on finding 4 or 5 hens and sticking with that number until we have more land for more CHICKENS! (And, of course, other animals).

I found a GREAT little coop online that I'm going to reinvent and build myself. I can't really see spending $400 on it from the manufacturer. Especially when there are a few things I would change about it.

So, here it is!

Cute huh?

Online and PDA Livestock Resources

2010-03-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hi All!

I know it's been a while, I plan on starting some new farming adventures this summer, so stay tuned!!

In the mean time... Check this out! I recently got a "Smart Phone" and have been obsessed with finding animal related "apps" for it... I came across this - I am SO using this! (When I have something to enter that is...)

Anyway, I first found this...

Beetight is a free web application for beekeepers and is the best way to manage your hives and track them online or on your phone or PDA. You'll wonder how you ever survived with the old notebooks and spreadsheets!

You can use your PDA or smartphone as a data tracker while you're out in the field! How cool is THAT?

From your computer you can print out scan labels to put directly on your hives so you can scan them with the barcode scanner on your device and get instant access to that hives records! This is SO Star Trek!!

After I found this program I searched for something similar that would work with more widely kept livestock, and I found this... http://www.tracklivestock.net/

They don't have any graphics on thier site... it doesn't look as impressive as the Beetight site... but I might try that one out too...

I'll let you know how it goes!!

A Bunny Aside...

2009-02-26T16:11:00.003-05:00

Hey... if any of you rabbit people out there are having a hard time finding hutch and/or buck cards.... here are mine! You can download them to Excel or whatever and edit them for your own use. Merry Christmasish.

Hutch Cards: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pjXL72ug6PszrkUGdyaVoag

Buck Card: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pjXL72ug6PszjWsritOqLCQ

Tattooing Rabbits SUCKS!

2009-02-26T14:20:00.005-05:00

It is a nice warm day today so I figured it would be a good time to tattoo the rabbits. I didn't want to do it during the cold weather because the cold puts enough stress on them, and I didn't want to wait much longer because I'm planning on breeding Sonny and Cher on the 1st.

SO, I re-read my books and got what supplies I thought I'd need ready. I had my tattoo kit, my green paste ink, baby wipes to clean up with, paper towels, alcohol swabs to pre-clean the area and a plastic shoe box to put the rabbits in to keep them still.

I used the alcohol swabs on all three rabbits left ears about 10 minutes before I was planning to tattoo them. I wanted to give the alcohol time to evaporate before I did anything. (You always tattoo the rabbits left ear so if you show them the show officials can write in their right ears). If anyone's ever given themselves a shot (which I have) and you didn't give the alcohol time to dry it SMARTS!!!

I decided on a numbering system for my tattoos quite a while ago. You only have 5 spots to work with so I had to revise my idea a few times. Here's what I came up with...

Sonny's tattoo is now M0807 because he is a male and was born in August of 2007.

Cher's tattoo is now 06071 because she was born in June of 2007. I didn't use an "F" but instead used a "1" after her DOB because I am WAY more likely to keep more than one female from a litter than I am a male. So she is the first (only) female from June of 07. If I had another female from her litter she would be "06072".

Joplin's tattoo is 10081 - can you guess when her birthday is? :P

Here is a picture of the pliers with Sonny's tattoo numbers in place.

If you use pliers be SURE to test out the pattern on an index card before you use them!! As you can see from my index card, the first time I set it up I had them completely backwards!!!

So once I had the pliers all set up for Sonny I reached into his hutch and put him in the little box. I smeared a good amount of the green paste on the area where I was going to tattoo, got the pliers out, clamped them on his ear (he HATED it!!) and then smeared more paste over the newly punctured area. All in all, Sonny took it like a man. I was thinking, well, I could tell it hurt a little, but it doesn't seem too bad! YAY!!

Sonny post-tattoo

Rennie watching from a short distance

Oh how naive I was. I set up Cher's number, punched the test card and went over to Cher's hutch. ! was happy with my victory and picked her right up and plopped her in the shoe-box. I smeared her ear with the paste, got the pliers and clamped down.

HOLY CRAP!!!

Yeah, did you know rabbits could CRY?!?!!?! She freaked out, jumped out of the box and was trying to run away from me with the pliers still attached to her ear. She was SCREAMING! OMG, I felt SO BAD. I held on to the pliers though, I didn't want to have to do this again. Once I removed them I grabbed her and smeared more ink on. Then I took a break. My heart was beating so hard. My poor Cher!!!! The chickens were freaking out and "baa-gawking" all over the place.

After his mom's ordeal, this is where Rennie ended up, in the neighbors yard.

Not so funny anymore huh Rennie?!?!?

After a short recess I decided to get going with Joplin. Stop procrastinating! Maybe she'll be ok, like her dad! Yeah... Ok, re-read the previous paragraph. Joplin takes after her mom. POOR BABY!! Afterwards we were both shaking and covered in ink. I was SO HAPPY that I didn't have any more rabbits to tattoo!!!! (At least today).

Joplin post-tattoo... Poor eyes bugging out

Yeah, so that was my adventure today. I am planning on tattooing any "keeper" rabbits in the future, just because, well, you HAVE to if you want to keep track of a bunch of identical white rabbits. But I will NEVER take it for granted! *Deep breath* I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day!! After I go out back and give these three some carrot.

A Typical Snowy Morning

2009-02-21T13:08:00.010-05:00

"Come on Mom!!!!!"

(Yes, that is a Steelers jacket!)

"Get with it Lady! Feed Us!!!"

"Oh yeah, nom nom nom..."

"Oooh! Am I getting fed! YAY!"

(This is why we call him Chuckles)

"Hey, is that midget getting some food?
What is it? I'm not sure I approve!"

"Me either, lets check this out..."

"What about US?!?!?!"

"Oh sure, feed the bachelors last, we see how it is..."

Now, finally, it's time for MY breakfast!

The Boys Last Day...

2009-02-09T17:02:00.006-05:00

This morning I went to the store and bought some freezer bags for the boys. I was planning on butchering them this afternoon, once the sun came out. As I was waiting for the clouds to blow away I got a phone call. The man I had been talking to about getting a Californian buck was calling me to see if I still had the two boys available! Talk about saved by the bell! About 20 minutes after he called the sun came out. If he had called any later they would have been bunny burgers!!!

