chickens 101

 Chicken basics.
Like....the very basics.
Like, we are still figuring this chicken stuff out....but here is what we've learned so far. please feel free to add your two cents (or 50 cents!) in the comments.
I love learning about chickens.

Heads up: I don't talk about the coop--we picked ours up for free (along with a hen, remember?) and added on to it a bit.....and works for now. Someday we

eggcellent

Yesterday was a very good day.

We have five chickens. 

We got five eggs.

Up until yesterday we'd only been getting two a day. 

So FIVE eggs was ridiculously exciting.....and the fact that we got our first little GREEN egg.....aaaaahhhhh!!!!! 



Really. I screamed. Eggs are that exciting around here.

All that hard work (ok. chickens aren't really that much work....but they were in my house

weekend things

Now that school is back in, weekends mean soooooooo much more! 

We have to cram in as many good things as we can. 



First things first.

I forgot to tell you guys--my chickies have started to lay! I'm guessing the eggs are coming from Wilma and Fanny....and I think the teeny tiny one was Goldie's first. It has been so much fun checking (over and over) all day long to see if there is a tiny

meanwhile, back at the ranch

I picked a tiny jalapeno from our garden the other day.......the saddest little harvest.

Last summer was the year of the vegetable......by this point in summer we were feasting on all types of veggies--lettuce, tomatillos, carrots. Tomatoes still warm from the sun and so much zucchini we were eating it three meals a day. 

I could go out and pick our dinner right off the vine.

This year due to

friday senses

We have dove headfirst into summer and have yet to come up for air.....it's been wonderful. 

Days just feel better with summer kissed skin and popsicle stained lips.



Seeing: the whole valley is in bloom! Lilacs! Poppies! Blossoms and blooms everywhere. 

Watching: Two little barn swallows build their nest on our porch. It's fascinating watching them gather materials and bring them back to

eggsellent

Guess what?

Our new hen Millie (she'd never laid an egg at her old home) surprised us with an egg on Thursday. 

And then Friday. 

And then Saturday. 

THREE eggs from a supposedly barren hen!

It was like Christmas morning. 





(you know you live a simple life when you are ridiculously giddy over an egg)



Thanks Millie.

short stories

So many little stories to tell.....



Circle of Life

Our first story hurts my heart......last week I had mentioned that our little chick Pebbles wasn't growing like the others. As the days went by she began to move a little slower and sleep a little longer. We came home from church on Sunday and found that she had never woke up. It was a sad sad day for my Lu--Pebbles was HER chick, her baby.

tiny flock

Our girls are growing up! 

They are true teenagers......eating and sleeping the day away while their awkward bodies grow grow grow.



With the exception of making my house smell like a barn, these girls have been pretty easy to keep.

The first two weeks they lived in one of our over sized moving boxes. Just chick food, water, a heat lamp, and five fuzzy chicks in a box. We changed their

meet the ladies

I have to start out by saying this:

Taking pictures of little chicks is a hilarious event. 

They

run

everrryyywhere. 

And sooooooo fast.

It was very entertaining.



We are pretty excited about our girls. 

I have been wanting chickens for quite some time, and moving out here finally made my chicken dreams come true. We had the hardest time only leaving the feed store with five....they are