Chicken math

July 13, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

A year ago, I decided to buy 6 little chicks from Tractor Supply. Then a few days later, I went by and fell in love and bought 6 more. Out of 12, I had 10 survive and thrive. 3 roosters and 7 hens, little did I know that would send me on a journey that I never would have imagine. A wonderful journey of homesteading and learning about all natural/organic ways to raise animals and gardening. My hubby and extended family thinks I am crazy. My kids love it because of all the animals. But the most important thing is how happy I am doing this and learning. My friends on facebook now call me crazy chicken lady. I am constantly getting friends posting things like the chicken diaper or chicken leash (most ridiculous thing ever, I don’t need a leash they follow me willingly). But this is my life now and I couldn’t be more ~~insane~~ happy with the decision to buy 12 lil chicks.

At the beginning of the year, I had 9 chickens, 7 hens and 2 roosters. One rooster was getting a little crazy so he was rehomed to a farm with a lot of girls for him. Then is March, I lost 2 of my hens to poison. So by spring, I only had 6 chickens. 5 hens and a frizzle bantam rooster that can’t even mate because he is so small.

At this point, my obsession for hatching eggs began. First there was 4 that hatched, then 3, 18, 8, and last 15. I hatched out 5 different batches of chicken eggs. Along with 2 batches of duck eggs.

Then I got a call from my aunt about the school hatching eggs but no place to take the chicks. And I also made the mistake of going by the feed store the same day and seeing some little ducklings.

Then I saw someone selling pullets (girls) and I had to have them. Then I ordered 15 polish chicks! So how many chickens do we have!?! 57! 51 chickens and 6 ducks.

36 are undetermined meaning they haven’t shown their rooster or hen side yet. Or in the ducks case duck or drake.

2 bantam roosters I am trying to rehome for their sake since they are so little, my bigger ones will probably beat them up.

So far I do know that I have 13 girls chickens and 1 girl duck. And 5 roosters.

In the end, I am planning on keeping only 4 roosters (maybe less depending on attitude) and most of the girls. All of my ducks will stay unless I end up with a lot of drakes which I don’t think I will. And any roosters over what I want to keep will become dinner. Most of the polish chicks are going to be sold. I only wanted a few for Dakota, but of course there is a 15 minimum purchase and I couldn’t find any locally. And I pray I have done enough research to be able to tell a boy from a girl.

2 of my goals this year was to expand my flock and add ducks! Mission accomplished.

Am I completely done with raising chicks? UM hell no! Have you seen how adorable these little babies are! But I am more interested in the hatching and selling aspect now. I also will be adding meat chickens and turkeys next year.

One gigantic post!

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015 / Jeanette / 1 Comment

It’s been so long since I posted on the blog that I honestly don’t know where to begin. So many changes have happened. It has truly been a busy time around here. I guess starting with why I was MIA would be good. Well it was tax season and as my hubby’s go to tax preparer, I had to deal with his crazy bookkeeping skills and that usually takes me a while. Now that the weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I can get back to my life.

Also we have been doing A LOT of projects around the homestead.

We fixed a lot of the mangled fencing that was around our property and expanded our driveway so Hubby could get his deliveries easier. Then with the old fencing we made a huge chicken run where my babies could free range but still be safe from my dogs. So every morning I go out and let the Bozos out to have their fun with the bugs and leaves. And when they free range all the time, they are also allowed to play in the rain. And even though I read chickens hate water. Mine sure do love standing in the rain.

We also redid the liner in the our pool. Well not me, but the kids and hubby. I’ll explain where I was in a little while.

Have I ever mentioned how wonderful it is to have DIY hubby?!? He saves us so much money. And the things he figures out how to do on his own or by watching a YouTube video still blows my mind. Everyone should find themselves DIYer!

He got the pool drained, liner switch with a better build up on the bottom of the pool and refilled in 3 days. And that was with a nasty storm coming through! But one thing I truly love is the redneck inside of him. He truly comes up with some crazy inventions to make the job easier or quicker. See I thought using his pickup to level gravel was crazy. Then there was the time I drove his box truck around the yard to every tree while he rode on top and would cut the branches. But this one I think is the best. Prepare yourselves!

Yup that’s right! A redneck water hose. What will he think of next? I am a little afraid!

And of course Dakota had to test the pool as it was filling up. That will be the last time he touches the floor for a few years.

While the kids and Dad were having fun in the sun (it was extremely hot that weekend), I was inside in the daycare/maternity center/ICU.

Daycare because I had some babies to tend to. My first 2 hatchings were growing. I got 4 out of 6 the first time. But then the 2nd round only 3 out of 10 hatched. So I put them together to bond.

