Happy December everyone! I pray your Thanksgiving was full of all the things you love! Like most people, we have a good headstart on our decorating around here I decided to take it a step further this year and make it a little festive for our flock I wanted to show you two different ways The first option was done for under $10!
Then, I decided to up my game a little bit for some fun pictures The girls love it! Just kidding They could really care less! Haha! But, it
If you’ve been eating or using eggs for any length of time (hello almost everyone!), you probably have had a blood spot in your egg once or twice While this isn’t appealing to the eye, you need to know that they are perfectly fine to consume or use!
Contrary to popular belief, a blood spot does not mean that the egg is fertilized It simply means that a blood vessel ruptured while the hen was laying the egg This can be due to stress, genetics, or health of the hen
Some stressors can be environment – lack of fresh water, diet,
I set off on a little adult science fair project this past week I decided that in honor of Thanksgiving week, I’d try out a new treat for the girls I placed an order for some raw organic, non-GMO barley and alfalfa seeds You can sprout many different types of grain, beans or lentils Please remember to never feed your flock dried, uncooked beans They contain a toxin, hemagglutinin, which can be deadly for your chickens However, when you cook or sprout beans, the toxins are destroyed and are safe to feed your flock
I chose
If you’re a backyard chicken keeper, there is really nothing compared to the eggs your “girls” provide for your family The eggs are not only delicious, but there is something so fulfilling about raising your own food Heading out to the coop each day to collect your breakfast is one of the most rewarding parts of chicken keeping!
If you have different breeds of chickens, you may have a variety of egg colors If you’re one of those people who “only eats white eggs”, do your research and make sure you have the appropriate chickens My very first chickens laid
It’s August! What in the world? Where did the summer go? I’m torn between being ready for 2020 to be over (with Covid-19) and really wanting to throw the breaks on because I love this time of year! The mornings are starting to get a bit cooler here in Minnesota, but still warm up in the afternoon The cicadas are singing their song and the sunsets are stunning It’s also the time of year where our garden is starting to overflow with an abundance of produce! We’ve already had BLT’s 3 times and green beans until our hearts are
Happy National Egg Day! I knowI realize it seems like there is always something to celebrate, and sometimes I lose track of all of our national holidays However, National Egg Day is something I can get on board with Hahaha!
So, today we will be talking about eggs and some fun facts surrounding them
Did you know?
Valentine’s Day is almost here Now, I know that many people don’t care for this holiday, but I don’t fall into that particular category! I’ve always enjoyed this day What a fun opportunity to celebrate the love in your relationships, kids, and spouse As an extra treat this year, I’m going to use some of my feathered girls’ abundance and make heart-shaped eggs for my family My daughter and I gave it a test run the other day and it was super simple! This is a fun and easy way to start off Valentine’s Day in a special way
How
It’s finally summer! There are so many things we love about summer after a long, cold winter; the warmth, the sunshine, the green grass and late nights around the campfire I could go on and on!
Looking ahead to the hot, humid weather, we need to talk flies Gross, pesky flies Chickens don’t like flies and flies can transmit disease or, even worse, your chickens can develop flystrike Google at your own risk!
Flies are attracted to manure and feed Some common practices to keep the fly population down in your coop include removing soiled litter and keeping bedding dry, cleaning
The first time that I raised backyard chickens, we started with a mature flock to begin with If I could do it all over, I would raise them from chicks and not purchase already grown hens and roos It went okay, but we didn’t have that bond that we do with our current flock
In fact, our first flock ended with a showdown between our 2-year-old son and our not so loving rooster, and me chasing everyone with a garden hose! It was quite a sight and the neighbors definitely had something to talk about for a while It was
One of the most exciting times we’ve had in our backyard chicken experience is the day we received our very first egg If you’ve gone through this, you know how thrilling that first egg is! When our girls first started laying it was very early spring They were technically still “cooped up” then But to our surprise, Coco plopped her first egg right there on the floor that day, and I didn’t even care because I was so excited!!
After our first egg, I remember researching what kind of nesting boxes I wanted We decided on a really