*chick-inn update

  Our buff laced polish chick - Fritter

Wendell and his girls.Oh and lets take a moment of silence for Rebels' sister, Ms Trump.  One morning this past week when I came out mid morning to sit in the swing under the big oak tree near the garden, I found Ms Trump laying in the watering hole. So sad. She had been well, no signs of distress on her body. We assume  she fell into the watering hole and couldn't get out for some reason this time..?

My beloved loves and his turkeys as well as the growing flock all over getting their morning treats from the kitchen bucket. 

Speaking of chickens, we have grown in numbers since I last brought you an update from Chick-Inn. We have our original chickens that we purchased two years ago January, many of which may or may not be laying on a regular basis. Some of them who are enjoying the plentiful lands to roam for food, enjoying supplemental grain feed when needed, as well as being placed in four walls of safety each night are NOT producing on a regular basis!  We have approximately 26 full sized laying hens, and we are only collecting on an average 15 eggs per day.  We are still able to fill our weekly orders so, we are good on that front. We are not in the business of keeping chickens just to keep chickens and while we picked up many of the hens to survey their vents in hopes of getting a clue as to who was laying and who wasn't.  Unfortunately we are not skilled enough to make the call and feel good about culling those who we have deemed non-layer. So for now we have started marking the legs of those who are laying with some thin colored tape.  This, as you can imagine, cause me to spend much time in  and around the barn.  The weather has been rather nice the last few days, so staying outside working in the garden and running back over to the barn to see who just announced the gift of an egg hasn't been hard to do. 

We have a hen who has 5 little pullets that are fully feathered out now. She is doing a great job taking care of these little chickens.  I am amazed at her leading, guiding and the care she provides for them.  Anytime we give scraps to them from the table, the mother hen will run over pick the food apart throwing it on the ground for her babies.  In fact, Eric and I are beginning to get a little concerned for her because she is light as a feather. She has visibly lost weight and we do all we can to encourage her to take food for herself.  (so that is 26 full grown hens, 5 pullets thus far)


We also have a hen who just hatched out 7 little baby chicks last week. They are so very cute! And this mother hen is showing wonderful protective mothering habits as well!  I have really enjoyed having chicks this time around because I do not have to do the work, the momma hen does it all. She teaches them to eat, to forage, she keeps them warm so a heat light is not even necessary. They are of course in a protective covering so no predators can get to them, but because they are not in a broody box with a light, I do not have to mess with wood shavings and cleaning out a poopy box daily! Now that is something to crow about!  (so this the total number of chickens.. ready?... 26 full size laying hens, 5 pullets with their sex yet waiting to be discovered, and 7 little chicks)  We will have to get our minds back on thinning the flock in the coming months...


 
 The turkeys are all doing great!  They love classical music, hard rock, whistling, twangy country music and probably a whole host of other music.  When we are in the barnyard, we play music for them at watch the toms puff up and show off. We have 4 sold, 7 that we are keeping for breeding purposes and several more that are available for someones Thanksgiving table!  If you are in the NW Florida area and looking for a heritage breed organically free range raised, we have a turkey for you!