The Winters Farm

A little out of it...

2009-10-01T21:47:00.001-07:00

I feel like I have gotten a little distracted and uninterested in my farm life. I have cut my chicken flock down and lost quite a few to a descion to mix some chickens I didn't realize were so aggressive.
I guess I just kinda lost interest in it all. It started after the kids got out for the summer, I got so busy and caught up in keeping up with 3 kids 24 hrs a day, that everything else got put on the back burner. I am trying to get back into the spin of things, but I am not making a lotof progress.
We currently are starting to prepare for our Halloween Bonfire and then it will be time to winterize the house and the chicken coop. Without Chopper around I also need to do a little reinforcing of the coops. I just heard one of my chickens squawking outside, I went out and shined a flashlight but didn't see anything from the fence. I will have to go out and survey the situation in the morning. I am hoping nothing got into my silkie pen. I was hoping to really grow my silkie flock this spring.
We have also starting discussions about building a house, well actually a cabin within the next few years. I hope we can go forward with that.

Horse kisses, new kitty (Nala) and garden blessings

2009-08-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Good morning

2009-08-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Things are going fairly smoothly around here. We have had some rain off and on which is always nice. My garden is amazingly still producing cucumbers, peas, tomatoes and corn. If it weren't for those stupid squash bugs, I believe my squash would still be thriving. Guineas next year is a must, whether Larry likes the idea or not. Yesterday I made more pickles and some salsa. Only I got the medium salsa mix instead of mild, so it is a little hotter than I wanted. That's what I get for not paying attention. The outside improvements have come to a stand still. I should have been expecting it, that's the way things go around here. So I have a backporch with no rails or roof. 1/3 of a front porch, and very annoying blocks to get into the front door. The pool getting moved is probably for sure not happening before summer is over, and I don't see the kids playhouse or swingset happening either. I guess I can blame it all on my neighbor, he was working on it and then he had to go out of town "for a few weeks" that was 2 months ago, he still isn't back. *sigh* Oh well.

RAIN!

2009-07-16T12:49:00.001-07:00

Last night and most of today it has rained. My garden needed it. My yard needed it. The power did go out for a few hrs, the incubator got down to 88 degrees. Probably enough to delay hatching, a day at the most. We will see. Remember I said I wasn't setting anymore eggs, yeah..... I set some today. I can't help it!

Exciting day!

2009-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today was an exciting day on the farm. I felt like it was field trip day. A friend of mine has a neighbor wanting some chickens, so she wanted to bring her out to look at mine. Then someone Larry knows from work is looking into he and his wife getting a few chickens themselves. So it just so happened they all came out at the same time. It was great, I felt like a tour guide. After all the looking and discussing and the questions were finished, we came inside for the real treat. The reason today was picked was b/c today was hatching day. I worried all week that they were going to hatch early or late, b/c I knew they wanted to see some hatching babies. It worked out perfect. They brought their children, and I took them all back into my bedroom, I am thinking I need to move the incubator out of there, lol, and we looked in on my babies. It just so happened that not only could I show them the various stages, I had a few pipped, one very much so zipped, several in different drying stages. But the little zipped egg decided to come out and see what all the fuss was about. Miss Tina got it on video. It was great, the kids were amazed. They soaked in the info. Nature really is a great science lesson.
Also, I was in the garden, trying to dig some little irrigation ditches for improved watering. And I found some hidden zucchini! I haven't decided if we are going to have them for supper tonight, or if I am going to give the yellow squash a day or two and make my squash casserole. I am a little disappointed, I made spaghetti last night and didn't know I had zucchini to put in it.

Another day, another beautiful day

2009-07-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

The weather is actually nice out today. It's not as humid as it has been lately. I transferred 39 baby chicks to the brooder in the barn this morning. I hope they do well. After the backhoe incident, we still do not have power in the barn, evidently something pulled loose that can't be found. So they will have no light for the time being. I am hoping the current temps and their body heat combined will keep them cozy enough. I have several more hatches scheduled within the next few weeks, one the middle of this week, one next weekend and then I just set a batch yesterday, so in 21 days they will hatch. After that I believe I may take a break, I know I say that every time. I probably won't, I will find something to hatch. I really want some peafowl. I hope to get my hands on some soon. I have plans to pick up bobwhite quail chicks on Thursday, I hope it works out.

Fun times around the farm

2009-06-30T12:04:00.001-07:00

Well, we have beautiful cucumber blooms, beautiful squash plants, (bloom, please, bloom). This morning we went out to discover that somehow, a few of my quail had escaped. Caught one, found another but couldn't catch it and I think two are still MIA. Oh, the joy. I have lots of eggs that will be hatching within the next two weeks.

Now the real fun stuff, I noticed a smell around lunch time, it seems as though someone has flushed something inappropriate or something, the sewer lines in half the house are clogged. The joys of home ownership, no landlord to call. I am hoping it gets fixed really really soon.

I can't wait to really get started harvesting and canning from the garden. Larry brought home a 5 gallon bucket of Plums a while back and I made Plum Jelly and Plum Preserves, all by myself. It was soooo rewarding. And not as hard as you would think. I bought the Ball Book on preserving and have been drawn in by it ever since. I also decided that I will start freezing ahead once the kids go back to school. I have been making a freezing large batches of pancakes for the kids for breakfast already, but I have so many other things I want to do.
I want to make and freeze homemade biscuits, cornbread, homemade bread dough, casseroles, soups, crockpot meals. So much time, money and effort can be saved it I cook once a week or even once a month and freeze it all. Of course I will have to make sides and such to go with it, but I hope to have fresh veggies to can and freeze soon. I feel like I am turning into Betty Crocker, lol! The more I get into cooking and other such things, the more I realize that my kitchen is going to have to be quite a bit larger when we build a house.

