It's Friday!

My favorite day of the week, especially when I take a vacation day and the sun is shining! What a nice day...best day all week!

First mission for the day was a trip to Wilco to buy some cat food for Mr. Decaf. However, the moment we walked into the store we could hear the peeping in the middle of the store!! Live poultry!! A shipment of new chicks were delivered this morning and they had several different breeds in the troughs. Since we already got our chicks on Monday we just took a look at the new peepers which included Wyandottes, Marans, Cochins...and gosling and  ducklings!

The point was to get the food, but I can never pass up looking at these little dudes when we visit during the spring.

They had Pomeranian goslings a couple of varieties - the one that we wanted were not available, all were already spoken for. So we went with the other. Yeah, I don't remember the names, but I'll get that later. The woman mentioned that there really needs to be a buddy other than a chicken for the goose and they said that a duck would be fine. They both will co-exist with the chickens so that will work out.

So yeah, we ended up putting a gosling and a duckling on hold. They'll call the hatchery to figure out which are males which is what we want. Hopefully they will have the information before the weekend is over.

The Premier 1 poultry fence kit was due for delivery today and it took all day long for it to arrive. Our UPS driver used to deliver to the Fire Station, so it was nice to see Jeff drive in after dinner. He was curious about what we were doing so I showed him the babies...he thought he would have chicken for dinner, but after seeing them...he decided maybe not...Hahaha!

The boxes waiting to be opened! I've seen that most of our favorite homesteading people on YouTube use this fence, so it must be good, right? We'll see how the energizer gets put together and report back later.

So yeah, this homestead thing is starting to take shape. Tom will be off to do some work tomorrow and my big project for the day will be to get the garage all cleaned up after the construction of the chicken condo. There is always something that needs to be done!

One more chickie pic before I sign off...

Free!

The one thing that comes up time and time again while I'm watching all of my favorite homesteading people is wood chips used for mulch. Free wood chips no less. I thought that we would continue on with our hobby farm without a wood chip ever being incorporated into our garden beds.

Well...that all changed this week!

While watching Justin Rhodes & family visit Honey Tree Homestead their host, Casey, mentioned Chip Drop. When we were first watching the vlog I wasn't really paying attention. However, after another looky-loo it hit me that maybe this is a national type thing. Did a quick Google search and  found the website and last Saturday. I created an account and requested a load of chips to be dropped off and didn't think much more of it until I got an email YESTERDAY which said that there would be a drop made within 48 hours.

Whaaaat?!

This is what we came home to yesterday afternoon

That was seriously cool! Made my day!

How does it work? Go to www.chipdrop.in create an account and follow the instructions to get on the list to get your load of wood chips. There are some options to choose from as this is a service that helps tree service companies and arborists (where my chips came from). You'll indicate if you prefer just woodchips or loads that contain "logs" which look like thin round cuts of logs or just logs. You can also pay for a delivery if you want to get a load sooner than later. We didn't pay and got a delivery within a week, so if you just gotta have it now go ahead and pay. According to the website the majority of people get their chips for free.There is a space to explain where you would like the delivery dumped. Which is great because the delivery could happen while you are away. Which was the case for us.

This load looks so good! We haven't dug into it, so we don't know what treasures might be inside the pile. I'll take it though...didn't cost us any money. Just a few minutes on the computer and a short wait.

Now...if the weather would just cooperate, we could get the garden all lined out and ready for planting.

The Little Ladies

This is the chickies third day with us and it seems like they have grown a lot in the last couple of days. I don't know if they grow THAT quick....

They do a lot of this though...

They all settled down into their huddle and as I watched the one on top did a big ol' stretch and just settled in with wings and legs stretched out. Seriously cute stuff here!

The other thing that I tried out was to switch their feeder option.

When I arrived home last night I noticed that the aluminum tray was almost empty. I guess they enjoy the pan more than the special feeder. Even after I cleaned out the bedding and added more of their feed to the long feeder the little ones still went for the aluminum tray that I had originally had thrown grit into. Except yesterday morning I added some of their food, which they cleaned up! Well, I can only assume that they ate it...while watching them last night I noticed that one of them is a scratcher! So she was happily kicking food all over the place. Now they have two trays and no feeder and as of this morning they have accepted both as their feeders.

These are a little easier to get their bedding and droppings out of so I don't  mind so much, plus the long feeder was just a pain to deal with. I never could just really pop it open that easily. If only all of our problems were this easy to solve - and this was a non-problem.

I'm lovin' these little chickies though...one day we might be able to catch them and maybe hold them so that they will know that we aren't that scary!

