Black Australorp Hens

Our black-n-white, penguin-looking chicks have all grown up. The full-grown hens are black, with green highlights visible in the sun. We've been getting lots of eggs from them (mainly small- and peewee-sized until they get a little older). Our latest farm record is 83 eggs in one day! (That's not bad from only 100 hens.)

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Our rooster Lucky takes a stroll through the snow.

Summer tomatoes in February

We froze bags full of tomatoes at the end of the season last year, and we break one out every now and again as a tasty treat for the chickens during a long, cold winter. These (as-yet unnamed) chickens were hatched on the farm, and they're about 5 months old now. 

Covering All the Bases

In an effort to get a head start for spring, we protected some greens--lettuces, arugula, etc.--through the winter by covering a few of our raised beds with plastic. The cover was ripped off the first bed early on in the winter. We fixed it a couple of times, but Mother Nature was very determined. After the plants had been exposed to freezing temperatures a few times, we gave up (you can see the hoops in the background). The second bed fared pretty well until the high winds last Friday pulled off the plastic. That's when we made the unpleasant discovery that it had simply been too cold for most of the lettuces and not many survived. To top it off, chickweed and other weeds were thriving under there! It wasn't a total loss, though. The weeds went to the chickens. Our hens can tell you that chickweed is aptly named. They love it!

Coming Soon: Sugar Snap Peas

 

Sugar snap peas are a cool weather crop that we grow in the spring and fall.  If we don't get a hard frost, we should have some sugar snap peas in the coming weeks.  Eat them raw, pod and all!

Mail Order Chicks

In addition to the various chicks that hatched on our farm this summer, 50 day-old chicks arrived via the U.S. Postal Service!  (They're still nervous around us, so they tend to huddle up in the corner while I'm trying to take pictures.)  The chicks are black and white, but the adult birds will be all black with a beautiful iridescent green sheen.  In addition, the hatchery sent a bonus, unknown breed.  We will have to wait and see what it grows up to be!

They should begin laying eggs in about 5 months.

Homegrown Chicks

Here are two of the chicks hatched out by mother Henrietta.  She took the chicks on their first outside tour today, now that we've finally gotten a break from the rain.