The first 4. I ended up with 2 boys and 2 girls (I hope) from this bunch.

Here is the first 4 starting to get their big feathers with the oldest from the second batch snuggling between.

Now my second batch had a little surprise in it. One we knew might be possible, but secretly I hoped it wouldn’t.

A turken! Not this is not what you get when a turkey and chicken mate. This is an actual breed of chicken also known as the Naked Neck Chicken. My kids fell in love. I went to give these to my neighbor, much to my kids disappointment. But she said keep them. So you could imagine the excitement when I walked back in with all 3 chickens.

Here is him from about a week or so ago. Not much better, but my son has claimed him, so he is a keeper.

This group of babies are out in the coop in the getting to know each other stage. At night they go into a dog cage and then I place them in the coop. During the day they either play in the run of the coop or go outside to their play area.

But before they left the daycare, there was much commotion in the nursery.

We had a successful hatch! 18 out of 22 eggs hatched, but we lost 4. So we ended up with 14 chicks! Let me just say, we knew exactly when the first one was hatched because my older ones were in the living room going crazy. The family and I were eating dinner and the noise level went up 10 decibel. My older ones were squawking and lunging at the side of their brooder trying to get out. It was crazy! These little ones I sold. But I did keep one little special one. Because I needed a friend for my ICU patient.

This little guy or gal deserves a post all of it’s own, so look for that soon. But I wanted to briefly tell you about our duck eggs that were in the incubator. So the first 9 weren’t fertile. Then I ordered 6 off of Ebay. They were doing great. And then hatch day came. I had 2 pip. After 12+ hours of waiting after they pipped, nothing was happening. So on Easter morning, hubby and I went in there and C-sectioned it out. One was still alive, but the other one had died before I got to it. Needless to say, none of us thought this tiny duck would make it. Most websites said it won’t and then it had a lot of problems so I told everyone who wanted to see the little duckling that day that I wasn’t getting my hopes up. Let’s just say he or she has been officially named Lucky. Look for a post on Lucky’s story with pictures and an update in a few days.

Then this past weekend, I hatched 8 out of 12 eggs. These are purebred chicks. I have 4 Olive eggers, 2 bantam duckwings, and 2 mixed sexlink. It is kinda nice not having to play guess that breed for a change.

Also in the process of all this, we had acquired 4 rabbits from a friend of a family member.

These were not the friendliest bunnies. Only the white was easily handled. But he was an escape artist. They came with cages that were falling a part. So I had to put more money in then I thought I would have too. But in the end, the kids decided to give them sell them to people who knew how to handle rabbits. Eventually we will get some bunnies to raise, but I’m not in a rush. Plus the kids have gotten very specific on what breed they want.

We also took in a couple of ducks from a vet office. Apparently, they get ducklings a lot. But this time they got a full grown duck and a juvenile duck. My contact brought them out and within a few hours I had found them some wonderful homes.

So as you can see, we have been very busy around here. And don’t expect us to slow down. I have 12 more duck eggs in the incubator. And 24 eggs on the way as I type. They should be here in a day or so. 12 are silkies and 12 are barnyard mix. Plus we are in the process of buying a shed. Hubby is really swamped with work or else we would build it. But there is no time and not sure when there will be. My youngest daughter has started digging up the grass in our new garden area. I am planning for a fall crop. But am hoping to plant some sunflowers soon. Plus I promised her a butterfly garden. But don’t worry all plants will be chicken safe and fenced in so none of my babies can get to it. My neighbor wants me to hatch some turkeys. So I might look into that in the future. We almost had a pig, but the trade deal fell through. Don’t be surprise when a couple of those pop up on here.

So just to recap. I have:

6 big kid chickens, 7 teenage chicks, 9 baby chicks in the house, 1 duckling, 12 duck eggs in the incubator and 24 more eggs on the way. So officially I am up to 22 poultry on my little farm.

And by the way. I have officially named our little homestead. Triple F Farm!

I was going to go with Feather Tail Land. Since I love Disney. But the I realized I have some of the craziest chickens around. And with the kids and the hubby, I always feel like I am losing my sanity. So Ford Funny Farm it is, or Triple F Farm for a more professional sound.

This post is being shared on Simple Life Mom.

2 weeks of craziness

March 12, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Sorry for being MIA but life kinda took over again. Ya know 4 kids can keep a girl busy. Plus losing 2 of our chickens was awful and rough. But life came full circle when 3 days later our first batch of chicken eggs started hatching. This was a small batch.

