New Bantam Breeding Pair

Hi all. We have purchased a breeding pair of Mille Fleur D'uccle bantam chickens. We already had a female bantam of this breed. The pair is a little less than a year old. I am really excited because the female was laying eggs when I picked them up. The previous owner even had some baby chicks there from the pair that he had just hatched out a week or 2 ago! They were so cute!

The hen may begin laying eggs immediately, or, due to stress, she may wait until she feels safe and adjusted to her environment. I can't wait to see how she lays, and I hope they adjust well to my flock.

I decided to name the rooster Chocolate Chip and the hen Cookie. Hehe. Come back soon to learn about how we will be integrating the newbies to the flock.

Thanks for reading!

Jumbleberry Crumble

Hi all! Summer is coming right along, and so are the yummy berries! We have managed to get a little blackberries off our fence line, and finally decided to cook up something sweet! What follows is a recipe I tweaked from a Taste of Home cookbook. Enjoy!

Jumbleberry Crumble
6 c. mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1 c. flour
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. quick cook oats
2/3 c. melted butter

1. Rinse and pat dry berries. Combine the berries in a greased baking dish and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Toss gently and allow to stand for 15 minutes.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, and oats. Stir in melted butter until the mixture is crumbly and damp throughout.

3. Sprinkle the berries with the crumble mixture and bake at 350º for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

We did not take a final photo (because it was gobbled up so fast!) but I can assure you this a a yummy and very simple recipe. We used strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

Thanks for reading!

Thin Shelled Eggs

Hi all! Right after my last post about how many eggs we got in a week, we had another new layer drop a very odd egg into the nest box. I just want to take the opportunity to discuss the details about the egg. I'm not sure who the mystery hen was yet.

First, I just want to quickly touch on the color of the egg. Eggs have a protective layer on them called a bloom. It is there to protect the contents from bacteria. Though the bloom is a protective covering, it is a bit delicate. Washing fresh eggs removes this protective layer and allows bacteria to penetrate through small pores in the shell. If fresh eggs are stored unwashed until ready for use they will store longer under normal conditions. Before the egg exits the chicken's vent, it is "sprayed" with the bloom. Some chicken breeds have a colored bloom that can come off in your hands if the egg is very freshly layed! Sometimes, especially with newer layers, the bloom will be "sprayed" in a spotty fashion. Hence the speckled or blotchy appearance.

Secondly, and more importantly, the new egg layer is low on calcium. Her shell was so thin it cracked when she layed it and when my fingernail gently tapped it. While this is a bit of a pain, it's nothing to be alarmed about since it's easily rectified. Thin egg shells are caused by a calcium deficiency. Since egg shells are so high in calcium, a hen must receive this in her diet. While many layer feeds are enriched with calcium, sometimes you just have to provide a little extra calcium free choice. This can be crushed egg shells or crushed oyster shell. The hens will eat what they need.

I'm going to start giving the girls oyster shell tonight. In the mean time, come back soon for a tutorial on serving up crushed eggs to laying hens.

Thanks for reading!

Update: I have completed the tutorial for crushed eggshells! You can find it here.

My First Week of Eggs

Hi all. I just wanted to share my first week of eggs. We have been getting eggs from our hybrid meat hen for 7 days now, and I'm pretty excited about the outcome. First I just want to say that I am surprised that our hybrid meat hens are the first ones laying. I thought for sure it would've been one of our other breeds of chicken. At any rate, we are pleased!

Our first week started the evening of June 17 when we got our first egg, and ends today June 24. I can't wait to get more eggs from all the girls! In our first week we have been graced by a half-dozen eggs! Woohoo!

Thanks for reading!

Keep Predators Out and Livestock In

Hi all! As promised, I'm finally getting to writing about protection from predators. If you have any type of livestock, chances are you live in an area where you are susceptible to various predators that may, from time to time, wish to enjoy your livestock for dinner. It is something that any keeper of animals is bound to experience at least once. How can you keep it from happening again?

