Put That Bird Here

At the end of the month we will receive 25 Black Sex-link pullet chicks. This is such a good breed, they are fun to raise, they are hardy, and they lay beautiful brown eggs. We are thrilled with them as we have raised them for the last two years. This year we wanted to add onto our poultry flock by getting a few hens that lay tinted eggs and also try our hand at Guineas. I have run into a snag with this plan. I was hoping that if I got them all about the same time we could raise them together but that is not going to happen. We will get the hens at the end of March, the new hens would not be available until May and the Guineas not until June. I am quite sure by the time they are available I will have this worked out, but I am quite sure asking my husband to help me build yet another hen structure is out of the question. He has spent the last two Springs building for chickens and as much as he loves them, I think the idea of putting off other projects for them again is kind of pushing it.

The set up we have now is working. We brood the babies on the back porch in tubs, it is enclosed and safe, this way they can get constant attention and the best care. It is also a great way for the family to bond with them before they think they are grown. Once they have their feathers and we feel they are ready or they are growing so much that they are taking over everything, they move to the little girl house. They will stay closed up until I feel the weather is good enough for them to explore the great outdoors. Then we will introduce them to their run and they will be set until next year when the new babies come along. The gang of girls that occupied the little girl house before them will graduate up to the big girl house. This one is much bigger and has way more open air, a bigger run and even fun places to pretend they are Queen for the day. (Until someone knocks them down to take that spot.) The previous big girls will hang around until we know we can meet the egg production needed for our customers and then we will say goodbye to most all of them, with the exception of Zelda and Fuzzy.

The first year Daniel took five hens to show in the 4H Poultry show. It was fun, he got a blue ribbon and even got some cash. He was thrilled when one of his hens produced an egg during the judging and it was great to see all the other hens and meet their owners. We did not choose to take part in the auction because we kind of liked our girls. ; ) Last year Daniel was excited to show his hens and we had even picked out which ones he would take but we ended up with no way of transporting them to the show. I was not about to ask my MIL if we could carry them in her BMW. lol That would have been a NO. This year will be better and he will get to show his hens one way or another.

It is Chick time again....

We are so very excited to announce that we will once again be taking part in the 4H Chick Chain. Woo hoo! 25 new baby chicks will be heading our way and we are thrilled. The whole family looks forward to this time of year when we get new babies to take care of, name and watch grow into hens with attitude. Stay tuned for updates and once they arrive, pictures, pictures and more pictures. ; )

Our Snow Angel

This is the most snow we have seen since moving to Redbud. It is pretty, the kids like being out of school, but I am ready for Spring! I love that we are moving into February, the month I get to start planting indoors to transplant into the garden after the last frost. The hens are not so much happy with the white stuff everywhere but the dogs love it.

During morning chores Sarah decided to make snow angels and Sunny was leaping around like a wild thing. Sunshine loves the cooler weather and really has herself a time, especially when the kids are out there to play with her or just to watch her and give her attention.

So this is Sarah. Her main chore is to collect the eggs. She has learned the hard way that you can't run with the basket and that eggs ARE certainly fragile. When we sell our eggs the label usually says Gathered by Sarah, so if you are a customer and you wonder who is collecting your eggs, this is her.

Well, back to plotting and figuring for Spring. Stay warm and have a beautiful evening.