Meet Penny!

As if we aren't busy enough right now...

This past Saturday I sent Peyton outside to feed the farm animals. He ran back inside to tell me one of the silkie chicken eggs had hatched and there was a baby in the coop! We've learned from the past that we need to get baby chicks along with their mommas out of there fast so I flew into action. When I got to the coop I could see there were actually FOUR baby chicks! I gathered them and the momma chickens quickly and removed them to seclusion. There were several more eggs that the hens had been sitting on so I gathered them to put them with the hens. When doing so, I could hear a baby chick chirping while it was STILL INSIDE the egg! It was one of the coolest things! I hurried and quickly put it under the momma hen. I gave them a few hours(thinking it would hatch) and went back to check on things...the momma hens had moved and were NOT sitting on the little egg anymore. And I couldn't hear it chirping. It hadn't hatched. I left it alone and went back inside to let Josh know. I figured it had died. He told me I should go back to the coop and hatch it by hand. Um no. I just couldn't because I thought it was dead and just no. So, Reece talked Josh into doing it! haha! It was SUPER cool and once hatched it was alive! I quickly stuck it under momma hen.

SIDE NOTE: WE ARE ALWAYS LEARNING ON THE FARM, LESSONS LEARNED ALL THE TIME! We should not have done this, should have just put it under a heat lamp and it would have hatched on it's on.

I gave it a few hours and went to check. Those stupid hens had MOVED again and left baby for dead. I thought she was dead when I first saw her but then I saw a faint movement. I grabbed her up and started warming her up close to me while Josh got her a heat lamp set up. I laid her in the box under the lamp, she was still wet from hatching and not moving. I watched in amazement as she started to breathe and then move her little feet and then pick her head up...THEN SHE OPENED HER EYES!:) We saved her!

So, Penny lives in a box inside the house now. Because she thinks she's a human. And that's ok!

 The other babies!

Catch Up!

Prepare yourself for a mish mash of a post! I haven’t had time to blog about anything lately! I’m not even sure any of this is in order! In fact, it’s not. haha!

We had a fun Halloween! It was pretty chilly here that night so we didn’t do too much trick or treating but we still had fun! We always go to my sister’s house and trick or treat with my nephews and we ALWAYS go by Big Mama’s house! It’s her thing! I heart traditions!

Say hello to my pretty peacock!

I’ve always been that mom that didn’t want her kids to be scary stuff for Halloween. But now that we have almost teenage boys, I had to get over it. Yes, these are scary. No, they didn’t wear the masks around Brooks and Reece!

Guess who!?

Griffin!Guess who again! Don’t you love this game?! Peyton!And now for the CUTEST LITTLE ELEPHANT you have ever laid your eyes on!!!!!!  Brooks loved it!Moving on!

Last week I went on a field trip with Peyton’s class to the NASA Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville! It was fun! He had the best time!

  A few other things of note:

We went to the fall festival at the kids’ school!

Brooks ate his first sucker while we were there…

We bought a brand spankin’ new ride! We went ahead and upgraded to the Suburban. I LOVED my Yukon, but needed more room! I was in love with the new look of the Tahoe/Suburban so there you go! I will be glad when I figure it all out…it’s smarter than me! haha!I eat lunch with the kids once a week at school and Peyton FINALLY let me sneak a picture of us! No, I don’t eat lunchroom food….I bring whatever the kids want and unwrap it and put it in a lunchbox. haha!

Josh has a friend that wanted our silkies to hatch some eggs for him. He brought a few over that his hens laid and…

We became grandparents again! HAHAHA!

I think that about gets us caught up! Whew!

Barnyard

It’s been a while since I did a chicken update! I realize a lot of people could care less about a chicken update but they are our pets and TONS of fun!

Back in the early Spring we got some bantam chicks! I wanted some more fancy chickens! We still have our 5 white silkies but I wanted some different ones. They are super hard to photograph so I only have this picture…I LOVE the colors! We ended up with two like this one, two that are like this but a copper color and black, one that has gray feathers from head to TOE and one that looks like it may be some type of game chicken. It’s so much fun to buy them as chicks and watch what they turn into because they look completely different!