BUT... when he showed up to get the boys he had a TRUCKLOAD of rabbits... Yes, I gave in to temptation... I traded one of the boys for this ADORABLE rex doe. Isn't she CUTE? They have really short dense fur that makes them feel like velvet. Plus, they are commonly used as meat rabbits! SCORE! I'm going to breed her with Sonny and see what happens. (Since Sonny is an albino all the babies will have their mothers coloring - hopefully they'll inherit the texture too!). I have a sneaking suspicion that she is already pregnant though... she has a HUGE stomach and her little teats are sticking through her fur. I put a nest box in there just to be on the safe side. We'll see!! (She was sold to the dealer as part of a foursome - 3 girls and 1 boy - so if she is preggers they will probably be purebred!)

So the boys were saved and I have a new girl! Since I haven't had much time with her yet, she's still unnamed. Any ideas?

Our Egg Sign... and a Rabbit Rumble

2009-02-02T20:10:00.004-05:00

It occurred to me the other day that I hadn't posted a picture of the new sign I made!
In other news, the baby rabbits hormones have kicked in! The two males who have been sharing a cage are now separated! I was filling up the feeders and generall putzing around near the hutches when I noticed that the two boys were... um... "overly excited". That was ok, I mean, they weren't hurting each other... But then it escalated into all out fighting! They would run from either side of the cage and RAM each other! There were chunks of bunny fur flying!!! So, now they're separated.

Lesson learned! I will NOT keep babies this long again! (btw: they are just under 4 months old). I am planning on "taking care of business" some time this week. :(

Rennie Rabbit and Molly

2009-01-14T13:15:00.001-05:00

Some pictures I took this morning... for your amusement... :). By the way, those marks on Rennie's side aren't from Molly, they are pee from him hanging out underneath his parents' hutch. Ewwww.... acid rain...

Super Bunny

Renegade Rabbit

2009-01-13T12:43:00.001-05:00

We have an escapee!! One of the three males from Cher's litter flew the coop day before yesterday and has made himself quite at home in the pine trees behind the hutches. He's having a blast and seems to find it very funny that, try as I might, I can't get my hands on him!

He's figured out that the poop piles under the hutch are nice and warm!

We've decided (well, he has actually, since I can't catch him!) that we're going to let him roam the yard and "see what happens". He's already made friends with our cat Molly, they've been playing tag all morning - he does as much of the chasing as she does! Since he's made himself stand out from the crowd he's earned a name... Rennie (AKA Renegade Rabbit).

See him laughing at me??

Here is a shot of the new hutch. It is a MESS because it's been snowing non-stop for over a week and neatening up is not a priority right now. There are three sections on the top (with trays under them to catch the droppings) and eventually it will have 2 grow-out pens on the bottom for future litters. The striped awning flips down to give them some protection from the wind. This is in a temporary location. I'm planning on building a shed near the wood pile this spring for all of the hutches to go into. You can see the other two boys in the last cage... they didn't get out... Rennie's a sneaky one!

Not a Creature Was Stirring... Except for the POSSUM!

2008-12-27T08:09:00.007-05:00

I hope everyone out there had a merry Christmas... we did. And to commemorate the occasion we took a "family portrait" by the tree.... complete with Rambo! Of COURSE we had to have a chicken in it! Come on now... who are you talking to here? :)

ANYWAY! I haven't written in a little while, so I have some catching up to do! After what happened last night I really have something to write about!

Last night around 11:00 I was standing out by the back door having a late night smoke in the thunderstorm that had just rolled in. It was raining pretty hard, but it was surprisingly warm out there. All of a sudden I heard a ruckus coming from the coop. The roosters in the bachelor pen were making scared noises. I ran out back (as fast as I could through the mud in my boyfriends ginormous shoes) and shined my flashlight into the pen. There on top of the hut was a HUGE POSSUM!! I hurried as fast as I could back to the house and told my MIL what was going on and to get the gun. I grabbed my little .22 pistol and my .22 rifle, she grabbed her revolver. (You'd think we were going to fight a war or something). We hurried back down there and I tried to balance my flashlight (which was really a little LED clip on book light - but it was the only light I had with good batteries!) and tried to shoot the damn thing. I unloaded my .22 pistol on him - I hit him, but I couldn't get a head shot so he was just getting pissed off. Then I grabbed the revolver and tried again. It was really hard to see so again, I missed his head. The darn thing only had 3 bullets in it... so I moved on to my rifle. FINALLY I got a shot to his head and he started dying in earnest. It seemed like it took forever to do this and my hands were shaking. This is the first thing I've shot other than targets. I don't feel bad though. Napoleons little brother was found dead a few weeks ago and I think this was the culprit. The ironic thing is, the boys pen is the only one that still has netting over it... I guess that's only good to keep the hawks out!

*Sigh*

In other news I had built a new rabbit hutch to hold the boys and to accommodate whatever future breeders we decide to keep. It came out nicely! I'll post pictures soon. I found some old wooden doors someone was giving away in the front yard of an old house that was being refurbished. They made really nice sides to the hutch. I even used some old tin sheeting to made a poop-slide so I could eventually put some grow out cages in a lower level beneath the upper breeder cages.

Right now the three boy bunnies are in it growing up. They are just about 12 weeks old now and I think their time has come. We are keeping the one female to breed next year (I named her Joplin because Chastity just wouldn't have worked with her job description), but the boys really don't have a use other than as meat. It's sad... they are really sweet, but that's why I "made" them so I need to just toughen up and take care of business.

My neighbor shot a nice doe last week and saved me the hide - so I'm trying to tan it myself. With the weather the way it's been and with my not being able to keep the hide inside I'm not sure how well it will come out. It's in the back near the coop with a makeshift tin roof over it. It might not make it... but I want to try!

Well, I'm still coming down from the adrenaline... that bastard (excuse me) possum killed one of my boys... I try to show respect for animals, especially in death... but I just wish this one had minded his own business and gone and raided someones garbage can like a good self respecting possum. Leave my chickens alone!!

Completely Silly

2008-12-09T20:05:00.002-05:00

I'm away from my "farm" and I really miss them! I must... I took the time to create this silliness in their honor...

