We've had a busy breeding season!

Well, it's been a busy summer....or as we call it here "Breeding Season". Currently we just had our last hatch of 65 guinea keets (I think....I may get tempted to stick a few more in the incubator. Oh boy! lol) 

We only have about 20 Silkie chicks left and a few FBCM. "Egg Season" is getting ready to start. The way we do it here is: chicks sell all Spring and Summer. Eggs ship in the Fall and warmer weeks of Winter. 

So just imagine......my Summer days of cleaning coops, runs, and baby pens. Feeding up to 100 chicks, ducklings and keets a day. Several times a day! Changing ponds, mending fences, chatting with customers, answering questions on the phone and email. 

I just don't have time for blogging! It's sad but true. Fortunately I have a phone with a great camera in it! So all season I've been taking pictures for blogs. I have several topics ready to work on as soon as things slow down here: 

What to do with all that poop!

Bathing chickens.

Coop maintenance.

Free buckets.....free boxes

Chicken supplies at the dollar store.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but those are the ones ready to be written! 

That's all for now. Enjoy your last beautiful days of summer!

~Lisa

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Hey Turkey! Get outta that Guinea nest!!

It's nest hunting season! Yeay!!!! (NOT) This means I'm spending lots of time hiking through the woods looking for Guinea nests. Every day. Several times a day. Getting yelled at by Guineas. Trying to stay clear of the bear. Rain or shine. Sometimes in the dark. 

Can you feel the joy??? I do this so often, I had to make a list of Tips for Finding Guinea Nests!

Nest from last year

For those of you that don't raise Guineas, they are a ground nesting bird. They often make nests under dead branches, amid high weeds, in piles of vines and brush etc. You know how sometimes a chicken will decide not to lay in the coop anymore and pick a spot in the woods? Kinda like that but with more secrecy! 

They go into stealth mode and try to pick a spot you will never find. Then when you do find it, you can't let them know you found it! They are easier to find this time of year actually. Once the ground ferns start growing it adds a whole new level of difficulty. 

2010 nest

So there's a lot of following Guineas, figuring out where they hang out....then waiting for them to leave and coming back to search. Sometimes it takes weeks. Actually, the closer to home that they put the nest the harder it is to find! Which is exactly why it took me until last week to find the newest nest. When they're not gone very long, it's hard to catch them in the act. When they don't go far, it doesn't take long. 

Our newest silkie pullets.

I just wanted to take a few moments to introduce you to a few of our newest Silkie chickens. These girls have been added to last years breeding group. Some of them came from our stock, others came from a breeder in Florida.

Silkie pullets

Splash silkie Pullet: Jenny Jenny

Black silkie pullet: Cute Thing

Partridge pullet: Mrs Puff

We also added 1 white, 2 blue, 1 lavender and 1 other black pullet. Our new silkie cockerels are: white, black, partridge and blue.

Aren't they the cutest?

~Lisa

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Why the deep litter method never works for me!

The deep litter method is my absolute favorite coop bedding method. It's easy to do, very low maintenance and perfect for winter. Except, the deep litter method never works for me in the big coop! I can use it with no problem in all of my other coops and it works perfectly. It's just the one coop I have a problem with, and it's a very simple reason why.

It all started when I read about the deep litter method on a very busy chicken forum. What is the deep litter method you ask? It's not changing the coop litter all winter long. Who doesn't like that idea, right? So I did some research and learned more about it on Mother Earth news and got started.

It sounds simple but it is just a little bit more involved: add DE, add wood shavings and mix often. DE= food grade diatomaceous earth. Every week, add a little more litter, some DE and mix again. The chickens mix it too so that helps the whole process. 

Award winning chicken photos

I never thought when I started taking photos of the things I see around me that anything would come of it. I see so many pretty, cute, or funny things everyday. It's just natural to want to capture that. To keep it. To share it. Well, that's how it started! Funny how things in life have a way of taking off when you least expect it...isn't it?

Update 2020: I took up photography seriously because of my success luck with my poultry pictures! That lasted about 7 years and now I'm back to focusing on just chickens. If you want to learn how to take great pictures of your chickens check out: How to take better pictures of your chickens for all my best tips and tricks!

Chicken pictures

Let's start with Mr Copper's crowing picture. I thought it was hilarious how every time he crows his eyes bugged out. Did you know, that a rooster cannot crow without extending his neck? It's true. It also makes for a pretty funny 'face' when they crow.

So I decided to try to catch a picture of it for my non-farm friends. I crawled through the grass for over an hour, following him around snapping every crow. This ended up being my favorite. It has won 1 contest, and placed into the finals in another.

Next my egg/candy photo.I have always had people asking me what color eggs my Marans lay. Quite frankly I've seen several color charts and none of them were exactly the same. So it got me thinking "what can I put in a picture with the eggs, that everybody knows the color of?" Hershey's chocolate of course.

Funny thing about this photo...I didn't even realize it had made it into the finals of a photo contest until Katie saw it and emailed me! Thanks Katie!

We won second place for this picture!

Lastly came an email that still has me breaking out into a smile when I think about it. This photo was uploaded into an online gallery. Last week I got an email from Mother Earth news magazine asking me if they could print it in their magazine. Talk about being rendered speechless! It's a picture of our Araucana hen Muff Muff.

 

I'm so excited to see my photo in print! I don't think I'll ever get past the thrill of seeing one of my photos posted/chosen somewhere. It's just so exciting! I'm just glad that people enjoy my photography.

It's one of those few things in life.....when I see something I really like, I want to keep it so I take a picture. Because I take the picture, now I can share it. There aren't many things you can keep and share at the same time....at least that's my philosophy!

~L

Want information on raising chickens sent right to your email weekly?Click right here to join my listand get new posts sent directly to you the day they're published. You'll also get the free download25 Ways to save money raising chickens