Tomatoes!!

2009-06-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight we picked our very first ripe tomato!!! I expect to be picking them daily from here on out. I really need to get my self in gear. I want to make chili starter, spaghetti sauce and salsa!! I still want to plant some strawberries, but I need to find a spot and make sure it's not too late, my dad says he is pretty sure it isn't. I need to do some research! All is well on the Winters Farm, the animals are doing well, the plants are doing well, the children are doing well. Can't ask for much more. ...

2009-06-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

Updated pics!

2009-06-21T18:56:00.001-07:00

Garden Rant

2009-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

I TOLD Larry I didn't need any fertilizer. I told him I didn't want any fertilizer. My plants were growing beautifully with only my chicken pen cleanouts to help them.
He decided I did need it. He went and bought 13-13-13 and Lime. The lime I don't mind, we have lime poor soil and lime is good. But the 13-13-13 was unnecessary. So he puts 40 lbs of 13-13-13 on my tiny garden and the next morning it looked great, all popped up and green. 3 days later, half of my corn and one of my cucumber plants are dead or dying. He burned them with the stupid fertilizer. He says he will make it up to me and is going by the nursery today after work. We will see.

Cat-Cat

2009-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

We have KITTENS!!!!

5 of them! They are so darn cute and she is such a good momma! And proud!!!! Every time Larry and I walk in the bathroom (otherwise known as CatCats room) she will roll over and expose all of her babies to show us. She loves to hear our approving words and is loving the added attention. She is too sweet. She takes her paw and rubs them. I am proud of her. The kiddos are resting, so maybe I can get out and get some pics of everything I need pics of.

Unfortunate update

2009-05-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

I sadly must update that although I have been too busy to blog and have my garden planted and doing well among several other great things, I have had an outbreak of coccidosis in my barn. I lost all of my guineas, all of my quail and about 1/3 of my baby chicks. It happened really fast (2 days) and I didn't figure out the cause until it was too late. I have verified the cause now and know the right medication to give. I do have guinea eggs on the way and I just put in an order for silkie eggs, b/c I lost all of my silkie babies. I just have to find some quail eggs and I will be good to go. Well not good, but there is no sense in living in the past. I have to look forward and start over. Tomorrow will be a long day of sanitizing. That will be fun considering that means bleach, and I am allergic. Guess I will be wearing a mask.

The good updates are that, my garden is growing beautifully! I will have to take pictures soon. My chickens are laying wonderfully. The snake I saw by the coop must not have been eating my eggs or he must be gone, b/c they are laying again and nothing is happening to them.
I have a roof on my deck, not sure if I even updated that my deck is up, but it is. Well, I say a roof, we still have to put the tin up. After that, we will start on the rails and then we will move the pool.
We are still waiting on the guy to come fix the septic tank. Act of Congress.....

I guess that is all for now, I need to get some new pictures up, but there has been sooo much going on lately I haven't had time.

May 18

2009-05-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Lots of things going on around here. We have baby quail, they are cute as little buttons!!
My plants in my garden are blooming!!! I still haven't gotten them all out yet!
My back deck is up and attatched, now just to get the roof and rails finished!
I am up to about a dozen eggs a day. I just set 75 eggs on Friday. That will probably be my last hatch for a while. I do not plan on selling any more babies. I will keep everything I have and everything I hatch until they are a little older and then see what I want to keep and sell then.
I need some more silkie eggs!

Guineas!!

2009-05-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

While we were on vacation around 80 of the 149 guinea eggs I set hatched! YAY! I was hatching for someone else and he wasn't sure about the age or fertility of the eggs. I called him and he only wanted 25 of them instead of half, so I now have about 50 guineas in the brooder. I wish they were grown, I have bugs on my eggplant plants in my garden. LOL! I have to buy some ivory soap and see if they take care of the little fellers. I moved the biggest of the baby chickens into one of the outside pens, they seem to be doing well. I wish they were inside the barn in the future nursery pen, but it didn't get started, much less finished, so I will have to settle with what I have. I have to get something set up before next week, I have quite a few, probably 70 or so, quail eggs due to hatch. I really hope they hatch. I will have to take a picture of one, they are teeny tiny. I can't wait to see babies that small.
Speaking of pics, I need to take some I know. If anyone actually reads this, leave a comment so I don't feel like I am taking pics and posting them for no reason. LOL!

Goodbye to Spirit

2009-04-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today I let Spirit go. I have been fooling myself thinking I could ever do anything with her. I can't control her, I can't tame her. I can't even take care of her. She needs someone who can and will take care of her. Someone with experience and time who can tame her and eventually break her. I will miss her, she may be wild and spunky, but she can be sweet and she is beautiful. Goodbye Spirit, I hope you enjoy your new home. I hope you are loved, and I will be checking on you often!

The Early Bird

2009-04-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

He or She is not quite old enough for a worm, but I awoke to a surprise chirp this morning. Occasionally just like in humans, a chick decides that 21 days is not their cup of tea and they will hatch when they want. This usually means a day 22 or 23 hatch. But not this strapping little fella. It was chirping away this morning, I thought I heard some chirps yesterday afternoon, but knew I must be crazy, so I never checked, it is possible that it was pipped and chirping yesterday, but this morning it is hatched and ready to take on the world. The sad part is that it is all alone because of it's desire to one up it's fellow hatchees. Hopefully later tonight and in the morning a few more will join him. They are scheduled to hatch tomorrow afternoon. I guess the little chick just couldn't wait anymore. It is a cute and healthy chick, so I guess that's what matters, even if he will chirp me a headache from being lonely. He is almost dry, I may take him on out to the barn.