Jersey Giant Fact Of The Day

According to the National Jersey Giant Club:

What Color Are They?

Black, Blue  and White are the colors recognized by the American Poultry Association. Splash colored Giants are usually a byproduct of breeding the Blue variety, though Splash should also breed true as a separate variety.

It really is quite early to tell, but I am so happy with this addition to what will be our Modern Homestead. I don't want to say that we are experimenting with these little chickies, because if things don't turn out that's a little costly with the feed and all that is attached to raising up these chicks to be healthy adult chickens. However, now that we have successfully planted and grew a Fall/Winter garden in addition to the regular growing season, added chickies for eggs (eventually) and later on we'll get some "meat" birds to fill the freezer. We'll be on our way to being more self-sufficient (with a lot of our food).

Think Big

Dream Big

Believe Big

and the results

will be Big

Baby Jersey Giants

Here's the Daily Report on the chicks! The babies have been with us almost 48 hours and as of this morning they were very happy and very active. They seem to be thriving!

Their little feeder was getting full of bedding and I was getting tired of trying to get the shavings out of it. So I found a piece of plywood that just happened to be the perfect size to use as a platform for their trough. We'll see how it works out. It took a couple of minutes before they realized that their feeder was on the plywood or maybe they weren't hungry yet. All it took was one. One went over to check it out then all of a sudden the rest were over there checking it out too.

After a little bit of frolicking around their brooder they did this...

I'm kinda hoping that the one with the yellow beak is a rooster - I REALLY would like a rooster. Mostly because I am interested in doing the chick thing with one breed. Why not with these Giants?!

Jersey Giant Fact Of The Day

According to the National Jersey Giant Club:

Giants are the largest purebred chicken. The weight of mature roosters is 11 to 15 pounds and they are usally 22 to 26 inches tall. Mature hens 9 to 11 pounds and usually 16 to 20 inches tall.

We DID It!

Black Jersey Giant Babies

After visiting Thrifty Feed & Garden during my lunch break yesterday I thought it would be best to contact Pioneer Feed Co. in Ridgefield, just 5 miles from our house. I had hoped that they would get back to me with the information I was looking for, but they did not. I ended up doing a little research of the chicks that they had received and made an informed decision once I saw what was available.

It only took me a few minutes to change out of my work clothes and we were off!  There were 4 different breeds available and a big ol' tub of turkeys. In addition to the Black Jersey Giant chicks there were Welsummers, Black SexLinks and some meat birds and Bronze and White Turkeys. According to the schedule on the website the BJG chicks arrived on the 14th, however she said that they were a week old and pretty hardy, so I'm wondering if the schedule on the website is a little off. It really doesn't matter because the point of the trip was to find way young chicks and not 3 or 4 week old chicks - ones that have almost no chickie fuzz anymore.

So after a brief answer and question time (Tom had questions) I wanted to know how old they were and that was about it. We (I) decided that we should get 10 chicks (as opposed to Tom's 6 or 8) I figure that if we are going to go all in with the chickens let's be serious and get a double digit amount. OMG - they are SO cute!!

We arrived home and got them all set up in their super spacious deluxe accommodations and spent some time watching them and making sure that they "found" their water and feeder. Once one finds one, most of the others will figure it out. Well, except for the ones that are already starting to scratch like an adult and move their bedding around. Dinner happened and then I did my hoop house chores before watching the babies a little more. So fun!

I got over them a little quicker than Tom did and went in to get into my evening routine while he stayed out to observe them a little longer.

I'm so glad that he is excited about these little ladies (hoping for a rooster). He watched as they were sunning themselves under the lamp and how one would tunnel underneath the huddle and pop up in the middle of the bunch. Then just their little antics be-bopping around the brooder. He even went out to check on them when he got up this morning. I have to be honest here, I woke up and thought about them and hoped that they were doing alright, but then I went right back to sleep!

These little ones will definitely change the morning and evening routine for us, but in the end when they finally start to lay eggs it will totally be worth it!

This is what I have learned about this breed:

• They are slow to mature, so they could start laying eggs as early as 6 months, but could take longer.
• They are a dual purpose bird. Once their egg production slows down we'll process them. 
• They were originally devleoped to replace the turkey as a table bird.
• Roosters can reach an impressive weight of 15 pounds.
• Hens can get up to 10 pounds.
• Jersey Giants can lay during the winter season.
• They are docile

Overall, this was a good choice...and really the only choice since we wanted young chicks. There are some 2 month old pullets available from a family not far, so we plan to get a few of those to make sure that we achieve our goal of having egg layers this year!

But first...