Transporting Eggs In Your Suitcase

2008-12-05T20:16:00.004-05:00

The Mighty Adventurer

Yeah, I did! I am visiting my parents back home and wanted to bring them some "real" eggs... but with all the restrictions on what you can bring on an airplane I was a little nervous. I called the airline and was told that I wasn't allowed to bring the eggs in my carry-on... but I could in my checked luggage! (What, are these eggs or hand grenades?!?) Anyway, just to be on the safe side I overpacked... I brought 4 dozen eggs in egg cartons (I have soft-sided suitcase!). Each egg carton was wrapped in papertowels then taped into it's own garbage bag. Then I nestled them nicely into my clothes and PRAYED!

Guess what? ONLY 5 BROKE!! Crazy right? Oh, and paper/cardboard cartons hold up better in cargo holds than the foam ones. All of the eggs that broke were in foam egg cartons.

The luggage inspectors must have thought I was mental!! :)

Since I didn't have any farm-ish pictures to share... I decided to share a picture of me in the Nanook of the North early Christmas present my mom got me :) I LOVE IT!

Slightly OT... But fun!

2008-11-28T17:01:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone had a GREAT turkey day! We had a blast. Our good friend Courtney came over and then treated us to an off-Broadway show at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. We saw Spam-a-lot. It was GREAT! I love Monty Python!

One of the BEST parts of the show was this...

(I didn't take this video, it was the only one I could find! SORRY!)

Then of course I wanted to BUY one of the rabbits... but the prices were OUTRAGEOUS! I think I'll wait until they hit eBay!

I LOVE MONTY PYTHON! :)

EGGS!!!

2008-11-24T19:24:00.001-05:00

Check out all of the eggs we have... YIKES! I got a book with 200 egg recipes the other day and we need to start cooking! Once all of the chickens start laying consistenly we will be posting a sign near the road offering eggs for sale and a local organic market will be buying them from me for resale.

The scary thing is, the Americaunas just started laying today... and most of our hens are Americaunas! That means only about 12 of the 30-40 hens are laying now. When they all start laying we'll be buried!!

This basket has about 6 dozen eggs in it!

Aren't they pretty?
We got our first blue and our first green egg today.

Look at the MASSIVE ones to the right!!! One of our girls lays a double yolker every day... and they are HUGE!

Quick Update!

2008-11-13T11:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we got 6 eggs! Neat huh? They were all brown and I am pretty sure that they are all from our Black Sex Link hens... which is weird because they are from the second batch of chicks! This morning I did pick up one white egg which is either from the Brown Leghorns or one of the Silkies... Whoever it was it surprised them because it was on the floor :) One of the Sex Links is a double yolker! We've already gotten 3 HUGE eggs from her (not to mention the normal sized eggs she's produced)! Not bad for such a young girl!

Today I'm starting on my new rabbit hutch. Since we are keeping two girls from this litter and plan on buying a Californian buck we need more space. I lucked out though and saw some free doors on the side of the road. They are those great old solid oak doors and will make EXCELLENT walls! I'm going to try to make this hutch a "double decker" with "poop slides" under the upper floor. The bottom floor will probably be 2 large cages that we can use to raise the babies until they reach 10 weeks. I am big into recycling materials, so a lot of this hutch is going to be made out of "found" items. It's more fun building this way! It makes you think! :)

Sadness :(

2008-11-08T18:33:00.003-05:00

Last time I posted I mentioned that one of the baby bunnies had died. Well three days ago I found another one, not dead, but partially paralyzed!! I had noticed that they were jumping up onto the door that separated the two sections to sit with their mother. I think they both fell off! I found the first dead baby right under the door, but at that time I didn't know they could get up there!

So the other day I removed the door, and today I wired the hole up, so now Cher and her remaining 4 babies are locked into the larger side of the cage. Today I also ended the little paralyzed ones suffering. I was hoping that the paralysis was caused by inflammation and would go away, but it didn't, and I couldn't bear to see him suffer.

So, we're down to four out of six. Sigh... all I can say is live and learn. Hopefully someone will read this before building a cage and not try to get fancy like I did.

Don't Do This!!

Bunnies at 3 Weeks Old

2008-10-31T18:13:00.006-04:00

I weighed the whole litter today and can you believe they are 5lbs? Not each, don't get too excited... but that's almost a pound each! Not bad!

After I finished my torture session (handling, weighing, checking them out) I put them back in their hutch and walked over to the chickens... I glanced back and saw this...

Three of them are very brave and are hopping all around, pestering their mother, EATING FOOD and DRINKING WATER. I can't believe how fast they mature!

Dad, Mom and Baby

The chickens are enjoying new heights now that the netting is off... Now they can reach all those nice tasty leaves they couldn't get to before!

On a sad note, today (Sunday) I found one of the baby bunnies dead in the hutch. His little bum was all pasted up, it looked like he had some diareah (despite not getting any greens or other strange food)... Maybe he couldn't handle the diet change. I had noticed the other day, when I weighed them, that one of them looked a little smaller and his eyes were a little squinty. I bet it was that one. Poor little guy.

SNOW!

2008-10-29T16:34:00.005-04:00

We had our first big snow last night and I found a really good reason NOT to use bird netting over the top of the run...

I went to check on the roosters in their little house (it was about 10:00AM) and they were still in there! I threw them some cracked corn and checked on them a few more times. They didn't come out all day!The hens were all locked up until I was able to get all of that heavy wet netting removed... Then I opened the pop-hole expecting them to charge out like they always do. There was a massive rush to the door (per usual) but then a big traffic jam. They would NOT go out! They did eat a little of the snow though... after an hour of looking at it.

Our hens are really starting to lay! This one settled in to 4 different nest boxes before she left a HUGE egg... I mean it was MASSIVE. I picked it up and it reminded me of a duck egg. Not bad for her first! (Oh, and if you're wondering about the wall art... its a recycled doll house! They LOVE IT!)

I cheated a little here... this is her egg compared with a silkie egg (which are small) But seriously, this egg had some WEIGHT!

One last funny note. I was wondering why Blueberry hadn't laid any more eggs... Well I found out this morning. Underneath one of the banks of nest boxes there is a "floorboard" I put in to keep them from laying under there. This morning I heard someone in there rustling around. At first I thought it was a big mouse, then I heard a cluck. I pried the board away and there was Blueberry... sitting on 3 eggs and ready to lay another one!! Good thing I caught her! I REALLY don't want chicks in December!

Our First Egg (From our chicks) and Bunnies at 2 Weeks!

