Last week some of the eggs our broody hen was setting on hatched! About a week after we noticed that she was sitting on eggs, I candled some of the eggs & realized they weren’t developing. So, I swapped five of her eggs for five eggs from our coops that I thought should hatch. Three weeks later we have new babies. I love the process
The Pacific NW Poultry Association Spring Show was this last weekend. All 5 of us went & stayed nearly all day Saturday looking, learning & exploring. This was our first show. We were planning on going to the show just to check it out. But, last month when Farm Kid2 went to a clinic on how to show your bird he left there wanting to
We’ve successfully made it through our 4th round of incubating chicken eggs! It continues to be an exciting experience. I get very impatient by day 20. I anxiously wait to see who hatches, then get nervous after some hatch & wonder why others aren’t hatching. I’m then excited when another few hatch. The truth is, though, each batch we’ve had at least one chick pip
We have tried a variety of watering methods & the thing that has worked best for us are the use of waterer nipples. Farmer John attaches 2, 3 or 4 nipples in a bucket or similar container then hangs the bucket in the coop or brooder. Sometimes he adds 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the water, as well. This keeps the water clear
We had our first successful hatch of Blue Copper Marans! Our rooster is a Splash Marans & we have 3 Black Copper hens. With that combination comes Blue Copper chicks. I love them already!
A number of years ago Farmer John told me about chicken tractors. I thought he was crazy. Cuckoo. It did not go with my vision of a cutesy coop surrounded by flowering perennials and a picket fence. I also couldn’t imagine why you would want to move your chickens throughout the yard. Let’s be realistic, my cutesy coop was not practical. The majority of our
January 31st was hatch day! This was our second time incubating eggs & it was just as exciting as the first time. Check out this post to read about our first hatch.
Before the Chicken Huts & before the Chicken Tractors was our main coop. Farmer John built it in the spring of 2009. The coop hasn’t had many changes, but the run has. We still consider this our main coop since it is where most of our egg layers call home.
We’ve had many people ask about the differences in eggs, specifically what are the differences in colored eggs compared to white eggs? Do they taste different? Are they healthier? Are white eggs bleached? The short answer is: There is no difference based on shell color. A brown egg has basically the same taste & nutritional value as a white or blue egg.
Not much is happening in our soggy flowerbeds, but there’s a lot of excitement happening in the new incubator.
