Tis the Season

New chicks arrived today!

Last year, because of my pregnancy and morning sickness, we did not order baby chicks. I honestly have missed having the little balls of fluff.

I ordered pullets to replenish my flock of laying hens. I only got 50 total: 25 each of Welsummers and Buff Orpingtons.  Later in the spring I will order meat birds so we can run 2 batches this year.

Since I really didn't feel like keeping a make shift brood box in my kitchen this time, we finally forked out the money for an actual brooder.

We plan to move it to the garage once we get past freezing night time temps, but it has been super handy.  Although the company says day old chicks can walk on the wire floor, they seemed wobbly this morning when I put them inside. I decided a couple of days with paper on bottom would be simple. 

It also has food troughs on the outside, but again I felt it was easiest to use a feeder inside for a day or two. 

The pictures show it with half the top cover removed. It all gets closed up and has slats to vent on the sides. It really is a great to have the chicks warm and cozy inside.

This weekend I plan to get bee boxes cleaned and ready for new packages.

Yes, tis the season of spring!!!!

Happy Wednesday Ya'll!

Pigs and Chicks

We ushered the nice weather in with an in ground pig roast last weekend.
Devin usually spends the last weekend of April in Alabama at the Talladega Race with friends. This year the guys decided a pig roast at home would accommodate their busy family schedules.

 Devin dug the hole with his tractor and also loaded fire wood into the pit with it. His friend prepped a locally purchased pig by rubbing it down in spices and then wrapping it in foil and burlap.

 The guys stayed up late playing poker and tending to the pit fire, waiting for it to become nothing but very hot coals. About midnight they place the pig down into the pit and covered it up.


About noon the next day, the pig was ready to be dug up and enjoyed by everyone who came over for the feast.

The nice thing about these gatherings is that it requires very little work on my part and we get to eat pulled pork BBQ for a couple of days.

The girls also had a friend over for the night and they decided to camp out by the creek in our back yard.

Willow and Rose spent many hours during the week building forts and tents just for the occasion. They pulled out warm camping sleep bags, flashlights and snacks and then spent the entire night camping. Two of our cats found them and took the opportunity to bunk with the girls. It was cozy, I am told, with purring kitty cats.
It was so much fun that they are planning another weekend campout!

Finally, when you have free ranging hens you will at some point have free ranging baby chicks.

We have one particular hen who alway makes a nest on top of a cabinet in the garage. She will lay 12-15 eggs and decide to set. Of course she is a petite game hen and usually only manages to cover a few eggs properly. Every year she emerges with a couple of babies.

This year was no exception.
It is alway a bit scary to see her hop down and then cluck her babies to do the same. It is a good 6 foot drop down to the concrete. Her chicks always make the fall safely though.

She has been happily free ranging with her two babies ever since.

This weekend we are going to relax, enjoy the weather and work on a few unfinished projects. I hope to make it out to a local farm for strawberries this afternoon.

I hope you are having a fabulous day!

Happy Friday Ya'll!

My Marathon Day

Today is my marathon day. I don't run, at least not since my young sport days when my coach made me run.
My marathon day today consists of a mom/farmer/cheese maker kind of crazy day. I am sure ya'll all know what those days are like!

It started at 6 am when the post office called to let me know my baby chicks had arrived. WHAT???? I knew they had shipped yesterday, but it usually take 3 days to arrive.
I had no brood box ready, no food ready, nothing.

Thankfully it was only my few pullets that had arrived and not my huge order of meat chicks. We will keep these guys inside the laundry room a few days before moving the brood box out to the barn. I ordered a mix of brown egg layers, so the kids really enjoy holding the babies and trying to guess what breed chick.


Of course my biggest project I started was taking in a mam dog and her puppies. No we are NOT keeping any of them! (Did you hear that my children???)
I am simply fostering these guys until a local rescue can get them adopted out. The puppies are 3 weeks old and will stay here until they wean. At that point the rescue will come get the pups, have them seen by the vet and then adopt them out.
The mama dog will then be spayed and adopted out. I will care for her through that entire process.

We have them situated in the basement, and although the first couple of days were quite *smelly*, they are better now.
We gave mama a bath and wiped her babies down. Yesterday we treated the babies for worms and coccidiosis . Today I am happy to say worms are being eliminated and the poo is smelling more normal. My goal is to keep them safe and healthy and to make sure they are well socialized.

The mama is a very young shepherd looking mix. She is very smart and trains easily. We are keeping her away from our other dogs for a while so she can feel like her pups are safe.

I am glad to be working with A Paw and A Prayer Rescue. Any locals interested in adopting can contact the recue. I will keep posting pictures as they grow and start moving around more.

 

Finally, I am working on laundry, dinner, school and making cheese. We are planning to take the kids to a local trampoline park later this afternoon so I am working to get everything done!

 

The boys are playing card games and I am stirring and heating milk for cheddar. It's gonna be one heck of a day, but I think I can...I think I can...I think I can!

Happy Monday Ya'll!!



Cheep, Cheep

Another sign of spring?

Baby chicks arrived!
 We ordered a rather large batch of laying hen chicks this year and we always love holding them.
We usually order from Murray McMurray and are always happy with the healthy birds they send. This year, however, was a huge disappointment. Well over a dozen chicks died within the first 24 hours. I called the hatchery and they said that the birds were a day late arriving. They are sending me replacements out this weekend. I truly hope that they are healthy and timely in their arrival. Customer service was friendly, but it is still very heart breaking to lose so many chicks.

 We ordered Easter Eggers, Buff Orpingtons, Cochins, and Blue Laced Wyandottes.

Of course yesterday Devin and I ventured out to run errands and guess what we found at the tractor store?

Yes we saw ducklings and yes we bought some. Eight to be exact. They had Mallard, which we planned to buy for our drake here that is a bit lonely.

 They also had Runner Ducks, which we could not resist. The kids couldn't resist holding the little fuzz balls to their faces. It's healing for the soul.

Finally, they had Khacki Campbells (the brown ducklings) and those have always been a favorite of mine.
Aren't they the cutest little things?

The children are usually found gathered around the brood boxes staring at the little things in pure delight. They are also naming them and picking ones out for their "own."

I am sure warm weather is just around the corner. It just has to be..........

 .....................................the baby birds are here for snuggling and kissing.


Happy Friday! Here's to a new season of life just around the corner!