2008-10-24T14:37:00.001-04:00

Yesterday one of our black sex link pullets (who we call Blueberry) was clucking up a storm in the coop, digging around in one of the nest boxes and tucking the fake eggs underneath her. We KNEW she was getting ready to lay an egg, she just was taking her own sweet time... I checked on her all day until it was dark... nothing! But this morning, on the floor, was this nice little pale brown egg! HOORAY! This is the first egg from a hen we've raised from a chick.

The bunnies are 2 weeks old today. Their eyes are open and they are getting HUGE! They are so adorable. Because they've grown so much I had a much easier time counting them. There are 6. They should be coming out of the nest box soon. Cher has been an EXCELLENT mom!

My MIL and I went out to the hutch and she wanted to hold one. She was trying to see if it was a girl or a boy.. I said "Don't aim that end at your face!" and POW the little guy peed on her. She hurried up and put him back in the box. I said "You should have held on to that one... he's empty!"

Just a Quick Update!

2008-10-22T17:52:00.002-04:00

I just HAD to tell you all that I checked on the baby bunnies today and their eyes are open! They are SO CUTE! I'll take pictures when they are 2 weeks old... I can't BELIEVE how fast they're growing! We are planning on getting a Californian buck soon.. we're going to name him "The Big Kahuna"

Oh, and our little Clara has laid a tiny egg for us every day since we brought her home. She goes in the little love shack and cackles up a storm. She's so PROUD of herself! Too cute!

Anyway... I'll post pictures on Friday of the bunnies.

The Bunnies are One Week Old Today!

2008-10-17T16:27:00.003-04:00

The bunnies are getting HUGE! I had a little scare yesterday... I noticed that the mother rabbit was sitting up on the open partition door and using it as a toilet (YUCK!) so I decided to close it and shut her into the side where her babies are. Well, she was NOT happy! While I was elsewhere, she dug and dug at the bottom of the door and was able to rip the bottom mesh away from the wood. When I came back to check on her she was hopping around the yard! I caught her and closed her into the secure section of the cage until I fixed the bottom. I got my hammer and fence staples and started fixing it (by climbing under the hutch). While I was under there I saw one of the babies lying in the grass! He was still alive (but very cold and a little blue!). I stuck him right back in the nest box - he's still in there and is doing fine! I think he latched on to her while he was nursing and was dragged out of the nest-box - then he fell out of the hole she had ripped in the floor. *SIGH!* Needless to say I've reinforced the floor and have decided to let her have her elevated bathroom - for now. Once the babies are gone she's in for a shock though!! If all goes well with this litter I think we'll be getting another female, so I'll have to close that door. I'll need the space!

Anyway! They are just a week old today and have doubled in size! It's amazing! They are SO wiggly now I had a really hard time getting a picture!

In other news, I've let the bachelors out to roam the yard. They are having a BLAST destroying our gardens and eating the grass. They are sticking around and seem to be REALLY enjoying themselves!!

This was a nicely mulched flower bed...

We got a new hen today!

2008-10-16T20:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday my MIL and I stopped at a house in town that had a "Fresh Eggs" sign in their yard. When we pulled in we saw a big flock of Rhode Island Reds and in the back there was another flock of silkies with about 10 babies! We got to talking to the woman and she said that they had bought 3 silkies from a local Amish woman and they had bred like CRAZY. She asked if we wanted one for FREE and OF COURSE we said yes! So, this morning I came home with Clara, one of the original Amish hens who is named after the Amish woman who used to own her. She is also the mom of all of the chicks... so she'll be very useful next year if we want to hatch any of our own eggs. Right now Clara is living with Pani, Fluffernutter (who might also be a girl) and Capone, the little black bantam cochin roo. Oh, we also bought a dozen eggs from the woman (who was really nice)... for $1.50!!! Here are some pics!

Clara

Fluffernutter and Clara

A really cute pic of SplashEver see a green chicken??

More Bunny Pics (and Video!)

2008-10-11T14:30:00.003-04:00

This morning I decided to take some "real" pictures of the new babies. Since I didn't want to leave my scent on them I used a clean pair of cloth gloves that I had rubbed in the mother rabbits fur to handle them. While I had the gloves on I tried to count them - but it's not easy! I think there are 8 or 9 in there. In a week or so it'll be easier because they'll be a LOT more active! They are only a day old but are already starting to get white peach fuzz all over their bodies. Surprisingly, they also make a LOT of noise! If you turn up your volume when you watch the video you should be able to hear them :)

We have BUNNIES!

2008-10-10T09:57:00.001-04:00

Well, she's done it! This morning I was in the yard doing my morning rounds and I glanced at the rabbit hutch and saw PILES of white hair everywhere. I peeked into the nest box and saw them! I have no idea how many there are (there are at least 8 in there... maybe even 10) . I know the picture isn't that good but I didn't want to disturb them too much. Hooray!!

Egg Freshness

2008-10-05T16:19:00.001-04:00

How do we know if an egg is fresh?

As an egg ages the air cell at the top (the fat end) of the egg enlarges - so an easy way to test the freshness of an egg is is to float it! The maximum suggested storage time for whole eggs in a carton is 5 weeks. You can store hard boiled eggs for 2 weeks.

This is also interesting:

Caloric Content of Eggs

PeeWee: 47 calories
Small: 56 calories
Medium: 66 calories
Large: 75 calories
Extra Large: 84 calories
Jumbo: 94 calories

How To Peel A Hardboiled Egg - The EASY way!

2008-10-05T15:46:00.003-04:00

Instructions:

Cover the eggs with water and boil on low for about 12 minutes
Cool the eggs by placing them in cold water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and ice. The baking soda raises the pH level and reduces adherence. If you choose not to use baking soda, be sure to move the eggs into cold water with plenty of ice immediately after boiling
Crack the top of the egg and remove a small piece
Crack the bottom (wide end) of the egg and remove a small piece
Hold the egg in your hand and blow vigorously into the narrow end of the egg, which will expel it out the wide end

Doesn’t get much easier than that! Just be ready to catch it when it comes out…

Here is a video to show you how... It's really amazing!

Our New Kitten

2008-10-04T18:23:00.003-04:00

I forgot to mention in my last post that we got a new kitten! One of our cats dissapearred last month and our older cat Elvis just hasn't been the same... So my MIL was on the look-out for a new cat to bring home. She saw this little girl at the feed mill and told me to go pick her up! We've named her Molly and she is a SWEETHEART! Now we have two black cats... Aren't black cats supposed to bring luck?