As you can see we started with the 6 in the front, 1 wasn’t developing. So 5 went into lockdown. The 3 white eggs in the back are our duck eggs. They ended up not being developing either. Out of the 5 that went into lockdown, I got 4 to hatch! Not too shabby for a first timer. Of course, I had been watching the first cracked egg for hours and nothing major was happening. So I went out to run my errands with the kids and my Grandma called and said you have a baby and it is chirping extremely loud. My poor cocker spaniel was going nuts trying to find the babies. By the next morning, I had 3 waiting in the incubator and the last one hatched while I was cooking breakfast. Those little boogers can move fast when they are ready to break free!

Here they are after their first night in the brooder. Everyone is doing great and seems very healthy. When they were waiting in the incubator to dry, they were extremely loud and responded whenever I talked to them. Now they recognize “the hand” and enjoy pecking food out it.

Here they are 4 days old and already starting to get their big chick feathers. They are growing so fast!

In other news, Lil man has lost his first tooth! This momma is mad because she missed it. I was out to dinner and literally pulled into the drive way about 5 minutes after he yanked it out. But he was very excited because his tooth fairy didn’t bring a dollar, instead he got a new Skylanders Trap Team Trap. Yup, that kid is spoiled rotten by everyone, including the Tooth Fairy. But how can you not love him!?! Look at this smile.

We also went to local Renaissance Festival with my Dad and Aunt. We had never been and it is something my Dad really enjoys. It was an experience to say the least. LOL But the kids got to try a lot of new things and had a lot of fun. I will post more when I can figure out how to get the photos off my stupid phone.

The kids are on Spring Break this week. So we are just relaxing and putting up a new fence. More on that later.

Plus it’s U-pick’em season here Plant City. And I found a wonderful Organic U-pick’em. Be prepared for lots of Strawberry recipes!

Plus more babies! Our next batch goes into lockdown on Monday and we have a new set of duck eggs in the incubator. Those should be hatching the Saturday before Easter.

The importance of knowing your plants

March 3, 2015 / Jeanette / 1 Comment

When you have little kids, farm animals or just everyday pets, it is important to know what is in your yard. Especially the plants. I have been silent this last week because I made a huge mistake and have been trying to fix it ever since. Last Tuesday, Brianna and I were browsing at Walmart while waiting for Cailin to get done at bookclub. We found this really beautiful flower plant that I thought would be perfect in her butterfly garden. We bought it not really thinking of the consequences. A couple days later, 2 of my chickens came down sick. They were lethargic and not eating or drinking anything. I thought it was impact crop or sour crop. I tried to find answers online. Until I finally did an inspection of their free range area.

Foxglove~ extremely poisonous

They had eaten some of the leaves off of my daughters plant. We didn’t even know what kind of plant it was when we bought it. That was our first mistake. I started doing image searches online and after many hours finally found what it was and cross searched with being poisonous to chickens. It is, extremely poisonous. Even to humans if eaten!

I brought my 2 babies in the house and had a little hospital room going on. I force-fed them water and electrolytes and basically just tried to keep them warm. But honestly they ate so much there was nothing I could really do other than make them feel comfortable and loved.

RIP Nutmeg and Big Bertha

Just hours after I took this picture, my little nutmeg said her good-bye.

Nutmeg as a baby

I know a momma shouldn’t have favorites, but she was mine.

And as I was beginning this post, Big Bertha had a seizure and died right next to me.

Big Bertha as a baby

Big Bertha was my best layer. I will definitely miss those big beautiful brown eggs.

I honestly feel responsible. My chickens depended on me to keep them safe. And they also trusted me wholeheartedly. I truly believed they thought everything in the garden area is good for them because I would never do anything to hurt them. My carelessness has cost me 2 of my beloved chickens.

But going forward, I will be very careful and do my research first. I will not buy any plant just because it is pretty.

We’re Incubating!!!

February 20, 2015February 18, 2015 / Jeanette / 1 Comment

That’s right people! I am expecting!!!! Expecting feathered babies in the next few weeks! We started incubating some eggs from our neighbor on Saturday. And can I just say I am so excited!

But at the same time, I feel as though I am expecting! The first 48 hours felt like the whole first trimester! I was nauseous, anxious, nervous and overwhelmed. Plus I couldn’t sleep at all. Now that I got the temperature just right and I see everything is working the way it is suppose too, it feels like the 2nd trimester has kicked in. I am so calm and relaxed. Just peeking in every so often to see how things are cooking. I don’t even want to know how I am going to be during the hatching! I may need a lamaze training to gear up for this. It’s been 5 years for me you know. And this time I can’t even get an epidural! GOOD GRIEF!

