Hey, remember when I used to have a blog?

SO, I started this blog and pretty quickly abandoned it. Why couldn't I keep up with it? I have no clue really. So much has happened since I started it, that starting back up seems silly. Like, why not just start a new blog all together? Well, I like the domain name, so I'm not going to start over. :P Here's the short version of things I SHOULD have blogged about, but didn't...just to get everyone caught up to speed. The 6 chicks are grown now and FOUR of the turned out to be roosters! We gave 3 away and kept one, but then decided to eat him when he started being mean to my kids. He knocked poor Vincent down and scratched up his back. Sarah was afraid to go out in the back yard because of him. He had to go! HE WAS DELICIOUS. We did get 4 more chicks in September and they all got sick because of a vitamin deficiency. It was because of the chick starter feed they were eating. Once i switched the feed and gave them electolytes and vitamins they pulled through, but sadly, Lorraine didn't make it. Harriet ended up with a permanent limp and then the other chickens pecked her so bad that we ended up having to put her out of her misery because her wound was becoming infected. So now we have 4 hens altogether. Prudence and Pearl, the easter eggers, Sally the cuckoo maran, and Olga the blue andalusian. Pics to come!

coop assembly...or not

We started putting the coop together, but haven't quite finished yet. We bought it used from an acquaintance, and it's a little wonky. Getting it all level is no easy task, especially when you have 2 kids all up in your biz.

Aren't they cute? giving us lots of space while we build...but not for too long.

ahh...that's more like it! and then...

...a milk break. So yeah...not much got done as far as putting the coop together. I'm *hoping* we can get it done in the next week or 2 since the chickies will soon be too big for their brooder, and they are really stinking up my laundry room.

HAWKS!

This post is very overdue...my apologies to my 3 followers. ;) Anyway, 2 weeks ago my mother-in-law and niece came over to meet the chickens. I usually don't bring them outside in the evening, but there was still some daylight, so we let the chicks out of the brooder. We sat in the backyard around the patio table and a large bird flew over our heads. So large, that it cast a giant shadow over us. We looked up, and there was a huge red-tailed hawk, just perched in my mulberry tree. I watched it as it stared at my chickens and swooped down towards them! I never thought a hawk would prey like that right in front of me and my family, I mean, there were 5 people, right there! As it swooped down I SCREAMED and he flew off over the back fence and toward the neighbor's yard. It had been just inches away from carrying off one of my little chickies. Part of me is glad that it happened in front of my daughter, I had explained to her that losing a chicken to a predator is a possibility, but now that she actually saw a hawk swoop down, I think she really makes the connection and understands that it CAN happen. After the whole hawk incident I have been pretty nervous about letting the chickens out in the backyard all alone, but over the past 2 weeks I have realized that they are pretty smart, and instinctually hide when something is hovering over them. They have been spending a lot of time in a forsythia bush and behind my rose bushes. This weekend we left them in the backyard while we ran an errand and as we were driving back to the house I saw a hawk circling near our block. I was pretty freaked out, but as I walked in the backyard I could see them all huddled underneath the table. I was so relieved!

Dyeing Eggs (naturally!)

While browsing the ever addicting pinterest I came across this blog post by Two Men and a Little Farm about how to dye eggs using natural dyes.  I thought it was a great project to do together with my daughter, besides being healthier than using the PAAS dye (or any other food coloring for that matter) I thought it would be way more educational.
We wrote down which ingredients we needs to make the colors that we wanted.

• Blueberries for blue/purple
• beets for pink
• pomegranate juice/paprika for red 
• spinach for green
• coffee for dark brown
• tumeric for yellow.

We followed the instructions on the blog and simmered each ingredient for about an hour with a bit of white vinegar.  Some colors came out great, and some were just blah.  The spinach made the water a murky barely green color, so we decided to dump it out and just mix some of the pomegranate juice with tumeric in an attempt to make orange.

Here are our results:

 

What do you think?

The ones dyed with pom juice and paprika came out pretty crusty looking. Perhaps I used too much vinegar? They looks like Freddy Krueger!!
My daughter's favorites are the ones that were dyed with beets, and I love the blueberry eggs! A few of the eggs did crack, so I'm eager to see what the eggs will look like (and taste like) without the shell.
Oh, and I should probably add that these were not white eggs. I purchase free range eggs from a local momma every other week. They are always a mix of light brown and medium brown, so me chose to dye the lighter brown ones.