There are a few methods one can employ to help keep the predators out and the livestock in. The first two we will discuss briefly. Two ways people use to get rid of predators is to kill and trap. While killing is very effective for one or two individual predators, one must be mindful that the predator may have young, it may live in groups, or it may even be against the law to kill a specific predator that could be endangered. Killing predators is also a bit extreme for some people. Maybe you wish to trap it instead? While trapping is bloodless, you must be careful. Releasing the animal can be dangerous due to bites and disease. Always use traps cautiously. Another thing to be wary about traps is that animals have a tendency to find their way back. Be sure to release the animal far away and in a reasonable and legal area.

Another way to keep predators out is to simply predator-proof your livestock pens. Always use a sturdy fence. Typical chicken wire is easily torn and pushed aside by most predators, so it is not good for predator-prevention. If, you have a problem with predators burrowing under fences, try stapling the fence to boards all along the bottom of the perimeter. Another thing you can do is to bury the fence a bit while placing it. If there is a problem with hawks, you can cover your poultry enclosures.

Finally, some people employ trickery to prevent predator problems.  There are devices that emit blinking red lights that can trick predators into thinking that another predator is already there. There are devices that emit a strobe-type light. I've read that hawks can be deterred by stringing CDs or DVDs on fishing lines across the pens or yard. The shining discs flappping in the air is supposed to be a good deterrent.

Nite Guard @ Amazon.com

I'm sure that a combination of the various methods is probably the best route. Good luck!

Thanks for reading!

June Garden Update 2013

Hi all! Summer is in full swing with blooming honeysuckle, bright green grass, warm days and nights, and plenty of sunny days. Life is flourishing here on the farm. Our garden beds are growing quickly and beginning to fill out nicely.

I thought I would share some pictures of some garden progress so far. You can see my hand in some pictures to give an idea of how big or small something is. We even have some blackberries ripening up on our fence line.

Swiss Chard

Cabbage

Bush Beans

Lettuce

Purple Bell Pepper

Tomato

Potato

Blackberries

We have lots more plants establishing and flourishing. I can not wait to see everything prosper! I've got a good feeling about the garden.

Thanks for reading!

My First Egg

Hi all! I am over the moon to announce the arrival of my first egg! It is a cute little brown egg about the size of a ping-pong ball. I *believe* it was laid by a red meat pullet, but as I didn't see her lay it, I'm not positive. Here it is in all its cuteness next to a regular large egg from the store.

We have an old workbench in the chicken coop, and they all roost on the bottom shelf. I went out to do my nightly ritual of  making sure they have food and water, counting heads, making sure the overhead light is off, and checking nest boxes. I call this putting the girls to bed. Anywho, as I was putting the girls to bed, I spied a little meaty hen rolling a little Brown egg across the shelf towards me. It was like she was saying "Look what I did mom!" I was so excited! I ran into the house and told everyone! You would've thought I layed it myself.

I can't wait to find more eggs soon. I will be expecting the rest of the ladies to start earning their keep. Hehe.

Thanks for reading!

An Unlikely Survivor

Hi all. Who doesn't love a good underdog story? I am excited to tell you that we have a nice little survivor story to share with you.

Among the many chickens taken during our predator massacre, were 2 golden laced wyandotte cockrels (young male roosters). Today, I was picking honeysuckle that grows on our fence to try to make honeysuckle tea, and I heard a chicken scrabbling around the bush. I look beneath the foliage and find a handsome golden cockrel behind our fence! I can't believe it!! He has been out in the woods for 4 days! I'm just very pleasantly surprised!

Maybe things will start looking up in the chicken department.

Thanks for reading!

Can't Catch A Break!

Hi all. We've had the most lousy luck with our chickens lately. On top of everything else that has happened, we've been visited by a mystery predator.

