Our very own chicks started hatching out yesterday!!!!  We were all so excited to wake up in the morning to find a few cracks and hear some peeping!  It was one after another, then another!  Seven total yesterday and looking forward to about the same number today!  Everyone is healthy and happy.  Even though we broke a cardinal rule of "don't help the chick out of its shell"!  We helped two and will not do that again!  Thankfully and surprisingly, they both survived and seem to be thriving. See for yourself.  The best advice is to have patience!  

By the way....Congrats to the daddy...Mr. Champ!!!!    

Finally fully jumped into the chicken bizz!  We have been collecting eggs for the past couple of days in anticipation of receiving the incubator today.  UPS showed up around noon and we immediately got to work setting it up and loading in the eggs!  We set Black, Silver Laced and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.  It will be so exciting to hear our own little peeps in 21 days!  For anyone interested in hatching their own eggs, I found the best deal with Murray McMurray Hatchery.  I ordered the incubator with the fan, automatic thermostat and automatic egg turner.  Total cost with shipping was about $200.  That was substantially cheaper than anywhere else.  We will be candling the eggs in 8 days to see how many viable eggs we have.

Finally received our new laying chicks this morning!  They were shipped from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio on Tuesday, and showed up at the P.O. early this morning.  We combined an order with our friend, Dawn.  We have Gold Sex-Links and Leg Horns.  These two breeds are true laying machines!  Hopefully with these new girls, Katie will be able to fill some of her egg orders she has on her waiting list.     

"Inside animals" always curious when "outside animals" are in the house.  The cats love sitting on that warm brooder box!  The chicks will get to stay in for about a week before they move out to a little larger crate.  I admit, I just love hearing the sound of those happy little cheeps!     

Katie felt so proud holding her beautiful "Mr. Champ" who just won Jr. Show Champion American!  I guess his name really does fit him!  She has worked so hard to take care and grow these birds correctly, that we were so happy to see her rewarded for her hard work.  She also had a wonderful Black Wyandotte Pullet who won Reserve Variety and Reserve Breed!  She can't wait to get chicks from these two!  She has renamed this girl, "Mrs. Champ"!  Katie brought along a Golden Laced Wyandotte Pullet who also won Best Variety!  What a great experience she had exhibiting her birds!  

This is, by no doubt, my favorite bird of the show!  I am completely fascinated by this exquisite goose.  It's a Brown Egyptian and it has the most intricate penciling on it's feathers.  I hope you can catch it in this picture.  I always search this bird out at the poultry show.

Yes, is the answer to your question.  There are shows for chickens!  We dropped off our 2 roos and 4 hens in Newnan, GA  at the Chattahoochee Poulty Show today.  Katie showed a couple of birds last year, which was her first experience showing poultry, and won a couple of blue ribbons!  It is so interesting to see all the different varieties of birds.  I have always appreciated the effort that people put into raising quality "anything".  People that aren't familiar with showing agriculture, and even horticulture, need to open their minds to understanding how important it is for people to raise quality beef, poulty, even vegetables.  Keeping a variety of genetically sound animals and plants is so important for our food supply.  The commercial producers focus primarily on one or two breeds that give them the most bang for their buck, which means, if they develop a disease or genetic weakness, it usually effects them all, thus, possibly compromising our food supply.  These plants and animals are typically treated chemically, which can change the way certain diseases and germs act, overcoming and adapting to the chemicals that are used to combat them.  So, next time you here of someone going to a "Chicken Show", or exhibiting their vegetables at a fair, think about the contribution that they are making to us all, knowing or unknowingly, working to preserve a safe and sound food supply! 

Katie showed me this article in her issue of "Backyard Poultry".  I am always saddened by some practices within our commericial food industry.  I am not the type of person who will protest or become a public vocal activist, but our family works hard to live our life in the most responsible way. Always aware of the consequences of our actions.  We are fortunate to be able to raise our own animals and vegetables, and don't expect everyone else to do the same.  But something as simple as eggs, which is such a staple of the American diet, is readily available with a liitle effort.  Most all major cities have farmers markets available.  There is a multitude of "non- farming" people who have chickens and sell their eggs.  You would be surprised, if you just started asking around.   I know price can be an issue for some, but I believe, once you have, not only,tasted the difference, you will have great satisfaction in knowing that they came from humanely treated birds.  Experiment, step out of your zone, give it a try, or just pause to think next time you grab for that dozen at the supermarket.    

Since we have been "processing" roosters lately, I have taken the opportunity to freeze as much chicken broth as possible.  My mother was an awesome cook and understood the importance of using "homemade" broth.  She always had a quart or two in the freezer.  For whatever reason, I always felt intimidated about attempting to make "my own" broth.  As an adult, I reluctantly continued to buy it from the store, always choosing the organic, free-range, but it never, ever measured up to Mom's broth.   You are no doubt asking, "Why didn't you just have your Mom show you?"   Well, I was younger and never had an overwhelming desire to know how.  Plus, I was one of those naive people who never thought my Mother would never be there to do it for me!  Of course, I have grown up ALOT in the past 10 years...my dear Mom had a stroke and is unable to help me.  But she did teach me how to be an independent thinker and get things done!  So here I am, not just brilliantly making chicken broth, even my Mom would be proud of, but I raised and butchered the chickens too!  I must admit, I get a huge swell of pride every time I open my freezer and see all those bags of "liquid gold"!  

