pooped in the coop

 it was a gorgeous day here in indiana today! lower temps and humidity made it feel like june. lol above is me inside the chicken run wiring the top fencing to the sides. i was absolutely pooped when my niece kyley took this photo. but the good news is that we got it all done. so glad.

here is kyley on her first day of summer vaca. she was the best helper --  helped weed, hold wires in the coop and keep us all entertained with her funny talking and stories.

here ky is sweeping out the chicken coop. she volunteered to do this and insisted on doing it all by herself. i was very proud of her. unfortunately her day ended bad. she was throwing her softball up onto the roof and it rolled off and hit her in the eye. she had a huge knot and the beginning of a black shiner. at the end of the day i was pooped in the coop and she was popped in the eye. hee hee

green acres is the place for me

despite the overwhelming amount of rain we've received my garden is looking great!  i am so proud of it. other than a tiny hobby garden i had in englewood about 10 years ago, it is the first garden i've had since i was 30. and i went BIG! i've planted strawberries, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, eggplant, banana peppers, roma tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, onions, carrots, green beans, peas, sugar snap peas, mesclum, spinach, romaine lettuce, acorn squash, butternut squash, watermelon, muskmelon, thyme, parsley, basil, sage, rhubarb, sweet potatoes and red potatoes. whew! i've lost track of the number of hours i've spent planting, hoeing, spreading straw, weeding, rearranging, etc. i am having fun and it is THE BEST therapy around!! above is grandson ben checking out one of the summer squash plants.

the hens continue to grow and develop their personalities. they've mastered getting in and out of the coop via the ramps we made into the run. i love sitting in the shade and watching them peck around, squabble over worms and do their little chicken dances. lol we lost one of the meat chicks over the weekend due to the extreme heat. we now have fans blowing on them. gotta to protect all those chicken dinners!!

the sweet potato slips were slow to green up and grow but have really taken off this week. can't wait to start harvesting everything. a friend of my mom's was cleaning out her mom's basement and gave us a huge stash of canning jars. thrilled to get them!! i'm looking at a small used freezer today. i'll need one in order to hold all the chickens and frozen veggies i plan to put up.

so far the rabbits have stayed out of the garden but we've seen evidence of a deer walking thru. the big holes above are hoof prints and were placed there before i strung the lines for the sugar snap peas to grow on.

i continue to love this life i'm creating away from the stress and chaos of big city life and corporate work. as i drive from place to place in the countryside my eyes have started to search for a small hobby farm to rent. emphasis on small!!! all i need is a tiny house with a small barn or shed and a spot for a garden and the chicks. a pond would be nice and lots of shade trees. dream on, dream on -- in a good way!!!

chicken farmer

 

 

my life as a chicken farmer is sooo much fun!! this week i moved the chickens from mom's laundry room to the coop. the meat chicks went first as they had gotten huge and had outgrown the large plastic tub they were living in. i rigged a pen in the corner of the barn for them to live in since we don't want them to get a ton of exercise. calm, quiet chicks = tender meat!! the hens were moved a few days later into a large metal horse trough in the barn. still under the heat lamp for the cool evenings, the hens had so much more room to move around in the trough.

today we gathered at mom's to build the chicken run attached to the barn. my brother brian and my son matt helped me construct a 12' by 6' welded wire pen. brian cut a hole in the barn door and rigged it with a weight and rope so we can open the door into the run from outside. we still need to add a roof and will be working on it one evening this week. then we'll construct a fence wall in the barn so that the hens can be moved out of the trough and be able to go in and out of the barn all day.

we couldn't resist letting the hens out to play in the run once the fence was up. we had to hand gather them and then set them thru the door until they get the hang of it. they seemed stunned at first and huddled together in a tight circle. but within 5 minutes they started to peck in the dirt and were able to pull up a few worms. there was a flurry of running and short distance flying when a worm was discovered.

my SIL candy selected our hens for us and gave us a nice variety; i have 2 each of aracuanas, barred rock, buff orpington, golden comet, new hampshire and rhode island reds. all of the  hens will lay brown eggs except for the aracuanas who will lay a greenish blue egg.the goal for now is to keep them happy and well-fed and watered as they grown and mature. when they get a little bigger we will let them free-range on mom's 3+ acres. it will be september before they start to lay eggs.

all 12 of the meat chicks are cornish rocks. we visited a local amish farm this week to set up an appointment to have them slaughtered on june 22nd -- 7 weeks after they were born. mom and i plan to have a little celebration feast of the first chicken and then we'll freeze the rest.

i've already named 2 of my hens -- one of the rhode island reds is named hermione and one of the golden comets is named luna. both are tributes to my love of the harry potter books.

in other news, i'm working a part-time job at a local antique mall which i am loooooving! i assist the customers, run the cash register, enter new inventory, do a little cleaning and get first look at all the new antiques that come in. it is low-stress and perfect for me right now.

chick day!!

it is official!! our chicks are home safe and sound and i am now a chicken farmer!! mom and i drove to michigan on sunday to my brohter's house in new hudson. he owns grand river feed where on monday they held their annual chick day. they had over 1,000 chicks for sale, many of them reserved for customers who had pre-ordered the number and variety of their choice.  we picked up our chicks yesterday morning and were home by 4:00. we had to keep the heat on high as the chicks need to be at a 90 degree temp for the first week. believe me, it was roasting in my car for the 4.5 hour drive!

ben and jenna were so excited to see the chicks. ben entered my mom's house chanting baby chicks baby chicks baby chicks.  he was tentatively curious but jenna was enthralled with every aspect and helped me feed and water them.

we have 12 broilers which will grow very quickly and need to be slaughtered in 7 weeks. we also have a variety of egg laying breeds which will start producing eggs by early to mid autumn. i tried to explain to jenna in the most basic of words that the light yellow chicks won't be around long and she should not get attached. i am sure that this is going to be a very hard lesson for her to learn. 

the broilers will stay in the house under the heat lamp for about 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather and then be moved to the shed. the hens will need to stay protected under the heat lamp longer, about 3 to 4 weeks if it gets warm and stays warm by late may.

i just came home from mom's and all the chicks are alive and doing well.  they already seemed bigger, more active and voraciously hungry this morning. for some reason they like to congregate in their food bowls which is so funny. they are also curious about their reflections in the water bottle.

zoe and bella were of course very interested with lots of soft whimpering and scampering around the tubs. i want to introduce them to the chicks from a young age so they understand that these are not play things and are off limits.  eventually the hens will free range at mom's and i want to be able to turn the dogs loose without any incidents. bella and zoe are soooo well behaved that i am confident i can train them to leave the hens alone.

this is jenna and me watching the royal wedding news on et. we were both pretty worn out as you can tell. already this morning, mom and i are talking about getting more hens and having eggs to sell. also i'm planning to order meat chickens so we have fresh meat every 7-9 weeks or so.

i've longed to raise chickens and gather my own eggs for so long. i am a happy, happy chicken farmer and i looove it!