Green Eggs and Ham

2009-04-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there's no ham, not yet anyway, except in the freezer, but.................

I do have green eggs. I was very disappointed when my first EE hen laid a brown egg. I only bought her for the green eggs, I wanted the kids to have green eggs. I thought it would be fun. But she is a good layer, brown eggs and all. Yesterday I went out to the pen and there it was, right on the ground, sitting there shining at me. A green egg. I don't have a pic uploaded yet, but I will. It is the prettiest shade of green. There was another one there for me today. No I can start my breeding project for the summer. I want to breed Silkies that lay green eggs. I think that would be wonderful. I am on the right track, I have her in with a Silkie and a showgirl rooster. I need to do some studying on genetics and figure out how exactly to go about this. I know there will be a whole lot of culls, but I have a neighbor who I am sure will take the culls. If not, it's not hard to give away a chicken . I guess the thing is to get a mix where the silkie feather gene and the green egg laying gene are both present. The bad part is, I will now know until they start laying if they will lay brown or green. This means I will have to feed a lot of chickens for a while in order to do this, but I really think it would be cool. However, I am not sure that they would continue to pass down the gene, so I would probably have to continue this for a while. Maybe even a few years. I am not know for completing projects, I hope I can follow through on this.

Hump Day

2009-04-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have new babies today, and more scheduled to hatch on Saturday. I am pretty sure the silkies are in the Saturday bunch. I have quite a few babies in the brooder. But they are technically sold. Only I lost the guys number, and I won't be able to check my phone records to find it until the 21st or so when my new bill comes out. Joy. I wish he would just call me back and ask. But I guess in exchange, the chicks will already be started and that's always a plus. I really need to start working on Larry to finish my nursery pen, it won't be long before I will have to have one. And he needs to put wire around the pen frame we have. I might can do that myself, if I could find the stable gun and the type of wire I need. This weekends project I hope consists of a flower bed and starting some planting. I need to find what I did with the seeds I have already bought. I think they are at my moms. LOL!

Easter is here!

2009-04-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow is Easter. Spring has finally began to show itself here. The weather has been a little unpredictable, but nothing terrible. We have had several new additions since my last post. I have sold a few, but have a few more that I am keeping and a few I have held for someone.
Larry bought some quail the other day, and he is supposed to get a couple dozen quail eggs for me to hatch. I like quail, they are cute and I like the sounds they make.
I also have 149 guinea eggs in the incubators. I am hatching them on the halves for a guy in Ponotoc. I am not sure what I will do if they all hatch and I end up with 75 babies. I would like to keep 20 or so, to let run around here.
Next week should be garden planting weekend. I am soooo excited. I also have a flower garden idea in the works. I just need to quit depending on Larry to get it started for me and just do it myself I guess.
The grass around here is getting so green, it's a nice exchange for the dull deadness of winter. I will have to post spring pictures soon, the dogwoods are everywhere and absolutely gorgeous.

SCORE!

2009-03-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sold all the babies except the 3 I am keeping, and my neighbors he still hasn't picked up. Plus I sold 3 pullets! YAY!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Now I have to go spend the money. I need to buy feed today, and some other things. I had some sneezing going on yesterday, not good. I had to lightly medicate a few pens, I hate to do it, but I can't afford to lose my whole flock. I really need to get on improving my pens, they need to be enclosed on 3 sides and I need to get in there and clean them out. The rain is a huge culprit, and I need to prepare for it. I have to have Larry find me some saw mill lumber, b/c that is what I plan on enclosing it with and one end needs to be enclosed this weekend. I also need to start planning the run, Summer is approaching and we will need it. The barn nursery pen also needs to be fixed and I need another pen for my Wyandottes at some point this summer b/c the back pen is going to turn into my sell pen or my eating egg pen. Larry has mentioned the possiblity of building a pen down by the spring, I'm not sure about that for a few reasons, but we will see.
I got 14 eggs yesterday. I am pretty sure a few of them were just missed on Wed, b/c they were in new places and Bo collected eggs yesterday, but even at that, Bo brought in around 6 Wed and then 14 yesterday, that's a lot of eggs for 2 days. I hope I have a similar experience today.
I have a few chicks supposed to hatch tomorrow, then some on Wed and next Sat. I hope the sells stay up for the entire summer. Maybe I can stockpile some feed for the winter. I really need to start my search for storage. I really want a massive chest type freezer that is not working. It would be perfect for bag storage, then I want some galvanized garbage cans for each different feed. I have been thinking of making my own mix, I am not sure though. I have a hug 100 gallon barrel. (I think it's 100 gallon) I have been thinking about mixing rooster booster, oyster shells and layer in it. It would be easier to mix, lay in on it's side and roll it. Then I would need a long handled scoop, But I think I have the figured out also. Then I would only have to keep the feeders filled with that mixture and they would get their entire balanced diet in one feeder. I may work on that this weekend.

New Babies

2009-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the sale of my other babies fell through, but it doesn't matter, I can keep them for a few months and get 12-16 bucks instead of 2. No biggie to me. Someone will want them eventually. I have orders for silkies, I have to go today to pick up some more eggs. I did have a few hatch today. Out of my shipped eggs from my egg swap online I got 1 silkie and 1 Maran. Then I had some test eggs for my neighbor in there and all but one of those hatched. I just wish I could get in touch with him to come get them. I do have some more pics.

Remember this dude from last week. These are going on 3 weeks old now.

