How Many Are There? October 1, 2009

 

  Ok, I said I was going to get a picture to show the sheer numbers of chickens. This is just part of them, these are the ones that I could get to come when I threw food out, there are MANY more. Sorry you see more tail feather than heads, but they were chowing down. Does anyone want to attempt counting the chickens in this picture? I can tell you there are over 50. The other day I sat down on the front portch and counted the “little” group that was in front of me, and there were 26 chickens, it was a very small group of the whole flock. Scary.

  We had a rain system roll in yesterday and today. The chickens have smartly been staying inside the barn most of the day. It’s funny to me they don’t enjoy the rain at all. This picture was taken yesterday when the storm clouds parted for a while, and they were catching up on their outdoor time.

  Now I am off to cuddle up in the living room and work on some shopping bag sewing. Rainy dyas are always good to do crafts!

Meet Mr. and Mrs. September 26, 2009

 

  Well if you remember my posts from this spring, we were collecting chicks in large numbers. Well now all those chicks, plus many batches hatched out by our hens through the summer are all grown up (well we do still have some small chicks still). There are chickens EVERYWHERE! This makes me happy as can be though, I just love to watch them all. Some are pure breeds that mom bought from the hatchery, and some are mutts from here on the farm. Most are beautiful, a few are homely.

  There is a pair, that my parents named Mr. and Mrs. who hang out around the yard. They are the cutest little chickens. They follow us around because my parents were feeding them out of their hands this summer. Lately who ever goes out on the porch first in the morning is greeted by Mr. and Mrs. standing by the front door. You just never know, maybe someone would open the door with chicken food in their hands, its worth the inquiry. This is a picture of Mr. and Mrs. lounging in the mid-day sun. Don’t they look like they are tourists sunbathing on a beach somewhere? Ok, maybe thats just me.

  I will have to make my way out to the chicken yard and capture some of our more ‘interesting’ chicken creations to share with all of you. I need to get geared up and try selling some before the winter. I will do that….. really.

A Weekend Full Of Spring April 5, 2009

 My Dad and I outside of the Farmers Market

This weekend finally felt like spring. We had REAL spring weather. Today it made it up to 68 degrees, wow!! And the energy felt like spring also. We got to do some fresh, new things. Saturday started out with my parents and I going to a  local car auction. It is a once monthly thing, and there are some great deals sometimes.

My car is on its last legs, so I am looking around for some new possibilities. Unfortunatly I have little money to invest in a new car, so I am looking for the best deals out there. I had my eye on a couple of the cars, but they ended up going for a little more than what I could afford. I think they were still a very good deal, but just not for me. I will most likely go again when we get back from our hike.

And then we went to opening day of the Bellingham Farmers Market. I LOVE farmers markets, as I have said many times before, so it was really nice to go and enjoy it again. Bernie did not have interest in the auction, so he met us at the farmers market. I got to visit with some people I know that are vendors there. Christie my good friend that I work for some times was selling her body products, and doing very well.

 

Bernie and I went to visit Heather, the lady that made my purse (which you can see by going here) . She is such a sweet and loving soul, she always gives me a great big hug when I see her, and I barely know her! I can tell she is someone I would really enjoy getting to know more. We told her we are getting ready to hike the PCT, and she was very excited for us. Its always been a dream of hers to hike the PCT. She told us to chose one of her little pouches to carry with us on the trail, to put our things in. So sweet and generous! This is the one I chose, her new peacock design. It will be cherished, and well used!

 

We have a hen hatching out chicks. What we have been doing with the chicks from the last hen and this hen is to take most of the chicks away as they hatch and raise them in the trough with the chicks that we bought. Then the last couple of chicks to hatch (they hatch over a few day period) we leave with the mother. We have been doing this because in the past when we have let the hens raise all of their chicks, things go well for about a day if we are lucky. Then a chick dissapears here, and then there, and over the next couple of weeks we whittle our way down to one or two chicks. So instead of loosing those ones, we are simply raising them ourselves, and letting the moms handle the number they seem to be able to keep track of. It works really well!

