Monday, April 29, 2013

Something Cute

Just thought I'd post something cute today.  I've seen this little guy for the past 3 evenings when I've been closing up the chicken coop.  He doesn't seem to be afraid of me or the chickens.  Anyway, enjoy his cuteness.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Sprouts and Chickens!

Good morning!  I just went outside to check on the gardens, and I took some photos of the sprouts!  Here they are!




                            Above are collard greens that came up from last year!




Green/Spring Onions have come up!


Peas!


Roma Tomatoes!  I've also got Beefsteak, Cherry and Greenhouse Hybrids coming up!


The chickens have eaten pretty much all of their grass. We have been mowing patches of grass to feed them lately.


They are always interested in what I'm doing.


This is a new fenced in area for the chickens, so they can have new grass.  I'm going to plant grass in their current pen once they've been moved.  I just have to get the top on the other pen!



Friday, April 12, 2013

Rainy Days

It's been raining for the last two days here in Central Ohio.  I've been wanting to post more spring photos and tell more about what I'm doing in the garden, but I've decided to wait until there are sprouts!  I thought I'd post a couple of photos while we wait for the sun to return!

I have 4 different breeds of chickens that make up my small flock.  This is what their eggs look like!  They range from light brown to dark speckled brown!  I will be adding 3 new breeds to the group this summer.  Two more brown egg layers and one breed that will lay greenish blue tinted eggs! Stay tuned!




I found countless articles on the internet showing how plastic feed bags (birdseed, cat food, chicken feed etc.) can be recycled into reusable shopping bags!  This was NOT my invention but my mom decided to make one.  She has since made several out of chicken feed bags, and they work great!  One less thing in the landfill!



I'll be posting another update soon, hopefully with sprouts!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

More Signs of Spring

Just thought I'd do a quick update with a few photos of flowers since I usually don't post those.  Enjoy!


Blooming Daffodils!



Blooming Grecian Wind Flowers!




The eggs I've collected so far this morning.  There will be more!


Sunday, April 7, 2013

April 2013 Spring Update!

Finally, today it was almost 70 degrees in Central Ohio!  Today was filled with outside chores. I took some photos of everything that is currently going on here.

First, my dad, has been starting tomato seeds.  Started so far are Beefmaster, a Greenhouse hybrid, and Roma tomatoes.





Here are tilled up sections of the garden.  We have planted onions, turnips, and peas in these locations.




Here is the chicken update!

Today I cleaned out the chicken coop completely and put in new bedding.  Below is a photo of the new bedding, which is dry leaves, wood chips, straw, and pine needles.


I got two full wheelbarrows full of compost!  I layered the bedding over the entire winter and it has composted into usable fertilizer for the garden!



Then I added a large trash can full of dry leaves to their outdoor run.




Here is an update on the drawer nesting box.  It was being used just fine, however, we had trouble with the chickens scratching out the straw.  We took a second drawer that was the same and took out the bottom and stacked it on top of the other one.  This way they won't be laying the eggs on the bare wood.



The chickens were interested in what I was doing most of the time.  They also enjoyed the dry leaves outside and took dust baths.  They take dust baths to keep cool and to keep any bugs away.  I've never even seen a bug on any of my chickens.





Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to blogging more updates as we plant, get more baby chicks and update the chicken coop!