This is "zipping"

SOLD!

2009-03-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Someone came by today and bought all my silkie and showgirl babies. Someone is supposed to be here tomorrow to get the rest. I didn't think they would sell that fast, but they did and I'm happy. I have lots more in the incubator and I hope they sell just as fast when they hatch. The good thing is, if I don't sell them, I will keep them, it's not a big deal. This is fun!!! I love hatching.

Major Update

2009-03-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize I was so far behind. Lots has been going on since the last blog post. I am on hatch 3 now. The 2nd hatch was horrible, but I convinced Larry to bring the incubator inside. So both incubators will be in my bedroom now. He has been assured it will not smell or put off head or anything like that, by the Dickey being in there for 3 weeks now. Speaking of the Dickey, this week was the first hatch in it. So far all but 3 have hatched. 1 is still alive, the other 2 I am not sure about, they are awful quiet. Larry has argued with me in the past that the chicks can not possibly chirp until they are pipped, I haven't been able to prove him wrong b/c with the other incubator outside in the cold, it HAS to stay closed at all times. So night before last the hatching was in full swing, they were popping out everywhere. I picked up a non pipped egg and held it to my ear and tapped it. Sure enough it was hyper as all get out in their and chirped away. I held it to Larry's ear, I wish I could have got a picture of his face, he was amazed. It is truly awesome to hear life inside that tiny egg. I have 13 babies from the last two hatches in one side of the brooder, 17 in the other side from this hatch that I took out last night, and 9 more in the incubator ready to go to the brooder. I will be headed out with them shortly, they are ready to eat I am sure. Here are a few pictures!

This is one of the buff orphingtons from the first hatch of the year

A showgirl from this last hatch

A silkie from this last hatch

Two of the showgirls (silkie/turken mix) still wet

Black sex link pullet (no dot on her head means she is a girl)

This showgirl has personality

One of the buff orphingtons that hatched last week

Babies

2009-03-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

We have 11 chicks now, it's looking like all Buff Orphington. 2 more have pipped. One has zipped, but I think he died. I can't wait until the weather breaks and the farm is humming warmly again.

Pic and Update

2009-03-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

We still have babies hatching. They are a little late b/c of the cold here lately. I told Larry the incubator needed to come inside. Oh, well. It will be warm soon, I hope. Anyway, we did some work this weekend and I took some pics this morning.

Noname in the snow yesterday

Beautiful, don't cha think!

The first hatched baby

The two that are now dry and in the brooder

A big ole pip!

My pretty EE

My other EE that Larry says is a muffed game.

One of our new Silver Laced Wyandottes

We decided not to make the back pen into a nursery pen and make one inside the barn instead, so we put up roost polls and nest boxes and took out the nursery box.

The triple pen, I don't think I have posted it since it got a new roof!

The single pen (now housing RIR)

The two small sections of the triple pen. I have Barred Rocks in one pen and barred rock hen with a red roo in the other for black sex links.

The big section of the triple pen. This is where my Buff Orphingtons live, I have more in the back pen that will be moving up here as soon as it warms up and I get them to grow a little bit.

Still waiting

2009-02-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

We were gone all day, Larry went out to check earlier and said there were no pips yet. I am hoping in the morning we will have some chicks. I set them late in the day, so I'm not surprised there are no pips.

Nearing Hatching Day

2009-02-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took the first setting of eggs and moved them to the bottom hatching tray. They should start moving around any day now. I need to get out there and check the humidity, as soon as Mikey goes to sleep. I candled as I was moving and 20 are viable. 3 were unfertile and 2 had quit. I knew the last time I candled they probably weren't going to do anything, but I prefer to leave them in to be sure. I also got some eggs in the mail yesterday, I was going to set them last night, but decided to wait until the weekend, b/c I want to keep the hatches a week apart for now, until I get the hang of staggered hatches. So right now I have 20 in the hatcher, 40 in the turners outside, and I think 26, in the Dickey inside. I have another batch ready to set, so I will keep up the weekly thing and set them Saturday. That will put me hatching every sat for the next 3 weeks.

Still incubating

2009-02-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I will move the first batch of eggs from the turners and then they should start hatching on Sat. Unfortunately, I have to go out of town on Sat. But it will probably work out for the best b/c most of the hatching will probably take place Sunday, due to the low temps earlier in the incubation process. I do have great news, I have a Dickey now! I love it. I set 35 more eggs in the Dickey last night. 15 of them were Bo's Silkie eggs that I bought him. He is excited, Larry is not, he doesn't like Silkies very much.

And, my Easter Egger started laying, she has been hiding her eggs. To my disappointment, she is laying brown eggs. I'm not sure which hen it is laying, but when I find out, if it is the newest one, I will find her a new home, I never was too crazy about her anyway. I guess that is all for now, my internet is being a pain, so I'm not updating as often.

Candling

2009-02-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

I candled just now, the eggies are looking good. I tried to take pics, but my camcorder will not work in the dark apparently. And I didn't take my regular camera. Maybe I will take it out in a few days and try again, if we have another warm night the beginning of next week. I did have 5 clear eggs and 3 questionables. But we shall see. I candled 26. I told Larry to call the guy I got the eggs from, b/c I believe he has too many hens in with his roo. That's not a great fertility percentage.I have another 40 that are just starting out, I just set them though, so no visible signs yet. First hatch date is the 28th, second hatch date will be the 7th I believe. I hope my Dickey gets in soon, and I hope I can get enough eggs to fill it up soon. I have 11 sitting in the house waiting, I'm getting about 4 a day, I hope that number goes up soon. I am supposed to get a dozen silkie eggs for Bo maybe this weekend, but it may take longer. The lady I was getting them from had her hen go broody, that's the way it goes though. She will lay again eventually. I also participated in a swap online. I am sending out 6 sex link eggs and I will get 6 eggs of some sort from someone else. It's a surprise. I hope I get something cool. I said I would take Large Fowl Pure or Waterfowl. My fingers are kinda crossed for ducks!

