Americauna "Easter Egger" chicks are released!

These lovelies are running around with the other chickens now that they have grown big enough.  They are so pretty and cute flocking together around the yard.  I love their "tufted" cheeks!  They will be laying pink/green/blue pastel "easter egg" colored eggs by the spring.

New bunny hutch

Okay, first off - we are not carpenters, obviously!  However, we finally finished the new bunny hutch.  It is a 4-plex and makes it easier to care for them.  The best part is - all recycled material except for about $6 worth of furring strips we bought to complete it.  Not bad for a $6 hutch, right?  We have a bit of painting left (well, the kids do!) and are putting some recycle corrugated plastic on the roof but other than that it is done and perfectly functional if not beautiful!

 This Thunder/Twister/Tornado aka "T".

 Here is Lucy.

 Ruby.

 Clover.

They all seem very happy in their new homes!

Our Daisy girl in the milking stand

Not bad for a first freshener that I was lazy about milking.  :-)

I still have to hobble her, little stinker.  She is perfectly content to hop up there and be milked but if I don't hobble her she will kick up a storm.

Another chicken embryo

Heather cracked her egg for breakfast and we were dismayed to find this little guy.  This is why it's so important to mark eggs and keep tabs on a broody hen's nest.  When a hen goes broody, she stops laying but other hens will come add to her nest and so there is no telling how long eggs have been there if you don't keep track.  When I got around to checking her nest and deciding on marking eggs, she had 20+ in there and I decided to leave her with 12 of them.  We knew there was a possibility of this, so had made sure to put the questionable eggs that I had gathered from her nest into cartons marked "OURS" (so they are not sold) where any stained, dirty, questionable eggs go.  We are always careful to crack our eggs into a bowl individually instead of into a batter or pan.

This one is probably about 7 days along.

I think next time I go to remove eggs from a nest, I will candle them before deciding which ones to leave and take.  :-(  See how to candle an egg here.

Developing Egg

We have a broody hen who we have been allowing to set on 12 eggs.  She is in a corner of the hay shed and very protective of her eggs.  We marked the 12 eggs that we would allow to stay and just gather any extras from the nest once a day.  Today when I went to collect, I found that one of the marked eggs had rolled out of the nest and was stone cold.  I brought it in, knowing that the chick couldn't survive being that cold.  We opened it up for a little science lesson (being homeschoolers, we grab every opportunity).  It was less developed than I thought.  The yolk was completely runny (yolk is absorbed by chick for nourishment) and there was a bit of blood.  The kids didn't think there was anything there, but at closer inspection I found the baby chick, we could see it's eye and little heart slowly beating and then becoming still.  Wow!  From this website, it appears that the chick was about 2-5 days developed.  Amazing little life!  How sad.  Let's hope the next 11 survive.  I put some extra padding around the nest to prevent any others from rolling out, hopefully that will work.

Here are a couple pictures:

More learning and info, including some worksheets for kids is located here.

Here is a YouTube video showing all 3 weeks of development.

Black Jack

We picked up our new buck last week!

 Nubian, black and white - great ears.

Doesn't he look like Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars?

I am tempted to change his name!

He will be bred with Annalise this fall for some great kids and yummy, creamy milk!

About the farm today...

 Will took this picture of mom milking.

 Daisy getting milked.

 Our milking stand (Curious is cleaning up the spills).

 Samson chilling in the shade.

 New "easter eggers" are getting big!

Luke and Beau in the new pasture.

A great article on broody hens

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

Trying to figure out how to get these broodies to actually hatch out some chicks!  :-)

Update: heat, weeds, broodies, a deck and goats!

Peas

I haven't updated in a while, sorry about that.  We have had such a strange spring, very cool temps and lots of rain to suddenly very hot temps and dryness.  The garden is doing okay for the lateness at which we planted it, we've harvested a cucumber, a couple handfuls of peas, and are about ready to get some lettuce this next week.  There is still a lot to grow, beans and squashes are doing well.  I planted tomato seeds straight into the garden, and they are slowly but surely coming up.  I've never done that before but by the time I got around to it, it seemed the best option.  I will likely buy a few larger plants to supplement until they get large enough.

Domestic blackberries

The chickens ate all our strawberries this year, I need to get netting over and around that!  The blackberries and raspberries are doing very well and should be ready for harvest in a couple weeks.

Apples

The fruit trees in the orchard seem pretty happy - one apple tree had 5 apples on it (then 1 dropped off), still great for it's first year here.  The other apple tree didn't even flower, but one peach tree did.  The fig plants are doing surprisingly well, I thought I had lost one over the winter but it has surprised me.  The deer have been nibbling a bit on them, but not too bad so far.

Broody girls

"Easter-egger" chicks

We picked up 7 more hens - black austrolorps.  Two of them are very broody and I'm pretty sure that they are going to hatch out some chicks for us in the next few weeks.  The "easter-egger" chicks are doing well and have moved out to the chicken house, though still in their own shelter for their protection.  I need pretty soon to start culling out the hens that aren't laying and the extra roosters.  If I'm feeding them, they need to feed me in one way or the other.  :-)  I've been able to sell several dozen eggs a week successfully which has been nice.

Collected eggs

We sold all of our baby bunnies for the asking price, which was wonderful.  They all found great pet homes and I am happy about that.  I am planning to put my white buck up for sale too and just use the dwarf buck for breeding next year.