She isn't allowed outside yet

She is getting ready to pounce

Here are Elvis and Lucky
Lucky has been gone for a month... We don't think he'll be back. :(

Edited 10/17/08 To Add: I found out from one of our neighbors that her female cat has Feline Leukemia and has had it for some time. This is the same female that Lucky had a litter with this summer. The last time we saw Lucky he had lost a LOT of weight, even though we were feeding him very well. So, we think he died from leukemia. Poor kitty... :( We will be getting Elvis and Molly vaccinated for this!!!!

Fall Is Here!

2008-10-01T20:41:00.001-04:00

The leaves are changing, the nights are getting cooler and rooster are coming out of the woodwork! As it turns out we have 13 roosters!! Can you believe it?? I had to build a bachelor pen to keep some of them in so they weren't all pestering the hens. We are going to keep 5 roosters.. Most of the others are going to live with a nice older man who likes to keep roosters as pets. He has a lot of land and a chicken guarding dog to watch over them. But for now, they are staying in quarantine. We are keeping "Hans and Frans" the 2 big white easter eggers as pets who we will let roam around during the day.

The Bachelor Pad

Choo Choo with HIS emerging comb.
He has a tiny little crow too (we're keeping him!)

Rambo - He's going to be VERY handsome!

Hans or Frans... Can't tell them apart!!

Audrey Hepburn who THANKFULLY looks to be a hen!

Our still unnamed Danish Leghorn

Last but not least in my latest news... Cher looks like she is FINALLY preggers! She has been gathering up any straw or grass that we've given her and has been lining her nest box with it. She has never done this before so I'm HOPING we'll have some babies in the next week or so! Cross your fingers!!!

Here's "The Dane" again... I thought this was a funny picture...
Looks like he's sticking out a massive tongue!

Ok, even I think this is ridiculous...

2008-09-05T10:21:00.001-04:00

Pet Your Chicken Over the Internet. Literally.

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Sep 4th 2008 at 9:44AM

Before anything else is said, we feel obligated to state the obvious: This is the single greatest technology ever created. Now moving on...

The geniuses at Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore, have devised away to provide your pet poultry with all the TLC it can handle, from wherever it is you might be. Simply put, they have made it possible to pet your chicken/rooster while away from home. How is this possible? We're soooooo glad you asked.

Essentially, this is an advanced, two-part cybernetics system that uses both visualization and tactile sensation to achieve its goal.

Part one is the office system. This consists of a "doll" (model chicken) which moves around on a mechanical positioning table. The doll moves around according to the actual chicken's movements in its respective location(your home, backyard, etc). The owner pets the doll. This leads us to part two.

Part two consists of a "pet dress" worn by the chicken which actually transmits tactile sensations to the chicken when the doll at your office is petted. When you pet the doll at your office, the chicken in your backyard gets the sensation of being touched. It's a real-time interaction. Cool right?

We understand there is probably no market for this, and frankly my dear, we don't give a damn.

(Swiped from www.switched.com)

We've Expanded the Run!

2008-08-21T14:59:00.003-04:00

Our lights had been flickering so we called the power company. The transformer for our house (and our neighbors!) is right next to the chicken coop and is COVERED in trees!! So last week the tree guys came out and chopped a bunch of trees down and topped some others. This was GREAT! I was planning on extending the run anyway and already had the fencing, so I found out what day they were coming and ripped half of the run down so they could get in there and spray painted lines on trees to let them know where I'd like the stumps cut. Now the chickens have a lot more room and even have some underbrush to play in and trample! The guys mulched up all of the branches they cut down and it has made a GREAT ground cover for the run!

Check it out...

They LOOOOVE to sunbathe!

No, that black one isn't dead... She's having a sun bath!

Can you find the camo chicken in this picture? I've named him Rambo!

In other news, the little chicken with the infected eye is looking LOTS better! I've posted a new picture of him in my online album if you want to see :)

The Roosters Are Crowing!

2008-08-16T10:33:00.003-04:00

Well, some of the boys have started crowing! I got a video of it this morning. The first crow is from the big silver easter egger (off screen) who I was hoping beyond hope was a hen... Nope! The second one to crow is the little guy with the big comb, then his brother with the smaller comb. They aren't very melodious... actually they sort of sound like dying sheep... hopefully they'll get better!

The other crower...
In other news, the rabbits have bred! We'll see if we get some babies in a month. Cross your fingers! :)

We Got Our New Bunnies!

2008-08-10T16:16:00.003-04:00

Meet Sonny & Cher!

I met with a local "rabbit guy" who found me a very nice pair of New Zealands! They are both about a year old and are proven breeders. Cher has already had 2 litters and is a great mom. She has a number tattooed in her ear which will make it easier to tell her apart from Sonny. She settled right in and only gave me a couple of irritated foot stomps.

Sonny on the other hand... Well, he wants to see me dead! I swear he's the rabbit from Monty Python's Holy Grail... He already clawed me pretty thoroughly. When I put him in his cage I saw blood on his foot and thought he had hurt himself! Nope, it was mine!! Oh well, he's still very handsome... Even if he gives me constant dirty looks...

Look familiar?

Plague Strikes!

2008-08-03T07:59:00.003-04:00

So about 10 days ago I noticed that one of the younger cockerels was squinting. Then I saw another one closing his eye. I thought that they were fighting (like boys do) and had poked each other. But, as the days went on I noticed that the eyes were bubbly and getting a little crusty.

I grabbed the 2 perps and separated them, each in their own little dog crate. I added vitamins and antibiotics to their water and hoped for the best.

Over the next 2 days there really wasn't any improvement. I also noticed 2 more chicks with the same thing - so they were removed from the main coop and added to the dog crates.

Thanks to the EXCELLENT people on the BYC Forum (see links to the right) I was able to discuss the problem with people who had "been there" and found out what to do. I went to Tractor Supply and got some injectable Tylan 50 (anti-microbial, bacterial, biotic) and some terrimycin eye ointment. Because of the forum I knew that 1/2cc was the normal dose for a chicken - so I gave my little ones 1/4cc once a day for 5 days. I also flushed their eyes with saline and applied the ointment daily. I saw almost an IMMEDIATE improvement!!! I was so happy!

Now I won't post pics of the sick chickens... because some of them are pretty gross - but if you want to see what it looks like click here. Here is a pic of one of the easter-egger cockerels when he was almost all better :)
Now I've released 3 of them back to the flock - they look GREAT! But, I'm keeping the Lakenvelder cockerel for a while longer. The infection is gone, but he has a big scab over his right eye and I need to get it open so it doesn't heal shut. He still has a ways to go. I'll keep you updated!!