Incubation update

2009-02-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

I know I was supposed to candle and try to get pics yesterday, put I need to do it at night, and it's been cold. So it is supposed to warm up tomorrow, I will candle tomorrow evening. Everything is still great in the bator. Larry bought another turner and I set 44 more eggs. I ordered my Dickey today. I really didn't want to spend that much money. But it will be much better an I can make more money with it. I hope that this year I can actually not only pay for the chickens feed bill, but I can make a profit. I need to start keeping up with it. So now I have 26 eggs to hatch on 2/28 and 44 to hatch on 3/7. Most of these will be Buff Orphington. A few sex link and maybe a few RIR. 2 of them are EE eggs for my neighbor. I'm starting to get anxious and impatient. I think I am going to like staggering hatches, that way I don't have to wait so long in between hatches. I'm supposed to get some silkie eggs this weekend. My Dickey should be here the end of the week, he said it would ship out tomorrow. Then I can set Bo's silkie eggs and whatever my girls lay. I am taking out the buff roo that I don't like and leaving my young cockerel to hopefully do his business. I hope it works out, he is the prettiest color I have, and I hope to breed that color into my flock. This week sometime I am gonna do some switching. I need to move my big pen around. I want to get ready for breeding season. My hens are starting to lay now and I have to get my good pairs paired up and get the roos I don't like out.

Incubation Day 7

2009-02-13T07:01:00.000-08:00

Everything is still looking great. I got the humidity down to 37% close enough for me. Temps are perfect. This is the perfect time of year to incubate. I will candle on Sunday! Larry informed me this morning that he is going to buy me a Dickey incubator for our anniversary/valentines day. Its kinda bitter sweet. I want the Dickey, but he wants me to sell the one I have now, and I am kinda attached to it. I know that seems weird, but I am attached to an incubator. I guess I will like the Dickey just as much or more, but I'm a sentimental goof. I guess I just need to get over it.

Incubation Day 4

2009-02-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

Temps are still steady, Humidity is a little higher than 40, but not high enough to worry about. I will candle around day 9. I will try to take pictures, but it is hard to take pictures of the egg and the light. I already have eggs sitting on the counter waiting for the weekend to be set. I have two new turners ordered. This is going to be a crazy hatching year. I hope I am hatching out a dozen or three a week. Still don't know what I will do with all those chickens though. My neighbor has brought me two eggs so far, and I will probably continue to get them, from one of her hens laying a green tinted egg. Of course I know this means she has an EE somewhere, but no one listens to me. She wants me to incubate it, so she can find out what she gets. I will set them with my others this weekend.

Progress! Moving Forward!

2009-02-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Lots going on at the farm this weekend. We did a lot of work and it was totally worth it. Here's a play by play.
Here is what the incubator did look like!

It worked pretty well for me last year, but it was no where near perfect. I had temp issues due to the fact that I had to go out 3-5 times a day to turn the eggs,opening the door.. I had humidity issues, b/c I had to go out and add water, but there is not exact science to that, one day it could need water added 3 times and the next day, not at all. Also, the solid door made it impossible for me to see inside without opening the door, and hatch rates are better when the door is closed most of the time. So we made some improvements.

We bought an automatic humidity system that will keep the water level full. Larry added a window to the door and we bought an auto turner. I also reinsulated the doorframe and put new latches on, to seal the door better, keeping heat in. We did all of that yesterday, I cleaned it out, we put it back together, plugged her up and let the temp regulate. The temp is sitting pretty at 100.5 and the humidity around 40%, I will probably close off half of a vent to raise that up a tad tomorrow. It was still staying constant around lunch time today so I grabbed my eggs that have been waiting patiently and headed out to the barn.
Blank slate, yesterday, before the real work began.

In the turner

Closed them up

Then I went to check my chickens, Larry fed them early this morning, but I still wanted to do my rounds to all the coops. Got out to the Rhode Island Red/Barred Rock pen and guess what I found!!!

This is my very first egg. One of the Buff Orphs we got from Ricky laid one the day after we got her, but not since, so I count that one as Ricky's egg, b/c she probably already had it ready and just had to get it out. I hope she goes back to laying soon, moving them sometimes disturbs their cycle and can take up to 2 weeks to start back.
I'm not sure if this egg came from a Rhode Island or a Barred Rock, but I will find out in a few weeks. If it came from the Barred Rock, it will be a black sex linked. This means I will be able to tell male/female as soon as it is hatched. There are several kinds of sexlinked breeds, these were created by hatcheries b/c sexing is a no brainer and they are awesome layers, so they sell great. A black sex link is created when a red rooster is put over a barred rock hen. At the moment I have my rhode island hens in with them also , b/c the wind tore the roof off half of my coop and I had to move them around. So I have my RIR roo and my New Hamp Red Roo in with my RIR hens and my BR hens. The New Hamp is the dominant roo, so it is doubtful the RIR is being allowed to fertilize any eggs, so if a RIR hen is the one laying, I will have a RIR/NewHamp mix. Although people around here don't separate the two much. I'm working on educating these country hicks!LOL!
Anyway, back on subject, back to the bator I ran, after yelling so everyone in the county could hear "BABE, I GOT AN EGG!!"

