Adding to the Flock!

Despite the fact we have a little one on the way, we decided we'll also add to our flock this Spring!

However, this time, these chicks will NOT be raised in my spare bathroom. NO WAY JOSE!

Hubby will be making them a nice, warm enclosure within the chicken coop for them.

We already have 6 Golden Buffs and the ladies are wonderful. Still, in the winter with the cold weather and limited sunlight hours, they are laying 5-6 eggs a day. The are nice and very sociable....almost TOO sociable for me ;)

To add to our flock, we have decided on the following breeds.

The Easter Egg'er

This was one of hubby's choices. He wants to get the different colored eggs. *Note - the birds are also all different colors. And sorry, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but dang are they UG-LY!

The Delaware

I am not really sure how we decided on this breed. Hubby wanted a bird that layed white eggs but after going through the breeds offered by our local hatchery for white egg layers, either the availability didn't coincide with our date, or something about the breed was undesirable to us. So, we hopped back over the brown egg laying breeds and ended up with a white hen!

Either way, I have heard god things about this breed and they are cold and heat hardy which is a must for us!

The Barred Rock

This is a breed we both liked. We had it on our original list in last years order, but for reasons I cannot recall, we scratched it and just went with all Golden Buffs. Again, another breed that is supposed to be docile, a good egg layer and cold/heat hardy!

Because we will NOT be raising these chicks in our spare bathroom this year, we decided to order a total of 8, rather than 6, just in case of a casualty. Of course, this is something we'll do whatever we can to ensure it doesn't happen, however, the chances are still there even IF they were going to be raised in the bathroom.

I have come to realize that chickens can be a dime a dozen to take care of, but when you have a small flock and pretty much count on their daily egg output, one passing can be devastating. Because we choose to raise from birth, versus buying an already laying hen, there is precious time involved while that hen matures to laying age. And, heaven forbid, a predator comes in and wipes out your whole flock...or even half of it, well... I just couldn't imagine.

Speaking of predators, hubby keeps tossing around the idea of adding a roo. I am not ready for that yet. If someone could guarantee me he was friendly, docile and acted just like the hens when I was around, I'd say ok. But I am still learning to love these birds and with my luck, I'd have a rooster that wouldn't let me out my back door without fearing for my life!

For those of you Poultry Peeps out there that have roo's, do any of you have any experience with a Golden Buff, Easter Egg'er, Delaware or Barred Rock roo?

His Chicks

No, I am not joking.

This is my husband...

...cuddling with one of his chickens.

Him and 'Henny' have bonded. She leaves her flock to walk around the yard with him. They check out the apple trees, stroll the gardens, and make me gag!





Though he loves them all - and they hate that he does these things to them!

Chickens, anyone?

Mossy's 'Meet & Greet'

These photos are from Saturday, when the chickens were almost 8 weeks old, and when I almost had a stroke! Quite the elusive little ladies, no one was interested in a photo shoot.

It was time to walk the dogs and they were rather anxious about it. 

Since I didn't feel like wrangling them to get out the door [yes, they are bad dogs! I take full accountability], I opened it to let Mossy run out to my husband. 

Err...bad idea. I also forgot the chickens were out loose in the yard :/

Jay if you are reading, they love to roost on your 4-Wheeler ;)

One minute everything was fine, the next minute, Mossy is b-lining it to the coop where all the ladies had already ran for cover. And into the coop barn he darted, with hubby running after him yelling things like "MOSSSSYYYYY" and "THERE GOES MY CHICKENS!!!!"

I stood, as did the little man, in a dumbfounded horror. I was sick to my stomach. 

Shit. Now we were going to have to put one out of its misery because of a careless mistake on my behalf. Damn. I felt so bad.

Next thing I know, Mossy comes running out of the barn with a mouth full of feathers. *gulp*

Hubby is in the barn, assess his ladies. Mossy's been thrown back into the house with a stern NO - as if that helps! I am slowly creeping towards the barn with the little man in tow!

I call out and ask hubby if they are all ok. He doesn't know, he is still checking them. But at least that means no one has been blatantly slaughtered. Whew...

