Our First Peep

I'm so excited, one hatched!

After many years of trying, this year we finally got one!

The first year, the power strip got turned off.

Last year, I knocked the incubator over and the eggs

all smashed!  

So this year was going to be my final attempt!

Yesterday was day 19.

Day 18 you stop turning the eggs.

They can hatch on days 19-21 so this one was on the 

early side.

Needless to say, there was TONS of excitement all day

today.  Jordan said he could hear the peeps

all night.

It was funny hearing the peeping coming from inside the eggs.

This evening, one egg started chirping loudly and 

moving pretty consistently.

Addan was so excited (the younger guys all

were but Addan just stood and watched the whole process)!

 

Here's the process.

This is egg #1.

It cracked early today.

This is egg #2.

It started to crack after supper this evening.

Then all the sudden it started moving around and peeping

loudly!

Addan kept telling me what was going on step by step

of the process.

"Mom, look it just started to crack more!"

 

"Mom, come look!  I can't believe it, I see feathers!"

It's almost all out!

Yeah!  It's out!  

It's shell was stuck for a bit and it was dragging it all around

the incubator.  I was a bit nervous

about it bumping and moving the other eggs.

Finally it came detached and just rested some.

 Once it was

dry we moved it under a heat lamp.

I feel like a new Mom,

I keep running over to make sure it's breathing

and warm.  :)

What fun excitement tonight.

I'm sure there will be more to come as I can hear

peeps when I walk by the incubator.

Hopefully we'll wake up to egg #1 hatched.

Cold Frame, A Bag and Too Many Kittens!

Ahhh, a Saturday home together.

Nothing to do today but stay put.

It was perfect timing for our feline friend to go into labor.

She wanted so badly to have them under Brendan's bed,

but Brendan would not have it!

So she settled for Luke's bed.

This was quite the experience for the younger guys.

Titus kept yelling to me all the updates.

When it first started he informed me the cat had a bubble coming out.

Then he yelled, "Mom!  She ate the bubble!"

Next the yelling started that she had one.

"Mom!  She laid one so far!"

(I took all the good bedding off and put an old blanket down)

The middle guys and I spread our wood chips in my garden.

This year I want to fence in all the garden.
In the past, half was fenced in but then I expanded it.

So, the path in the middle joins the two gardens.

Tim getting a load of wood.  Wood-burning season is finally winding

down.  Only 1-2 loads a day compared to many a day.

"Mom, she's had another one!"

I heard yelled out the window.

I could hear my fella working in the shed.

Look what he built me! 

I'm so happy!  I'm going to use it to plant an early crop of greens.

After we finished mulching the path,

I went inside to do inside work.

Fold the laundry that dried on the line,  start baking

for a Sunday School snack and finish a project I had started last night.

I took an old skirt.

Cut the bottom off below the pockets.

Made a liner with pockets

and added some handles.

I made it with bright spring colors.

Ribbon and buttons add some fun.

I just emptied my winter bag and put my stuff in here.

It's a bit big so may end up being more of a craft bag or book bag.

I love bags!

Our Kitty ended up have five kittens.

It'll be a day the boys all remember!



Peeps in the Night

Yesterday was my busy errand day.

Jordan had lessons so it was extra busy.

I drop Jordan and his 3 brothers off for piano,

wait for 30 minutes for Jordan's lesson (I shopped at the Salvation

Army right around the corner), pick him up,

errands for 45 minutes and then drop him off for guitar lessons.

During that 45 minutes, we went to Tractor Supply

to pick up chicken grain.

BIG mistake,  I looked at the cute peeps they

had ready to go to someone's home.

Oh man, one batch was marked down because they

already had them for a week and a half.

I told the lady I'd buy all of them and be back to get them

after I dropped Jordan off to guitar.

They were so cute.  Hunter needs new chickens so these

would be his.  I had just looked online and saw the prices

plus shipping prices so knew

I couldn't beat this price.

It was just the timing.

I had to quickly get home, make supper and then head to church.

Could I squeeze getting them set up too?

Hunter got their new home all ready while I helped.

We did it.  The new peeps are all happily in

their home.  Supper was eaten peacefully and we made

it out the door on time.  Wow!

Laying in bed, I could hear the quiet shuffling of the peeps

and the sudden chirping of them being startled.

It's such a familiar happy spring sound.

I love watching the boys standing there gazing at them.

It's so cute.

Caught Titus watching them before he got changed for bed.

They come tell me after all the details,

"Mom, 7 were laying there sleeping."

"Mom, two were pecking eachother."

"Mom, can I hold them?  I'll be real careful."

Such memories!



Meat Birds

This summer we got meat birds, called Freedom Rangers.  They were a fun addition to my chore list.  Every morning I went outside- checked them, fed and watered them.  I just loved watching them.  As they got big, they would just plop down to rest.  Their feet are much bigger than layers and their legs are "chubbier". 