I put it all by itself, so I will know which one it is when hatching time comes, and b/c I want to see if my roo is fertilizes, I will find that out when I candle on day 9.

Fast forward a few hrs and we tackled another project! The coop now has a roof and nest boxes. We are also going to take the two long pens we have and attach them to the coop as runs, so the chickens can still get plenty of fresh air and sunshine after we enclose the coop. I don't have pictures of that yet, it was a job and a half and it was almost dark when we finished and I was too tired to worry about pictures, and Mikey still wanted to play!

Incubator

2009-02-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

I am well on my way to my dream incubator. I found dickeyincubators.com. They have incubators 3x the quality as the georgia quail, and they are cheaper. I need to save up 650 bucks for the complete set up I want plus shipping. Wish me luck. I hope to save all summer and sell lots of chickens in order to get it for next year. But until then, my incubator is getting a makeover. I order an automatic humidity system, that should help with my water levels, Larry put a plexi-glass window on my door. He is going to insulate the whole incubator this weekend. He bought and modified an automatic turner for one tray. We might buy another, but I don't want to go overboard when I don't plan on using it as an incubator, but as a hatcher next year. He also bought some new latches for the door b/c one is broken. I need to work on a hatching tray. And I need to start planning my hatching trays for next year, they need tops, the bottoms I have will be fine, they just need tops. I'm so excited, by Saturday I hope to have pics of the new and improved incubator and I hope to have some eggs set. YAY!

Another week begins

2009-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Today was quite an eventful, yet laid back day. Raven is currently in her new home, I will miss her, but I am glad she is gone.
Sadly I have decided I don't really like the chicken I bought yesterday. Don't know how that happened.
Larry went to a friend and fellow chicken farmers house and brought me back 2 dozen eggs to hatch. Even though I am not ready to start incubating yet, this means that I had to start today and finish cleaning my incubator tomorrow.
Also, Larry bought 2 new buff orph hens and a roo. The roo is not an orph, it is a buff rock, with yellow legs instead of white, but I think my sick roo that I have in the brooder getting well is going to be fine. He did however manage to get too close to the heat lamp and burn the mess out of his feathers, how smart is that.
Along with the new chickens, we got a new big coop, probably half the size of our triple coop, but still big, and a smaller pen and the frame of a pen. It just needs wire. I think we are going to use the smaller ones as runs and attach to the triple coop, b/c as I stated before, the triple coop is going to be enclosed soon.
We started ours hens on layer today. I hope we start getting some eggs soon. I need to get them some oyster shells to help make the egg shells strong.
Here are a few pictures from today, I will try to take more tomorrow if it doesn't rain. I am loving the weather the last two days.

First Monday

2009-01-31T17:37:00.000-08:00

We headed out this afternoon to Ripley. First Monday isn't what it used to be, it's really a lot of junk. But we thought we might get some deals on some chickens, we can usually pick up a few other odds and ends. We did pick up a few barred rock hens and I got another EE hen. The barred's are going to be great b/c we want to breed some sex links, and you have to have a barred rock hen and a red rooster. I need to find an EE rooster. I think I am going to try to find some actual Auracana hatching eggs from a backyardchickens member so I can show ppl what they really look like. If it is pretty like is was today, tomorrow, I will try to get some pictures.

Death, just another part of life......

2009-01-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

The little brown puppy died last night. I'm not sure what happened, he was fine yesterday. I'm going to watch the other two closely though. I have someone hopefully coming after one Sat. Thankfully all the puppies I have given away have gone to ppl I know. And Raven is going to someone I know also. I have given strict instructions that if they no longer want them to bring them back to me. Poor baby, he was beautiful, they say all dogs go to heaven, if so, heaven is one beautiful puppy richer today.

SOLD!

2009-01-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

I love seeing profits out of my hard work. But it is still sad to see them go. I wonder if I am weird or if other ppl feel the same way. I almost didn't want to sell them, then I though, that's what I got them for.
I sold 16 New Hamp and RIR pullets
7 New Hamp and RIR cockrell
1 Black Astrolop Cockrell
1 Buff Orphigton Rooster
4 RIR hens
5 Silver Duckwing Bantams
I didn't have any intention of selling the bantams, but he offered my twice what anyone else has every offered and really I don't have use for them right now, so they went also.

Gotta Go

2009-01-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

Raven that is. Someone is supposed to pick her up this weekend. If not, I don't know what I am going to do with her. Evidently she has been fooling me playing nice for the last two weeks, in the last two days she has killed my guinea, which really upset me and wounded one of my adolescents that jumped out when I opened the coop door. I will not keep a chicken killer dog, I will not. She has to go.

Easter Egger!!!!!!

2009-01-26T06:47:00.001-08:00

Ok, so Larry and I went to the flea market at Crump yesterday. I am not big on flea market chickens, but the guy was local and he has an easter egger. I have wanted an easter egger, or an Araucana or Ameraucana.Although no one, including this guy who was selling me an "Araucana" know the difference. I tried to explain to him the difference, but in the end, I just stopped arguing and decided to let it go. I wanted the chicken, just b/c she lays colored eggs and I thought the kids would love it. I really want a trio. I don't know that I would breed them, and I would definetly tell the ppl who I might sell them to that they are Easter Eggers.I really need to get some new pics taken of everyone but, it's cold. Larry also bought another buff orphington hen, like we don't have enough.

Closed minded

2009-01-24T22:04:00.001-08:00

Larry commented today that he really wanted to get rid of all but buff orpingtons and have only one breed of chicken. I don't believe that will be happening. He also made a comment about me learning to build my own pens, guess what, as soon as I get a warm day, I'm gonna see what I can come up with. I can't wait until spring, when I start selling some, so I will have some funds to buy supplies.

