Fallen Leaves

Oh, how I love leaves! Ever think how many uses a leaf has?

1. Science project: see how many different kinds your kids can collect and identify


2. Art project: put a leaf under a sheet of paper and make an imprint with a crayon


3. P.E. exercise: rake into a pile, move onto a tarp, and then. . . JUMP!


4. After extensive jumping, the leaves will be crunched, shredded, and ready for the compost pile or garden.(which is why you put the leaves on a tarp in the first place, it's SOOOOOO much easier to move to the garden!)


5. If you can get bagged leaves, save a bag or two to add to the chicken coop in the middle of the winter. Chickens love to rummage thru a pile of leaves, it sure does keep them occupied in the cold weather!

Evidently, dogs like to jump in leaf piles also. Ours spent hours running, diving, and eventually pushing the leaves off the tarp.

In Limbo

Due to a bunch of things happening all at once, I quit my job.

Scary.

Then I ended up at the store.

Where I found a ten pound bag of potatoes.

$6.99

Yes, that's right, $6.99 for a ten pound bag of taters.

More Scary.

A couple of days later I was back at the store and found the egg section practically empty. Thinking there had been a sale on eggs, I scanned the prices.

$2.39

Yes, that's right, $2.39 for a dozen of large eggs.

Not scary.

What?

Because I got this today.

It's the first egg from the new hens, small in comparison to the old girls' eggs, but . . . .


it's hope.

Hope that maybe I can sell all of my extra eggs quickly and things will be alright.

D even said someone at his work is already asking about eggs.

Am I "counting my eggs before their hatched?"

Egg Cartons

These cartons are cute, but too pricey for me.

http://www.eggcartons.com/Ovotherm-Glass-Clear-Starpack-6-Egg-Carton-w_Label/productinfo/OVP-6SP/

RIP PollyAnna

PollyAnna was always the first at the feeder.

And always the photo hog.

The lightest-colored of the bunch of Red Stars, she was the easiest to spot.

My favorite hen PollyAnna, has passed away. She was a Red Star mix, just 2 years old. She has been acting poorly off and on since spring, not laying any eggs and losing weight, but usually bouncing back after a couple of days on cider vinegar water. I know when she is not well, she doesn't leave my side when I am in the yard. Yesterday, she came out of the coop, but went back in after a bit. I thought maybe it was just cooler in there, seeing as it was in the low 90's yesterday.

But I found her this morning. So sad.

Update On the New Chickens

I haven't posted much about the new chicks. I am enjoying them so very much! As a whole, they have moved outdoors now and have learned to fly up into the nest boxes. Individually, I have learned that each breed is truly very different. All the research I did on breed characteristics was in vain, none of them have turned out what I thought.

The 5 Barred Rocks are much bigger than the rest at this stage (2 1/2 months old.)

The Golden Comets are very much more outgoing than the rest, they were the first to fly, first to greet me at the gate, and the first to investigate a bug or new green leaf.

The Rhode Island Reds follow right behind the Red Stars, but will not let me pet them as easily.

The 2 White Leghorns are so very pretty, so white, they remind me of a white dove. They even seem graceful in a way.

Lastly, the Welsummers hens remind me of red-tailed hawks, very stand-offish, not to be petted(please excuse the bad photo, they are not photogenic either.).

I am at odds what to do with the extra rooster. I bought a Welsummer rooster (above)in hopes to hatch out some Welsummer eggs next spring, but I also got a Rhode Island Rooster, either as a mistake from the hatchery, or maybe the hatchery thought the one extra chick they always throw in there should be a Rhode Island Red roo to go along with the RIR hens I bought. Either/Or, I think 30 hens shared by 2 roos is a decent ratio, but do I really need an extra roo? Maybe hatch out RIR chicks to sell next spring? I went to a garage sale and ran into a lady who is looking for a RIR rooster, so maybe I will sell him to her.

These new hens should start laying in late September. My hens usually average out to .75 eggs a day, so I could find myself easily swimming (or drowning) in 20 eggs a day. Note to self: quit procrastinating and find egg cartons!

Growing Up

It's sort of a sad/happy day when you realize the little chicks have stopped "peeping" and are now clucking. But no peeping means they are just that much closer to suprising you with their first egg. Whoo Hoo!

Happy Mother's Day!

My chickies arrived! What beautiful colors.




A Welsummer's backside.



Jake the Jealous Dog. Very, Very Jealous.



