Being a Farmgirl is Many Things...Boring it is NOT!

This Pepe la Pugh decided to come right onto my porch and help himself to the cat food. He visited 3 nights, coming right up on the porch with the light on! I walked out on him twice and stood less than a foot from him before I saw him! I'm so lucky I didn't get sprayed! But really, he never even acted like he wanted to spray me...he just wanted the food! Skunks are kind of cute! I think it's funny how they have a huge tail and fat bodies and tiny little heads! We watched him help himself to a late night meal for a long while! He just tootled around checking things out! BUT as cute and harmless as he seems he still is a threat to my animals, kids and especially the chickens. He had to go...I'll save you the details!

Life has been busy around here. My chicken coop is in the finishing days. I don't want to post anymore pics until it's moving in day! That should be sometime this next week. I named the coop and will share more details about that on the moving in day post as well. I'm very happy with how it's turning out. I still stick by my recommendation of building the coop before you get chicks though! It has been very stressful having the chicks in the house not knowing when they will have an outdoor home! They are needing to move out soon! They are outgrowing the bigger box I put them in. They really need more room to move around, play and roost. I will be excited to move them into their permanent new coop! I think they will be happy and excited to spread out and be stable there too!

I got the garden planted! All I like is the bean patch...Sherman still needs to plow it up for me. Then once the pinto and black eyed peas get planted I'm all done! I planted the squash and zukes in one plot-- tomatoes, peppers, spinach and corn in another plot-- onions and herbs in their plot-- and the beans will have a little plot of their own! I'll be curious to see if I like it done this way or not. I've always just plowed up a big plot and planted everything in long rows. The chicken coop is in the way of what use to be my garden plot. So, I decided to spread things out a bit and make what kind of looks like raised beds...giving everything a little square of their own. I think it'll make harvesting easier. When the ground is wet it makes it hard to get in and out of a large plot and having everything smaller and more compact will make it easier to tend. I hope anyway! We will see!! I will post pics when things start to emerge from the ground! I don't think it would be as fun to look at pics of plowed squares! haha! It's just dirt!!

The coop, chicks, and garden have been taking up most of our time around here. The kids started T-Ball and Softball. That has us running! But, I did have time to teach my MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) group how to live simple, make home-made laundry detergent, and garden! I was glad to share how living a simple life has made me a better person. A girl closer to God! Saving money by making detergent, using a clothes line, and gardening...and eventually having farm fresh eggs is a wonderful way to bless my family and remember to be a good steward of what God as given me. The more simple I make my life and my families lives the happier we become. I've learned that I don't need or want all that this world has...I've found out what is important and can do without all the other fluff! I like SIMPLE! Simplicity, country, farm-life...that is for me! AND I love sharing with others what knowledge I've gleaned from doing it...I'm always impressed and encouraged at the response I get from girls that have their eyes opened to a new---OH, but SO old....way of doing things!! I love it!!

A FARMGIRL exudes kindness, grace, humility, gentleness, patience, and generosity, and loves the simple pleasures in life!

A FARMGIRL puts God first, believes in the strong arms of friendship, community, and the just plain fun of being together with the ones you love!

They Look Like Chickens

On the left is a Buttercup girl--Maddie says she has cheetah feathers! Rooster next to her on the perch, Dorthy, Dolores to the far right on the perch, The Wyndotte sisters on the ground all 3 of them.

You can see how big my chickens have become! They are about the size of a large dove. They are getting chest feathers. Their wings, backs and tails are fully feathered now. Only their little heads still have the chick fuzz! They are getting in their combs and their beaks look more pecky! Ha ha! They DO peck at everything! They are pecking the side of the box and it sounds like a box full of woodpeckers! My friend laughed at me the other day and said they would peck an escape hole in the box and be found running a muck around my living room! NOT a funny nor pleasant image! BECAUSE the more these chickens eat, the bigger they are getting, and the bigger they get, the MORE they poop! Frankly, they are becoming quite stinky! I'm really ready for them to move on out to their coop. Which, by the way, is still not finished! Sherman assures me it will be finished this weekend. It must get finished this weekend, because these guys are turning 4 weeks old next Wed. and it's time to face the world!

