Cookbook Giveaway!

http://doublenickelfarm.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-cookbook-contest.html

You need to go over and visit at Double Nickel Farm and take a gander at this cookbook giveaway - I'm IN.  Southwest/Mexican style cooking at its best, I'm sure!  If you haven't met Jen and Bill and the "goof troop" (as she calls 'em), well you need to!

More Chicken Poo

OK, girls, I get my turn at talking about my chickens.  I'm LLLOOOOONNNGG overdue.  I'm still trying to figure out what their personalities are in case I decide to name them.  I actually started with 6 chickens, and the next day, I acquired two more so now I have 8 pullets. I added a Brahma and a barred rock.  We sit in the evenings these last few days and just watch these silly juveniles.  They are so funny.  They finally learned to put themselves in their coop at night.  You should have seen me having to catch them one by one and put them in the coop.  Tony was having a hey-day watching!  Did he offer to help??  Nope.

One thing that we enjoy ... when I open the coop in the mornings, they have learned to prance down the plank that I made with the little steps on it.  But their wings are growing, and they've now taken to launching themselves from the door of the coop and flapping furiously trying to fly.  Then they fall in a clumsy pile, right themselves and act like nothing happened.

I haven't named them all yet. Just a couple...  my sister had a parakeet when we were young, and she asked me to name one of them Budgie after her bird.  So, my littlest bird, the Black Star is the bravest, the most courageous, the first one to try everything became Budgie.  Budgie is younger than the rest, she kinda does her own thing altho she gets along with everybody.

The two ameracaunas (above) are pretty shy and timid, they are followers, and they move out of the way when the more aggresive hens come around or look at them wrong.  They're pretty birds, actually, and they have a kind of ruff growing around their necks.

The New Hampshire, the Buff and the Black Aussie are all just middle of the road pullets in temperament. No problems out of them.

This little Barred Rock is the escape artist.  Every time she sees me coming out, she runs to the door and tries to dart out. I really have to keep an eye on her.  She came along with this one...

The Brahma Bully aka  "BB"

Yes, I have one.  A bully hen.  She is a bit larger than the other girls.  She and her co-hort, the barred rock came from the Idea*l hatchery.  They ran a tight ship at their place - they ran with about 50 other chicks and I imagine that BB was the boss of that bunch, too.  If she draws blood or starts a riot, she'll have to... well, let's just say we may have to make other arrangements.  I'm hoping that she'll settle down and be able to stay here at Sand Flat Farm.

These two are buddies.

I may have questions for you chicken people... stay tuned...

The New Girls Are HERE At LAST!

I am now officially a Poltergiest!!!  Yes, it's true - at least that's what my sweet husband calls me now.  I  now am the proud owner of 6 pullets.  Finally, after all this time, about 3 years I'd say, I've got my chickens!  The coop is finished and I'm very pleased how it came out.  I designed it, and then Daddy and I (and Tony when he was available) worked on the coop and pen.  See what you think!

I think my hens will love living here.  I'm hoping that they'll be able to range about outside, too, but we'll see.  We've got lots of dogs, coyotes, hawks and owls around here.  If we do let them out they'll have to have a fenced off area in the orchard. 

Above, let me introduce you to our 6 pullets - one Black Austrolorp, one Buff Orpington, two Ameracaunas, one Black Sex-Link, and one New Hampshire Red.  They are anywhere between 2.5 and 3.5 months old.  So they won't be laying for a bit yet.  They are used to people, but they don't want to be held or touched yet. I hope they'll get used to me.  I was hoping to get a couple more, and I might still - we'll see...

The first night, I had to catch them all and stick them in their coop.  The littlest black hen is spunky.  She doesn't wait on the others.  She was the first out of the coop.  She's a brave little hen.  She had the first new chick food and real grass and bugs all by herself before the other pullets decided they were going to come out.  Scaredy-cats!

Below, is one of the Ameracauans trying to decide if she's brave enough to come out.

Checking out their new feeder...

Well, that's all folks!  Just covered up with work,, gardening, and chicken poop around here - i'll be checking on you all in the next few days!  Bock-bock!

Progress on Chicken Coop

Hey guys, been working on the coop AND the garden trying to get it put in.  Sorry I've been away for awhile.  This is the busiest time of year on the farm.  I've got a few more rows of beans to put out and my cukes.  Also have some raised bed boxes that I'm going to put some things in.  I just don't have enough hours in the day with my job.  Know what I mean?