After a thorough checking, we determined everyone was safe and simply shook up. It was hard to even tell who shed the massacre of feathers!

So, this will be harder than I had expected trying to create a harmonious barnyard where everyone can enjoy it together. I already know Savannah is going to be a challenge. I wasn't expecting it from Mossy - but then again, I guess I should have.

They have all had 'supervised' visits with the chickens. Clearly, we need to do more.

Anyone out there have any suggestions on how to get your dogs, barn cat and chickens to live harmoniously together?

The Chicken Whisperer & A Giveaway!

I may have mentioned before that my husband is somewhat of an animal whisperer! 

He has never met an animal, that I am aware of, that hasn't liked loved him.

So why would I think the chickens would prove any differently?

Have I mentioned when it is time for them to get back into the coop at night, all he does is say 'C'mon Girls' and the follow him. Single file like a good little flock, they follow him like devout worshippers.

It kinda makes me roll my eyes....

This is 'Roo', as I have been referring to her. Allen thinks am absurd - he said she isn't a rooster. 

And here we have little Chicken Whisperer Junior in the making....

And now, for the giveaway! 

One lucky reader is going to win a One Year Complimentary Subscription to Backyard Poultry Magazine, courtesy of Backyard Poultry Magazine!

If you are new to keeping Chickens, BYP has a nice feature you can sign up for, for free. The healthy chickens bulletins; quick reads with priceless info!

All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me if you have/plan to have/or wish you could have backyard chickens! And if you do have them, what is your favorite thing about them? 

The drawing closes Sunday night at Midnight. I will post the winner Monday - Good Luck!

***UPDATE**

The contest has closed. The winner of the year subscription to BYP Magazine is Tiny Gardener!

The Chicken Palace

Hubby added new roosts to our Chicken Coop Palace this past weekend.

There was one in there from this coop's previous life, but it was old and decrepit!

We have some nut trees that need a good pruning, so hubby went to work pruning - for the roosts!

And you know, his girls don't just get a stick.

The get two nice, large roosts.

And a third stick acting a a ladder from the ground up to the other two roosts.

The gals aren't quite old enough to fly themselves up on the roosts yet, but they can walk up to them. And they do seem to enjoy them!

I must say, I never thought watching chickens would be, well, so interesting!

My help transforming the coop to palace that day was pampering the nesting boxes - which won't even be utilized for 10-15ish more weeks! - with some nice, fresh straw.

Next on the palace to-do list -- a ladder to the nesting boxes. 

And don't you think hubby won't go all gang busters building that for them too!

Chicks: 1 Week Old

The chicks turned 1 week old yesterday! 

These gals keep adding more feathers everyday. 

It really is kinda surreal, at least for me, to watch.

And I am still shocked at how fast they grow!

Now c'mon! Look at this! Who could say this isn't cute!

Though, when I look up close, the dark eyelids freak me out a tad! Don't ask. I can't explain why.

Ahh yes, and Ms. SASSafras...still giving me the ol' stink eye....

Chicks - Day 4

The chicks are 4 days old - as of yesterday when I took these photos. 

I know everyone says they grow so fast - but geshhh. The grow so fast!

Look at their wing feathers already forming!

It is really for the better though. 

The sooner they get all their feathers, the sooner they can head to their coop and out of my spare bathroom!

I am not amused sharing 'my' bathroom with hubby now!

And then we have Ms. Blondie here...or as I am renaming her, Ms. SASSafras. 

Please turn out to be a Ms.!

***

This post linked up at Farm Photo Friday

Welcome, Ladies!

Guess what?

The chickies are here!

We picked them up this morning.

6 Golden Buff laying hens*.

*Well, they better all end up being hens!

Everyone wanted a turn checking out the new farm residents.

And it has been quite the day. Trying to handle them. And figure out which temperature they like best. Then figuring out which bulbs keep the heat consistent the best. Let me tell you - I am not wild about having a heat lamp on. And right now we're sitting at a balmy 92-ish degrees Fahrenheit.

More to come on this new adventure soon!

Can you guess?

As I was scanning over the house this morning, I noticed a reoccurring 'theme'!

