The Chicken Chronicles - Part 2

So, we're down to the last few days before the babies start coming, so I stocked up with starter food and pine bedding. 

This is our brooder. Nala generously shared one of her dog luxury items because, of course, it's not hot enough for a girl to be poolside quite yet. 

Yellow partitions made slightly higher sides.

Feeder and waterer set.

Warmer ready to go.

Paper towel over the bedding for the first few days to discourage filling up on pine shavings. Chickens are worse than goats... they'll eat just about anything.

Our little coop is done. 

They won't live here until about 6-8 weeks old.

The Chicken Chronicles... part 1

We've decided to venture into backyard chicken keeping... my next few posts will chronicle these adventures. I've done so much research and studying to make sure I'm doing it all right, that I'm just now getting to a point of enjoying this! Ahhh... such is my nature, though...


March 5th - our eggs arrive! (yes, I bought them through a farmer out of Kansas I found on Ebay!)

We ready the incubator, adjusting humidity and temperature to 37.5*C exactly. It takes about 2 hours to stabilize before we can add the eggs.

We set 7 Black Australorp eggs... 21 days to hatch.

At 10 days of incubation (March 15th), I candled the eggs to see if all were developing.Two were not, so I disposed of them so that they would not burst and infect the "good eggs." In this picture, you can clearly see the air cell at the bottom... that is a space outside of the internal membrane that the chick will pierce and draw in the air while readying itself to break through it's shell.

Look closely... you can see the veins inside the egg. The darker area on the left side of the egg is developing chick. 11 more days to go!

Wordless Wednesday

Catching up

I seem to find myself catching up more than keeping up around here since the year started. I've noticed any free time I have is spent one of three ways: reading :), working out, or pinning! So, let's see:

• We've been consistently attending a new church for about 4 months now and the kids love it there. Score! 
• Wy Guy took his placement test for the accelerated math program at PCHS and scored high enough to get into the program! So proud of that kid - he starts algebra class at the high school during first hour in the fall, then will be bussed back to school to finish his 8th grade classes. 
• Speaking of smarty pants - both Wy Guy & Sis made the Scholastic Bowl team and competitions start next week. Definitely taking after their momma ;)
• However, Todd is only 2 classes from finishing his Master's degree - a long time in the making and he's so close to the end! I'm proud of him for sticking it out considering he pretty much hates it, but he's teaching the kids (and himself) perseverance & dedication!
• Basketball season has ended and Lil Lettes is in full swing, with the boys' house baseball leagues on the near horizon. Both boys are taking painting classes too - Wy Guy is working on an incredible portrait of John Lennon and I can't wait to see how it turns out! 
• Just bought a new bed and am SO excited to be moving up to a more modern look and a full bedroom set! Now to find my ideal bedding... 
• Our eggs will be here within the next 2 days and I plan to blog our progress - success or failure - in hatching our own chicks. After more research, I did decide to go with Australorps instead of Rhode Island Reds and am really just about to explode waiting for them to arrive! If you are interested in farm fresh eggs starting around October, hit me up! 
• I've lost 8.5 pounds in the last 5 weeks working with a new diet plan and trainer. Woo hoo!
• Oh, yeah, we took a little trip... to Disney World! I'm working on collecting the photos into an album and hope to have them posted soon. It was a great surprise and we loved it, but we enjoy trying new things, so I think it will be a one-time trip for us. 

Wordless Wednesday

What would YOU do?

We had a fun discussion around the dinner table last night - Where would we go if there was a Zombie Apocalypse. I know, I know, we have the best table talk!


Todd's first suggestion was to hole up in the woods behind our house, because he doesn't think zombies can climb trees! Oh, ye of little understanding! Duh - they can't climb trees, but they can make their own zombie pyramid and climb each other! 


The next suggestion was Walmart. Food, ammo, clothes - all the necessities for a decent amount of time in one place. However, realistically, even during a zombie apocalypse, I don't know if I can actually spend that much time inside of a Walmart store. I might just rather be undead.


Okay, how about Bass Pro? 


Oh, I know, the middle of the lake! 


Obviously Wy Guy and I are the most prepared, both being waist deep in reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. We know that zombies freeze, so you can buy yourself some time by heading north. Hey! This could be the perfect excuse to go visit our missionary friends, the Emerys! We finally agreed say you keep moving somewhere mountainous and colder, stopping for supplies as often as you can. Well, 4 out of the 5 of us agreed that was a good plan. 


So, if the zombies do attack, I guess I'll be checking up on my husband's survival at The People of Walmart!

Welcome 2012

Golly was 2011 a year! Ok, I realize they are all technically years, however, 2011 was another one of those years that ran in full on Simpson-style. We had 3 surgeries, a house sold, another house purchased and 2 new jobs. I'm really shooting for 2012 to be a down year... yes, uneventful would be perfect! 

My personal goal for 2012 is better relationship maintenance. This is not a strength of mine. I just cannot balance it appropriately. I'd often rather be alone, but then I struggle with being lonely. Usually I'm too tired or feel too guilty for leaving my family to make time for others, but just as often, I crave having someone to talk to, hang out with. I'm just not very good at making and keeping friends. I have had many close relationships that seem to fall apart faster than they came together. They never end badly, they just end. Then the next thing you know, I'm only keeping up with this person via Facebook. I'm making 2012 the year I figure out how to do this better. I have no clue where to start, but Imma gonna!

2012 is also destined to be the year of the chicken around here. The boys are currently building our coop and in March, we'll be incubating our first clutch of Rhode Island Reds. No plans to hang on to any roosters, so if you'd like one, we'll be happy to share those pesky boys. Mmmm... I can't wait for farm fresh eggs with my garden crops this summer! 

Besides the chicks that are coming, we've also added a couple new pets to the house for the coming year. Both Sis and Beebs saved up their money and purchased their own pet(s) and supplies. Now in addition to Wy's frogs, Beebs has Bruce and Tweety, the hermit crabs and Sis has Hazel, the hamster. Small and low maintenance - perfect for when I end up taking care of all of them as the novelty wears off, which we all know is just a matter of time.

 

Sis has her new cochlear implant and is doing very well. Her little brother did give her a good knock to the head yesterday and split her incision a bit. Yep, no coddling of kids around here - we just shove 'em right back into the mix! :) I'll keep you updated on activation and progress...