It's Been A Year...Almost

I miss writing. I miss telling our story. So, I'm going to start writing more. And I'm going to tell more of our story. Garden, hen hatched chicks, my soap business, homeschooling - so much I have to tell you. But for now, I'll leave you with this picture of a recent garden haul. We are really loving these Pink Senorita zinnias from Baker Creek. Because life is more beautiful with flowers.

Chicken Sweater

Chickens in sweaters are awfully cute, but did you know that chickens don't *need* sweaters? Chickens actually have a more difficult time in the summer than they do in the winter. Our coop has no supplemental heat or lighting and our gals fare just fine. I wanted to knit this sweater up just for fun - it really brings out Rose's comb, don't you think?

Be sure to check out my latest Grit blog!

2014: A Year in Review

Hey, look at me...the cool kid putting up my year in review post 18 days after the new year! Since it's about time for those new years resolutions to have fizzled out, grab yourself a cookie or two and check out what happened last year!

The new year started off COLD! And snowy. And I had an incredible case of cabin fever. As in, I was looking for villas in Italy and farms in France. I was convinced we needed to move to Europe. If you ever get bored, search for French farms. You can get some nice ones with 200 year old farmhouses.


But, I digress. 2014 for us was the year of the chicken. This was the year we were finally going to make the plunge into the world of poultry. It started by Dan planning and building a passive solar designed chicken coop. We had intended to get 20 Buff Orpington chicks from a local farmer, but she had some issues with her hatch. We instead for 3 chicks. While I had hoped to keep a flock of just Buffs as we read nothing but good things about them, I got bit by the feed store bug and ended up bringing home 8 assorted chicks. A local friend and her family were moving across the country, so we adopted their 10 hens. It was fantastic because we started with eggs right away instead of waiting! I recently wrote a blog for Grit about our foray into chickens. Check it out!

The garden wasn't anything to write home about this year. We had hopes of fencing in the garden, but any efforts were immediately crushed by the chickens. Once they got a taste for the tomatoes....it was all downhill. We did harvest 80 pounds of potatoes and dried beans. I guess those are things that are unappealing to our flock!

We have been in fresh eggs since we have gotten our girls (and Rex!). Rex has proven to be an enigma, but is doing well now and has been taking good care of his girls. The girls have not taken any breaks from laying and we have learned that molting is rough. But, we are now those weird chicken people. My husband takes eggs to work and I'm already planning for a few colored egg layers for the spring!

When my kids give me the chance over the next few days, I'll be sharing with you our plans for the new year and a really cool website I've found!

Soft Boiled Eggs

I've been on a soft boiled egg kick lately. Even though the days are getting shorter, our girls are still kicking!  We don't use supplemental light. While I know it's not harmful to them, I also think it's nice to give them a rest. We've been getting anywhere from 3 - 7 eggs a day. I'm happy with that considering a few of our big girls are molting. And boy do they look rough. I really want to get the equivalent of a furminator for chickens to help them out, but I know that wouldn't be very comfortable for the girls. Molting looks kind of painful!

Back to the soft boiled eggs. I saw my mother in law eat them while we were on vacation in March. And they looked awesome - something I'd never had. I had sort of forgotten about them until I recently watched a Martha Stewart show on PBS (we love PBS - no cable in this house!). She showed all kinds of ways to prepare eggs.

So, over the last few weeks, I've been enjoying some. Her method and what I've found to work for me, is to bring the eggs to a gentle boil, remove from heat (I put my stove to the lowest setting), put a lid on and set a timer for 3 minutes.

Isn't Fiestaware pretty? They're discontinuing the peacock color - it's one of my favorites! The eggs are best eaten with homemade bread, of course :-)

How about you? Are you a soft boiled egg fan?

Farm Gathering

I got to have a mom's day today! In the middle of the week! Can you believe it? When I heard about a local food expo going on in our area, I was interested. Since it fell on a Wednesday, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it. But, as you may or may not know, my hubs is pretty sweet. He took the day off to hang with the kids :-)

I knew it was going to be a good day when I found out Fish Hawk Acres was going to be catering the event. The $10 fee was more than worth it for the lovely breakfast and lunch we had! The idea for the expo was to bring farmers and buyers (as in restaurants and stores) together to learn more about the opportunities to mesh local foods.