Word to the wise...OR Farmgirls looking to get chickens...This is the knowledge I've gleaned: Build your coop BEFORE your order chickens! I know, I know, I ordered first to...well, truth be told-- FORCE my dear husband into coop building out of necessity to house the ALREADY purchased chickens! I could not have foreseen hurricane winds for 2 weeks straight that interrupted the coop building. Lesson learned! Next, although the cute plastic bin brooder did function well, it wasn't big enough to house 9 chickens for long. --only about 2 weeks. If you were getting just a few chicks I'd say it was worth it, BUT it's just too small for 9. Save yourself the money and hassle --a large cardboard box works great and is easy to throw away when your done. The water, feeders and the feed I chose have all been great. The heat lamp and red bulb worked well. I switched to a 80 watt white bulb at the middle of the 2ND week. I had gotten them to 80* and was weaning them off the light for the night time. They were freaking out in the dark! Now they can go all night with no light. If the day is cloudy I turn on the light to give them "daylight". They are in front of a large window so I open the curtains every morning and close them in the evening to simulate day and night. This will prepare them for the coop. I also open the windows every morning to get in fresh air and build up their tolerance to drafts and outside air. Sand has worked well as litter...Some suggest pine savings. I can't say one is better than the other because I didn't try any other type of litter. The only complaint I have with the play sand is the chickens love to dust bathe, scratch and flap their wings causing a puff of sand to fly up into the air. It's like having a sand box in your living room! I've been going around everyday dusting and wiping things down because everything is covered in a layer of dust--similar to a West Texas dust storm blowing through. YUCK! I've not been too thrilled about that--BUT I'm not sure you wouldn't have the same problem with a different litter. The sand is easy to clean, very absorbent, and healthy and natural for the chickens. They seem to love it! Building a pen to allow them some outdoor time would've been ideal. Of course, if my coop would've been built first, it would've been equipped with a run. That would've been great. Tuesday I decided to move their box out on the front porch to give them a taste of the great outdoors! It was a sunny beautiful day with just a slight breeze. I stood over the box to watch their reaction to the elements. The first breeze pushed past and all the chickens layed over on their sides--like they were blown over. The wind passed and they all got up. The next breeze came up and they all fell over again! It was so funny! I felt sorry for them and moved them back in after a few minutes!

I'm still very happy I decided to get them. I enjoy watching them! I have a favorite--Dorthy--she is the happiest to see me. She likes to be held and petted. She tries to fly up to me. I think she will be more of a pet than the others. The Buttercups are very flighty and nervous, I don't think they will ever be "pet-like". But that's OK, they are here to serve a purpose--Give me LOTS of eggs! AND they will still be fun to watch. My rooster is --well a rooster! He is starting to assert his authority more and put the others in their place. He gets first pick on the roost and doesn't hesitate to kick someone off if he prefers their spot. I've been holding him and trying to make him gentle and tame--time will tell I guess. The Wyndotte girls are very active and pretty assertive as well. They might surprise me and become more gentle and pet-like as they grow, but so far they keep to themselves and aren't interested in much attention.

That's my girl Dorthy there in the middle, Rock-A -Doodle rooster to her left, Dolores on the perch to her right and a Wyndotte girl posing up front.

RAMBLING ON....

I bought my plants for the garden. I worked and got the garden plots ready so it's time to plant! I decided to go with heirloom tomatoes this year instead of a hybrid. I got Bradley, Homestead, Marglobe, and a funny looking striped tomato called..well--Mr. Stripey--of course! No, really that IS the name of it! I had to get it to see how it tasted and looked when ripe. I'll be curious to see how it turns out! I have jalapeno plants, bell pepper, and a variety of herbs--lavender, parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, and cilantro. I love cooking with fresh herbs. I planted them last year and my rosemary was still doing well, but I failed to inform my husband that it was an herb and NOT a weed so it got tilled up! So, I will try again and make sure I tell him where the herbs are so they don't meet an untimely death! They should remake and continue on each season. I purchased yellow crookneck squash seeds, zucchini, corn and spinach seeds. My corn didn't do well last year--grasshoppers devoured it. But I think I'll try again. I still need to get my okra plants but the ground and weather is still too cool for them yet. No hurry! I may have Sherman till me up another patch for black eyed peas and pinto beans. Not sure yet! But that is the plan and what I shall plant! May God bless it and it bring forth much fruit--and veggies! I LOVE planting time! I just LOVE getting my hands in the dirt and planting a tiny seed or a tiny plant and knowing it will grow and produce food. It is SO much fun! We just had a night full of soaking rain!! So the ground will be welcoming to my new plants and seeds! LOVE IT!! I planted onions a few weeks ago...they are coming up nicely! I have red and yellow onions in the ground...first time to do them. I hope they do well.