 

This lovely trio is the chicks that I pulled out of the nest today to join our growing group in the chick trough. They are sooooo sweet! I had them out in the lawn, featuring as models for an upcoming post. These are some of the behind the scenes photos of them snuggling with me in between takes. They really thought I was their mother. They were sticking close to me, and I could tap my finger around in the grass and dirt and they would run over to see what little snacks I had found for them. My family was making fun of me (in good nature of course) of my love for chickens. I am a bit lost on chickens….. oh well. How could you not love that?

 

It was a very lovely weekend all said and done. Productive and full of fresh spring energy.

Little Puffs of Joy March 21, 2009

We have a hand full of hens sitting on nests, but we had two that we werent sure when they started, and so not quite sure when they would hatch out. Last night doing our rounds with chores, mom and I decided to go check on these two.

These two hens are  “Margie” and her daughter from last year. Its almost like when Margie decided to start a nest, the daughter just followed along because she wasnt sure what to do.

 

 

Well as the chicks started to hatch out Margies daughter decided to abandon her nest a foot away, and come sit on top of her mom and the chicks. When we showed up on the scene the chicks were getting a wee bit too much love from two overly hormoned hens. I love chickens to death, but there are a few times that I really question their intelligence. Well I peeled Margie and the babies out from under the other hen, and put them in a cage for a couple of days, until the other hen hatches out whats left of the eggs, and then maybe everyone can head outside together.

It NEVER works having two hens sitting together. The reason these two got away with it is because there is a small group of chickens that do not live in the chicken house with the rest of the flock. They moved into our horses (Foxy) mini barn. Its a one stall barn with a little side room for hay storage. So we call them Foxy’s chickens. This winter when there was snow on the ground, and the chickens refused to go outside, these guys would get in Foxy’s grain bin and eat their share of her food. I am not sure Foxy was overly thrilled with the set up, but the chickens sure liked it. There are 10 hens and one rooster that live out there. Anyways, I digress.

 

 

The chicks are so darned cute! Little peeping puff balls. Hopefully they will do well, we are not completely done with our cooler weather, so this is probably a little early for them. But if their mothers don’t act too stupid, they should do fine.

We should have some more from one of the other hens in a few days!! Couldn’t they stay small and fluffy?

Strike A Pose March 13, 2009

Time for another Chicken post. For a lack of anything else to take pictures of around here, I went out and did a Chicken photo shoot the other day. Some of them really liked to pose for their glamour shots, and others were a little more shy about the whole process. This is just a small selection of our collection of Banty Chickens.

I know most people are used to the full sized chickens, but if you have never had the chance to live with a Banty I highly recomend a little chicken friend. They are just as good at laying eggs as the regular sized girls, sure their eggs are a wee bit smaller, but you just round up for your recipes. To me they seem to be a little bit cleaner than the big girls (smaller bottoms, smaller poo). Don’t get me wrong, I love all chickens, but there is something so cute about these little guys.

It’s taken me a while, but I finally picked a name for my favorite little rooster. Buddha. He is such a zen little guy (most of the time, he has his moments with some of the other roosters), and he is so round, it seemed like the perfect name for him. Look at those soulful eyes….. he will just look at me like that when I am out talking to all of them. He likes to stay close to me while I am wandering around the chicken yard, but I can’t say its his favorite thing to be picked up. He tollerates it, but is quite happy to get back on solid ground, and away from the crazy lady holding him and telling him how cute and handsom he is.

 

And then this adorable little lady is Muffin. I named her that because of her muffin top head. She is rather shy over all, and does not come very close to me in general. She seems to know I am not a great threat, but it might be a better idea to keep some space from the lady scooping up chickens to oogle them. I have always loved her colors, and her little hat that wobbles around as she turns her head to look at this or that. Isn’t that expression adorable looking out from under her hair doo?

 

This little lady is one of last summers chicks. I love the genetics project that happens out in the chicken yard, with the different varieties that cross together to create some really beautiful chickens. Both Muffin and this hen are crosses. This lovely buff lady does not have a name yet….. any suggestions? She is quite shy, and did not know what to think of this person following her around clicking away.

Up and Down Weather March 9, 2009

Our weather has been a bit up and down lately. I know its all part of the shift between winter and spring, but it keep catching me off guard. Perhaps a bit of the reason is because of our month spent down in California. We were immersed in the begining of spring while we were down there, flowers were starting to pop out all over the place.

