chickens – Page 3 – The Salem Garden

Free At Last!

After spending the last couple of weeks inside their coop our girls have finally decided to venture out to see what’s going on in the world.

It helps that after enduring snow, ice, wind, rain and extreme cold it’s 55 degrees today.

In all our winters of chicken keeping I’ve never seen them just refuse to come out like this. They sat inside for weeks. Here we are watching the skaters last weekend.

Of course things like that nice heater and fresh peppers to eat may play a part in their decision.

Sheba looks like she’s trying to remember what it was like to be outside.

Our little white hen and one of our pretty cochin look a bit shocked too.

Ever the lady, the little red hen stays out of the mud and just goes with the flow.

I think she knows something that I don’t.

I love her eyes. Wish that beak had focused a little bit better, but we’re a work in progress here.

I still think she’s the one who’s in charge (not everyone agrees). If she is, she just made her nine sisters spend three weeks in the house watching the wind blow.

Free at last!

Here’s the reason for the sudden venture outdoors… everything is melting including the pond. Hopefully the warm weather will last just long enough to smooth out the ice so it can re-freeze and put the skaters back in business.

How are your chickens doing this winter? Are they laying any eggs? I’ve been BUYING free range eggs.

I think we need to do some daylight therapy or something.

Enjoy everything!

Michele

Today’s Eggs

Aren’t they beautiful?

I’m always amazed at all of the different colors and sizes…

It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

What Do Chickens Do In The Winter?

I know, your all wondering… how are the girls? Are they cold? What are they doing?

I’m asked this so often, I thought that today would be the perfect day to talk about it.

It’s this cold out today! seriously cold…

Win and I took a walk down to check on the chickens. They were right there, greeting us like they always do.

I didn’t have a treat handy, but I’ll find something to take down later. This is their hopeful scramble… Dad is much better at remembering to take them things. Actually, he probably would have taken them homemade oatmeal or something…

Oreo didn’t care if I was there, she was staying inside. She’s one of our original hens. I think she arrived in 2007, our first chicken year.

There’s a heater.

along with the oatmeal… I sense a pattern here. It’s said that they don’t need heat, and I don’t think they do, but we feel better with just a little bit of heat to take the edge off.

Here’s their friend Zoe. She has a very nice hutch but she lives in the coop when it’s super cold out

They still lay eggs, at a slower rate, but it happens. We do put a light on for a little while at night to prolong their day time just a bit. The production slows down but it doesn’t quite stop completely.

They also take turns sitting in this chair.

and enjoying the view.

sounds good to me 🙂

Stay warm today!

Michele

Winterizing the Chicken Coop (theozarkhomestead.wordpress.com)

Winter Morning In the Salem Garden

Michael took these shots while I was still sleeping. I love the early morning but he’s much better at getting out there than I am…

Waiting for spring…

The asparagus bed…

A cold little girl…

She’s not too happy…

The rest of the ladies preferred to stay in the warm coop (kind of like their mama) 😉

Compost bin, still cooking (I hope)..

The birds need some food. Michael sat down to eat breakfast and glanced out at the feeder. As soon as he was reminded of it he ran outside to give them some seed before he ate. He really takes care of things, unlike me… I would have finished my french toast.

The boys wasted no time… I’m not sure about why their using a wagon. We do have sleds??

I just looked out and the yard is full of kids and sleds. I love these days!

Enjoy Everything~

Michele

A Little Thanksgiving Garden Update

In the midst of the cooking and cleaning and prep I managed to get out to the garden this morning, and to take some photos, and to do a little blog post! Yay!! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. For me it’s about giving thanks, real, true thanks, from deep within. I love preparing the food and spending a quiet day with family and friends.

This morning I harvested the last of the carrots. When we grow carrots I always try to save some for Thanksgiving dinner. There were more there than I thought, we will enjoy these for a few weeks..
There’s still some mesclun… this is so resilient, it’s amazing…

And there’s still sage. I picked a nice handful for the turkey.

And rosemary and thyme… for the turkey, stuffing and dinner rolls..

And of course there’s still plenty of chickens… they look pretty happy that this isn’t their holiday, ;

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Lots of love, Michele

What’s Happening in the Garden–September 26

I’m a little bit behind on my What’s Happening update. Soccer, dance and golf (and school) are our main focus right now. Garden time is precious, as is blogging time. Blogging makes me motivated to get things done out there. Right now I’m wishing I’d gotten fall veggies in. I missed the window, but this is life with a large busy family. I really try to take one thing at a time and enjoy it all!

Anyway, out to the garden we go!!

Bye-bye Black-eyed Susan! These will need to be cut back soon. If anyone who lives nearby would like some please let me know. They need to be divided.

We are still enjoying the zinnias! and that poor window box needs some attention. It gets lots of sun so if we miss a watering it suffers a lot.

There are still some peppers coming along. Just a few every few days, but we enjoy them.

Mesclun! Love, love, love this!

And the tomatoes are still producing too. I’m watching the frost predictions, we should be okay for a few more weeks. I guess I could bring them in but I don’t really have room and I like when they ripen on the vine.

Hello chickens! This one is cute but she’s a little bit aggressive for a buff orphington.

They really love the dust bath?

I don’t get it, but it’s fun to watch.

I would prefer this nice soft nest if I were them.