A White Leghorn. We've never had homegrown white eggs before.




So, all in all, there are 5 Barred Rocks, 3 Welsummers, 2 White Leghorns, 6 Rhode Island Reds and 15 Golden Comets. I am still looking for a couple of Americaunas (Easter Eggers.)
I chose these breeds for their variety in egg colors and for the excellent egg laying track records (possibly 5 eggs a week per chicken!) I guess I better start asking the neighbors for egg cartons!

Waiting for My Mother's Day Present

Just sitting around waiting for my Mother's Day present to myself to arrive.

Can you guess what it is?

Rain, Rain Go AWAY

It's been raining so much, I can't get the garden worked on and certainly can't plant anything. So I am very antsy and very tired of cleaning my house. I want to be outside! Here is an update on all that's been going on (or not going on but I wish would start)

My rain barrel has a small leak in it that I need to fix. You know after all this rain, we will have a drought this summer and will be needing that rain water.

My perennial chives are about 8 inches tall and looking good. The rhubarb is now up well and I should be able to pick it next week, I think.

The 4 hens I have left are now 2 years old. After going on a hiatus from laying (three months with only 1 egg laid) they are now back on track. I am getting 3 or even 4 eggs a day. I love these hens. They follow me all over and when they see me pick up a shovel, they come running to see what they can "help" me dig up.

Oh, speaking of chickens. I have a very nice problem. The eggs they are laying are so big they don't fit in a normal large or extra large egg carton. How am I going to sell eggs if I can't use egg cartons? I certainly can't afford to buy jumbo size egg cartons, kindof cuts into the profits. I am open to any ideas, if you want to share.

My first generation New Zealand doe died after giving birth too early. Not much more to say about that.

Two of my mixed breed does had litters. One had 8 babies, the other has 4 (first time momma, so I am thrilled she's taking care of them, don't care that it's only 4)

Christmas decorations are still up on the front porch. Do I ignore them or wait for them to just blow away in our strong spring winds?

I made two loaves of bread yesterday, turned out nice, although I need to adjust the recipe so it doesn't overflow my breadmaker.

Have run out of grocery money for the month, so we will be eating whatever is found in the cupboard. I do have about 60 cans of spaghetti sauce and lots of pasta to go with it, so I'll have to be creative and figure out 2 weeks of menus centered around pasta.

Well, enought for today. Got to get ready for work.

Coloring Eggs, Natural Style

Got inspired to make some naturally colored eggs this year. I didn't think I could color brown eggs, but I guess the trick is to let them soak in the color overnight.

Here is the red/purple cabbage trials:

1 small cabbage with enough water to cover, simmered for about 15 minutes.

purple dye already!




I layered the boiled eggs and the cooled cabbage in a large jar.

Jake the Dog drinking Diet Pepsi while we wait.

A very dark blue egg.

Unique prints from the cabbage that layed touching the egg. I guess if you want a solid egg, then don't add the cabbage pieces, just the juice. We think the imprinting is pretty cool. I'll try to get a better pic later.

Count Your Eggs

Here is a link to a very nice egg production chart from Homestead Revival http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/ . I had a hard time downloading it, but it is worth the effort if you're serious about keeping records.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/p/free-downloads.html

The Energy Efficient Paper Shredder

DSC07151
Originally uploaded by pafish6

I found a brand-new paper shredder that uses absolutely no electricity at all. Maybe I should put a patent on him and rent him out.













If the puppy's taking a nap, then I put all those important, but needs-to-be-discarded-discretely papers here:














How many identity-thieving criminals will dare open the coop guarded by this guy?

Weeds in My Yard~NOT!

Did you know that dandelion leaves are very nutritious? I find them a bit bitter, but since our family doesn't eat salad things often, I have been picking the dandelions for the rabbits and chickens. While they eat them fresh, they really seem to prefer them dried, like hay. The first year picking them, I made a big mistake. I pulled them all up by the roots, rather than cut the leaves off. So by now, our yard is probably the only one around without any dandelions! My neighbors probably think I have lost it when they see me picking dandelions out of their yards. Oh, wait, they thought that already when they found out I got chickens. And then rabbits. And then more chickens. And then more rabbits.

Anywhoo, now I have moved on to Queen Anne's Lace. And I do not pull it up by the root. I even put some seeds into pots last fall in hopes of getting some to grow earlier in the spring. Will let you know if that works.

The rabbits like the QAL leaves , more than the chickens do.