Shamelessly posting photos of my chickens…

Miss. Dr. Beard Face (a la Scrubs) and one of the RIRs

After eating two of our silkies we decided to give teeny weenie to my uncle. She didn’t roost up with the other girls, and we felt bad having her sleep on the ground all alone. She’s getting along well with her new flock. We’re now down to 3 RIR, 2 Barred Rock, 1 SLW, and 1 Welsumer

I’ve never seen a chicken with a beard before…weirdo

Baby loves the chickens, and they all follow him around…though considering the last time he tried to gie him a leaf he got his finger bitten I don’t foresee him trying that again any time soon…then again he is a baby. I don’t think his memory is too well-developed at this point.

It’s been hot this week.

…oh…and these finally bloomed. LOVE IT!
Enjoy the week. And if you get clear skies make sure you check out the meteor shower. My husband and I saw quite a few of them last night. Good times.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

 This photo was taken the summer of 2008.

This photo is Summer.  Sunshine, swimsuit, sprinkler and a smile

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hands

Beanie’s Poetry Assignment

We have been doing a focus on poetry this month.  We started with a simple haiku and now we’re doing poetry appreciation and memorization.  Beanie worked hard to memorize two poems last week and we took a video to share with friends and family.  She asked if I would put the video up on the blog.  Why not, there are other homeschoolers out there who might enjoy it.  I’m not sure how to post the video directly without upgrading my wordpress so here is a link to the youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S-xDI9fyv0&feature=g-upl

 

Beanie (4 1/2) giving Bubba (2 1/2) his first chess lesson with the chess board she got from her Grandparents.

We start learning early in this family…get reading baby!

 

Chickens and Crickets and Worms OH MY!

So our baby chicks are two weeks old now, and I am just so shocked every morning when there is something new.  Human babies come out pretty much done, at least mine did, but chickens…one morning they all had ears.  I mean one day fuzzy head, the next day ears.  It has been so crazy.  And the size difference is getting more obvious.  Our Silver Laced Wyandotte is the largest, and most inquisitive, of the flock.

SLW trying to figure out what the thing is that keeps flashing brightly at them.

They were not amused by the camera and all huddled together on one side of the stock tub.  Little Teeny Weenie there on the left side is almost half the size of some of the larger girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teeny Weenie still lives up (or down) to her name, and one of our Rhode Island Reds (I’ve just now decided I should call her Polly) thinks she is a parrot and steps onto my finger then climbs up my arm to nestle at my neck or attempt to sit on my shoulder.  As adorable as it is this behavior does make me nervous as there is almost always a cat watching me hold these birds, and hoping, I’m sure, for one to jump away and into their mouths.

Polly sitting on my finger, showing off her new ear. Hopefully this one doesn’t end up being a rooster, she’s the sweetest one.

 

 

 

 

I thought it might be cute to put some dandelion greens into their tub today to get them used to eating greens, and then as an after thought I grabbed a couple of worms from under our logs. We’d put a cricket in the tub a few days earlier, but regreted it as some of the bigger chicks then thought the fluff on our silkies feet were bugs, so I thought maybe a worm would be okay.  The kids found out a few weeks ago that the stumps we use out back at our fire pit are a breeding ground for worms.  I could turn one over every other day and find at least twenty. I prob should have grabbed twenty but then the chaos would have just lasted that much longer. When I first put the greens and worms in all the chickens backed up to stare, but as soon as one of our Barred Rocks figured it out it was all over.

What did you just put in here?

It’s mine, I found it first!

Chickens running madly while chirping with worms dangling out of their mouths while the others chased them, trying to steal the prize.  At one point there were 5 pieces of worm and 5 chickens doing the chasing and one Teeny Weenie trying desperately not to get trampled in the melee.  I picked her up and she huddled down, happy to be out of the line of fire.  After the worms were gone the big chicks still went around scratching the ground like mad…I wish they were a little bigger so I could let them outside, but I know this time is going to fly by, just like the last year has flown by.

Baby opens his first ever birthday gift. A puppy and a book from his Great Grandparents in MN.

Baby enjoys his birthday cupcake after Bubba and Beanie blow out the candle for him.

Our baby just turned one yesterday.  I know that if the last year felt like no time at all, these chicks are only going to be chicks for a few more blinks.  I’ll enjoy the time I have while they still want to snuggle…chickens and kids.

Welcome baby chicks!

So I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what I’m doing.  No, I guess that isn’t entirely true.  I don’t know how this whole blogging thing is going to work out.  I am probably like the majority of bloggers out there.  I have 3 kids, 3,000 chores (that are not getting done at the moment b/c on top of everything else going on in my life I have decided, on a whim, to start a blog).  I’m also homeschooling my daughter, and embarking on the journey of raising chickens as well as children.  Considering the child raising is going so well, maybe I have a shot at a successful flock…then again I have already dealt with pee and poop on the carpet, and a biting, kicking toddler and it isn’t even 10am…so maybe it isn’t going as smoothly as I would have hoped.

But lets talk chickens.  Because, let’s be honest, baby chicks are freaking adorable!

day one of our side yard flock

We screened for docile birds who will be good layers, and plan on eating any of them that start to crow.  (By “we” I mean my husband, who knows I have zero desire to assist in the killing but will be more than happy to cook them once they’re cleaned.)

We have 3 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Plymouth Barred Rock, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 3 Silkies (2 partridge and one blue) of which we are keeping one hen and returning the other 2 to my uncle.  I am also headed to the feed store to pick up a Welsummer, and an Ameraucana (Easter Egger) for my husband.

Of course now that we have our chicks we should finish their house…

nest boxes? check.

Window? Check.
Walls? Check.

Chicken doors? Check.

We used an old play structure from my uncle as the skeleton for our coop.  Bella and Wesley and been very excited about the process, and yesterday they both helped me sweep out the coop so we could add a laminate floor (before it started to rain).  We got half of it done before baby’s nap was over, so I call that a good day!

And this is where we’re at so far. Yes, I used the old cabinet doors from the downstairs bath.  I am a genius.

Well.  I suppose I should send this inaugural post out into the sea of internet…though i’m sure my readers will be limited to close friends, parents, in-laws and other family that’s okay with me.

Welcome to our side yard flock.