 Certainly this is the dead giveaway!

Have you guessed it?

Yep, it is almost time for the Chicks to arrive! One week from today to be exact!!

I can't believe it! We are planning to keep them in our spare bathroom for the first two weeks while they are so small and the weather is still a tad chilly. We purchased a Rubbermaid container to house them while they are little peeps and wouldn't you know it, the dang container is larger than our spare bath! ha! Well...we can fit it in the bathroom, but there isn't much room to open the door then!

I am excited and nervous, but I am proud of myself. Over the weekend I stopped at another local farm to pick up some beef & eggs and a huge turkey came walking over to greet me. I was about to sh!t myself and then I had to go into the whole story with the farmer about my 'issues' with feathered friends *sigh*. He tells me not to worry, 'Petunia', or whatever the turkey's name was [of course she had a name, why wouldn't she!  Just like that damn goose!] was friendly and that she'd just come sit next to me. I had to clarify that she would just be sitting next to me and not pecking or touching me! LOL And sure enough, she just chilled next to me. Of course during our whole conversation though, I had to keep one eye on 'Petunia' to make sure she wasn't trying to pull one over on me....unlike the hen that I swear I saw walk around the side of my car and then body slam into it! 

Anyways...I think I did great! I even went into his barn that had loose hens & roosters everywhere so I could check out his cute little Jersey steers! I am motivated! I think I can do this...well, I guess I have no choice at this point, anyways!!

So, any last tips or pointers for newbies bringing chicks onto the farm?

How about for a newbie that hyperventilates and wants to pass out from sheer anxiety of being near things with feathers :)

The Chicken Decision

Okay, folks. Hubby and I have come to a decsion - I think - on the breed(s) of chickens we are going to get and how many. Remember, we are first timers in the backyard poultry neck of the woods and I have a slight fear of anything with feathers.

My husband has some prior experience as he had an aunt that raised poultry when he was younger. And I guess he has the advanatge of not having any fear either :)

We have decided on the Golden Buff ...

and the Plymouth Barred Rock.

The Golden Buff, I am told, is a good beginner hen because of their docile nature. It seems the Barred Rock is very similar. And for whatever reason, we feel the need to have two different breeds rather than just one! I have some concerns though; like the Barred Rock hens being almost double the size of the Golden Buff - will this be an issue? Will they gang up on the Golden Buffs?

We've also decided that we'll start with 8 hens (dear god please let them all end up being hens!!). We'll do four of each breed.

So, for those of you experienced with egg layers, do these sounds like wise breed choices for us? Does 8 sound like a nice # to start with? What kind of feed do you recommend?

And the final question still stumping us, taking into consideration the weather in our area, when is a good time to bring these chicks home? April?

Chickens Pre-101

Ok, many of you know I have a 'fear' of things with feathers. I don't care if it is a teeny, tiny barn sparrow or a honking wild turkey...or one of those nasty looking buzzard vulture things - ick! - if it has feathers, I am not fond. Remember this incident?<

Anywho, hubby, on the other hand, wants chickens. I have come around to the idea that I am okay with this, because, afterall, wouldn't it be so nice to have fresh eggs from the backyard? I have been buying farm fresh eggs ever since my friend Dawn gave me a dozen from her flock. Seriously, the difference between a fresh one and one from the store is unreal. So, back to what I was saying...I am ok with hubby getting chickens, but I have stipulations - of course!

1.) They have to stay in their coop or their fenced area. I cannot have loose chickens taking run of the farm. If I allowed that, they might show up in the barn while I am cleaning stalls and corner me. That would not be cool. I won't even tell you what I would do (pee myself and scream for hubby to save me).

2.) Hubby cannot, I repeat cannot, rely on me to help with any kind of feeding or cleaning or gathering of the eggs. Nope. No siree. Sorry, I feel terrible saying that, but if I have to put myself in any position that allows these feather friends at me, nope, sorry, can't do it.

3.) Once he brings them home, they are home to stay. I understand after a few years, they really don't lay many, if any, eggs anymore, but I am sorry. After they have lived 'with us' for any period of time, and I maybe start calling one Belina, and another Henrietta, I cannot have them on my stove, in my freezer or on my dinner plate. Nope. Sorry. Can't do it.