Happy Spring!

They're learning to fly?!

The chicks are doing great and they are growing FAST!
A few days ago I had a mini heart attack when I went into the laundry room to check on the chicks and to my horror there were only 5 instead of 6!  Martha had somehow flown out of the box and was just chilling in the laundry room.  Thankfully she didn't go behind the dryer, because there is a mousetrap back there! EEK!
I scooped her up, put her back in and put a baby gate on top of the box.  I didn't Have anything else to keep them in, but the gate worked in a pinch.

I came in later and Martha was up on top of the waterer.  I'm so glad that I put the gate up there.  If she had flown out again and hurt herself I (and the kids) would have been so devastated!  I tried to get a photo of her up there, but the flash scared her.  So here's the best I could do:

POOP!!

Yep...poop is the only proof I've got.

Our First Week With the Chicks

Well, it's been about a week and I'm happy to report that our tiny flock is doing well.  They are all very healthy and growing fast!  A few of them are starting to grow little tail feathers and their wing feathers are getting longer and fuller.

Opal and Esther.  Check out Esther's tail feathers!

Today my daughter and I moved their box into the laundry room.  They were residing in our walk in closet, which was fun for a while, but their poop creates a dust that I didn't want on my clothes....plus they were getting kind of stinky.
They didn't seem to mind their move, but wow when i put them into a new clean box they sort of went a little crazy!  They all started cheeping and peeping like crazy, and they started scratching a pecking like little maniacs.  It definitely made my 4 year old and I laugh!  They also had silly freak out moment when my husband was playing a toy accordion.  They all huddled in the corner together and were cheeping to loud as if to say "WHAT IS THAT!! MAKE IT STOP!"  and of course Sarah put her daddy in his place.

"Dad!!! If you're too loud you can stress them out, and if they get too stressed out they can DIE!"

Sarah and Opal.

So, so far nothing too too exciting to report.  The chicks are really low maintenance (which is awesome for a busy momma!) Hopefully we'll build their coop next week.

Off to Late Start

Well here goes my first attempt at a real blog.  I was hoping to start this on Sunday, but my family caught a death-like virus, so I've been out of commission.

Anyway, it all started last summer when I was pet sitting for my friend Talina, who was down at The Farm for her homebirth.  Talina basically has a small zoo in her backyard, a dog, a few cats, some bunnies, and chickens.  The chickens were awesome.  They were very friendly, gentle, and sweet.  They even let my then 3 year old daughter pick them up.  After caring for them for a few weeks, I decided that owning chickens was something I really wanted to do.  

Fast forward to this year...

I did tons of research as to which breed of chicks we wanted to get.  I spent way too much time on .mypetchicken.com playing around with their breed selection tool!  And I ultimately decided that I wanted to get Ameraucanas.  They are cold hardy, good layers, and friendly.  They also lay blue/green eggs! 

I like to support local businesses, and I didn't want to buy from a large hatchery so I found a local farm to get my chicks from. Through facebook I started conversing back and forth with Jennifer from Graff Hill Farms for a while about acquiring some Ameraucana chicks.  Since only breeders can provide true Ameraucanas, I ended up getting Easter Eggers, which are basically Ameraucanas, just not pure bred.

It took about 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch, and then the day had finally come....time to pick up the chicks!  The kids and I got into the car and headed over to the farm to pick up the cute little fluff balls.  I let Sarah pick which ones she wanted, and we brought all 6 of them home in a small cardboard box.
When we got home we transferred them to their "brooder" which is a large cardboard box with pine shavings on the bottom, a chick waterer, a feeder, a brooder light to keep them warm, and a thermometer so I can keep tabs on the temperature of the brooder.  I ended up just buying a small reptile thermometer from a pet store, and it works great.

We promptly named them upon my dear daughter's request, even though i suggested waiting until they are bigger...since we don't know which are males and which are females.  But we named them anyway...it is easier to tell them apart if they're named.  We decided to go the traditional route and give them old lady names.

Meet the chicks...

Pearl

Opal

Matilda

Esther

Prudence

Martha

Sorry for the crappy pics!  My real camera is broken, and I've been using a loaner.  

I have suspicions that Opal and Matilda are roosters....only time will tell!