 

AND THEN!!!!!!! (Can you feel my excitement??!) I noticed a couple of my silkie chickens were starting to sit. They have their own private coop-those silkies are spoiled. So, I collected the eggs from our regular chickens and placed them under the silkies that were sitting. SIDE NOTE-We do not have a silkie rooster, they are all hens. In order to get a chick to hatch you have to have a rooster(OBVI) so that is why I collected the eggs from the regular chickens because we do have a rooster with them. Silkies are VERY good at being broody hens and SUPER at being great mommas! I checked on them daily and exactly 21 days later when I opened the back of the coop I heard a little cheap cheap!!There were two little babies in there!!! I can’t even tell you how excited I was! It was SO MUCH FUN! I grabbed them up and held them close and ran into the house to show the hubs!! The next day another one hatched! I had about 8 or so eggs under the two sitting hens and we ended up with three! Which is totally fine because we do not need anymore chickens! HAHA! Very soon after they hatched ALL 5 silkie chickens started to mother them. They are very docile chickens but if come near their babies they let you know that they are not happy! Here they are now…

This is what they do if you come near…they hoard them all into the corner and cover them.

So, I learned a new lesson during all this. From Big mama, of course. I gathered the eggs for several days in a row and put the eggs under the hens that were sitting each day. What I should have done is collected the eggs for several days in a row and just put them under the hens all at the same time…I would have hatched more this way because once the chicks start hatching the hens are taking care of them and can’t keep sitting on the others!

Now, onto the next project…GOATS!

I’ve wanted goats just as long as I wanted chickens. It’s just been a little longer in the works! One thing at a time…especially while managing 4 kids! ;) Hubby is about to start working on our new goat pen! We plan to get pygmy goats as soon as it’s done! I came across this picture yesterday and I thought I would DIE from the cuteness! I mean a BOW? And you best bet that mine WILL have bows. And, no, hubby is not as excited as me about our new little adventure. But he loves me and all my critters anyways! Heehee!

And I am totally not opposed to opening a petting zoo!

New Chicks!

Josh and I have been talking about getting some new baby chicks for a few weeks. My only hesitation was that I was hoping to squeeze in one more beach trip with the kids before the baby comes. I have finally decided that that is not going to happen.

My hormones are raging again. I’m nesting like a mad woman, like washing the wall behind the dryer nesting. Fun times. I got mad at the vacuum cleaner on Saturday and threw it in the trash. Josh and I had a date Saturday night and I was like, “oh by the way, when I got mad at the vacuum earlier today I chunked it.” HAHA!

Yesterday we decided that we better go and buy a new one. You know, since I’m nesting and all. Heaven forbid I NEED the vacuum and not have one! We also decided to run by Tractor Supply to get some chicken feed. As soon as we walked in the door Josh could hear the little chirps! ;) All I could hear were Griffin, Peyton and Reece as I waddled from behind everyone else! As soon as Hubby told me he heard the chicks there was not even any discussion about whether or not we would be leaving with a few!

The very first thing that caught my eye were these CUTE LITTLE DUCKS!!! Oh my word. The kids BEGGED, I mean BEGGED LIKE THEY NEVER HAVE BEFORE to get ducks. I really think we should and will stick to chickens! Maybe. Apparently you don’t have to have a pond or large body of water to have ducks. But the chickens serve a purpose…what purpose do ducks serve besides the cuteness?!

So we ended up with these six! I cropped out the poop, you’re welcome!  And here they are all settled into their new home!

The chickens really have been a fun adventure for us as a family! The most fun thing for me is watching them fight over grasshoppers! ;)

Chicky Chicks!

I just realized it’s been a while since we had a chicken update! The good news is the rooster disappeared. The bad news is so did the cat! No more cats for us! Poor Griff.

We get no less than five eggs a day. If you want some bring me an egg carton and I will totally fill it up for you. Not joking. Eggs are filling up the refrigerator right now because this pregnant girl wants no part of them!

One of my silkie babies is sitting on eggs or an egg. She’s been sitting for about a week and I can’t wait to see if we hatch anything! Pretty sure one of the silkies is a rooster so it is possible! Probably will just give the chicks away!She is perfectly content in her little spot!

In other news, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow! I can’t wait to see this little baby!!!! :)

Labor Day Weekend!

We had a fun weekend! Friday we went to watch my little brother play football! I LOVE high school football, almost as much as college! Noah learned to say “Go Bears!”.Saturday we hung out playing with the chickens waiting for the big game! Oh, and this is when we discovered a stray chicken hanging out around our coop!! Griffin the chicken whisperer caught it and put it inside the coop with our other chickens. I know you can’t see that very well but it’s the best I could get! She likes to run. All.the.time! run run run run I started calling her roadrunner because she is always in a full blown sprint!  Later that day we went to check on her and the other chickens were picking on her. I decided to let her out of the coop because I was afraid they were going to kill her. But, she’s still hanging around in our yard! I figured between the dogs chasing her and the chickens being mean she would leave. But, no.