We drove back up to Washington the end of February, the day after we got back it snowed about 4 to 5 inches. It took it a few days to slowly melt off, but since then we have been in a cycle of rain and sun, a little more rain than sun. But it has been getting a bit warmer, we even had a couple flowers pop up in the yard. I was getting all excited about spring, and then it surprises me again!

I woke up to snow this morning…… It’s a swift reminder that we aren’t quite out of winter yet, and probably to get me to enjoy what winter has to offer. This morning it was slightly challenging to want to go out and do chores, but once I got out there, moving around it was just fine. I moved a little faster than I might usually, getting things set up for the cold windy weather. The chickens however thought that the weather was less than desireable to come out in, and requested that I close their door as I left. So I did.

I came back inside and finished working on a shopping bag I started the other day. It is the same style and fabric as the bag I gave away during the bloggy giveaway. It felt good to get  it finished. I am not always the best at finishing a project I start, something I have been working on. By finishing a project, I clear space in my mind to start on something new and fresh.

This afternoon the sun slowly burned off the clouds that had been spitting snow all morning long. With the strong energy of the sun, the snow slowly began its surender. As if the snow knew it has few opportunities left this season, in this area. We gave the chickens a second chance at the out and about thing for the day, and the sun made the snow much more appealing aparently. This is one of my new favorite chickies. She was hatched out by incubator last September, so she is still rather young. She is a silkie cochin cross, so she has those big brown eyes from the silkie, and the cute bowling ball shape from the cochin. I really should come up with some cute name for her, any ideas?

After following the chickens around with a camera for a few minutes, Bernie and I decided to go for an outing. We headed to Hovander Park for a walk/jog along the river. It really was a beautiful day, the chill air was extremely refreshing. We are trying to get out most days to get exercise in my quest for getting in shape for the hike. Again this includes the mental aspect. And so today along our walk, we spent some good time coming up with mantras and intentions for me to practice for getting rid of the tensions in my body.

“If a man’s mind becomes pure, his surroundings will also become pure”

~Buddha

Felting Photo Shoot January 13, 2009

Here are my latest needle felting projects. I am really enjoying making little creatures out of felt, and I hope to get more creative as time goes by. Don’t they make fine models? They enjoyed their outing to a park in Lynden to get photographed. They were hamming it up in front of the camera, quite the characters.

I did this Bluebird of Love first. I saw other people online that were doing different birds and such, so that sparked the idea for me. I thought about some of my favorite birds, and I just love the colors of the blue birds. It’s probably my favorite out of these three, I think its too cute.

Then I went to a local class and did the penguin. I didn’t want to do the traditional black and white, so I got a little creative with my colors. I think she is quite cute in purple and blue.

The last one is my rooster I finished the other evening. He was an original idea, which I am quite proud of, because there are many times that I feel like I am not being creative, and just copying other peoples ideas. The more I can come up with my own designs the more unique and cute they will be I think.

I am signed up for another class in a couple of weeks, at which we will be making sheep. That should be a lot of fun, because I have a big soft spot for sheep. These little guys are a great project to do in the evening while sitting in front of the tv, or just relaxing listening to some good music.

Fluffy White Snow December 17, 2008

 

This morning we awoke to snow falling. It made a good effort to come down all day long, and finally slowed down this afternoon just as the high winds started up once again. Today’s snow is much more beautiful than the other day, but now I wonder if it will all be blown off. We ended up getting around 4 inches of snow, maybe a bit more. Unfortunatly I didn’t get any good pictures of our place today, they just all look dark and dismal. But I did get this one of the birds trying to get some food in their little tummies. I feel bad for them out there having to make their living in this weather. We have a small pond in the yard, I tried to get a picture, but you really cant tell that there is supposed to be a pond under all that snow. We keep a stock tank heater in one end, that keeps a hole open for the fish that live in there, and the birds have access to water. So it works out really well, its nice to see them be able to get a drink in between snacks.

I went out to let the chickens out late this morning, and usually when I open the door they all rush out no matter what the weather is, but today they took one look at that snow and gave me a look of ‘do we look crazy?’. So the chickens spent the day inside.