Well...I guess that's enough rambling for today! Check back! I will soon have more to share! If you are planting a garden this year send me a comment and tell me what you are planting!

Chicken Business & Other Ramblings

My chicks out grew the homemade brooder, so I found a large cardboard box to move them into. I think the tub brooder was a good idea...But when you have 9 chicks in it, they outgrow it fast. The extra guys are still in the tub. They are getting a little crowded but I think they'll be OK for another week or so. Willy was suppose to have gotten them this week. His Mother is very ill and he had to make a trip to see her. So, I still have them! It's a bit of a burden, but he's a good friend and I will help him out as much as I can. So for now... they are all still hanging out in my living room! The extra guys are getting in white feathers. Their top combs are growing in. It's amazing how fast chickens grow!

The chickens have wing feathers, tail feathers and are beginning to get back feathers. I can easily tell who is who in my bunch. The Rooster- I call him Rock-A-Doodle--has silver wings and is marked very different than the Wyndotte hens (peeking in at far right bottom of the pic). I can tell each Wyndotte hen is going to look a little different than the other but I have a hard time telling who is who exactly. We've named them Martha, Margo, & Marge (3 darker black ones). The Sicilian Buttercup girls (the 3 with speckled around the eyes) are usually called the Twitchy Sisters. There are 3 of them and they look the same. Twitchy has a head shake she does that resembles a nervous twitch. She is pushy, pecks and doesn't hesitate to step on someone sleeping. She's a bully. I'll have to keep my eye on her. They Silver-Gray Dorkings are the sweetest. They hop into my hand and like to be handled and petted. The "oldest" one is Dorthy(sitting up on wooden block). I say oldest because she has grown more feathers than the rest and is a bit larger than the others. I assume she hatched early. The other Dorking is Dolores (brown with a line behind her eye). She is the baby of the bunch. With the least amount of feathers. She holds her own well though. I'm guessing that because the Dorkings are more of a specialty breed, they had to wait on different hatching's, and that would explain the difference in age.

The coop is almost finished. Sherman still has to get walls and a roof on. It's been so windy he hasn't been able to. The wind today is 40-60 mph. It is crazy out there! It makes it impossible to do anything outside. I'd love to do my laundry but it would blow into the next county!! The most upsetting thing is---you wake up to this gorgeous Spring day and think "Wow, what a great day!" then out of nowhere about mid-morning the wind comes in on a forceful wave and blows on and on. We are suppose to have the kid's Easter parties at school today. They each have a class egg hunt...wonder how that's going to work out?!

I'm going to try to give you a full view of the coop.

This is the front of course! We attached an old screen door we had. The frame to the right is a window. We put in 2 windows to raise for ventilation. It is very important to have good air flow through the coop. To circulate the air to decrease the smell ,but for those hot Texas summer days as well.

This is the side view. I am standing in what will be the chicken run to take this pic. The window is framed at the top and the little door at the bottom is the chicken door that will be open every morning to let the chickens out to the yard. You can see through to the other side--inside the coop is the nesting boxes mounted to the wall. There are 10 boxes -5 on top-5 on bottom. Technically you only need 1 box per 4 hens but Sherman's Dad gave us this and we were glad to have it. There will be a hatch on the opposite wall behind the nest boxes where I can check for eggs without entering the coop. That will be so nice since I have designate boots specifically for the coop I must wear. Chicken poop can carry lots of bacteria so it's a good idea to have a pair of boots just for that job. I'm SO ready for these chickens to move into their new home and out of mine!! I tried to move them to the garage but it is so hard to regulate their temp out there. It's been so cold at night and hot in the day. They aren't ready to fully face the world until 5 weeks so I still have to keep them at a constant temp. I did wean them off the heat lamp. I decreased the temp until I got it 75*. I turned it off a little in the day so they could get use to the sunlight. Then I did the same at night--turned it off for a few hours at night so they could get use to the dark. They seem warm enough and content--They did get a little freaked out about the dark but soon settled down. Today they've gone all day with no lamp and have done fine. I'm going to try to go without it tonight. We'll see--they do seem to get a little more chilled in the night.

These chicks have been fun...but a lot of work! I just keep thinking about how fun it will be to sit out and watch them scratch and peck. I will enjoy feeding them the bugs I find in my garden. I will REALLY enjoy all the tasty eggs they will lay for me. I just keep focused on all these things and it makes the work bearable! One day I'll look back on this crazy time when I got a wild idea to mail-order some chickens!! What a memory it'll be!!