When Spring Springs...

One of our Australorp girls who adopted some of our chicks

It feels like the snow melted and we were sprung into spring at the speed of a runaway train.  I haven't had time to write in nearly 7 weeks. 

Well spring sprung and I feel like I haven't stopped since... So much has gone on:  Chicken Man lost his first tooth and his new "big boy tooth" was right behind it.  We don't have the tooth fairy in our house but the baby tooth has been put away in a safe spot.  Chicken Man also got a new big boy bicycle without training wheels and after a few falls and tears he is now a whizzing pro.  He actually asked me if we could get some ramps so he can start learning tricks!

Our hens went broody and then some of them got bored and decided they didn't want to be mothers after all.  I mean, who would want a screaming, hollering bunch of squawking kids?  The Dominiques have been incredibly disappointing.  Not one has shown an ounce of interest in sitting on her eggs.  The odd Delaware sat just to see what the fuss was and then of course, she got bored and got off the eggs.  One Buff Orpington has decided to stick it out for the long run. 

Chicks from our incubated eggs

The Australorps have been the best performers so far.  We had up to twelve hens sitting and two have had their eggs hatch.  We also hatched eggs in an incubator at home and ended up with fifteen chicks.  I decided to see if I could get the hens in my coop to adopt some of my home hatchlings.  It worked for about two days and then disaster struck!  Five chicks ended up being killed by other hens (their days are numbered) and so I brought all the chicks and some of the hens back to our house to brood them at home in a safe location.  I had thought that the chicks would be safe in my coop with their mother hen but apparently not.  We now have around twenty chicks and two hens in the back yard.  I wanted the chicks to be raised by hens (if possible) and while the two girls that we have brooding the chicks now have been wonderful, it is just too dangerous to leave them in with the rest of the flock.  We have some more eggs in the incubator but I think I will just brood them at home without the help of the hens.

Our new Australorp chicks in the brooder

This morning a batch of twenty-seven chicks arrived from McMurray Hatchery.  These are all Australorps that I will be keeping and breeding from next year.  I really had high hopes for the Dominiques but if they are not going to produce their own young I have to go with the Australorps.  We also have turkeys arriving next week.  I chose the Chocolate variety.  They are smaller than the broad breasted variety but still a good size.  I am hoping to keep a Tom and a couple of girls so keep the flock going for next year. 

The Australorp chicks outside

In between trying to keep chicks alive and homeschool Chicken Man I've been busy planting our gardens.  We had a freak frost that killed quite a few of my SIL's greenhouse/aquaponic transplants.  It was such a shame because despite being far too big to transplant they had survived but despite being covered, the frost was too harsh.  Just this week we had another two nights where the temperatures dropped close to freezing but not quite.  By this point, I had planted everything and my tiny transplants were very fragile.  I covered everything and prayed hard.  I realize that if I lost everything (again) we would not be having the abundance of vegetables that we have enjoyed in previous years.  Our gardens are feeding nine people this year so I desperately needed everything to live.  Thankfully, everything survived and now I need sunshine to make my gardens grow. 


April didn't bring any rain at all but May has brought more and then some more and some more after that.  At least I don't have to water the garden.

We have enjoyed foraging for fiddleheads and for morels.  I collected a basketful of dandelion heads and made dandelion syrup.  It smelled quite strange while it was boiling but the taste is sweet and delicious.  I got my recipe here at the Mooberry Farm BlogSpot.  




Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #74