New Additions

Well, since our last post a lot has happened!
We now have 6 adult Rhode Island Reds and 4 Bantams!  We're still building the final coop, so for now they've taken to Karen's butterfly bush.  It is definitely more interesting now!

More to follow!

The Turkeys take a roost

Today we introduced turkeys to our flock.  They were a little rattled by the trip from Luke and Angela's, but after they were here they were right at home.   They don't really dig the horse or Bear...  I'm sure they'll warm up soon after a whole night of Bear's protection and barking.  

Our turkeys claim there own perch.

Evening at KY Kids Farm: http://youtu.be/8IgSBr5aIlQ

Chickens and Mulch

Check out this video of our chickens going beyond a dust bath to packing their feathers with mulch and dirt.   Their enjoying the coolness of the shade.  Also their getting their fill of the bugs,  worms and grubs in the mulch.  
It makes them happy,  that's for sure!

In the near future we'll be purposely putting some mulch beds in proximity of their nesting areas in order to preserve our planting beds.   I'll probably also feed worms from our future worm beds into it too.

http://youtu.be/nnU_5-eZOQs

Fixing the fire extinguisher

Have you ever lost the plastic arms on your fire extinguisher bracket?  
That's no fun,  especially if it hands in a high traffic area.  

Here is a fix,  especially if you or someone you know is in the Army.  
First you need boot blousers, which are basically large elastic bands worn strong velcro on the ends. 
Next,  loosen the bracket and slide the blouser behind it and re-tighten it.  BOOM, your fire extinguisher is safe again.    

As a side note,  pull the velcro tight enough to leave a tab for easy snatching and pulling.

Hope that helps...

Good Reading!

I've been focusing on the chickens lately, and a friend of ours who farms on a larger scale than us recommended this book.

"The Small Scale Poultry Flock"
by Harvey Ussery

This is the EVERYTHING about "it" book for chickens.  from hatching, through feeding and on to cooking...




Thanks for letting us borrow it John!  Our copy is on the way from Amazon now.

Cleaning the coop

In our effort to keep healthy and happy chickens, I have the coop a good cleaning.

I pressure washed everything in the coop.   Oddly enough,  the chickens managed to poop on everything.  I also took this time to put up or new improved brooder. It's been outside since we introduced the reds to the flock.

Our "Country Tuff" wagon made a great washing platform since it's mesh and can move to better drainage areas.  

To top it off,  we moved the cage over 20 foot to allow us to scoop up the contaminated soil. I stopped after I filled the first barrel.  Should make some good compost in a short while.  

As a side item,  Red did his part to help me with the excess grass I brought up to line the cage...

Candling

Today we took a couples minutes to show our son where his new turkeys were!  It looks promising so far...
Four of them looked like they might not be developing.   However all the rest have something going on,  including Henny Penny's egg that we pulled in.
More to follow,  but looking good!

Still holding at 101 degrees and about 40 to 50 percent humidity.