During the late hours of the night or the darker hours of the morning, we were visited the other day by a predator we suspect to be a fox or coyote. We woke up to clumps of bloodless feathers in our yard and 9 missing birds. Four of them were pullets (young hens) from our inteded laying flock. The rest were from our younger leghorn and wyandotte flock. Among the pullets killed from our older flock was my favorite little pullet. She was a sweet, beautiful little Easter Egger we called Midas because of her pretty, all-over gold color.

So, I'm pretty depressed. In terms of money, to replace all of our missing chickens (not including ducks!) it will cost us about $80 or so. Give or take based on where we get them,  whether we get them vaccinated, and whether they are sexed or not. In terms of value to the farm and family, we lost meat, chicks, and countless eggs for consumption and profit. In terms of sentimentality, I am crushed that we've lost so many birds within a month.

You can expect (eventually) an upcoming post about predators and protection.

Thanks for reading.

Rough Week On The Farm

Hi all. I've been a bit lousy with the posts since last week, but I gotta tell ya we've had a rough week here on Edgington Farm.

Our ducks learned how to fly out of their pen, but this new found talent would come at a great expense. We had to leave for the day and by the time we returned that night, we had gone from having 6 ducks to only 4. The puppy had killed one and one was missing without us having a clue where it had gone. That happened Saturday. Sunday the remaining 4 ducks were enjoying the yard peacefully. But, when I went out to feed everyone Monday morning, they were all gone! I do believe they left because of that darn puppy. There is a pond nearby, so I'm hopeful that they are ok. Monday night my fiance and I are enjoying a leisurely walk around the yard and we happen to go behind the garage and near the chicken coop. And what do we find? Inside of a dark, damp, dirty dog house that's been unused for who knows how long is an injured, quietly quacking little duck!!

We finally managed to get rid of the puppy Sunday afternoon, but not without a significant loss to our poultry. Before we got rid of him he killed 3 chickens, 1 duck, wounded 1 chicken and 1 duck. He killed an Easter Egger, a packing peanut rooster, and our small black bantam Sebright.

Our beans in the garden have been getting eaten up by some sort of pest, so we have to replant almost 50% of our beans!

The duck that we found in the abandoned dog house is on the mend in the old recovery cage I used for our wounded chicken. The rest of our garden and the corn patch are doing very well. I will do some updates on those very soon. So, I guess there is hope yet here on the farm. We will persevere through the mess, and replace our poor lost birds. We are going to work on our beans this week.

Wish us luck, and as always thanks for visiting Edgington Farm! Come back soon!

Getting Egg-cited

Hi all! I just want everyone to know that I am impatiently waiting for my first ever egg. Our older chickens are 15.5 weeks old and I can't wait to see that first egg. (And for these guys to start earning their keep. Hehe!)

For those who do not know, chickens can begin laying eggs as early as 16 weeks old or as late as 36 weeks old. (Oh geez! Don't let that last one be our chickens!) They will do it whenever they are ready and mature. It can depend on the breed, but it also depends on if you're getting enough sunlight. Chickens will only lay if they're getting about 14 hours of sunlight daily. We are getting ample sunshine here, our girls are just not ready

There are a few things people use to try to judge when their chickens are going to start to lay. Some people say if the combs and wattles are getting really mature and red they will lay soon. Some people say that if you reach for a hen and she squats and spreads her wings in a mating position they will lay soon. Others think that if a hen seems to be showing a lot of interest in the nesting areas then they will be using them soon.  My favorite is that if you hear a hen singing the egg song they will be or have already layed an egg. What is the egg song? Follow the link for the egg song. It's a short 30 second video on YouTube.

Our lonely nest box full of golf balls instead of eggs. :(

My hens have been through breeding attempts from our roosters, and we've heard the egg song once. We're keeping our fingers crossed and I will keep you updated! You can follow my egg countdown and others here at backyard chickens.

Thanks for reading.


Update: You can watch this video on YouTube of my own chickens singing the egg song.

Week in Pictures: May 26-June 1

Hi all. Just thought I would share some pictures from the farm this week that didn't quite fit in with my blog posts. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!