I met up with my friend Laura from Sweet Wind Farm and Cheri from Bonds Creek Farm. We attended a morning breakout session on alternative certifications for farms. It is a costly process for a small farm to become certified organic. A farm can follow organic practices and instead of shelling out the moolah for that organic label, they can become certified naturally grown (CNG). It seemed like a viable option for small farms in the area!

Then it was time for lunch. Yum! I may have had seconds of dessert. No judgements, please....

The first afternoon session I attended was for fruit production. There were so many good points raised in this talk! What's the first thing that sells out at a Farmers Market? Fruit! This talk focused on berries, mainly strawberries, blueberries,  and raspberries. It really got the wheels turning for Dan and I to work with our wild black raspberries to increase productivity. The canes are already there, so there's no cost involved other than our time. And we absolutely adore the berries. In case you don't remember the loveliness that is wild black raspberries...

The last talk of the day that I listened in on was by a poultry professor with WVU on raising backyard birds. He was a great presenter, even though Laura and I didn't agree totally with what he was saying. It opened some good dialog, though!

There was a "pop up" market outside after the event. I picked up some more honey and grabbed some honey chapstick. I'm hoping to start making my own soon, but this is pretty fantabulous for now. And I came home to two happy kiddos!

Monday Reflections

Oh, Monday, you tease. My day started out with this pretty sunrise:

Over the weekend, I noticed a weird looking spot on my tooth. It seemed to come on quickly and had me kind of weirded out. I called the dentist when the office opened at 8 AM. Could I be there at 8:30? Why sure...says the girl still in her pajamas brewing some tea who lives 20 minutes from the office. I scrambled around to get ready and was out the door in under 5 minutes. Having short hair comes in handy!

When the hygienist was cleaning my teeth, she said the spot by my gum line was a cavity. She said it's common for people who take good care of their teeth after "years of brushing." I wasn't sure if I should feel good about that or old. All my other teeth looked good...until the x-ray. I'm going to throw this out there...I'm a terrible flosser. There. I said it. I don't floss every day. Or even every other day. Let's just leave it at that.

So, I have one cavity in between two teeth and a few more getting their act together. My dentist told me that with regular flossing, I should be able to stop them. So, regular flossing it is. Who's with me??

In other Monday news, the "rectum wrekcer" egg I shared on Facebook over the weekend was indeed a double yolker. And I love how orange the yolks are from free ranging!

That's the only dose of sunshine we saw here today. Unfortunately. I should probably sign off as I'm writing this, in secret, on my phone while Little J is jumping in her bed. That's what I get for allowing her a late nap.

How was your Monday? Let's take the floss pledge together!

The Morning Commute

I thought I'd try something a little different this morning. I videoed the chickens yesterday morning as they were released from their night time prison, aka the coop. Enjoy!

And as a side note, please ignore my sounding like I'm running out of breath on the way back up. I'm getting over a cold.

The Morning Commute:

http://youtu.be/dhs1lVybVlw

Let me know what you think! It took almost an entire day to upload the video. We do have DSL out here in the sticks, but that doesn't always equate to high speed :-)

Rex, The Drunken College Roo

Earlier this summer, Rex, our young roo started acting strange. He'd fall back on his legs and almost sit down. It got progressively worse to the point where he would fall down and spent most of his days under the deck. He was supposed to be out wooing his ladies! And swooping in to save them from any aerial attacks (thankfully, we've had none, but still!).

I checked the coop for empty beer bottles. I made sure he wasn't toting a brown paper bag. He sure was acting like a drunken college kid. He was fine otherwise - comb was nice and healthy, poop looked normal, and no other signs of illness. He still ate like a pig. So, I went off to Dr. Google. Since he was the only member of the flock with an issue, I ruled out the common things like Maerks and coccidiosis. It appeared he was suffering from a vitamin E deficiency.

