Signs of Spring and Chickens!

Good afternoon everyone!  It's around 40 degrees and sunny here in Central Ohio today!  I decided to take a walk around outside and look for signs of spring.  There are lots of springtime birds out there, picking out houses and some flower bulbs are beginning to peek out of the ground.  I mainly wanted to check to see if there was any lettuce, asparagus or strawberries coming up yet.  None yet!  But I'll bet in the next 2-3 weeks I will see lettuce sprouts and by then it'll be time to plant peas.  I'm looking forward to it!

After my little walk, I decided to pick more of the collard greens and kale plants for the chickens. They've got no grass left in their outside area.  I will be moving their pen when it gets warmer so they have a fresh patch of grass, but until then I will be giving them daily greens for treats.  I had planned to take some video of them today but didn't realize until I got outside that my battery was dead!  I took some photos instead.  Here they are!  Enjoy!  You'll notice the same beige chicken following me around!

 Treats!

 Curious as to what I am doing.

 Everyone loves collard greens and kale!

 I am being followed by this one.

These 2 have quite the personalities.  They will follow you around everywhere.  The red chicken has a folded over comb for some reason.  She's the only one like that.

February Farm Update

Hello everyone!  I know it has been awhile since my last update, winter is hanging on and there's not a whole lot left to do as far as planning.  Anyway I thought I'd give you a quick update on how everything is going.

First, I've ordered a few seeds, I have some saved from last year's harvest and I've still got quite a bit more to get.  I'm going to try growing tomatoes not only in the garden but I also ordered a "greenhouse specific" seed to try.  I also saved some seeds from some New Mexico Hatch chili peppers I got over the summer.  The other saved seeds I've got are varieties of squash, pumpkin,  and zucchini.   I also just found out today that my dad's tractor is finally fixed, this will be MUCH easier to get the plowing,  and tilling done.  At this point we have over 2,000 square feet of garden space!

Here's the chicken update!  All 12 hens are doing very well and have been consistently laying eggs throughout the winter.  I've been selling them to a few people at work and some relatives for $2 a dozen!  They're all brown eggs and very good!  I've been trying to save egg cartons and reuse them which has been working out alright since I've got a few people saving them.  However, today I had to finally break down and buy some cartons.  I found a website that sells "misprinted" cartons at a discount...so it wasn't too expensive.  If you're interested in buying some eggs from me let me know! I usually have a few dozen available.  In the summer I will likely be getting a dozen a day.  $2 a dozen!  You can't beat that for fresh eggs!  Also if you are going to stop by and get some eggs from me, bring me any empty cartons you may have!   With the arrival of spring, means quite a bit of chicken chores....I've been using whats called the "deep litter method" in their coop as far as the bedding goes.  Which will be all shoveled out in spring to be used directly on the garden.  I'll do a separate blog on this at a later time.  There are also a couple of repairs to make to the coop. This is a building that is well over 60 years old so I'm not surprised at all.  This was also the first winter it's been used in over 20 years. I'm also hoping to re-paint it, since it was so hot over last summer I didn't get that done.

Thanks for reading everyone!  Next update I will include a video and some photos....there is a -3 windchill outside right now, so I wasn't going to do that for today!