I was at the grain store the other day, chatting with the sweet, lady who owns it, about food, and she mentioned that she has never made homemade chicken soup before.  I was stunned, because there are some people you just assume know everything about everything.  I assumed she was one of them!  I thought, if she doesn't know, maybe I should pass on to eveyone else who is missing out, like I was, what is truly a VERY easy thing to do! (As my Mom always said to me!)  So if you are interested, click on the Cooking Page and discover the world of Awesome Chicken Broth & Soup! 

Doug is doing well.  She has continued to lay eggs without any "assistance" from me.  She is acting normal, but she is still walking around with her bottom a little lower than normal.  I have read, when eggbound it can put alot of pressure on their back.  So maybe she will take some time to recover completley.  We are still keeping her in Phyllis' apartment, because the boys (whose numbers will be dwindling considerably after this weekend!) find her new posture very attractive, and won't leave her alone.  

Now that it is January, all thoughts point to spring.  There are projects to finish before all our energy is devoted to gardening, showing, breeding, raising babies, and always our number one priority, finishing the school year.  Growing up in the north, the winters were spent as a break from outside projects, and worked hard through the summer and fall to get things done.  But being in the south, it has flip-flopped somewhat.  We work outside all winter, cleaning, clearing, finishing projects, before the heat hits hard in the summer.  That is when our attention moves inside the house.  I don't know whether it's just me, but the critters seem to be less interested in being outside at this time of year.  Our horses, goats and chickens can come and go at will, but seem to like to hang out in their "houses" more.  I guess they are also waiting for those pretty spring days.    

One of the smartest things we did when we built the chicken coop, was that we built it around a leland cypress.  The chickens absolutely love having this in their living space. Not only does it help cool the coop, but it provides a great sense of security.  Some days there will be 15 or 20 hens huddled around the base, happily hanging out.  They also love crawling around the lower branches. 

These two Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets (6 Mos) are quite beautiful.  They are definitely considered show quality in their conformation.  Except the hen in the front has a single comb, which is a disqualifying feature.  It does not mean she can't be used for breeding, since her body type is wonderful.  Not all her babies would have a single comb.  Compare to the pullet behind her, which has the desired rose comb.  A great example of the difference between buying hatchery chickens or privately bred chickens;  the top picture in the blog has two SLW hens purchased through Murray McMurray Hatchery (From Left: 1st and 3rd).  They are healthy and lay well, but you can see the difference from the true conformation standard.  The pullets above were purchased  from a very reputable Wyandotte breeder in Kentucky, Foley's Waterfowl & Poultry.  Just an FYI- When you purchase chicks from a private breeder, you are getting straight run, which means---you will get roosters!  This SLW group - 4 girls 14 boys!!!!!!!!!

This Black Wyandotte Pullet (7 Mos) is also a beautiful example of the breed.  We purchased Blue Laced Red and Black Wyandotte chicks from a breeder in Florida, Paul's Poultry.  The chicks from Jesse Paul were fantastic! And a 50/50 boy/girl ratio!  Katie will be showing a few of these chickens at a poultry show in Newnan, GA the end of February.  

As a footnote, I still recommend ordering chicks from a commercial hatchery if you are looking for utility birds, ie: meat and/or eggs.  The added benefit is you can order the sex of bird you would like and multiple varieties.  That being said, I believe it is vital to the survival of any breed to keeping quality bred birds to carry on the true standard of breed.  So we keep it balanced, everything in moderation!  A little of this, a little of that!     

This is our Black Blue Laced Red Wyandotte hen, Doug.  Yes, Doug. (It's one of those funny stories that I would prefer not to tell to a broad audience!)  She is about 6 months old and has been laying very nice eggs for us.  She got a little "backed-up" today.  The technical term is "eggbound".   We found her this morning waddling around with her behind dragging the ground.  Rubber glove time!  A little poultry 101 for those of you interested....The egg and the poo come out of the same hole.  Anybody proclaiming they will never eat another egg, relax, there is good news.  Yes, the egg and poo share the same exit door, "the vent".  But they don't take the same route.  There are two roads that lead to the vent.  The egg takes the high road and the poo takes the low road.  When one road is being used the other is closed off.  Okay, back to our drama.  Being eggbound can be life threatening (to the hen!), so rubber glove and vaseline in hand, I was ready for my first gyn poultry experience.  I told Doug, "Just relax, you'll feel a little pressure."   Why would I think this would work with her, it's never worked with me!  Slowly and gently, I could feel the egg about 2 inches in.  I added more vaseline and gently masaged around the tip of the egg, being ultra careful not to break it (that can be a complete disaster!).  We left her alone for about 30 minutes, no change.  Onto the warm bath.  A 20 minute warm bath is recommended to relax the bird.  Katie carried her into the kitchen (farm animals in the house again!) as I filled the sink.  The egg fell right out of her onto our (thank goodness) tile floor.  Yay!  We put her back outside with the gang and she still seemed to be walking strange.  I examined her again and could not detect any egg.  Also, she felt much softer on her underside. We put her in Phyllis' apartment to protect her from the roosters (since she was walking around in a very inviting pose).  She may just need a little time.  We will keep checking on her.  She should be fine.    

Every morning, at feeding time, Polka and Phyllis chow together.  They are definitely our two handi-capped residents.  Polka had an eye removed earlier this year, and he is 29!  And Miss Phyllis is a Polish hen, which means she has this beautiful "puff" of feathers on her head which limits her vision considerably.  She doesn't like hanging with the other girls because she can't see them coming, so she has her own "apartment" in the coop and when she free-ranges, she hangs with Mr. Polka.  He is so big, she can hear him coming and he moves VERY slow.  So Phyllis and Polka are good buds!