In Training

Yesterday, our chicks made 6 weeks old. They are drinking about 1 gallon of water a day, and a 3 lb. coffee can of feed. Training has begun to prepare them for being free range birds that I don't have to constantly worry about.

The objective here is to open the door in the morning, let them roam all day, and then close the door at evening and trust that they've put themselves to bed. So far, so good.



A few days ago, I locked a couple of each breed outside of the coop for the afternoon. They were not happy being seperated from the security of thier coop and thier sister hens and they did not venture more than a few feet from the coop's door.

They were all really uncomfortable, although after a time they did finally start scratching and looking for bugs.



The next day, I brought out a few more....
and the next ....a few more.



It was funny, when I finally opened the door they were all back inside faster than greased lightning.

Today, I just opened the door and walked away. All but 4 ventured out on thier own and immediately started after the grass and what bugs they could find.



They were having a fine ol' time investigating thier surroundings and some of my guineas even flew up on top of the coop to get a better view of life.

You've had a bad day?

well now, this little lady...one of my blue ribbon chicks...has absolutely no sympathy for you.

I wouldn't either if I was sporting the diaper rash she is....


all you chicken aficionado's...any ideas? it's not 'egg block'. She's perfectly normal except she has a slightly swollen vent area and is totally chapped.

Chicken Diary Day 34

Our ladies are now 34 days old and in thier own coop. As you can see, they're ready to get out but it will be awhile before I let them free range.

They've grown a bunch! Here's Mr & Mrs Wyandotte. He's lost all his green dye, but I know he's the boy because of all the white on his gullet. None of the hens have as much. You can also tell the rooster because his comb is beginning to grow ...it's the bright orange on the beak.



They're also getting their colors in. The little rusty colored one in the middle is one of the Bantams.



And these pretty girls....Rachel and my guinea!!!



They've escaped the coop a few times now and are quite tricky to catch....especially when they fly into the cedar trees. It's funny. Rachel spends her time trying to get in the coop and the chicks spend their time trying to get out.

the girls wanted me to mention that while we were in the coop taking photos, a doe and her twin fawns came into the yard. We watched them for a few minutes before they ran off. I guess our sudden movement from trying to get a good photo was more than the mama could handle. I want a 400mm lens worse than ever!

OMG!!

Do you see it!!!!
Ug.....there!! right under her nose!!!!
How can you miss it? It's almost as big as her nose.
Man, she's only ELEVEN, and she claims it's not fair that she got her first zit before Emily did.

<snicker> I told her...twas certainly fair...emmy got her first boobs before her. ....

Service and Honor

The first Friday of August! The Military Order of the Purple Heart Day....

and a rare opportunity for my children and I to publicly thank all those families, past and present, who have sacrificed to keep us safe, and free.

 

It means a great deal to me that my daughters and I can raise the Flags on the Avenue of Flags at the Veteran's Administration, and participate in the ceremonies for the Purple Heart recepients. It is a long drive for us. It begins, literally, when the rooster crows, and we gladly drag our selves out of bed and head for town. Thank you Veterans for the opportunity to HONOR you and all you have done for our country.

Do I have to kiss this thing?

CPR training for Girl Scouts....

 

yep, we are CERTIFIED, but don't go getting stupid and testing us cause some of us have reservations.

tradition!

Tradition.

 

Do you remember the song from Fiddler on the Roof?  I do.

 

We have many traditions in our family, and one of them is visiting Terra Studio's in Durham. There's something new there every time we go, and it's a wonderful magical place to hike or pic-nic. When we are there, a family must  is to visit the little people and have our photo taken with the guardian dragon and in the tree house. The first year I took the twins, they weren't tall enough to look out the window's on thier own and one of thier older sisters was holding them up inside. Now look at my babies!!!!

 

You can take a virtual tour of Terra's if you like. They're located here: http://www.terrastudios.com/  and if you're ever in my neck of the woods, be sure to drop in and we can take a pic nic over and feed the fishies.

Sing another one

I got to take my baby girl to her first real concert. I had forgotten what a wonderful artist Micheal English was. Rachel and I fully enjoyed the music and our girls night out.

New game.....

We learned a new game at 4-H Day Camp....

 

The Objective:          to WIN

 

The Tools:                1 ice cream bucket of water, sponges, an empty pop bottle, and sisters

 

The Method:             Divide game players in to two teams. The team leader lays down and holds the empty pop bottle on thier forehead. All other participants soak thier sponges in the water and then squeeze them in to the pop bottle. First team to fill thier bottle WINS....

 

 

oh...the photo....well, their team was not winning and tried to find an advantage. Their offense TOTALLY soaked Emily. Did she complain? No, are you kidding. It was 96 F. She loved every drop of it.

Go Faster Sewing Connection

What better activity than spending the morning learning to use a sewing machine during the 4-H Clothing Connection Workshop.

The Go Faster Daze of Summer

Whee! We've had a whirlwind of activity lately and tons of photos to show off.

This one is from our field trip to Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville, AR. You can take your own tour at www.RicksBakery.com