Rehabbed Rabbit Hutch

2008-07-30T07:29:00.000-04:00

My neighbors next door neighbors (who are very nice people!) just lost their last rabbit. He was very old and had to be put down. He lived in a HUGE rabbit hutch that used to have 3 rabbits in it - but they too were very old and passed away. They decided that they didn't want to have rabbits again and offered me the hutch! I said YES! (of course!)

When I brought it home it was SERIOUSLY unimpressive and my MIL wanted to burn it. I don't blame her - it was a mess...

But I was inspired and KNEW I could make something really nice out of it! So I got to work. I SCRUBBED IT OUT, removed the rotten wood and the too-small gauge mesh on the front and the rotten mesh on the floor...

Once it was all clean and dry I started with my "master plan". This is going to be used to raise meat rabbits. One boy, one girl and a section to raise the babies to the right size.

The door in the back was used only as an access panel and was left closed all the time. I decided that I would use it as cross ventilation so I put a hinge in the LARGE door so it could fold up against the back of the hutch in the summer and be closed in the winter.

Here it is! All done! Looks pretty nice I think... nothing like the shack it was when it got here! It makes Chubs hutch look TINY! This new one is REALLY big. I actually sat in it to put up the inside walls...
I decided to put this door between the moms section and the center section. While she's pregnant and is nursing I can leave the door open to give her more room - once the babies are weaned I can shut the door and they can grow up in the familiar center section.

So anyway! That's my latest project... Now I just have to find my new bunnies! We're going to a local fair this week, so I might find them there.

Who knows what I'll be building next - the neighbors (same ones!) just did some construction on their house and gave me a big pile of leftover lumber... MUAHAHA!!!

Oh Pani... So Much Trouble!

2008-07-16T16:01:00.003-04:00

Here is the video I promised of the invader in Pani's coop! The little bugger is still stealing food!

In other news I think Pani is eating her own eggs! I've rigged up a slanted floor that will roll the egg underneath a mesh floor where she can't reach it. We'll see if this works! I really don't want to get rid of her... It looks like she may be living the single life for quite a while. I don't want her teaching the other chickens how delicious eggs are!!! Maybe someday we'll get a male Sultan and breed her. We'll just have to have the incubating Silkies in another "sub-run". Oh well! All this means is that I get to build some more! YAY!

The Chicken Song

2008-07-16T12:32:00.001-04:00

Sorry... haha!

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/chickensong"&amp;gt;The Chicken Song&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; from &amp;lt;a href="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/"&amp;gt;Albino Blacksheep&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Marilyn Monroe has a Boo-Boo!

2008-07-09T15:28:00.002-04:00

Well, I've named the 2 Turken chicks we picked up at the chicken sale. The blond one is Marilyn Monroe and the brunette is Audrey Hepburn.

Marilyn developed a bump on her neck and I thought "Oh great, naked AND warty!" but it turns out it might be an ingrown feather. I was watching them the other day and noticed that she had scratched the lump and it was open! The other chicks were grabbing the wound and twisting it . OUCH!! So I have her in isolation and have medicated the wound. From what I hear it should take about a week to heal up.

In other (happier) news, the male leghorns are REALLY noticeable!! Their combs are getting HUGE! The hatchery said they sent 2 males, but it looks like they sent 3. *sigh*

They are even doing little rooster face-offs where they just STARE at each other... They think they're so tough... They're only 4 weeks old!! Ahh!!

For comparison, this is what the girl leghorns look like right now... Just a TINY little comb...

Pani has had a visitor in her new home... A wild bird has figured out where her food dish is and has been pilfering her pellets!!! BAD BIRD!! Pani doesn't seem to really care.. and actually just looks confused by the whole thing. I have some video of the theft... I'll add it later on (when the internet is better behaved!!)

That's all for now! I'm sure I'll post again soon! :)

We went to a "Chicken Yard Sale"

2008-07-01T22:07:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post about this! My MIL and I went to a chicken yard sale about a week ago and saw a lot of neat things! They had peacocks for sale, EMU EGGS, mini-donkeys with carts, geese, pheasant, quail, bunnies, goats... It was really fun! Unfortunately I was so excited to look at everything I forgot to take my camera out of my bag! DUH!!

Ok, I admit it... there were chicks there... very cute chicks... and... well... I came home with 4 more chickens!! AHHH!!! We have 51 CHICKENS NOW!! AHHHH!!!! But they were so CUTE! We got 2 more silkies (these are show quality - REALLY NICE!) and 2 turkens... better known as Naked Necks... God they are homely... I had to get them... They are so UGLY!! Hahaa!!

Here are some pics... ENJOY!

Splash and Choo-Choo

That night Splash & Choo-Choo climbed in with the babies and snuggled them... Good moms in the making!!!

These babies will need scarves!

Come on... How could I resist this ugliness??? They are so gross they're cute...

Oh, and look how big the others are now!!!

Look Who Else Has Chickens!! (Martha!!)

2008-07-01T12:34:00.002-04:00

She has almost 200!!!! She even has a few white Polish Sultans like Pani!

Pani's Mini-Coop

2008-06-29T17:45:00.009-04:00

I was really getting tired of Pani's little dog crate house, so I decided to turn the old table saw table that we had into a little mini-coop for her! I used the old metal table frame, some scrap plywood, some roofing paper, old tin sheeting and a piece of semi transparent fiberglass... I think it came out pretty nicely! Eventually I'm planning on using this for a "Silkie Love-Shack!" so I thought the love bird artwork was fitting. (As is the tin roof... if anyone remembers the lyrics to "Love Shack"!!)

The other chicks love to nap underneath the mini-coop. They spend a lot of time under there in the afternoon when the sun is shining from that direction.

We Have An Egg!!!

2008-06-16T22:37:00.001-04:00

Panyah laid her first egg today! I was working on her new mini-coop and glanced over into her run... There is was... sitting in the dirt in the middle of the run! I was so excited!!!! I don't think she knew what was happening.. this is her first egg.

The shell is VERY thin but normally a hens first egg is small and odd in some way. She is a bantam chicken so her eggs will be smaller than other "normal" chickens anyway. I think she stepped on it which is why it's dented. When I picked it up it was very soft and felt like it wanted to collapse. I've given her some oyster shells in her food and am going to the feed store ASAP to get her some "big girl" food (AKA: layer pellets). They have more calcium than normal chicken scratch or grower feed.

