Eggs everywhere!
Barely a week after the arrival of the laying hens, egg production is in full swing, with about 20-21 eggs a day from 25 birds. From the start, all of the hens took to laying in one particular nest, I … Read the rest
Animals
Definitely ready to lay
It’s back-to-back chicken stories, from chickens to the slaughter to chickens ready to lay! The hatchery moved up the scheduled delivery of the 20-week-old Shaver Red Sex-Links by three days, and today was it. These girls are cool, and ready … Read the rest
Chickens to the slaughter
Raising your first chickens, killing them, and eating them has gotta rank up there with other Firsts worth a little attention. Now, I’m at least part of the way there: the killing this time was done behind closed doors, with … Read the rest
Chickens, bull, fence…
The chickens have been loose by day for a couple weeks in a small, temporarily-fenced run in one of pens just off the barn. Today, the cows were let in to the pen to graze down the long grass. The … Read the rest
Farewell to the Colonel!
After a full day of seeding and weeding in quite glorious sunshine, with pet chicken Colonel Saunders in attendance, Shannon took her leave this evening, heading on to other interning adventures. She’d worked just about every day of the last … Read the rest
Frey’s vs White Rock
At this point, it’s safe to say that I’m no fan of White Rock Cornish X chickens. Without a doubt, they convert feed to meat incredibly…efficiently—compare the lone Frey’s Special Dual Purpose at the top center of the pic, surrounded … Read the rest
Free-range chicken
Guest post by Shannon: This is our pet chicken who is named Colonel Saunders. He almost died in the chicken house a couple days ago so we rescued him. He’s very dramatic and plays dead (but not on demand). He’s … Read the rest