Spring Fever!

Spring is definitely one of our busiest times of the year. We have chicks were are incubating and holding twice a day, seedlings we are growing and watering, Chinese praying mantis eggs we are hatching, 4-H projects were are working on, hair cuts for the warmer weather, and we are changing out our cold weather clothes for warmer weather clothes and getting rid of old ones.

We also just purchased some gold fish for T's 4-H Aqua Science project that will need to be fed 2-3 times daily. Of course, school work is also being done diligently Monday through Friday to ensure that we will have our first two quarters in before the summer break.

I am a little overwhelmed just listing it all. It is definitely an active time at our house, but there is so much to learn from each of these activities and projects. I need to keep reminding myself of that!

B with one of her 4-H gardening project activities. She was learning about plant parts and how they "drink". She really liked this one.

The Chinese praying mantis' are great for our science class and also will be a very beneficial addition to our garden. They eat all sorts of harmful bugs and insects that like to damage plants. The kit says that we can expect between 400-800 mantis to hatch! This should be interesting!

The purple basil sprouted in less than five days!!! I was truly amazed! Many of our other seedlings are growing now, as well, and it has only been a week! We are having much better luck with these heirloom seeds than many of the store bought, high bred varieties we've tried in the past. I am getting excited to get working in the garden and get some peas, lettuce, and cabbage in the ground. I hope the weather will cooperate so I can get them in soon!

D's first trim by Grammy. This was shortly after buzzing T and E's hair for the upcoming warm weather.

New Chicks on the Block

Here are the most recent additions to our growing flock of chickens. We purchased 20 chicks for the kids to raise. Each of the older five picked out their own unique one. The remaining 15 were all barred rock chicks that we hope will be good brown egg layers. We've had a successful two years with our Rhode Island Red hens. They are still good large brown egg layers and have been throughout the whole winter, thanks to the addition of a timed heat lamp in their coop. I am not sure how much longer we can expect them to keep up such a steady production, so we decided to go ahead and invest in the next generation so that we wouldn't have any shortage of eggs.

To house our most recent additions, we've converted an old freezer into a nursery/incubator for them. It has worked out wonderfully! Since this picture, we've added some brick so that the chicks can hop up and down and self-regulate their temperature a little better. They are really loving that added feature.

Here are a few cute pictures of the R and E with the chicks.

M is even taking her chick "Mae" in 4-H this year. I am sure we all will learn much from her experience. That will definitely be an adventure!

Cave Trip, Grandpa's Birthday, and Our First Egg!

The kids with their Aunt Olivia at a local cave tour.

Grandpa's 60th Birthday celebration at our house. The kids got him 60 chocolate kisses, a gift card, and I made him a six layer chocolate cake (one layer for each decade).

Here was our first egg! Since this one, we've had about a dozen. We enjoyed omlettes the other night with biscuits and apple butter. Yum! It will be really nice when our 12 little chickens start laying eggs.

Update on Our Chickens

ROOSTERS!?! What!!!!??? We have nine roosters and not nine hens? What!?!

Long story short, when we agreed to try our hand at raising chickens, we decide on getting 10 hens and 2 roosters. We tried our best to ensure that we purchase good healthy hens and only two roosters. We even went to the store that everyone suggested was the most reputable in town. We took the kids and had the clerk get them out of the pen labeled pullets. We proceeded to pay for them and feed them ever since March. To ensure we also had a good rooster, we bought two "pan fryers" that same day, in case one died. After a few months growth and some boisterous crowing, we've discovered that the pullets are really roosters and the pan fryers are the only hens we now own.

So, we had a slight problem that we dealt with this past week. First we purchased some more chicks, this time really making sure the clerk got us pullets.

Then, we started butchering roosters before they kill each other or our two lone hens.

In true homestead fashion, we made the kids watch and participate in processing the chickens. First Dear Hubby walked them through each step. Then he gave them each a job. The rule was that everyone had to help in some way.

Mostly the kids helped pulling feathers, holding the chicken, or taking turns watching their little brother.

Dear Hubby had helped to butcher turkeys before, but this was my first time killing anything. I got the job of holding the rope that bound the legs together. After the head was cut off, I was supposed to tie them to the close line to bleed out. This ended up being the messiest job. I am sure everyone has heard the phrase "like a chicken with its head cut off". There is truth behind that saying.

We just enjoyed rooster #1 tonight in the form of BBQ chicken sandwiches. Yummy. Even though it has been a disappointing discovery that our hens were roosters and our roosters were hens, we've learned something in the process...namely how to butcher chickens.

The Chicken Coop

Here is our chicken coop from start to finish. We've spent the past month building it, little by little. As the chicks have grown, so has the coop. Thanks goes to the kids for painting it and Dear Hubby for his excellent engineering skills! It is finally finished. Just in time, too, because the chicks were outgrowing their brooding cages. They spent their first night in the coop last night.

Chickens at the Copper Corral

Well, it is official. We are the proud owners of a dozen chickens. Ten pullets and two roosters. The kids were so excited. I can hardly wait until we have "farm fresh" eggs. I am not looking forward to the day we butcher our first chicken, though. I've warned the kids that the chickens are not pets, but food. However, even our oldest is already thinking up names for the pullets (her favorite name is Heidi). This makes me think they are already getting attached to the chickens. Maybe when the chicks get older, and uglier, they'll loose interest in them.

M is excited to collect eggs. She's already called dibs on collecting the first batch of eggs. I tried to give her some perspective on what is involved with the chickens. I told her I will expect the kids to help feed, water, and clean out the chicken coop. She said, "That's fine." I thought for sure she'd complain. Wow, how she is growing up into such a fine young lady. :)