HOORAY!!!!!

First Day Outside!

2008-06-06T09:35:00.004-04:00

The chickies had their first day outside today and LOVED it!!!!!! Once they were brave enough to go out the door that is... :) Here are some pictures... Enjoy!!

"Is it safe?"

"What did you find?"

NOT Impressed!!!!

Tessa wanted to "get" them SO BAD!!

Check out the mohawk!

Mmmm.... grass!!

Got My Hatchery Replacement Chicks!

2008-06-04T12:55:00.004-04:00

I got my new babies! ALL OF THEM WERE ALIVE!! They even stuck 4 extras in the box! (Must have felt guilty because of the last shipment!). We got some new breeds... I'm not really sure what they all are though... other than CUTE! The males are even marked with "stylish" blue paint. Makes life a little easier for me!

They have all been sucking down the sugar water and the feed... They even seem friskier than the last bunch. They must have had a kinder truck driver this time.

Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

The older girls checking out the newbies

What a BIG difference 3 weeks makes!!

Lakenvelder Cockerels

Danish Brown Leghorn Cockerels

"Easter Egger" Cockerels

Mystery Pullet #1

Mystery Pullet #2
Mystery Pullet #3Gratuitous Silkie Shot!

4 New Chicks, Others Getting Big-Girl Feathers!

2008-06-03T08:48:00.003-04:00

Because three of my silkies that I got from a local breeder died so young she replaced them for me. I picked them up yesterday. I asked her for some "started" chicks this time so that they had a better chance of being healthy. Because she only had two "colored" silky babies she gave me two cochin babies as a bonus! So now instead of three new babies I have four! They are all about 5 days old. Here are some pictures of them from their first few hours home.

Black Cochin & Splash/Partridge Silkie

Black Cochin Getting a Drink

Black Silkie

HUNGRY!

The older babies look so BIG next to the new ones! I didn't realize how much they had grown!

Older White Cochin

Check out the red chest feathers!
This one looks like she'll be silver

Big Feet & LONG Legs!

HEY! WAKE UP!The replacement chicks from the hatchery shipped out yesterday! They'll be here any day now!can't wait to see those babies next to their older relatives! It's AMAZING how fast they grow!!

Sad Silkie News... But Nice Pics to Make Me Feel Better

2008-05-29T12:25:00.008-04:00

Well, the last small silkie died the other day... I was so sad. The breeder has offered to replace the three babies that died. The remaining silkie (who is a week or two old) and the cochin are thriving and mixing well with the other babies.

On to happier things! Since the new babies from the hatchery will be shipped out on June 2nd and I had the plexiglass panel in place on the brooder for a while I thought it was time to integrate the hen with the babies.

WELL... she wasn't that bad. She pecked at them a little bit but didn't chase them. The problem was that the chicks were so afraid of her that they wouldn't go near the feeders and stayed in the corner. Whenever they came out of the corner she would herd them back and sit there watching them. When she lived at the farm she was in a chain link dog kennel with a dog house to roost in at night... So she is now out in the run with a dog kennel to sleep in, at least until the babies get a little bigger.

(The dog crate is now up on stilts and covered with a tarp... she likes that better!)

Meanwhile the babies are LOVING all the room! They are pecking everywhere, "sparring" (figuring out the pecking order) and digging through the chips. They are having a blast.

I added plastic strips around the chicken and people doors to keep the drafts out and have hung a solar night light in the coop. Chickens are attracted to the light and will make them more likely to come home to roost once they are allowed outside.

They have even figured out the "big kids" feeder and waterer! They are so smart!

Naptime :)

I have been working hard putting in a veggie garden... it's definitely got to be bigger next year! We've even put in 2 grape vines! One concord and one seedless green. We also have a small windmill that was made by my BFs father... Don't FARMS have windmills?

Right now we have a dwarf macintosh and a plum tree. We are planning on getting another apple and maybe a peach or a pear (probably both :)

The flowers are still blooming like crazy around here!! I was talking to my MIL and have her 3/4 of the way convinced that we should get some Guinea Fowl to keep the ticks, Japanese beetles and other insect populations down... *evil grin*

That's all for now. The new chickies are being shipped on Monday! I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope I have a loud box when I get to the post office this time... Cross your fingers for me!!

The chicks are growing FAST!

2008-05-26T20:19:00.006-04:00

Look what I got for my birthday!! Eggcellent!! (sorry, couldn't help it!)

Well anyway, I haven't posted in a few days... I've been super busy around here... and had some sad things happen... 2 of the tiny silkie babies died over the last week. The little black one and one of the white ones. The bigger white silkie and the tiny splash silkie are doing fine. So is the cochin. I think because they are/were so much younger than the other chicks they needed it warmer. When I saw the older chicks sitting far away from the heat lamp I adjusted it to make it cooler... forgetting that I had those tinies in there. *sigh* I have the last tiny silkie chick in a sort of hospital brooder to keep him quiet (aka not getting stepped on by the bigger chicks!) and warmer. He has Dum-Dum (the Australorp runt) for company...

The chicks are really growing! They are exactly 2 weeks old today! Can you believe the wing and tail feathers?? The first picture is of the same chick I am holding in the first chick pictures post... That was less than 2 weeks ago!! They grow SO FAST!

We call the one with the white eyebrows "Penguin"... she walks VERY upright!

I made a few changes to the brooder this week too... Since I have this hen in the coop and plan on mixing her with the babies in about 2 weeks (when the new babies come) I decided to add a plexiglass window to the brooder. Panya PECKED AND PECKED at those babies when she first saw them... I was alarmed! What if she does that when they're in the same "room"? But, after the first day the novelty must have worm off... Now she is more likely to be sitting next to the window just watching "Chick TV". Hopefully in 2 weeks she'll be completely bored with them. This window also helps them from being as scared of me as they have been. Now they can see my legs approaching and I'm less like a giant hawk swooping down on them.

The babies had been perching on their waterer and trying to get onto the heat lamps so I decided they would like a mini-roost in there... I was right! They LOVE it!

It was really warm out today so I made Panya go outside. (I am still trying to figure out her name!). She ran around, ate grass... and stalked bugs! She had a lot of fun catching those ants!