Deck in progress

Our deck is finally moving along again!  It now has the base finished and there are 10 boards laying across the top and we can fit 2 chairs out on it.  This makes me very happy!!!  I don't know when the rest of the floor will get down and who knows when it will have rails and steps but I'm excited for what is done so far.  :-)

Daisy saying hello.

Our goats have been doing pretty well.  I need to get out for hoof trimming and am considering summer shaves too, we'll see.  I've never done that before but it may help their comfort through the summer.  Everyone is a joy and lots of fun.  Our new buckling should be coming home the end of July.

New kitty Cassie has settled in quite happily.  She is mostly in the house still but has gone outside a couple of times and enjoyed that.

Samson smiling

Samson and Molly are doing great.  Samson lives with the 2 wethers and he loves his goats.  I look forward to him being old enough to be with all the girls too next spring.  We'll see how he does at kidding. We love them both!

I think that's about it, thought I should update for now while I had a few moments.

New kitty - Cassie

We have been looking for a new young cat to add to our outdoors as Jonah is at least 15 years old and while he sure seems spry and healthy, we know he can't live forever.  Cassie came from my dad and has been living outside and is reportedly a fierce hunter!  :-)  She is 5 years old and spayed and very pretty and playful.  She is Will's cat and is adjusting now to home, we will adjust her to the outdoors eventually once we are sure that she will stay near and she's met the other critters.

Ruby's kits - 8 weeks old

 I *think* this one is a boy, no guarantees though.

 Black eye patch, think it's a girl.

 Grey nose patch, think it's a girl.

Brown and white, think it's a girl.

Our new buckling

This little guy (the black one) will be coming home in July after his mama weans him.  He is 2 weeks old now.  He will be Annalise's beau and they will get their first date in October.  :-)

 Aren't his ears great?  That's his brother there, if anyone is interested in him - I can put you in touch.

He has not been named yet, but here's his pedigree:

Sire: FLYING FARM BLUE LUMBER JACK

Sire's Dam: POCOMOKE S CAPPUCCINO

Sire's Sire: GOLDTHWAITE FATICUS

Dam: FLYING FARM ITTY BITTY

Dam's Dam: POCOMOKE S DEVORAH

Dam's Sire: GOLDTHWAITE FATICUS

 

New alpine doeling

We picked up this sweety yesterday.  She is 3 weeks old, a bottle baby and a purebred alpine (ADGA registerable).  We found a great deal from a trusted source and are pretty pleased with her.  We will breed her with The General for a fresh 1st generation of mini alpine kids, hoping to get a bit more alpine into the lines.  We have named her Marseille (mahr-sayeh).  Her mother's name was Paris so went for another French city.

Presenting:  Iron-Gate DDDJ Marseille

Sire:  DIXIE-DOES DREAMY JUNO

Sire's Sire:  IRON-ROD THE COLOR OF DREAMS

Sire's Dam:  WAIILATPU WRAL MAIRE

Dam:  DIXIE-DOES SOCRATES PARIS

Dam's Sire:  WAIILATPU WRR SOCRATES

Dam's Dam:  DIXIE-DOES DREAMY MONALISA

Lucy's kits - 4 weeks

These sweeties are currently for sale.  Check out the "For Sale" page for details.

Lucy's kits - day 4

These are going to be some very pretty bunnies.  They were making little squeaking noises and flopping all over the place when we checked on them today.

We've got milk!

Daisy was a bit more cooperative this morning, even though it was raining and her babies were clamoring for her.  Rose and I milked about 3 cups and no hoof in it, so we were able to drink it ourselves this time.  Everyone agrees that it was yummy!

Baby bunny pics

Ruby's kits - day 13

(the all white one does have pink eyes!)

Lucy's kits - day 3

A walk through the woods

First milking

Rose and I went out to milk Daisy this morning for the first time.  It went - o.k.  She was mad at us for keeping her away from her babies all night, and surprisingly not real happy to have her head stuck in a grain bucket.  However, with Will feeding her hay in handfuls and Rose and I alternately petting/soothing and milking, we managed to get about 2 1/2 cups of milk - which immediately went to the dogs as we also managed to get her hoof in it at some point.  I had told Rose not to expect much on our first try, and honestly it went a little better than anticipated.  Daisy can be a stinker when she wants to be.  With time and practice, it will get better.  :-)

I remembered to take my camera down, but forgot to put the CF card in it - so didn't get pics, but will try again tomorrow.

Daisy is now happily grazing with the prancing sisters, Magnolia and Melantha - little does she know, we'll be doing it all again tomorrow!

Ruby's kits - day 12

Ruby's kits - day 11

Standing on their feet more, eyes are opening more, much more active - sweet!

Lucy's kits - born April Fool's Day! :-)

Lucy decided to have her babies today - 3 little ones!  One is black and the others look light, but I haven't investigated much further yet.  She was laboring when we left this morning and had padded her nest with fur overnight - so they were born sometime between 9-4 today.  Both parents are Netherland Dwarves, 2 of these kits will be for sale for $10 each in 6 weeks.  Lucy will also be for sale.  She will make a great pet, very sweet and gentle and uses a litterbox.  We have realized that she would be very happy with a family as an indoor pet so will sell her once she has weaned her kits.

Individual pictures of Ruby's kits

10 Days Old - eyes starting to open, hopping erratically.

The one with black spots.

The one with gray spots.

The all white one.

The runt with brown and gray.