This needs to be completed. Soon...it will be soon. Maybe even by the end of the month, if the wheels arrive in timely fashion. Come on Northern Tool!!

WOO HOO!!!!

photo credit Premier 1 Supplies

Oh yeah...we actually ordered this kit...AND it has shipped! Or is close to shipping. We'll have this in 3-5 business days - WOO HOO!!

We'll almost be ready to do this chicken thing...however the chicken condo is still in need of wheels which are also on order - WOO HOO!!

Oh...yeah, chickens we'll need some of those too. The brooder is ready to rock and roll so this week we'll get the babies - WOO HOO!!

and Pullets - WOO HOO!!

This hobby farm thing is happening - WOO HOO!!

Friday - Update!

It's been a pretty quiet week. Not a lot happening anywhere really.

This week has been somewhat of a whirlwind type of week. Work has been a little on the crazy side - it's Washington's Spring Break so people (with and without kids) have been off this week. At least I'm consistent this week. In at 8 and leave for the day at 5.

The week has also been a little depressing as far as the weather goes. All I want is some warmth or at least no rain, sprinkles, showers...you know precipitation. For instance today started out very windy...so windy that the parking lot is all  messed up!

What makes this really awesome...the trees are not on Fire District property. These trees are behind the dentist office next door. They should come clean this up!

Anyway...Once upon a time we had a big tree right behind our house -

However now we have a pretty somethin' somethin' to look at - 

April 1, 2017

So, what has been going on around here? Not a lot really. Things slowed down quite a bit this past week. There have been other things going on and the evenings don't always allow enough time to do a decent project. Once the days are longer and the weather improves (i.e. not nearly as cloudy) we'll be out doing more stuff. Stuff like cleaning up the garden boxes and the "free-range" garden as well as the bigger garden space. 

However, I did take another peek at my Flower Sprouts...which I am pretty sure a no longer flower sprouts. They were next to the Purple Broccoli (which is also doing nicely) and I suspect they made friends early on and I've got a Kale-Broccoli-Sprout going on. 

You can see the broccoli part in the center of the sprout itself. I'm not necessarily disappointed by this - everything right now is just an experiment. I did pluck one off and had a taste and boy it had good flavor! Definitely from the Brassicaceae family. I may go ahead and let some of these sprouts go to seed and save them for later this year and see if I can get this to happen again. (Update: Took a look at the plants when I got home and what used to be cute short little sprouts are now long "limbs") 

With all of the stuff I have going on in the hoop house, I needed some more storage in the form of shelves. I had the idea to re-purpose a shelf thing that Tom built when we lived in the last house to place trays on.

Originally this did not have access from the front - it just took a little bit to modify so that we could get the trays in and out.

This helped with making more room, on the bench, but I felt that there could be more shelves. So Tom got some of the shelves that were left over from the Dressing Room project and mounted those over the bench.

During the process of installing the shelves

Two more shelves!

All of the trays have been re-arranged (a couple of times) and my shoe rack is set up again at the far end of the hoop house. So there should be plenty of room for Mary when she comes to play too.

There hasn't been much progress on the Chicken Condo. We did manage to get the sides done and then get the whole thing OFF of the saw-horses. Maybe the roof will happen next we'll see. There won't be much of a hurry though... 

Mostly because we are going to start with chicks! The feed store that I used to visit with my family when we had chickens has a schedule of when they will be getting certain breeds of chicky babies in. We have a couple of weeks before the Mottled Java's and Rhode Island White's are available. So, we have a couple of weeks to get a brooder set up and all that goes with it. 

Mottled Java

Rhode Island White

(both photos  from Google Images)

Originally I was thinking of getting Rhode Island Reds - the better known Rhode Island chicken breed. After a little bit of research on the Livestock Conservancy website the Rhode Island White is not a prevalent as their red feathered counterpart - so I think I might try to breed some of these on our little hobby farm. That would be neat! However, this will not be in the same scope of my mom's chicken "collecting" tendencies.

Both of these breeds are considered Dual Breed. When their egg laying starts to slow down we'll be able to process them and put them on the dinner table! It will be a few years down the road (I think). We'll have plenty of practice when we do the meat chickens, but that's a different post altogether.

I love that we are going to go to the feed store that I remember from way back when! The store itself has changed and they offer more than just farmy types stuff now, but it's still a cool place! Go HERE to check them out.

That's pretty much what is happening around our little hobby farm. 

This dude had his bum tooth checked out - he is experiencing a tooth being reabsorbed into his gums...it's been a rough few weeks, could be a few months. He seems to be holding up okay - with his little bed in front of the heater though. 

He's not spoiled...just well taken care of!

It's the weekend again!!