Coop Ideas

2009-01-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

I like the thought of different style coops. We have 2 now. One a basic attachment to the back of the barn. It is basically just a enclosed lean to. I plan on doing some work to it this spring, but it will probably remain our nursery coop.
We then have the new coop that Larry is still working on. It is just a basic pen a frame with wire and some doors. It is going to have a tin roof, extremely soon.
I'm really liking this coop plan

I LOVE this idea, but it seems like it would take more time than Larry has to build it.

This now, is flippin awesome. I do plan on creating something similar to this one day. I really do.

This looks simple, I wouldn't mine a few of these.

Wishlist of a "wierd person"

2009-01-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting her, not being able to sleep, thinking of the best way to spend 100 dollars. A normal woman would say shopping, clothes, shoes, the works. I have a different wish list tonight. Spring is getting closer and closer. I am on the verge of Spring Fever. The next semi warm day, I am setting to work in the barn. The incubator is going in the tac room this year, I'm thinking, if Larry will run me some electrical outlets inside, I will put the brooder in there also. Larry says it will be too hot in there, but that is mainly my point, they can use each others heat and I can have a fan in there in case it gets too warm. But I don't really think that will be an issue, b/c baby chicks need to stay around 90 degrees and the eggs need to stay around 101. A good fan circulating the air should work great. Anyway, here is my wish list.

And pics to go along with it...

Ducks, I will just go with hatchery choice unless Larry has a preference. He will fight me on this one, he said "No Ducks"

Golden Laced Wyandottes

Black Sex Linked, they are called Sex Linked b/c you can tell the sex by the coloring. The females will be solid black and the males will be barred, or black and white speckled to you non-chicken speakers.

Blue Wyandotte
I don't know why, but I think these a beautiful

Easter Eggers, these are called Ameraucanas sometimes, but they often get confused with Araucanas and that is incorrect, so I stick with Easter Eggers. They are called that b/c they lay mutilcolored eggs.

Sicilian Buttercups
I just want these b/c my mom loves buttercups and IDk, they are pretty.

Golden Spangled Hamburgs
They are just gorgeous

I really don't know that Larry is going to accommodate me this year. He gave me full rein last time and I was cautious, sticking with two breeds, but I want to branch out and see what else there is to have. Don't get me wrong I love my buff orphs and I love my little New Hamps. I have little love for the Rhode Island Reds, but they are still okay. I just want a mixture. But this means more pens for Larry to build.
I would have to have 2 more pens like the one I have now. And at $250 a pen, IDK if it is happening.

8

2009-01-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right. 8. That is what the temperature was at 6am. I really can't wait until the temps come up and stay reasonable. I have let Raven off her chain for last night and I'm not sure when I will make her get back on it. I hate it. I really hate to say it, but she is going to have to find a new home. I would love to keep her, but we just can't right now. Our neighbors hate her and they are the shooting kind of neighbors. She needs a pen to run around in and we won't be able to get one built until spring. I really wish Andrew would have taken her. He is going to regret it if we give her away. I can't see just leaving my dog like that. I wish he could have found a way. Oh, well. I guess we will just let it go for now and see what happens. If anyone knows someone with a good home for a really sweet beautiful Husky, let me know.

The puppies

2009-01-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

1 down, 4 to go

2009-01-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

Raven's puppies are now 6 weeks old. My SIL took one of them, one of the girls. So that makes 3 boys and a girl to get homes for. I'm on a mission. I'm quite picky with where these babies will go, if I am not satisfied with the home, they will just stay here. I honestly was not 100% on giving SIL one,b/c she is young and you know how that goes. But I will keep check on her. I need to post some pics. I took some the other day. I haven't taken them off the camera yet, I will try to do that tomorrow.

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-01-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Still raining here,I know it will not completely start until Feb when everything is frozen. Then we will see from there, it usually rains a bit more in the Spring when things start to warm up. It's a mud mess out there, my horses look horrible, but there is not sense in brushing them, the mud will be back within mins. They don't care, they are happily eating away at their new bales of hay. Not a care in the world.

Pretty picture

2009-01-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

I walked outside and saw my babies and had to go back in and get the camera. They really don't like each other too much, and NoName is usually the outsider, but they decided to sunbathe together for a change. Spirit was origanally no where to be found, but quickly showed up as I approached the barn.

Progress, Kinda

2009-01-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

Larry started working on a new Chicken Pen today. He has finally decided that my suggestion is valid and that the barn is the perfect place. Of course decided to start on New Years day without planning ahead and buying materials was a setback. So the idea is laid out, somewhat of a start, and the rest will have to wait until Saturday or Sunday. That's fine though, it's a start. Something needs to be done, I keep having to remind myself that we still have the worst of the winter to tend with and the wind is getting colder and colder.
We also acquired a new red rooster today. He actually was origianlly ours and when we thinned out our roosters, he moved to our neighbors house and when our rhode island red passed away, we were in need of one. So we called her up and went and brought him home. I'm sure she will be rewarded with 2-3 to replace him when the young'uns are grown. We also decided that we may add a goat to our farm. Bo will be excited. We just have to decide where to put him. I secretly want a donkey also and an ostrich. But one step at a time. I do have a plan to get some ducks this summer. I believe I have it all planned out.
Larry also started working on the garden spot. A few more times with the tractor and some barn cleaning, and we will be in business come spring. I am not letting another year go by without a garden.