But anyways back to my eggs. I have 6 chicken eggs and 3 duck eggs in there right now. And did mention the kids are learning about birds right now. So guess what counts as science too! WOOT WOOT!

I wanted to start off small and see how hard it is to hatch eggs. But I can guarantee you that if this is a success, I will be getting some more eggs to go in there. What kind I have no idea! But I would love to turn my hobby into a little business eventually.

At least, that is my dream for the future.

Don’t rush! Building a homestead takes time.

February 4, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

It’s been about a year that I have become interested in homesteading. I mean I have always said I wanted a farm or ranch, but 2014 was the year that I really got involved and learning about the hows and whys.

This time last year, I thought, I’m going to get some chickens and throw some seeds in the ground and there will be my farm.

UM…..NO! Doesn’t work like that.

My chickens have had illnesses and injuries. I have also had to do things to heal them that I never thought I would ever do. (Hello, bumblefoot surgery!) I also ran out and bought 12 chicks without having a plan for a coop.

And guess what my seeds didn’t grow very well. In fact nothing did! All of my plants would start off strong and then stop. My dirt is mostly sand and not enough nutrients.

I started off thinking that for 2015 I would expand. I would get some pigs, ducks and anything else I could convince my hubby to let me have. I would double the garden and eventually have enough to feed us and sell.

But in the last few days of looking at my garden, I realized I needed to take a step back. None of those dreams are going to be possible without a little research and preparations.

So I readjusting my goals for the year.

Add a few more chicks (layers) and add some ducks.
Tear up the majority of my garden and start working the dirt. I am getting some worms and adding compost and other nutrients.
Start composting! Build a compost bin.
Research caring for pigs, find a butcher and locate local organic feed.
Try to go back to basics on as much as possible (food, cleaners, and hygiene) and continue to remove all GMO products from our house.

Don’t try to do everything at one time. Take the time to research and know what your doing and why your doing it. In the long run, you want to become self sufficient and time is your friend. Because the more you rush, the more screw ups you’ll have and the more money you would’ve wasted. Eventually not seeing progress and seeing money fly down the toilet will make you want to give up and quit.

Roosters~love them or eat them

January 28, 2015 / Jeanette / 4 Comments

Let me start by saying I am by no means an expert. This is my first year raising chickens. But in that years time, I have learned a lot.

I got 12 chicks total. Not knowing what they were; male or female. Two didn’t survive and I was left with 10 that thrived.

Out of those 10, I ended up with 3 males and 7 females.

Our first confirmed male, Speckles, got rehomed really quick because he was beating up my girls pretty bad. That is something you don’t want. You want your girls relaxed and comfortable and safe in their home so they can lay eggs comfortably. Under the constant stress, the chances of eggs go down. They will not lay to their full potential, which I know for most folks is the whole purpose of owning chickens. Plus beating up my baby girls to point of drawing blood was not cool with me.

Here are my 2 roosters that I have left.

Lil Baby~ light brahma rooster

Ninja~Frizzle Cochin

Pros of having a rooster:

Protects your flock when free ranging.
Gives you fertilized eggs, which then gives you babies (YAY!)

Cons of having a rooster:

Can be rough with your girls or the other roosters. We had an incident which may or may not have been a fight between the two roosters. One was pretty badly beat up and I thought I was going to lose him but he pulled through.
Can become aggressive with you or your kids. I have one rooster who likes to chase my one daughter. She is special needs so I don’t know if he has picked up on that, but it’s only her, never me or anyone else. And when they kick at you it hurts. Especially with those nails.
Can be very skittish and not real lovable. Even as chicks, they ran and hated being picked up. And now they steer away from us and are not very friendly at all.
Do not follow directions at all (typical MAN!). If I shake the worm bag or call the chickens, all of the girls come right away. The boys not so much and we end up having to trap them into running into the enclosed area. Too much work!

Now the next reason can be a pro or con depending on the type of person you are. I personally love to hear them crowing. But others might not. I will say mine start between 4-5 am. BUT I can’t hear them in my room and neither can my kids. So it doesn’t bother us. Others might not be so happy with that.

While most people would say eat them. I am not that brave or experienced yet in butchering one of our own chickens. And I highly doubt that I can find someone to come out and butcher just one. I am not at all against it. I am hoping to add some meat birds later on down the road. But one step at a time. If you are experienced or knows someone who is, then butchering could be an option for you.

I am on the fenced about getting rid of Lil Baby. He is the trouble maker and he is the one that dislikes my daughter. She loves being with them. So most likely I am going to try to trade or sell him.

