by Susan | Apr 12, 2013 | Chickens
I heard that the local feed and seed had Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks in. Excited about adding a couple to the flock, we went for a visit. Somehow a pair of Wynadotte’s turned into: two Silver Laced Wyandottes two Rhode Island Reds two Delawares How did that...
by Susan | Mar 30, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
It was a beautiful day here in Downeast Maine. We enjoyed being outside doing chores from cleaning out chicken and duck coops to a little bit of spring yard cleanup. It was so nice that when we took our lunch break, Hannah made sandwiches and we ate out on the porch....
by Susan | Dec 10, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Each night when we put The Girls in their run we do a head count. There should be 14 chickens: Gilfy and Miri (Miri is always the straggler and has to be coaxed in), The Colonel, six Rocks, five Buffs. I was on chicken duty last night and counted them – twice....
by Susan | Dec 1, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
A bitterly cold day found Paul and I outside running fence around the duck pond. Now that the pond is solidly frozen, the ducks don’t have much protection from predators. We tuck them away into their house at night, but they’re used to having the run of...
by Susan | Nov 24, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
I can’t imagine what the bantam chickens were thinking as they looked out their window yesterday afternoon. Miri and Gilfy have decided that they like to hang out in the doorway of the banty coop run. They’re too big to go inside the coop!
by Susan | Nov 5, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
We tossed the two Jack-o’-lanterns from Halloween out into the yard and let the chickens and ducks nibble away at them. Here are Miri and Gilfy taking a turn. Aren’t they pretty chickens? The next moment, Willow (a Plymouth Barred-Rock hen) walked up and...
by Susan | Nov 3, 2012 | Chickens, On My Mind, On the Farm
The Girls are looking a little rough around the edges lately. At 17 months old, they are going through their first molt. I had no idea they’d look so ragged. We have some bad feather days ahead! Miri and Gilfy, on the other hand, at six months old, are quite...
by Susan | Oct 23, 2012 | Chickens, On My Mind
Miri and Gilfy are the Barred Rock/Buff Orpington chickens we hatched in the incubator earlier this year. Since leaving the brooder, they’ve been sleeping in a little dog kennel set up next to the chicken coop at night and free ranging with the big Girls by...
by Susan | Oct 8, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Shadow, a sweet little bantam hen, is broody again. She’s feathered her nest and is sitting on a clutch of ten eggs. She hatched her first babies back in May. My best guess is that she’s been on the nest for about ten days now. She’s such a gentle...
by Susan | Sep 25, 2012 | Chickens
I found Miri and Gilfy looking in the window this afternoon!
by Susan | Sep 15, 2012 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm
Miri and Gilfy are our Buff Orpington and Barred Rock mix chickens, hatched in June. They are now living (temporarily) in a dog crate next to the big girl’s coop where they’ve spent the last few weeks becoming familiar with the Girls, the Banties and the...
by Susan | Sep 8, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Meet Clover and Klee, our father and son roosters. Hatched on May 1, Klee has grown into the spitting image of his daddy. This morning I heard Klee try his first crow. Kids, they grow up so fast!
by Susan | Sep 5, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Clover, the bantam rooster (stage left) has been feeling his oats. I don’t think he realizes that The Colonel (stage right) is at least three times his size. Maybe he has a Napoleon complex. In this rare rooster face off, Henrietta senses that all is not well...
by Susan | Sep 3, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
I took advantage of a beautiful morning and took my coffee and breakfast out to the porch. Some uninvited company arrived. She seems to be begging. I’m not sure how I feel about having breakfast with chickens.
by Susan | Aug 22, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of this unusual sight – Clover the Banty Rooster on the porch roof. Then I realized that the sun was going down and the door to the banty coop had blown shut. Instinct was kicking in and Clover was looking for a safe...
by Susan | Aug 19, 2012 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm
It’s been a weekend full of puttering – a little weeding, a little landscaping around the pond, a little planting of new lettuce, spinach and kale. A little photography along the way. The Colonel ever watchful over his flock. Quackers checking out the...
by Susan | Aug 2, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Top of the world. To a bantam rooster called Clover. Showing off for the ladies…
by Susan | Jul 31, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
Paul and I have been mystified about the recent drop in the egg count. The Girls usually produce a dozen eggs a day and lately we’re only getting six or seven. I found a baker’s dozen nestled beneath my day lilies! I feel the need to go on an egg hunt and...
by Susan | Jul 23, 2012 | Chickens, On the Farm
We have just finished our third day of harvesting meat chickens. Harvesting. That’s a pleasant way to phrase it, isn’t it? We’ve got 37 out of 49 chickens in freezer camp – about 12 birds a day. A reluctant chicken farmer, this is my second year getting up close...
by Susan | Jul 2, 2012 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm, Turkeys
I spent the most glorious hour this evening sitting at the edge of the duck pond, sun dipping lower in the sky, with a glass of wine and my book. It was like a mini vacation relaxing away from work and the phone, watching the baby ducks negotiate their place among the...