4.) And so help me if he accidently gets a Rooster in the bunch - god help me now. I know sometimes you might get a nice Rooster, but I just read a story about a NASTY Rooster on another blog and I about had a heart attack just reading it. (I wish I could remember the blog so I could link to it - they weren't even safe from their Rooster with a pitchfork! AGH!)

5.) And no chickens with those frilly foo-foo feathered fopa's going on at the top of their head --- or around their ankles. I can't explain it, but they freak me out even more! See Exhibt A for an example.

Exhibt A

So, with all this being said (and there is more, but these are the main stipulations), I do really want to like chickens. I want to like having them on our farm, really I do - but I am terrified. And yes, I realize how crazy that sounds!! I know not to set my goals too high -- I will never swoop down and pick one up....nor will I ever be doing this.

But I DO want to be able to be around them without sweating and shaking :) And I don't want my child to have this fear like me! So, it is probably best that any feathered encounters he has are with his father. Not like how it went down with my poor niece ;) So, when we go to the county fair, I will always have to go to the bathroom and get a lemonade refill when it is time to walk through the poultry barn - just sayin'!

Sooooo, anyways, the whole point of this post to begin with was to ask you, my readers who have or have had or have experience with egg laying chickens -- which breed(s) might you recommend we get -- you know, for someone chicken shit like me :) I don't want no nasty "I'm gonna poke your eyes out with my nails and beak" looking chicken like this. She's scary! She can have her eggs! I don't need them that bad!!

Brrrr...Curl Up With Etsy!

Dang it is C.O.L.D.! .... not that I am complaining! The ground is frozen again and the horses can go out....but their water also freezes not more than 10 minutes after I crack, break and refill their buckets! I guess that's the trade off!

Here is a not-so-great pic of them last night when I went to bring them into the barn. There was a full moon and it looked so cool! I can just hear Apollo going "Hurry UP MOM. It is 5* out and I want my dinner!"


Ok, so for this weeks Etsy finds....

This is becoming increasingly harder as I fall in love with browsing this site more every day! Everyone makes such wonderful things and it is so hard to only pick a few of my favorites every week!

This week, I decided to show some of the bags & totes I love! (Beacuse I need another one like a need another horse or hole in the head!!) I showed one in my first ever Etsy Finds Post that I am still saving up for :) but all these are wonderful too. I want them all! And since I love aprons, I threw in a new one I found & love just for the heck of it!

Enjoy****************


Ok, this first tote is from Handcrafted at Wit's End. Of course I like it because there is a horse on it, but it is also a recycled flour sack- so cool! Love the recycled 'feed' sack totes...LOVE them! This shop also sells local to me at Lehamn's in Kidron. How cool that must be! And this shop is also offering free shipping on orders placed before Valentine's Day!

Next is this messenger bag in toile by Originals by Kathleen I love messenger bags and I love toile prints; what's not for me to like about this one then! LOL :) This shop takes custom orders too!

This next one is super great because she uses recycled HORSE TACK :) LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Shop at Free Rein Designs for these awesome purses! I love the fabric on this one and also the repurposed braided rein for the straps! Ohhhh how cute!

Next is a market tote. How cute would these be to take to farmer's markets with you to hold all your goodies! Funny, I am not a fan of chicken's (long story) but prints with chickens I seem to like? Go Figure. This market tote is from Quirky Bags and they also take custom orders or will find 'the perfect novelty fabric for you'!

To show my Gypsy flare, I love this bag too! It is by VeryOrangeBird and they call it the 'Gypsy Dream Vintage Fabric Tote' - My inner Gypsy is in love!

And last, but certainly not least, is the apron I had to throw in. And SURPRISE, it has a chicken print! I need more aprons about as much as I need more totes and bags....and horses! It is made from a cotton flour sack towel [cool!] by StolenTime As they list it in the description, it is "funky country, stylish and ultilitarin' all at the same time!

Have a Good Weekend All & Stay Warm!