Exotic Sunday Brunch

Oyakodon

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

This dish has both!

If you raise your own meat chickens AND have fresh eggs, this is a money-saving, exotic dish for you!

With spring comes lots and lots of eggs! It is such a beautiful time of year! Flowers are blooming, grass is a bright green, and here on the farm, our hens have started laying lots and lots of eggs! You may be searching for some fun and new ways to use them up! There’s only so many ways to cook scrambled eggs and quiche, so today, I’m taking you across the

Edible Flowers for Chickens

Spring is a wonderful time to add fresh freebies to your flock’s diet! Here are some flowers that are safe for your chickens to eat, and chances are, you already have them growing in your yard!

Chickens are omnivores and need nutrients from both animals and plants to thrive If you let your hens out to free-range, they can usually find these goodies themselves You can let your flock free range without worry Chickens like to test everything, but they seem to know what’s good, and what’s not One little bite and they know instinctively if a plant is safe

Chick Journey- Part 4

Our sweet teenager chicks are officially 2 months old! This week it was time to kick them out of the chicken tractor (I had more babies hatch that needed the space too)!

At this age, they are about half the size of a grown hen They are fully feathered in their adult plumage, but still chirp like babies

When moving your teen chicks in with the adults, expect some fighting Chickens have a hierarchy and the top birds are most always the oldest Luckily our little flock of one rooster and 4 hens had been exposed to the teens a little

Chick Journey 1.5 Months

Our chicks are currently 15 months old and loving their lives outside!

They are permanently outdoors 24/7, living in their chicken tractor The bottom floor space of the tractor is 8’x8’ This is plenty of space for 7 teenage chicks, but after one whole day, they are ready to be moved onto fresh grass

Having them in a movable tractor works amazingly well! Each morning I quickly check on them, move the tractor, and give them about 2 cups of crumble The feeder is hung on a rope, so it doesn’t touch the

Do Ducks Need Water?

Do ducks need large bodies of water to thrive?

No

Do they WANT bodies of water?

Yes!

Ducks must have a water source to safely eat From the time they hatch, ducklings and ducks will always need water Unlike chickens, ducks must “mix” their food with water They start by grabbing a mouthful of crumble Next, they waddle on over to their water, and combine the two in their mouth This mucky dabbling ensures they can swallow the feed without choking Consider it like eating oatmeal Having wet oatmeal is much better than trying to swallow it dry It can make quite a

Chick Journey Weeks 2-4

Our lovely little mystery chicks have been growing and changing! At about 2 weeks of age, they outgrew their little brooder set-up in our mudroom You’ll know when they are ready for bigger and better things! I knew it was time when my 5 year old came running in the kitchen to find me! With excitement, she quickly told me that one of the chicks had FLOWN out of the brooder! Time to go outside!

The chicks still did not have all their feathers yet, so they spent the next couple of weeks in a larger brooder in our garden

Chick Journey Part 1

CHICK JOURNEY

PART ONE

WEEKS 0-2

 

With the promise of Spring, comes the exciting prospect of new chicks on the farm!

I like to restock my flock with new birds at least once every two years I am able to find buyers for some of my “old” girls quite quickly Everyone is always looking for laying hens, and I’m happy to make a little extra feed money with the cash

This year, I sold all but 5 of my best hens and one Turken rooster, named Chimp

After making room, the fun part begins!

Usually, my daughter and I spend hours looking over the catalog, picking

Smokehouse Scrambled Eggs

If you’ve decided to eat better this year, you can’t go wrong with farm fresh eggs!

Full of flavor and nutrients, these smokehouse inspired scrambled eggs are sure to satisfy! Pretty much everyone can cook scrambled eggs, so the whole family can chip in with the preparations!

 

One of the traditions we have in our home is a big, hearty weekend breakfast If the weather is decent, we like to spend our weekends outdoors We need a full, healthy breakfast to keep us going! Our smoky scrambled eggs stemmed from another weekend tradition: Friday night BBQ

On most Friday nights, we love

What is a Turken?

If you’ve spent any time watching cooking shows, you may have heard of a turducken However, have you ever heard of a Turken?

 

Yes! A Turken is a real thing, although it is not as it sounds A Turken is a special breed of chicken that lacks feathers on its neck and vent area It is not actually part turkey Turkeys and chickens are unable to breed and produce offspring (Although guinea fowl and chickens can!-but that is a story for another time!)

 

Along with being a great conversation piece, Turkens actually make quite amazing backyard chickens Turkens, or Naked Necks,