So my conclusion is a rooster is not necessary, but some people like them while others don’t. I don’t see Ninja going anywhere. He is the sweetest little thing I have ever seen. So much smaller than a normal rooster; probably a bantam. And just keeps to himself and treats the girls very nicely. I most likely won’t have fertilized eggs anymore, but that is a price I will pay. I can always order more chicks or go to local feed store!

So tired

So very very tired

I’m awake!

Darn wind!

Hello 2015!!

January 8, 2015 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

I know I am a little late, but honestly I don’t start my new year resolutions until after my birthday on the 5th. Why deprive myself of cake and celebration!?! I made it another year and, dang it, I earned that slice of cake!

So my new year starts when winter break is over and normal life resumes. Well as close to normal as this bunch can get.

I have thought about my new year’s resolution for sometime now. Months actually! I feel like 2014 was my year to find myself. I found out that I have a passion for homesteading that I never knew was there. And not only homesteading, but natural living, without all the chemicals and medications. I like being able to keep my family healthy without the use of antibiotics or over the counter drugs. I like cooking from scratch and knowing what is going into my food and that the items are of the best quality that I can find.

But there were many areas that I floundered at. I don’t want to say fail because that is so negative. I feel like I never failed. I may not have put my best effort in to them, but I never failed, so floundered is the perfect description.

So here they are my resolutions:

Learn more and love life~ Enjoy it, every minute! I noticed my anxiety has flared up a little bit and I want to get a handle on it better so I can accomplish this task. Just get healthier in general. I see too many family members fighting different diseases and I don’t want that. I wanna be around for a long, long time.
Expand our homesteading. I would love to get where we can raise our own meat and add some more egg layers to our little flock. Ducks are coming only because they are so cute!
Separate myself from the negativity. Too many times I let other people’s life choices stress me out and worry me. Yes, they are my family and I love them, but they are not my immediate (in my household) family and those are the ones that need my guidance and attention. So I am going to learn to Let it go! (cue Frozen song here)
Blog more and interact with more bloggers. Expand this and possibly make a business that will thrive and I can be extremely proud of.
Spend more time with my kids. This year my oldest is turning 18!!! How did that happen I have no idea?!? But I feel like I blinked and her childhood was gone. So I am using that as an eye opener and cherishing every moment I have left with them all.

To help me with these, I will probably set little mini goals each month. I seem to do well with a to do list type thing. Sometimes I get so busy with just the everyday stuff that I look up and a whole month has gone by. I would like to try to slow down a bit and that is my overall theme of the year.

Slow down and enjoy being me!

3 year Blogiversary

October 13, 2014 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

Growing a large family 3 year blogiversary

It was 3 years ago today that I decided to start a blog. A place where I can vent and connect with the world. I also did many searches for large family blogs and couldn’t find any. So I decided that that was the direction I wanted to go. Over the years it has morphed into an eclectic collection of moments in our lives from homeschooling to homesteading. I try to keep it real, but classy and positive at the same time. I hope I have provided some humor along with some ideas and tips to help with your lives. All I ask is that you spread the word.

Now let’s take a look back at my top post over the last 3 years.

First Day of School 2013

Homemade Pizza Dough

Building our Coop de Ville

My Favorite Post:

I’m Southern and I can’t bake biscuits

This is my favorite post because I always ask myself why can’t I make biscuits. I grew up watching Grandma make them. I have tackled some pretty difficult recipes and have honestly impressed the heck out of myself sometimes. But biscuits are my Achilles heel! UPDATE: I still haven’t found and made a good biscuit yet!

Selfie! OH wait am I too close!

Theses are the post that sum me up as a person. These post show who I am perfectly.

Our Frugal Disney Vacation

City Girl living a Country life

Check in with my flock

Family Dinners

Let me know your favorite post and what you would like to see more of.

Fun weekend!

August 25, 2014 / Jeanette / Leave a comment

It’s the little things in life that make me smile. This weekend was one of those times that just made me giddy.

Saturday was the big day! The day I have been waiting for since April, when I bought all those fuzzy chicks home. That’s right folks! I got an egg!

Here is proud egg layer!

Thing 1

The first egg arrived on Saturday morning. I happen to hear one of the other hens singing the egg song so I went rushing out there thinking she laid an egg. But really she just likes announcing when others have made a nest and our laying their eggs. That is when I found Thing 1, not in the nesting boxes, but in her own little homemade nest. So for about an hour, I kept peeking at her and finally it was there. And I squealed like a girl. But hey, farmer’s can be girly!

Then Sunday, she took almost all day to lay again. And I sent little man out to gather the egg. But she wasn’t done yet. So we found these beauties in the garden instead.