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!

Leg-O-Less

I have an eclectic mix of chickens here on my farm.
You might think I am all farmer all of the time, but I actually have a soft spot for my hens. I keep them around after they are too old to lay eggs and also if they have defects.

Today I will spotlight a little black cochin hen.

She is like any other hen I have. She pecks around, eat bugs and lays eggs.
The only difference is that she hops. She doesn't walk.

When she was a little baby chick, she was unfortunate enough to get her leg caught in the coop door.
The injury crushed her leg badly. I really thought she would die. She didn't look well and she acted like she would soon die.
We placed her into a hospital pen, which is actually a set of individual pens we have in the back yard. Day after day she stayed alive, although barely. She couldn't stand and we had to keep food and water directly in front of her head.
After a couple of weeks she started to stand up and peck for food

A few weeks after that, her dead leg fell off. It looked clean and without infection. What else to do but put her out with the other ladies?

So she hops and pecks and lays eggs, and all on one leg. Of course, being big Lord of the Ring fans, we decided to name her after our favorite elf. We call her Leg-O-Less.

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The weekend was a busy one. No I didn't finish or work on any projects. It seems that my long, well planned to-do lists are simply for show these days.
My days are consumed with house hold chores such as cooking and cleaning and laundry. It's enough to discourage any ambitious mother.

I expect that it will simmer down as the week moves on and I will be more productive this weekend, at least I am hoping my glass remains half full.

Maybe I am not as organized as I thought? Perhaps I need to get the house in better order? Perhaps I need to sip another cup of coffee and not stress over it at all....

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!!!

The Egg Mobile

It is finally finished!!!

Devin spent his entire stretch off building the egg mobile, and I must say the hens love it.

It started out as an old jet ski trailer we got for free.

We put a solid board in the center but we left the sides covered with only chicken wire. The roosts will be above those areas and we want the poo to fall to the ground.

We originally had wood on all four sides, but we decided tin would be lighter. We have tin on two sides and wood on the sides with doors.
Chicken wire is at the top for ventilation

As you can see, some poo stays on the framing boards, but most of it falls through to the ground

.We have a ramp door on one side that folds down so the birds can easily get in and out. The back side is a door that opens regular. I have two nest boxes hanging on it.

We placed our large nesting boxes on one side, so the birds have many places for egg laying.

Yes, this egg mobile is pulled around with our riding lawn mower. We do not own a tractor so we had to work with what we DO have, which is the lawn mower. Devin put a ball on the hitch area and the trailer hooks right up. So far we have moved the egg mobile to two spots with the hens inside and it all went very smoothly.

This morning I moved the egg mobile to a spot the cows occupied a few days ago. It was loaded with cow patties. You can see above what the hens will do to a cow pile. Within an hour almost all of the patties were scratched up and spread out. The hens eat the bugs, larvae and spread the manure out so that it can fertilize the grass.

This young pullet is one very content bird, and we are one step closer to a salad bar beef farm.
Next I will paint the wooden areas of the egg mobile to help it hold up a bit longer in outdoor weather. and then we start looking into some fencing!

Hope you have a great weekend!!!!