Above, first we laid the boards around the base of the run so we'd have something to attach the chicken wire to and also to give it more stability.  Same thing with the boards supporting the middle.  The coop and run will have a slanted roof so the rain will run off the back.  Here Dad is measuring for the floor of the coop.

Now, my sweet husband is attaching the top supports around the run...

AND... cutting off the tops of the uprights when they get the angle of the slant all marked off.

Dad's putting the door to the run together here.  It took some finagling to get the angles right due to the slant of the roofline.  But my Dad can do it - He still hangs the moon for me.

Above and below - here's where we left off.  Roof, wire and finish coop.  And oh yeah, we have to bury some wire or tin around the bottom so the varmints can't dig in.  Soon, I hope to fence off a portion of the orchard area so the hens will have a place to free-range...

Below, some dark clouds rolled in last week, don't remember which day, but it's always beautiful when the sun is out - it makes the clouds even darker, and the spring-y green of the oaks coming out really stood out against this dark sky.  I thought it was so pretty...

Gyp is really enjoying this weather.  Note to self...  go to Walm*rt and pick up a slicker brush and comb to help ease that undercoat out.  She's getting a little matted and I felt some grassburrs stuck behind one ear...

Well, tomorrow me and Dad are working on the coop.  I'm hoping to get it finished before the weekend is out.  I have bought some hens and they are about 3 months old.  The lady I bought them from is going to just hold them for me until my coop is finished, but I'm so anxious to get them I could just jump up and down!  Boing, boing, boing!!!

Will give you an update and let you know how much we get done on the coop!  I remember how excited  Farmchick Paula was when she got her coop built and got her hens.  There are probably several of you gals that were just as excited as I am now.  I've always wanted chickens and it's finally going to happen!  My mom told me the other day, "I just don't know why you want those nasty things."  Mom, you just don't understand. But she grew up with them - they had a bunch of chickens and a huge henhouse, and she hated going into the coop and gathering eggs and squishing chicken poop between her toes.  Maybe cuz I never had 'em growing up is why it excites me so much to get them now. 

Gotta run, gals - take care - I hope to be back soon - I need to come visit you all and see what you're up to!
Keep your dress down!

Ketchin' Up...

I'm still here!  Really, I am.  Just been SO busy this past couple of weeks!  Adam came home one week, Hayley came home for spring break the next week, my sister came up a couple of days, trying to get my garden in, work....AND  Finally....

Dum da da Dummmmm!  We're building my chicken coop and pen!!!  Yea!  After 3 years of waiting and waiting for the right time, I guess the time is NOW!

Tony and my dad got the posts set Saturday and later this week after our deluge for the next couple of days, we're going to begin work on the coop.  I'm so excited I could jump up and down!  My whole family thinks I'm completely bonkers but I don't care. I've always wanted chickens and now I finally get my chance! I'd like to find some older pullets that are about ready to lay.  They are just SO hard to find this time of year. Most everyone has chicks - I need instant gratification - I've been waiting all this time!  Hopefully, in a week or two it'll be done - depending on the weather of course.

Tony got my garden all tilled up and I started planting Sunday afternoon.  I got 4 rows of purple hull peas done, BUT the next 2 1/2 days it's going to be storming THEY say, so I didn't plant any more.  If it comes a frog strangler, it'll wash all my seeds away, and I'd sorta like to keep 'em planted.  So, the rest will have to wait til later on this week.  I have two raised beds planted with onions, and haven't decided what to put in the other 5 yet.  But I'll figure it out!

The bluebirds are picking out their nests for the year...

The martins have returned and are deciding about living arrangements, too...

The "Mrs" is undecided and she fluttered around for quite awhile until she decided which floor she wanted for her babies...

The turtle family comes out to sun themselves, but if they see us, they'll scatter into the water silently.

Can you believe how GREEN it is already this year???  We've been having 80's during the day.  The azaleas will be spent soon - hopefully, they won't be gone before the end of the Azalea Trails here!

There is a pair of bald eagles nesting in a tree on the lake that belongs to some friends of my parents.  They are so majestic. We watched them for quite awhile - they're very private and secretive.  My sister was here for a couple of days and she takes photos of birds.  So this is one of her beautiful photos. 

Here's what it looks like around here right now.  I just love it - it's my FAVORITE time of year!  Spring!

I hope your week is fabulous, dahlings!

Keep your dress down!