by Susan | May 6, 2016 | Chickens, On the Farm
We once had as many as 18 egg layers at Downeast Thunder Farm. The numbers have dwindled over time and we now have just two girls in the hen house. It’s been a few years since we’ve had farm babies (other than Gidget!). I heard the local feed store had...
by Susan | Jul 9, 2015 | Chickens, On the Farm
We all have our evening routines. This time of year for us, it goes something like this. I head to the greenhouse to visit my plants. I’m battling powdery mildew on my spaghetti squash, something is eating my Swiss chard, and my peppers are looking a bit...
by Susan | Apr 14, 2015 | Chickens, On the Farm
Chicken testosterone has been running rampant around the farm this spring. Last year’s batch of bantam chicks leaves us with two young roosters in addition to Spice, our Chief Rooster. This is how they spend their days. Posturing. Ninja moves. Feathers flying....
by Susan | Jan 17, 2015 | Chickens, On the Farm
It’s always fun watching the new chickens on the block acclimate to life on the farm. This summer’s clutch of bantam chickens has had an unusually difficult time adjusting to the snow cover. They appear somewhat baffled about the loss of their normal...
by Susan | Sep 5, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
A little bit of cute to end your week. Like momma, like baby.
by Susan | Sep 3, 2014 | Chickens
The new banty babies had an adventure today. Salty’s brood is almost three-weeks-old and she’s a bit bored hanging out in the coop and run. The run door is on the second story (so we can open the door when there’s loads of snow on the ground in the...
by Susan | Aug 20, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
A moment of cuteness to make you smile on a Wednesday morning. We are smitten with these little babies!...
by Susan | Aug 15, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
What’s a farm with out farm babies? Shadow, our little bantam hen who we lost this last winter, was our resident farm mama – the only hen, chicken or duck, who managed to hatch babies. This summer, we’ve had four broody girls. Salty, one of our...
by Susan | Jul 13, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
This is round one of meat chicken harvesting. Yesterday we processed 19 cornish rock chickens for the freezer. Today’s agenda was to finish the remaining sixteen birds. The next round of 50 meat chicks just moved from the brooder into the outdoor pen last week. This...
by Susan | Jul 8, 2014 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm
Meet Peep. She’s a one-year-old Pekin duck, born in our incubator last spring. She is broody and seems to be doing a good job at sticking to her nest. The only problem is, we don’t need any more ducks! We have eight – three of them boys. That fact...
by Susan | Jan 19, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
Did you ever wonder how the term “chicken” came to mean scared? I am convinced it has to do with chickens and snow. Our chickens hate snow. When there is snow in the ground, the refuse to come out of the coop. And, if the outdoor roost is clear, they will...
by Susan | Aug 31, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
Shadow’s latest batch of baby bantam chickens have flown the coop. Shadow has given up her mama duties and the youngsters, now 11 weeks old, are on their own. The Banty B&B is a bit overcrowded with this latest hatch. Who knew Shadow would be such a good...
by Susan | Jul 14, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
I’ve been concerned about occupancy in the Banty coop given the recent population explosion. We’ll only keep the hens, but as all the babies look alike we’ll have to wait until they grow up a bit before separating out the boys. So this weekend,...
by Susan | Jul 5, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The other weekend, we sold ten of our two-year-old hens and they moved to a happy new home. It was sad to see them go, but we did this because our flock had grown too large for the size of our coop. And because of their age, egg production was beginning to decline. In...
by Susan | Jun 9, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
Occupancy in the Banty B&B has hit an all-time high. Over the past couple of days the Banty chicken population doubled. Shadow is proving to be an excellent chicky mama, sticking to her nest until five baby bantam chickens hatched. It seemed like every time I went...
by Susan | Jun 7, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
Exciting things are happening here today. Little Shadow, our Bantam hen is still on her nest. She’s my favorite chicken because she’s so sweet and even tempered – and a good mama. Hannah’s chores include feeding and watering the Bantys each...
by Susan | Jun 1, 2013 | Chickens, Garden, On the Farm
I’d noticed that my Phlox was looking a little sparse. Just the other day it was in full bloom, and today, only a couple of the plants had flowers on them. I justified this by telling myself that the ones in bloom were planted later last year – therefore...
by Susan | May 31, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The new girls on the block are ready to leave the brooder and be introduced the the rest of the farm critters. Last year taught us that a gradual approach is the best way to merge new chickens with an existing flock. So Paul built the new girls a mini-coop – a...
by Susan | May 19, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
Shadow, our broody Banty, takes a moment to stretch her legs. While she enjoys her break, Salty temporarily takes over the broody duties. The two Banty hens seem to be taking a tag team approach to sitting on this clutch of eggs!
by Susan | May 3, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The 50 meat chickens moved out of the garage this weekend at 3 1/2 weeks old. They grow so fast that they’ve run out of space in the brooder. These little Cornish X Rock chickens are so ugly, they’re kinda cute. Don’t you think?