I'm in several Facebook groups, one of which is a natural chicken care group, moderated by Susan Burek. Susan is a trained herbalist and is an advocate for a more natural approach to chicken care. I posed the question on the page as to what was the best course of action. Some people had dealt with a similar scenario and some people ended up having to cull their deficient chickens. I really didn't want to do that, so I tried the other suggestion:

Yes, that's infant vitamins right there. Oh, and the dogs rear end. Hey, that's what happens when I forget to get a picture in the daylight. I was told that if it was a vitamin deficiency, a couple of drops of Poly-Vi-Sol (without iron!!!) should do the trick.

So, we tried it. Poor Rex, defender of his brood, fell over when we went to pick him up for his first dose. We noticed some improvement in him and so we continued for a few days. We didn't ask our neighbors to give it to him while we were out of town over the Labor Day holiday, but we picked back up when we got home.

And you know what? He's improving! He now goes out and ranges with his ladies during the day. He squawks when he hears the telltale screech of a hawk. He still occasionally bumbles, but we are on the up and up.

He's on the right above. He's a really pretty guy. He's a Buff Orpington and is a deep yellow color. He's big in comparison to our hens. And he's pretty docile. He has to be to stay around these parts!

*I wanted to share this because I know many times people are looking to try more natural approaches to animal care. It worked for us and if you ever run into a vitamin deficient chicken, I hope it works for you as well.

Sharing over at The Homesteading Hippy for the weekly blog hop!

And here as well!

Those Darn Chickens

I love having chickens. I really do.

But, I don't like them getting in my garden. And eating ALL of my ripe tomatoes. Every last one. From 3 dozen plants. Seriously?! They got in while we were away on Saturday and by the time we got home, the damage was done. And now that one knows there is a way in, several have done it. The kids and I chased 8 of them out after dinner.

And eggs. You'd think for all the free, wonderful, almost pizza sauce food they've been gorging themselves on they'd be laying machines. Nope. We got one egg yesterday. ONE!

So, we decided to go on a little egg hunt today. We've walked the perimeter of their usual locations a few times and have come up empty handed. But, today, they exposed a new area we hadn't checked. Under the deck. Under a pallet. And under a little bit of landscape fabric. Lela decided to hang out for a while after laying her egg today and we caught her....red winged?

We found 6 eggs and several that had been cracked and eaten. But, we did find one exciting thing!

One of these things is not like the others! We got our first pullet egg! We think it came from Amelia, our Barred Rock. Or my little therapist. She has started doing the "submissive squat" over the last week and we have read that this is a tell tale sign that a pullet will soon start laying. Either way, we found it and it's cute. And for the time being, our fall gardening plans are on hold until we figure out our fence...

The Case of the Missing Chicken

On Monday evening, Emma didn't return to the coop. She's our big white dominant hen. Normally she takes off on her own when they hop out of the coop in the morning. Monday morning she took off toward the woods. When she didn't return, we assumed something snagged her during the day. We couldn't find any sign of her, so it was really an enigma.

I just went out to gather eggs and check on the garden. As I was walking toward the coop, I saw 2 white chickens. As I got closer, I realized it was Emma! She's returned. She's a bit dirty, but otherwise fine. She ate and drank and promptly went for a dust bath. While it will forever remain a mystery of where she was, she's home and safe. We are thrilled!

Speaking of the garden, I harvested 2 Stupice tomatoes, some green beans, and a cucumber. Our cucumbers are loaded with blossoms, so in a week or two the kids will be happy campers! We dug our potatoes on Friday night. We still have to dig the reds and then I'll report back on the final harvest weight. We are anxious to see how we did. We also have a bunch of volunteer cantaloupe vines and a watermelon vine, which is great since the chickens annihilated the ones we planted. We also have 2 cherry tomato volunteers. We didn't plant any cherry tomato plants in the main garden, so it's a nice surprise! How's YOUR garden coming along?

Coop Progress!

The coop is moving right along!  We are getting excited for our chicks this week and even more excited for the fresh, free range eggs we will get! Here's some progress pictures as of about 20 minutes ago :-)

There will be windows, don't worry. And Dan is currently working on the nesting box jut out on the east side. The "siding" and trim will be painted to match our house. There will also be a chicken door and ramp to the right of the full sized door. 