Also, the rooster flogged Reece on Sunday. (didn’t hurt her, just scared the crap out of both of us!)So he’ll be someone’s winner winner chicken dinner very soon! I am very shocked that I didn’t kill him as many times as I kicked him.

Ok, so back on track here. We beat the holy crap out of Michigan! Roll Tide! I’m ready for #15!

Since the boys had to go to school yesterday, Reece and I had a girls day! We shopped and shopped, then picked up the boys from school and shopped some more! It’s been a LONG time since I have shopped that much in one day! HA! I hated the boys had to go to school but I love one on one time with my girl! :)

Goner

It was cray cray at our house last night. We didn’t get home until later than normal because I went with Reece to her Open House at school and Josh took the boys for haircuts. By the time we went to bed we had two dead chickens, Josh had stepped on a bee or something, got a tick off of Griffin and Niko had a hurt leg. All along with our other crazy “normal” night!

Back to the chickens. I had a few veggie scraps for them so I sent the boys down to the coop to give it to them. Josh was cutting grass. A few minutes later Griff came inside saying he found two dead chickens and started to cry. So I ran out and got Josh and we went to the coop where, sure enough, there were two of our dead hens, belly up. And it was two of our favorite, most docile ones! GRRR!

Of course Officer Hubby launched a full investigation of the crime scene.

Turns out: It was the Rooster.

He is learning to mate and apparently he is, ahem, too rough.

As far as I am concerned he’s a dead rooster. I don’t know if Hubs plans to give him another chance or not. I say no. Because when we combine them with my silkie babies(who are so very delicate!) there’s no way they will survive.And you definitely don’t mess with my silkie babies!

Rooster Puberty

I am very well aware that most of you could care less of how our rooster sounds. But in five years I want to remember how he sounded trying to learn how to crow! Because, well, I think it’s funny that he sounds like a 13 year old boy!

I give you Rooster Puberty!

Chicken Update: We have eggs!!

Please excuse my half naked, fresh outta the bed child! He was excited!

Yes he eats.

Like a horse.

He’s just skinny.

Josh went down to clean out the coop this morning and found an egg! I am so surprised! I don’t know why, but I just thought it would be a little longer before we got any! But YAY!

In other news, we are headed to the beach!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!!

Well as it turns out we have a rooster! Oops!

His name has been Alvin all along because when he was little he looked like a chipmunk! So I guess it’s fitting he turned out to be a he!

I kind of thought he might be a rooster. You could tell he was in charge for a while now but then that comb started getting bigger. I still wasn’t sure and then Friday when I got home he had those gorgeous tail feathers and then there was no doubt! He is going to be very pretty when he is full grown. Those dark feathers shimmer with a green tint in the sun.

He doesn’t crow…yet.

He doesn’t have spurs…yet.

The first time he is mean to the kids or to me he is dinner!

But not really. Maybe someone else’s dinner.

Yes we will still have eggs that we can eat. They may be fertilized but that doesn’t matter as long as you gather them up pretty quick before that hen goes to sitting! :)

Close up, anyone?

Fuzzy Wuzzy

The cuteness that these silkie chickens bring to Cluckingham Palace is insane! Their feathers are just like fur, so soft.

In just a couple of weeks they have gone from this… To this…

 

We only have 5 now. :( Hubs had to put one down. It’s leg was messed up and it was getting to where it couldn’t walk. We gave it a few weeks thinking it may correct itself but it didn’t. Eventually, when it was grown it wouldn’t be able to walk at all. Boo.

  In other news, decorating the coop is coming right along! Just need a few more flowers and a sign! Yes, I said more flowers. Flower freak.

Chicken Fun!

We are loving our chicky chicks! Our original chicks are getting so big! I’m ready for some eggs! Griffin has become the chicken whisperer! He can pretty much catch them without much work! We also discovered that Rocky likes to perch on his shoulder! We’re moving the Silkies to the coop today! They will still be in their cage for a little while but inside the coop. This way they can get used to the older ones! I will be glad to have them out of the house! They are messy scratching around in their pine shavings and make a lot of dust!