Lupines for next year! My neighbors Becky and Mags brought these over and I plopped them in. I’m looking forward to blooms next June. They are gorgeous over in their yard.

And this whole area needs to be dug out and reconfigured. Michael and I keep talking about it. This side of the yard makes me edgy because every time I set foot in here I find a snake. I hate snakes. For some reason I think I won’t see them just across the yard in the fenced in “garden”.. That chrysanthemum really popped out when the tree that used to be to it’s left was taken out in the spring. Good light means everything.

This Japanese Maple tree came from Mrs Landi’s yard. Mrs Landi is a very dear friend of my Mom’s. I’ve had it in this pot for several years because I can’t decide where to plant it. It’s looking a bit weather worn right now but it actually does very well like this. When it gets colder we’ll put it in the garage for the winter and just water it a little bit. Next spring it will be back and beautiful again. Someday I may plant it but I like to move it around and I enjoy it so much in the pot.

This is a stream of consciousness post if ever there was one!

Please leave me a comment so I know you were here. I keep seeing all the views and wondering who is actually reading this..

Off to clean, cook and take kids places!

Thanks for stopping by! Love, Michele

The Mystery of the Missing Eggs

So, we have fifteen chickens and we’re suddenly only getting an egg or two a day. I think their hiding them somewhere. I’ve looked high and low, in every nook and cranny. I can’t find the eggs anywhere! We let them free range later in the day, but it’s too late for all of them to be waiting to lay eggs out there. What do you think? Have any of you chicken raisers had your whole flock suddenly stop laying for no apparent reason? Help please! Leave a comment if you have any thoughts or ideas!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to consider my dilemma! We eat a lot of eggs here… I’m going to have to go buy some soon!

Love you lots!

Michele

5:17 am Chicken Call

Is that not an early hour to be woken up by squawking chickens?

Michael went down there to check on them and they were upset because a small part of their shelf had fallen down…

He fixed it, gave them some birdseed (have I mentioned that their a little bit pampered) and went back to bed.

I was up and awake…

The good thing about that was it gave me a few minutes to wander around the garden and enjoy the early morning.

I got to see this…

and this

and say good morning to the ladies

I could do all of that at 5:45 tomorrow though, or even 6:17 if I’m really lucky?

It’s going to be in the 90’s and humid here in New England today. Stay cool out there!

Michele

What’s Happening in the Garden — July 14th

July is kind of a funny month in the garden. It’s in-between in terms of blooming and beauty but it’s so hard at work!

I love watching things grow and change at this time of year.

Our potatoes are flowering! I didn’t know that potato flowers were this pretty.

I have to apologize for the less than clear shot, my camera focus has a mind of its own and this is what it was doing for potatoes this morning.

The Black-eyed Susan are ready to pop!

This is Scarlet Runner Bean climbing on the trellis. It’s ornamental and so pretty.

If you live locally give me a shout if you’d like some seeds for next year.

We have peppers! There are lots of buds… I hope they make it! I’d better reign that cucumber vine in if I want that to happen.

The dill is ready for pickles.

Here come some Kentucky Pole beans that I planted as the peas were winding down.

I hope they make the little leap over to the fence/trellis and start climbing.

This Rosemary plant wintered over. We covered it with a bucket on the coldest days. I usually pot Rosemary up in November and bring it in. It makes it until the middle of January, then I forget to water it just once and it dies immediately. I had the great pleasure of hearing Adelma Simms speak about herb gardening at Caprilands many years ago. I still remember her saying “a dry rosemary is a dead rosemary”. I find that to be true almost every winter.

In the coop, the younger side of the chicken flock is still favoring the corner.

They do come forward to eat and drink and their all interacting a little bit more every day. It just takes time.

The tomatoes look happy!

Balloon flower is blooming… such a fun plant!

Kids really enjoy it.

The Liatris bulbs that I planted in June popped up.

They went in kind of late but I think we’ll see some blooms.

As I looked through these photos I saw one common denominator… can you guess what it was? Here’s a hint, there’s some weeding to do 🙂

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great weekend!

Michele

The Great Chicken Integration!

So, last night at 10:00 just as I was about to take my shower and get my jammies on Michael said “come on outside, it’s time to move the chickens”… of course my immediate response was ” really? seriously? you want to do that now? do we have to? how about tomorrow night?” Please!!

He said, “nope, no way, their getting too big for the tractor, let’s go!”

(meanie!)

So off we went, with a flashlight, in the dark, to the far corner of my back yard.. One by one we dug them out of their little house in the chicken tractor and gingerly placed them, two together, in the nesting boxes in the coop with with big girls.. trying hard not to step on poop or anything else that might be out there.

Doing this meant that I slept lightly, worried about what today would bring. We’ve moved babies up quite a few times and there’s still that mother part of me that worries about what’s going to happen to them out there. I raced out at 6am with my little guy to check. It’s his job to feed them in the morning and I was concerned that he might encounter an unpleasant situation. Well, they were all in a tizzy but everyone was alive and well. The big girls were outside squawking because their territory had been invaded and they wanted to be fed their treats (have I mentioned that their a bit spoiled). The babies were hopping around the inside of the coop, kind of upset and disoriented but busy exploring their new home. I went out to check again a few minutes ago and they were all outside in the run together.. at opposite ends but definitely sharing the space.

Before we know it we’ll have a really healthy and beautiful flock of egg layers out there!

Mission accomplished!! Whew!

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