cooping-it

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

28. Not Lazy, Just Busy!

Yes, yes -quite a lot of time has passed since our last post and quite a lot of things have happened!
The big fence has been completed and the new chicks are living inside the coop! Wow!

Also, blogger-mom just graduated from college, and we are expecting a new baby! Oh my, what a spring it has been!

The coop set-up, now flushed with spring greening, looks like the real thing.

The little chicks were separated by a low fence away from the big girls for a few days, but they are all combined together now -although usually with the young ones running for cover inside the coop when the hens strut their stuff.

This photo was taken two weeks ago - the new chicks are even bigger now! At a quick glance it is difficult to tell them apart from the Araucanas.

From our batch of 12 hatched, we ended up with three gray/blue, 5 hatched from Araucana eggs (now Ameraucana or "Easter Eggers") and 4 Wyandotte looking ones. I have a feeling that we are an even 6 males to 6 females, but we will wait a little while longer yet before finding new homes for the crowers.

Monday, March 30, 2009

27. Sly Fox = Big Fence

So much for hitting the shingles and red paint for our little coop on the first days of spring...

We recently had a very unwelcome Mr. Fox prowling around (killing 3 of our birds!) so we decided to step up the pace on what is most important: the fenced in run.

Builder/Dad dug holes and cemented in posts. Turned out the cement was too old and everything had to be re-dug!

Later, with the posts in super firm, cross bars were put in place. Since then I have been busy hardware cloth-ing the frames. Just to foil the sly fox (and anything else that tries a daytime dig) the fence material will stretch out 2' under the soil around the whole structure - just like the coop. No fox is getting a free meal here...

This weekend, after yet another trip to Home Depot, we should finish up this project and get on with the roof, etc, etc, etc...

Monday, March 9, 2009

26: Guesssss Whaaaaaat?

We decided to incubate 12 eggs - unsure of how many, if any, were fertilized. Either way, hatch day is March 21st! Updates will be posted on Meet-the-Chicks.

And oh no, that is not all... We procured another rooster! Cassanova is still in the integration phase of meeting the hens, but as you can see, so far so good!

He is a beautiful Golden Laced Polish.
Exciting!!

The Backstory.

In April of 2006, my husband and I went to an auction to benefit our younger son's public elementary school. Never one for the typical sports memorabilia or spa vacations that are frequently the sought after items from these events, I perused the tastefully decorated hotel banquet room's aisles looking for something that was more interesting. Tucked into a back corner, next to a handmade amber and silver drop necklace and tickets for two to a taping of the David Letterman Show, I found the something different that I had been seeking. A local family was offering fresh organic eggs from their backyard chickens; a dozen each week for a year. We were the lucky winners of the auction which surprisingly few people had bid on.

Our first batch eggs were different than even the organic grocery store ones which were our usual fare. A range of colors from light brown to dark brown with speckles to light blue greeted us when we opened the carton. We were told to leave them as they were, 'fresh from the farm', and not wash off the bits of dirt and chicken waste that was smeared on a few of them. A quick rinse under the tap would clean them right up just before they were ready to be used. Were the eggs really that different than the store bought ones? When cracked, the whites sat right up in the pan rather than spreading wide out. Also, the yolks were a deep yellow-orange. When whipping up a few for a scramble, the perfectly creamy froth turned into deliciously fluffy eggs. I was pleased with myself for learning the subtleties between what I thought was just an ordinary egg.

Each week either a dozen were dropped off at our doorstep or we would pick them up. My husband was the first to go and see the chickens for himself. He was amazed that the eight multi-colored birds were right there walking amongst the children's play equipment and the two energetic dogs, a Vizsla and a Weimaraner, prancing about nearby on the lawn. He encouraged me to go and pick up our next dozen the following week and see them for myself.

This spring, a year after that first dozen, not only are we still enthralled with the fresh eggs we have grown used to, we are building our own coop for a May delivery of chicks.

cooping-it

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

28. Not Lazy, Just Busy!

Monday, March 30, 2009

27. Sly Fox = Big Fence

Monday, March 9, 2009

26: Guesssss Whaaaaaat?

Meet Pablo!

Meet the Chicks!

What's Going On?

The Process.

The Backstory.

The Family.

Links

Followers

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