Descions

2008-12-31T15:01:00.001-08:00

So I guess Larry has decided to sell Spirit and NoName, I'm not happy with the decision, but I can live with it. We will keep Bandit, which reminds me, I need to go buy wormer and some high protein food for Bandit, he is way too skinny.

Brrrr

2008-12-28T15:54:00.000-08:00

Today was slightly cold compared to the days we have been having. The horses once again got into the feed room and gobbled up most of my chicken feed. Luckily we don't stock it up and there is never a whole lot in there, but still. Annoying, I need to get a new latch or something for it.
I once again lazed out and let Larry feed, I will probably continue to do so until school starts back. Sometimes all the "help" can just leave me frustrated. They scare me around the horses, and I worry they will let the chickens out, it's just too frustrating, so I prefer to do it on my own, but Mikey rarely naps when they are home and when he does they want to go with or they will stay inside and get loud, waking Mikey up. I will probably go back to feeding and just deal with it, but it's nice when Larry will do it for me when he can.

Windy day!

2008-12-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

The wind is just horrible today. Larry went out to feed the chickens and discovered that the roof was off of half of the chicken coop. The pen is going to have to be fixed, it was built well up until we ran out of time and then it got thrown together and never finished properly. A tin roof and some walls and hanging nest boxes are a must. Also a automatic feeder is needed badly in the smaller pens, I have one in the back pen. For today we moved the chickens around and will keep them that way leaving the two topless pens empty until we get the roof finished. It is supposed to storm tonight, I hope the other pen's roof stays intact.

And some more

2008-12-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Finally some of Spirit with the other horses and a sweet napping picture of Cat Cat and Ginger.

Pictures

2008-12-26T23:10:00.001-08:00

The barn on a pretty fall day

Bandit and NoName

Silver Duckwing Bantams

"Grace" my rescued game hen. This is when she first came to us. She was torn up pretty bad, I will post update pics as soon as it quits raining.

Bandit and NoNAme

The pasture

My free rangers. A game hen and a guinea, they just roam around and have survived thus far.

Pictures

2008-12-26T22:28:00.000-08:00

The first two pics are of babies I hatched myself with my incubator. For some reason the batams didn't make it. (the little ones) but the buff orpingtons are still thriving.

This is called zipping.

A dusting of snow on the pasture, lasted just long enough for a good picture.

A buff orpington baby

A lot of them

Chopper is amused with the brooder.

Silver duckwing Bantam hen

A buff orpington and a rhode island red adolescent, I think both cockerels, we will soon see.

A few of my "babies" and the auto waterer my hubby made for me.

My buff babies when they were teeeny tiny

My first batch I hatched, stupid power went out and only like 5 hatched.

New Hamp baby

This pic is from when I still has black sex linked, the black ones are hens, the speckled ones(barred) are roos.

Chopper, yes, he is still a puppy.

Cat Cat, when we first got her

Ginger snoozing in Grandpa's recliner

Bandit

This week on the farm

2008-12-26T22:06:00.000-08:00

Lots of things happening around our house this week. Raven's puppies are getting so big, we think we will end up with 3 almost identical to Chopper, 1 Raven look-a-like, and maybe a chocolate lab look-a-like. Not sure what you can expect with a black lab and a husky as the parents. The "baby" chickens are growing so fast. I'm not sure how many we have left, those cold days we had early on, we weren't prepared and we lost several. I know for a fact there will be no more babies in the fall or winter. Hatching and ordering is for the spring. Unless I get a broody hen, which would be awesome. I picked up some cockrells a week or two back, dh wasn't happy, but I plan on having a trio of silkies in the spring and now I have the boy, just need some girls. I also picked up 2 show girls to go with him. They are so ugly they are cute, I don't have pics of them yet, but will soon. I think I have a video. The silkie is white, and Bo has adopted him as his favorite. That chicken will lay his head on Bo's shoulder if he picks him up, it's a sight to see. Larry has been taking over some of the chicken responsibilities for a few days, I have had a rough patch the last month or so, but I think I have eliminated the source of my stress and things will get better. I will have to get over it and tend to the animals myself, b/c Larry doesn't know how. He picked up feed the other day and went out to feed the dudes and dudettes. He came in later to tell me that he fed the horses 50lbs of livestock feed, they should eat on it for a few days. HOLY NONO BATMAN! I then have to explain to him that horses will not stop like cows will, they will eat it all and make themselves sick. He know understands that and luckily, no one is hurt, although Bandit is having some intestinal issues. The horses look terrible right now, between the winter coat, the rain, and the mud, they look horrific, but I guess they are comfy.
A few weeks back I was trying to get rid of an extra Rhode Island Red Roo, now I find myself in need. I am hoping that I don't loose my cockrell I have in with the babies. Both of my roos died unexpectedly with in a few days of each other. Larry says I need to feed them more to give them more energy to fight off the cold, I think he needs to enclose the pen. In the end they will probably get fed too much and get the pen enclosed. LOL!

Ignore button

2008-12-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I have ignored this new blog b/c I have been pressed for time. But things are calming down and hopefully the rain will clear soon as I am in need of more pictures of my animals. I am going to get this blog going, I am, I am, I am.

Welcome to my blog!

2008-12-10T20:28:00.001-08:00

My name is Melinda and I live with my husband and 3 children on a 30 acre "mini" farm. We are working on living our lives more independently. Raising and growing our own food, raising our animals in a nice loving environment. We currently have a pom named Ginger and a Cat named Cat Cat living in the house with us. We have a black lab outside, his name is Chopper. We have 3 horses, Bandit, Noname and Spirit. We have around 100 chickens and 1 guinea. Life isn't boring around here, that is for sure.