Just before dark Bernie came out and played in the snow with me! We went sledding down one of the hills in our back pasture. I haven’t gone sledding in such a long time, and I thought it sounded fun. Unfortunately its rather dry snow (strange for here!) and we weren’t sliding all that well, but we still had fun! We don’t get tons of snow here usually, so I figured I better go play in it while I have the chance.

I really thought I was going to get all kinds of crafts done today, but it just didn’t happen. I am having a bit of a relaps into my cold, so I just felt like sitting on the couch and complaining (until I went out and frolicked in the snow). Maybe I will get something accomplished this evening while we watch TV. I am really wondering if I am going to be able to make it into the craft show on Friday to sell the crafts…. we have a long driveway, and the drifts make it hard to get out sometimes. So we will see what the rest of the week brings! I did get some of our gifts shipped off, so that is a good feeling.

If nothing else, this kind of weather is really good for spending time just relaxing and reflecting. Maybe I will do a little more of that this evening, reflecting on what I would like to accomplish this week, month, next year, in this life, so on and so forth.

I am off to eat some dinner and warm up in front of the woodstove!

Any Ideas? December 8, 2008

Its been much too long since I did a chicken entry. I love our little banty chickens, they provide me endless entertainment when I go out to talk with them. Over all we have a very friendly flock. I cant say any of them are overly enthused about being picked up, but I snatch them up every now and then, I just cant help it, they are so cute they need to be cuddled and pet. I went out the other day and took pictures of them, unfortunately they were not being good subjects, so most of the pictures were dumped. The only ones that were somewhat cooperative were the cochins. This picture is of my beloved little white rooster, he is my favorite out of the flock, and that is quite a feat, because I think they are all the cutest things on two legs (well we do have a couple that are a little homely, but we wont tell them that).

This little guy is just the sweetest rooster you ever will see. He has such a zen attitude. He follows you around when you are out in the chicken yard, he makes these soft little sounds as he goes about his business, talking to who ever will listen. He will crow once in a while, but not nearly as often as all our other roosters. I love to sit down and talk to him, and the gold laced cochin girls that we have. They are quite friendly themselves. They want to come up close to me and visit, and then they look all surprised when I scoop them up off the ground. I don’t think it’s the goal they were aiming for, I think they were going more for the feeding option.

I will have to go out on another sunny day and try to get more of these guys to cooperate. There is quite the rainbow of chickens out in the yard, I love all the different kinds. While my mom would like to keep all the off spring produced around the chicken yard purebreds (which never happens, because they never get separated out into breeding groups) I love to see the genetics project that goes on out there each year. You never know what those chicks are going to grow up to look like. We have gotten some really unique looking chickens out of the mix. Muffin, one of my other favorites out there is a cross that was raised here on the farm, I will have to get a picture of her, because I think she is too cute also.

So I would love to name this little guy instead of calling him my white rooster, unfortunately I just haven’t gotten around to being creative. I like looking for really unique names, if any of you can think of something different, but beautiful/creative let me know. I will let you all know if something strikes me as matching his personality!

A Good Day to Reflect November 7, 2008

We have finally hit typical western Washington fall weather. The last couple of days have just been steady rain. Its great for all the plants, but it doesn’t make for enjoyable outdoor trips. So I have been enjoying the time for reading, and doing some crafting. I have been working on my needle felting.

We put an add on craigslist to sell some of our chickens, and we have gotten a couple of calls. I always get nervous about selling our animals to other people. Our chickens have it so good here, I can only hope that they will end up in homes that treat them well and let them roam around. We had a couple come last night to get 4 hens and a rooster as a birthday present for their 7 year old daughter, who wants chickens. Hopefully their girl will love them.

I have been reading a book called Money and the Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I really love their books. Their books The Law of Attraction, and Ask and it is given, are both really good ones for changing your perspective on the world. All of their books teach you how to release the negativity in your life, and focus on what you want. If you have never heard of any of these books I highly recommend going to the library or book store and checking one of them out, you might be surprised at what you learn.

www.abraham-hicks.com

Enjoy each moment, and always follow your dreams.