Gardens

This past Sunday, Hubs made me 3 more raised garden beds and moved the dirt into them.  So I spent the day cleaning out the 2 I already had and spreading dirt and removing rocks from the new ones.  I did find that the strawberry plants that I transplanted last year that did not do well at all, have made a comeback.  I am hoping they do well and maybe even add a few plants this year since I would really like to make my own strawberry jam, and well I really like strawberries.  Planning on starting some pea's and beans and maybe some lettuce today, so they can go in the ground soon.  I also, have high hopes that I can plant corn, watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkins and potatoes this year as well.  Trying a little bit of everything to see what I like and what grows well.  Who knows maybe in a couple of years I will feel confident enough as a gardener to make a big garden!

New Arrivals

Poults

Chicks

Goslings

The New Chicks Have Arrived!

Yesterday, was a big day, hubs and I loaded ourselves up in the car and started out on our 2 hour drive to pick up the new babies (we did stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrell though) Once We arrived at Townline Hatchery, we discovered that they did not have a good hatch of some of the chicks we ordered and the geese (of course).  So they did replace some of our order, but at least this time it was within the breed we had ordered.  After setteling the bill we headed home with the little gals all tucked into thier box and filling the car with lot's of peep peeps.  When we arrived home we unloaded and got to the business of making them at home with heat lamps, soft bedding, food and water.  Baby poultry can not find the water on thier own so you must dip each of thier beaks in the water so they know what and where it is.  They are all settled in the brooders each with a dog/cat proof lid.  They will stay inside for the first couple of weeks and then we have another bigger brooder area in the small barn for them to stay until they can join the bigger birds in the coop.  Hopefully I can get some pictures and post them the next couple of days.

Here's the new list of new poultry:
30 Silver Laced Wyndotte's (we had ordered 15 of them and 15 of the golden laced)
5 Buff Orpington's
5 Aracuna-Americuna
5 Broad brested Bronze Turkey's
2 White Embden Geese  ( I need names for these 2 any ideas?)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Good day and Happy St. Patrick's day to you.  Sorry about the lack of updates, the last week or so I have been sick with quite the nasty stomach bug.  Anyway I am feeling better now and back to work.

Couple of things going down on the farm, this past week.  The hubs, DJ (my son) and I have been busy fixing the small barn (I feel like it needs a better name, any suggestions?) and cleaning it out, the previous owners (a landscape supply business) left many nasty things in there and under it all proof that at one time there were farm animals that lived in it.  After carting it all to the dumpsters, picking out a few things like crates and leather aprons to keep.  We swept and put new plexiglass windows in, and I tell ya it's a whole new world in there.  Hubs is building some nesting boxes and a divider wall with some pallets he picked up from his job and some plywood.  My hubs is a great man always working so hard to get things done, and I appreciate it.  DJ is still working on picking up sticks from a big wind storm a few weeks back.  Green is starting to poke up all around from all this unseasonaly warm weather we have been having.  Now on to the chicken update, I am sad to say that our little chicken who had been eggbound and was recuperating in the house, had to be put out of her misery I didn't want to do it but she was showing no improvement and seemed only to be getting worse.  I tried to put her back with her fellows and they just ended up pecking her bloody, so a quick end was better than being pecked to death, poor gal.

PS: we pick up the new poultry in 2 days.

Egg Bound Chicken

This past Tuesday, I was outside watching the chickens and collecting eggs when I noticed one of our polish hens was laying kinda of awkward and wouldn't move when proded, so I picked her up and discovered that she had an egg sticking out a little but it was huge!! Plus she had poop and "goo" all matted into her bum feathers.  Not good, I set her back down and quickly ran into the house to get my copy of "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens", re-read the section about egg bound chickens, grabbed an old towel and ran back to the coop, gently wrapped her in the towel and carried her back to the house, where I filled up the laundry sink with warm soapy water set her in it (the water came up just to the top of her back) I swished the water around for a bit.  The book said to leave her in there about 15 minutes but about the 10 minute mark the egg came out but it was all broken, there was no blood so I was pretty confident that I helped her out and all was good I washed up her feathers and put her in a box with the towel and left her in the laundry room for a while to rest and dry.  I put her back in the coop and she seemed to be ok she just didn't want to move, I put that down to just being sore and a little stressed from the ordeal, after all I was a little stressed myself.  But, on Saturday when we were working on the barn I noticed that she was limping, what is going I thought.  I picked her up and she had what I thought looked like a little cut, but she also had poop and goo in her feathers again.  So Hubs and I put her in a transport cage with some straw, food and water and moved her into the house to heal up.  I don't know if she was injured before the egg deal, or if I hurt her in my haste to help her, or if that huge of an egg did some damage.  We are still watching her, but I don't know what will happen.

Countdown to Baby Poultry

Hubs and I will be picking up the new chicks, poults and goslings, a week from today!! It feels like that will be the official start of spring.

Quilts and Crafts

Last night my sister and I took a quiliting 101 class at JoAnn Fabric's.  It was fun and I learned quite a bit.  Believe it or not that was the first time I have ever sewed anything.  We made 1 block, and they gave general instructions about how to quilt.  I feel like I learned enough to continue on my own, plus the projects in the other classes are kind of ugly and I am not sure what I would do with them.  So, now all I need is a sewing machine and some fabric and I am ready to give it a whirl, though it will probably take a lot longer to finish anything than I anticipate, since I am all hyped up from my wonderful creation at the class.  The 2 of us have also signed up for a knitting 101 class on Monday.  Getting all my handmade goodness on.  As a child I was not so much into crafting as I felt that I did not have the patience for it, I enjoy it more now though I still feel that if I slowed down and relaxed about it the project would turn out nicer and more like how I want it to look then how it turns out.  Guess I'll have to work on that. 

Making quilts and scarfs and gardening gee I hardly recognize the old me but then perhaps this is more me than I realized.

WOW

We have a new tractor, or I guess yeeeee haaaawww we have a new tractor is more like it.  This tractor I will be able to drive, and since it is to be delivered tomorrow with a front bucket for snow removel, I figure this is a guarentee that it will not snow like they say it is suppose to LOL.  Well, one can only hope.  I will take some pictures over the weekend.