Wonderling

garden!

So I finally planted my garden this weekend. My mom came over and we cleared out the blackberry vines and planted the starts. There's corn, chives and basil in the back corner. Squash in the cage (last year the squirrels ate all my squash before it could get any bigger than a peanut). 

On this side are pole beans, parsley, oregano, onions and tomatoes. The marigolds around everything are to keep out pests. 

I finally clipped the chickens wings so they can roam the yard while I'm working in the garden. They had so much fun they were actually purring! The one in the foreground is taking a dirt bath. It kind of looks like she's having a seizure, but she was in chicken heaven. 

New Coop: third time's the charm!

This weekend was spent building a new coop for the chickens. Yes, another one.

Old coop:

New coop:

 

So why did I build yet another coop? A few reasons. First, the old one was just too small for 5 chickens. It was cozy for 3, but 5....too small. Second, there was no room in the old one for a waterer and food when the weather got too cold for the chickens to be outside. Third, the old one didn't have a real frame and I worried about it just collapsing (not to mention the doors fell off several times) and lastly, I just wanted a solid coop, built the right way. 

The new coop has a roof. Yes, finally a real roof. No blue tarp needed. It also has a window that's hinged to be a door as well. I realized right after I built the old coop that there was no way for light to get into it....a major design flaw. In the summer this new coop will have one whole wall open for ventilation and in the winter it will be as light inside as possible. I also added two more nesting boxes, this time with guards on the front and back to prevent eggs from being kicked out of the nesting area (I used to come home to eggs out in the yard area of the coop). 

Next chicken project is to make a feeder. The hanging plastic one is just not cutting it. I also need to paint the new coop. I'm thinking I'll go classic red, but I'm not entirely sold on it yet. 

the window/door is my favorite part of the new coop. Adam also did an awesome job on the ramp (as you can clearly see here)

The chickens LOVE the new coop. They each have their own space to settle in for the night. Before they were so squished that one of them slept in the doorway!

New Chickens

Tina Turner

and

 

Penelope

Too many eggs!

Through the workings of fate I have acquired two more chickens. This brings my flock to 5. Which means, of course, I will be expanding the coop once it stops snowing here. Along with the loud and sometimes scary implementation of the new "pecking order" came two more eggs a day. I thought this would be no problem since everyone wants fresh eggs right?? Unfortunately 2 dozen eggs a week is a lot more than I can even give away right now (not to mention my shortage of egg cartons). 

So what's an urban farmer to do? Make frittatas!

picture via Dani Spies

It's amazing how wonderful eggs and 'stuff' can be (stuff meaning whatever I have in my fridge and pantry, which lately isn't much). Dani uses quinoa in the above frittata and I am kicking myself for not adding any to the frittata I just put in the oven. Some recipes even use cooked spaghetti. 

So here's the basic recipe:

4-6 eggs (depends on the size of your pan/appetite)

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup grated cheese (whatever kind you like, parmesean is my favorite so far)

1/2 cup diced veggies (again, whatever you have/want)

one cooked and diced potato (optional)

1 tbsp italian seasoning mix

dash of salt

enough olive oil to coat the bottom and sides of your pan

pre-heat oven to 325. whip eggs and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients (unless you're using potatoes, you will want to pan fry them in the olive oil separately). pour mixture into pan. you will need to 'pull back' the sides of the frittata occasionally to allow the uncooked bits to drizzle down to the bottom and get cooked. Once frittata is solid enough flip out onto plate and slide upside down back into the pan, just long enough to cook the top part that will still be a bit mushy. Place frittata in a greased baking dish, sprinkle a little more cheese on the top and bake for about 20 mins. 

It seems a lot more complicated than it is. The whole process only took me about 35 mins, most of that time was the 20 mins in the oven. 

Biting the hand that feeds them.

originally uploaded by kozyndan

The snow and cold this week has taught me a lot about raising chickens. A LOT! From coop construction to heat lamps, I've worried several days away over the health and well being of my chickens in cold weather. 

So after a whole day of fretting that they were roasting in the tiny coop with the heat lamp blasting them all day, I got home and immediately let them out of the coop and checked on their food/water. Because my coop is so small, putting their food and water inside of it along with the three of them is a tight squeeze (not to mention that they have no qualms about pooping in their own water). When I looked the water had been knocked over and absorbed into the cedar shavings on the floor of the coop. I was relieved that they were all in tact, not roasted and seemed perky, so I took the waterer into the house to fill it up. 

What happened next only goes to show you how strong animal instincts are. 

As I was walking into the outdoor run attached to the coop, before I even had both feet in the door, one of the chickens leaped from the door of the coop and flew across the run to attack me! Well...not me, but the waterer. She was right on target, not a feather touched me. The waterer flew out of my hands, broke apart and splashed all over the frozen ground. I'm guessing they hadn't had water all day. 

So I learned my lesson for chickens in winter. I need a bigger coop. One that will accommodate a feeder, waterer and 3 hens with plenty of room. 

Chicken Talk

So now that I finally have the coop done and the whole chicken area is set for the winter I'm finding out about some other aspects of raising chickens. Mice and rats. I've now seen mice running from the coop area and into the neighbor's yard. The cats have also caught a mouse that came out of a door that opens to the inside of the wall (I knew it was only a matter of time before the mice came in since I live in the basement and next to the garage). A rat has also been digging under the coop, trying to get at the food. Thankfully I put chicken wire on the bottom of the coop too. 

I spent this morning working on "rodent proofing" the coop as best I could with what I had on hand. I hung the food bucket so it's off the ground and cleaned everything. I think the chickens will eat any mice that they can catch, so I'm not too worried about them. I also put boards down on half of the floor in the outside area where the rat has been digging. Hopefully that will help, but I am going to have to get some rat poison. 

I've also noticed some fun things about the chickens. When I walk into the coop the chickens will squat down and puff out their wings. I had no idea why they would do this. I thought they were scared and were squatting down in a defensive position. Then my friend who raises chickens told me that was their way of asking for some petting. It's the cutest thing! When I pet them they coo. 

They also make this super loud sqwaking sound right before and after they lay an egg. It's as if they're announcing it to everyone, "I'm gonna lay an egg! I'm gonna do it! I did it! I laid an egg!!". There's a video below that is pretty much what my girls do. It's cute

My baby lays a BLUE egg!

After taking the wrong route home yesterday (think horrible hills...HORRIBLE hills) I was happy to hear some high-pitched sqwaking from the coop. I knew it meant one thing: a hen had laid her first egg. I was super surpised to see that it was the youngest one, Pinto. Here's her lovely, lovely blue egg

New Coop!!

So this last weekend I did one thing and one thing only....built a new, improved, prettier coop for my ladies (With significant help from Adam of course!). This one has two roosts as well as a little side door for me to collect eggs so I don't have to walk through chicken poo to get them! They also can't jump up on top of this coop and poop all over it like the last one!

Mama chicken is nesting!! I don't think she was all that thrilled with my taking her picture....

My first Dozen!

So lovely. 

MY FIRST EGG!!!

Yesterday I was leaving the house for band practice and, like I always do, I walked by the chicken coop and said a little, "hey chickies!" to the chickens. Then something caught my eye....in the dark corner of the coop there was a tiny brown egg!! I dropped my bag and ran into the coop to confirm that there was, in fact, an egg. In my excitement I didn't think to take a picture of it sitting there in all it's glory, but it was lovely. 

Supposedly chickens will lay every day, so I'm hoping for another surprise this afternoon when I get home from work!