What happens when you give 11 chicks a large cricket?
Chick vs Chick in a Game of Cricket-Ball
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Raw Milk Update; It Did This Tomato Vine Good
Remember my post I wrote about spraying raw milk on the garden to fertilize, plus control disease and insects? Well, I just thought I’d share an update on that. I quit spraying my garden about a month ago, but the effects it’s had have lasted…
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Harsh Winter? What’s Woolly Bear Say?
A while back, we had a big invasion of caterpillars; covering bushes, weaving through the grass, tumbling across the road in the wind, they were everywhere. As I walked through the yard trying not to step on any, I happened to look down. There, among the tan colored waves of fuzz was a woolly bear caterpillar. A different color and larger than the others, it was black with a reddish brown band in the center. Being something different and out of the ordinary around here, and knowing the kids hadn’t seen one before, I got them to come take a look. Brooke collects and pins insects and Miley loves butterflies so they always like finding new insects/caterpillars and researching them. They picked it up, headed in and the research began…
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Life’s Treasures
A bouquet of flowers freshly picked from the garden…
Thirty Nine and One Fourth Eggs
Michael came in from doing night time chores with a big basket full of eggs…
Sprouting Grain for Chickens
Our flock of chickens free range all year. Grazing grass, chasing bugs, and digging in the dirt for anything they find tasty not only is the best diet, but also keeps the chickens entertained and happy. In the winter when grass is buried in snow, there aren’t any bugs to chase and the ground is too frozen to dig in, feeding grain sprouts is a good way to supplement their diet. It’s a way to add something fresh to their diet, plus it adds something interesting for them to do when it’s too cold to go out and scratch around.
Feeding sprouted grains is also a good way to stretch the feed budget. Buying grain in bulk is usually cheaper than buying premade feed. In addition to that, sprouted grain contains more protein, vitamins, minerals, omega 3, and amino acid and has a higher enzymatic activity than unsprouted grain. The digestibility of the grain nearly doubles so the chickens eat less which means you feed less.
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When Life’s Busy the Okra Will Eventually Get Pickled
Oh dear… life’s been kind of busy and a little hectic lately so I haven’t got my Thursday post about chickens done yet. I’ve been working on it, along with a few other posts; it’s just not completely ready yet. Sometimes life just gets in the way, but I’ll get it done as soon as I can. There were more errands than usual to run this week, plus I did some extra activities with the kids. Then one of my cats got really sick so I had to take her to the vet. Luckily, with some antibiotics and lots of TLC she’s back to her cute furry little self….
The Alfalfa Patch
I remember, back when I was a kid, riding the tractor with my dad as he baled alfalfa. It was a lot of fun; I loved the sweet smell of the fresh alfalfa and watching the bales come out of the baler and fall to the ground. In fact, I remember riding many rounds in this very patch….
Update on Ms. Sassy Cluck
Unfortunately Ms. Sassy Cluck’s eggs didn’t hatch. We aren’t sure what happened because we gave her three eggs to sit on and when we checked there were only two. There wasn’t any broken egg shell in the nest nor was there any evidence that a third egg was even there. I’m sure she probably ate it, but who knows. I guess counting eggs can be about like counting chickens, ya never know how many you’re going to end up with. We cracked open the two and there were almost fully developed chicks in them, so the chicks didn’t die too far before they were due to hatch.
We put Ms. Sassy Cluck outside….
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Garden Update…Lots to Pick
It’s getting to be that time of the year when my ambition to keep up the garden is starting to fizzle out. With the cooler weather it’s been hard for me to remember to water it, so lately it’s gotten really dry a few times. Plus I’ve been a little burned out on it and decided to just take a short break a couple weeks ago, so I haven’t really kept up with it like I should. Despite the lack of water and being over taken by weeds and bugs, surprisingly, it’s still producing pretty well.
Remember my last garden update and all those beans we planted?
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Humble Little Homestead 