Farm Updates, and NEW Chicks!

It's hard to believe that it's already May!

We've had some very busy months recently, but I am going to try and post some farm
updates in the upcoming days.  

For starters, we have some new chicks and ducklings, hatched from our incubator,
with our own eggs. The chicks are all barnyard variety, and the ducklings are Pekin/Cayuga mix.

Creepy Crawlies on the Farm

Recently we took the plunge and added some bugs to our farm. Worms, to be precise. We have red wrigglers, which honestly don't seem to be flourishing and that's been a little difficult to figure out just what we're doing wrong. So I'm not going to show you those, as there's just not much to see yet.

But the mealworms are doing fantastic! As gross as it is, I love these little nasties! They're so easy to take care of and propagate, and our numbers have probably more than tripled since we first started.

Watching them grow throughout their life cycle has been so interesting! And the kids really enjoy them too!

Soon we'll be able to start feeding these wonderfully nutritious snacks to our chickens and quail. They're going to love them! 

Farm Update

Day to day life has definitely got me busy and just a bit too occupied for blogging. So here's a quick rundown of all the things we've got going on right now....

Above and below: Built new rabbit hutches. Love them!

Below: Ducklings are getting big! 

First cucumber!

Baby I loves the sweet and gentle Barred Rocks.

Refrigerator pickles! Yummm.

First time processing and eating our quail. It was very easy and pretty tasty too!

Love our homegrown v-6.

Lots of predator problems lately! We have to reset our traps constantly!

Cleared out the "spa room" all the way down to the bones.

Getting back into my old hobby of making miniature leather saddles.

More baby quail!

First haircut for this little one.

Mealworms are doing fantastic!

First eggs from the black copper marans are so dark and pretty!

Baby bunnies!

Pallet furniture. Love this table for the family room.

March Farm Update

Since I didn't post much (if at all?) in March, I thought I'd give a rundown of some of the farm activities. It was certainly a busy month, and it seems as if we had no spare time at all... which is understandable considering the season. So much to do in spring...

Chickens and quail alike have started laying really well.

We bought the first purebred chicks we've had in years:

Lavender Orpington and Black Copper Marans.

We did a major cleanup around the farm. And I mean MAJOR.

Started lots and lots of veggies from seeds in my wonderful greenhouse.

Tested our brand new incubator (more on that coming up in a future post).

Started preparing our garden plot. It'll be the biggest garden we've ever had- a quarter acre!

More eggs.

We planted some grape vines, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

Worked on replacing the horse barn roof (more on that in a future post).

Repainted one of the upstairs, kids' rooms.

Did I mention lots of eggs????

Snakes are coming out!



And last but not least, we are incubating more eggs. :)



A Barn with No Purpose

Our beautiful old barn is about 90% empty. I have yet to figure out a good use for it. Inside the all-wood structure are some "stalls" which would indicate to me that they were originally used to house some sort of animals... but what? I'm using a small corner of this barn for my chickens, but they rarely go in because it's so dark. 

I may use one of these stalls as a brooding area when I get my chick order in.

The kids like playing up in the amazing loft.

So.... any suggestions?

Last Snow, Hopefully

We've enjoyed a pretty mild winter, but these last few days have reminded us that it is, indeed, winter. I am so ready for spring!

A Boy and His Birds