Watching a tractor drive by

One last note! I finally finished burying the fence! The run is officially done and ready for the little ones to try it out in a few weeks! I also hung a bunch of old CDs from the overhead netting... Other than adding a wonderful disco atmosphere - it's practical! It confuses the hawks... sort of like a modern scarecrow! Oh and of course I had to plant more flowers!

Silkie Baby Pictures

2008-05-21T11:35:00.008-04:00

I took some pictures yesterday afternoon of the new babies... Enjoy!

Splash Silkie (2 days old)

Black Silkie (2 days old)

Cochin (1 week old?)

I also finished putting up the chicken wire around the base of the fence and started putting the netting up over the top of the run to keep the hawks out!

I thought this would be funny too... haha!

This is the only picture I have of what Chubs home-made hutch used to look like. He came into my life unexpectedly and all I had was some old pallets, wire and a chainsaw... So his hutch was kinda ugly...

I ripped it apart the other day, replaced a lot of the boards, built a hinged roof (with roofing instead of plastic!) and repainted it to match the coop... It looks a LOT better now!!

That's all for now! I'm sure I'll post more soon!

Got my SILKIES!

2008-05-19T21:50:00.004-04:00

Let me preface this post with - I have been outside working on the chicken run and my rabbit hutch all day and I'm TIRED!

Yesterday Paul and I drove to Popson Farm to get our silkie babies! It was quite a drive, but we swung through some of the towns we used to visit to do some shopping. It was a fun day!

Anyway! We made it to the farm in the afternoon and got to see all of their chickens, geese, turkeys... and PEAFOWL! Very neat!

Ameracuana (Easter Egg) Rooster

Peacock!

Silkies in their breeding pen.

Silkie Rooster

Leah (Mrs. Popson!) and I pored over the brooders and picked out 5 baby "silkies". I got two whites, one black and one splash (hopefully). Wait, that only adds up to 4... yeah... well when I got home I noticed that one of the babies didn't have the black beak and feet or the extra toe that all silkies have. After emailing Leah it turns out that I also picked up a cochin by mistake! Oh well! "She" (crosses fingers) is really cute anyway (and does have fuzzy feet!). I haven't had the babies out of the brooder yet to take good pictures.. since a few of them were BORN YESTERDAY I didn't want to mess with them too much. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow if it's warm out. :) Until then you'll have to enjoy this... (those infrared heat lamps are not the best for photos!)

As a bonus Leah had a solitary white Sultan hen that she wanted to sell. So I got her too! She's really pretty and is settling in very nicely.. even though she's all alone in the coop (apart from the cheeping box of peeps). Since she is a Polish breed we have named her "Ponyah" which means Lady in Polish. I have no idea how to spell that... so I went with phonetics...

I do have pictures of her!!

Check out the hairdo... On the way home, traveling down the same road we had been on 30 minutes before we came around a corner and saw THIS...

A freaking PENNSYLVANIA REDWOOD! Keep in mind that Paul is about 6'5... so it was no sapling! I had to drive my truck under that beast.. it was scary! (A local came a long before we left and said he would call the authorities to have it removed).

I plan on taking pictures of the babies tomorrow... and Chubs remodeled hutch (which came out really nicely!). I finished running a two foot half buried border of chicken wire around the bottom of the whole chicken run today. I also started on the netting over the top... but it got dark out and I had to stop.

Well, I'm off to check on the babies and slip Chubs some leftover salad :)

My Rabbit Thinks He's In Heaven

2008-05-15T14:55:00.005-04:00

Just a quick (non-chick) related note. I finished putting up the welded wire fence and decided to let Chubs "check the perimeter". He is having a BLAST out there!

Tessa, om the other hand, is NOT HAPPY! She is very jealous!

Before the chicks are let loose in here I will be running a half-buried border of one inch chicken wire to make the openings smaller and to keep anything from digging into the run. I'll also be adding a big net to the top to keep the hawks out!

As a happy mistake the new guy at the feed store sold me "high tensile" welded wire instead of the usual lighter weight stuff! So I saved about $40... It was really hard to put up, but it'll last a LOT longer! It's really thick!!

My Chicks Have Arrived!

2008-05-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

Well, I went to the post office yesterday morning and they had my box of chickens! The lady that works there was peeking in the box and looked worried... the box was too quiet. She asked "How many did you order??" . It turns out that 14 out of the 25 were dead in the box (including the 2 special roosters I ordered).

When I got home I got them out of the box ASAP. One of them looked half dead and I was worried that she wouldn't survive. But this morning she is hopping around and eating! She is a little slower, smaller, and I think dumber, then the rest... but I think she's going to live!

I called the hatchery and will be getting a full replacement order on June 2nd. This Saturday I am going to a local breeder to pick up a few Silkies... They are ADORABLE! They are great mothers (even the roosters will hatch babies!) so if we want to hatch some eggs next year these Silkies will be the ones to do it!

They will look like this when they're grown... except that I am getting some different, rarer, colors... probably just one white one (which is the original color)...

Well, ANYWAY! Here are some pictures of my current babies!! Enjoy!

This is their brooder... all nice and toasty!

My boyfriend, who has been completely disinterested in the whole chicken idea (and has told me several times to stop talking about chickens!!)... LOVES them!! (Even though he won't admit it). He's already spent 4 or five sessions with them... and when I say "WITH THEM" I mean it! Look...

Yes, he is in the brooder with them! They climb all over him and peck his toes.. haha.. it's so cute!!

Creation of the Coop!

2008-04-18T22:04:00.001-04:00

My boyfriends mom was nice enough to donate her old garden shed to my insanity... so I've converted it into a coop! First I had to empty out all of the old stuff that was in there, and clean all of the scrap wood, metal, dead trees and various junk out of the "back-yard". Once I did that I installed the front walk, the partition wall, the nest boxes, window, back door(s) and built a nice little feed bin. Finally I painted the whole shed and the fence rails and planted some flowers in the front yard. On one rainy day I went a little nutty and decided that my chickens needed wallpaper... so I added some stencils to the walls! I thought they'd enjoy the rail fence, so I put that in the run too.

The coolest thing is, that so far all I've had to buy was one latch and the paint! Hooray for discarded wood and old garden fencing!! I also used an old utility sink and a water tank from our old water heater fora rain-catching water trough.

Here are some pics of my little project. I'll post baby pics as soon as they get here! (Before they enter their gawky teenage months!)