Each day I got the boys to help me move them in their moveable coops to give them fresh grass.  Man, they ate a ton so the grass also got dirty quick!

Today we got them butchered.  It was on the lower end of their ready time.  They were 10 weeks old this week and you can butcher a couple weeks later but we're going away next week so had to do it early.  I was real curious to see how they looked without their feathers. 

Luke had to get in the coop and hand them to Silas and me.  He wasn't too thrilled about that,, or getting up so early!

This morning, I got up early with Mark.  We covered the trailor with mesh, and Silas and Luke helped me move the chickens from their coops to the trailor.  Mark made us a yummy breakfast and then we left to the butcher.  Mark headed to school.     I sure felt funny driving down the highway with chickens in the back.  The roosters fought the whole ride!  Had to show their male pecking order to the last few seconds of their lives!

Luke and Silas eating eggs and toast.  Can you see what game we played last night?  Guess who won?

Silas and Tim carrying the chickens into the butcher's shop.

I just got back from picking them up.  The butcher said they looked real good!  Should be a yummy meal on Sunday!  They weighed between 4.8- 5.8 pds each.  Hopefully next year we can keep them around alittle longer to plump up some more! 

So nice seeing the full freezer!



Tim's coop

Last night,  Mark finished Timothy's coop.  His birds were in the two moveable coops and the peep meat birds were in a fenced corner of the garden.  The peeps were getting too big for the area and Tim's needed to go into a coop with a nesting box as they were starting to lay.

Mark was working on this coop every spare chance he got before we went to camp and after.  Yeah, it's done!  He just has to add a nesting box but that can wait til he gets a chance.

Hunter stepped right up and helped Mark finish it up.  Silas also enjoyed helping his Dad.  Such good team workers!

They seemed to enjoy the space but couldn't figure out how to get into the little coop part.  That part had their nesting poles but because it was getting dark when we put them in, they didn't seem to know to go inside.  We'll see if they figure it out tonight..

 These are the meat birds in their new homes.    Only a few more weeks and their home will be the freezer :)

They're Out!

Due to cramped quarters and horrific odors, the peeps are now outside!  YIPPEEE!  

Miss Duck's lovely, spacious, quiet home has now been invaded with 20 loud, mess-making friends!  What a gracious hostess Miss Duck has been.  

Although, I think at times, Miss Duck enjoys the company and the extra food in her home, despite the racket she makes when the little fellas walk past.

She even has a new furnace (heat light turned on at night) to keep her tail feathers warm.  The humans even cover the home up with blankets when the temperature drops below freezing at night (the last 2 nights!!).  

All in all,  we think Miss Duck is happy with her new arrangements and leaves the morning feeders a lovely egg to show her appreciation!

Peeps

Tim has been counting down to this day!  His peeps are here!  Silas, Hunter and Luke each have their own chickens and Tim wanted to get his own.  Mark buys the grain for them and they take care of the chickens.  They can sell any eggs they get as long as there are a dozen in the house each day for me to have.  This is a way they can make money and I don't have to tend to the chickens :)   I absolutely love having chickens so even after the boys leave our home, I want to still have them,, maybe just move the coop closer to the house as the hill in winter can be a little scary on the ice!
Tim woke up so excited, got alittle school done and then off we went to town to get his peeps.  He got 6 Buff Orpingtons,  6 Rhode Island Reds and 6 Red Comets.  Titus and Addan wanted one of their own so they got to pick a black one (I think they were Laced Wyandotes???, something like that) each.   They're real excited about it although it'll be a miracle if Titus' lives past the inside time as he loves to hold it and isn't the most gentle holder!

Thus begins the journey of chickens for Tim.  We're so excited for him to start the responsibility of his own chickens.  It's been a great teacher of responsibility for each of them!

Mouse trap

Since we live in the country, we've always had issues with mice, especially in the winter.  We set traps, sometimes more than a couple and they would be full every morning.  I got so sick of wiping down the droppings and sanitizing the counters every morning.  This summer we decided to get two sister kittens to help with the mice issues.  Of course, the boys thought I was just being nice and letting them have another pet.  I don't like pets unless they're useful and help with our home rather than "just another mouth to feed".  (We have plenty of those!!!)  I named the sisters Lilly and Daisy but those names didn't stick.  Then we named them Lucy and Ethel but poor Ethel got run over after only a couple of months of owning her.  She's nicely buried under our maple tree out front.  Well, dear Lucy ended up with a new name.  Her name is Cat's Paw.   Luke some how came up with it and Hunter has made it stick with us all.  She's a great cat and added fun for the boys! They all love having her sleep with them and carry her around.  I feel so sorry for her, dangling from Titus or Addan's arms but she almost looks like she's smiling with them.  And the biggest plus about Cat's Paw is I haven't seen one sign of a mouse this whole winter!  Now, that's what makes me smile about her!