The planting has also begun in the garden! Onions, potatoes, carrots, peas, and parsnips are in the ground. The seedlings are coming along and we are anxious to get started planting everything else. After the late frost last year, we will probably err on the side of caution and wait a few days past our "last average frost date." One of our next projects will be fencing in the garden to keep curious chickens and deer out!

Have you started planting in your garden? Be sure to check in this week as I share our brooder set up, one my favorite chicken resources, and best of all - fluffy chicks!

Coop Beginnings

The coop construction has begun! We decided on a location last night and we picked up the materials for the floor today. The weather was cloudy all afternoon, but cleared up for the boys to put some cement in the post holes. Tomorrow will be the floor. It's moving right along!

Chicken Plans

...are moving right along! We will be getting our 20 babies the end of April! While I'd love to get them sooner, travel and a hard winter make for a delayed start. Speaking of winter...we are to have snow today. And then 72 degrees on Tuesday.  Bipolar much, mother nature??

Dan has been hard at work planning our coop. We spent the other evening poring over our chicken books for guidelines on the design. Yesterday, we stopped by 84 Lumber and Home Depot to check on lumber and their she'd kits. I'm not 100% sure which direction we will go, but we are getting there.

We will be starting our seeds today. A little late to the game, I know...but, I'm anxious to get my hands in the dirt. I'll leave you with our sunset Thursday evening. And when I went out to snap the picture...I heard PEEPERS!  Spring just might stick around!

Free Ranging Chickens

Chickens are on my mind all the time lately. Now that we are for real going to get some chicks in a few weeks, I've been in hyperdrive reading, reading, and reading some more on their care and housing. One of the things that has been getting the most of my attention is how our girls (and boy(s)) will spend their time outside of the coop.

Since the beginning, my hubs has been 100% a fan of free ranging. Two of my favorite blogs, Chickens in the Road and Cold Antler Farm, are free range fans. Suzanne at CITR often says she doesn't know exactly how many chickens she has at a given time. Jenna at CAF has found some broody hens hatching chicks in her barn. And both are well aware, and share on their blogs, that free ranging does mean that you will probably lose some chickens. The chickens, however, get to live the perfect lifestyle - searching for bugs, dust bathing, and just being a chicken. Feed costs are reduced since the chickens can forage for some of their food. I've read that chickens can be good insect control and with some supervision in the garden can be excellent management for slugs and other bugs. And the yolks from free range hens! I've never seen a more brilliant orange.

A lot of the books I've read all advocate some sort of fencing or run. The runs can be as fancy or basic as you want them to be. Some people landscape around their coops, which is beneficial both to the chickens and the chicken keeper. Some people allow a "supervised" free range, or only allowing their chickens to free range when they are outside with them. Predators can still be a problem, even with humans around, but securing chickens in a run lessens the threat.

Are you as torn as I was? I spoke with the farmer who is hatching our chicks for us and she told me that we would lose a few to predators and while this is sad, it helps teach the remaining chickens to be more alert. She free ranges her chickens and said she had a hawk get away with a few. But, she said, once the other chickens were aware of warning signs of a hawk, they are able to get away from it.

After some serious talk and thought, we have decided to free range our birds. Our neighbors are far enough away that they won't be a nuisance. And our main reason for getting chickens is for the eggs and eventually, meat. I'm sure we will become attached to them, as we do any animal. But, at the end of the day, we will know that they are living a life that is most suited a chicken.

I'll be sharing along every step of the way - we have a general idea for our coop and I'd still love to do some landscaping around our coop. And I'll share how we plan to protect our garden as well as provide some shelter for our birds from aerial predators.

How about you - do you free range your chickens?

Coop dreams

Baking cookies tonight and dreaming of chicken coops. That's how I spend Black Friday!

Our spring plans include getting our first flock of chickens. We will be spending the winter poring over hatchery catalogs, books, and online preparing ourselves.

What is your favorite chicken breed? Any tips for a beginner?