My roosters are trying to kill each other!

Two of my roosters started fighting each other, at first it was funny watching the chase all over the yard. I watched for maybe 10 minutes laughing because they had made about fifty laps. They got tired and eventually started the wrestling, neck biting, and spurring, that's when it wasn't funny anymore! I took my old trusty broom outside and tried to seperate them. They just bit the broom. A couple whacks on the fanny, they still wouldn't quit. At first I was furious and thought "fine kill each other" then I saw how much blood they had on their necks. I was about to cry. I couldn't make them quit fighting and I really didn't want them to kill each other. I finally grabbed a 5 gallon bucket filled it with water and threw it on them! The fight was over, thank goodness. I love my boys, they protect the girls from hawks. This weekend they had sounded the alarm while I was outside and to my horror right above my head was a hawk. I was so proud of them for seeing it and warning the others! I had always planned on keeping Lil' Squirt, and Old Man has the nicest feathered legs I have ever seen (he also didn't join in the fight) so those two will stay. Randy who I think got the best of Lil' Squirt at some point will have to go. When I can catch them, those two roo's will be penned up seperately. I will treat their wounds and once Randy heals he will be put up for sale. I hope Lil' Squirt and Old Man can get along after he's gone. I have never seen a fight that brutal before and I hope I never see one again!

For my gun ♥'in friends

This is too Funny!!!! Click Here ☺

I have a problem LOL!!!!

So I went to the feed store to take back my too tight overalls and came home with this cute little Silkie chick!!!! I'm not telling the hubs! I will see if he notices it when he gets home LOL!!!

Yesterday was a hard day. I intervened when I should have let nature take it's course. The baby chick didn't make it and by helping it hatch, I prolonged its misery. I screwed up folks and I can't take it back. So today with a sad heart, I am moving forward. I have repotted most of my seed starts. They are growing wonderfully, Spring better hurry up and get here because I'm ready! I've packed my goat birthing bag. My does ligaments were loose Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I didn't check them yesterday and today they are tightened back up. I don't know what this means, but I am ready for her to kid. Last night I noticed I have a broody hen. The funny thing is she likes to lay her eggs in the little chickens coop not the big coop. So I drug her fanny out of there and put her to bed in her coop, but today she is back in the little coop and screaming at me when I check on her. I guess she will be living there for the next three weeks. I'm going to put some cochin eggs under her and hopefully we will have our first natural hatch this Spring ☺ Enjoy your day! I will be doing laundry and cleaning house :/

Giveaway!!!!

Hidden Haven Homestead Too is doing a Facebook giveaway! Her FB page is soo awesome, it's the page that inspired me to start my own FB page! So in honor of her reaching 100 likes she is giving away three bars of the cutest goats milk soap!!!! So check out her page and like it (you will ♥ it)!

Geesh!

I am so over this hatch! Maybe it's the weather or the five days of chickens hatching but I'm glad it's over! I got the incubator cleaned up, the Maran eggs put back in and the temperature set to 99.5. I'm looking very forward to that hatch but I'm glad I'll have a week's break! The little chicken I peeled out of it's shell this morning spends most of it's time on it's back doing the dying cockroach! Not good when your siblings are 2 and 3 days older geesh! And then one of the other chicks just doesn't look right. I showed it to my husband last night. I think it's missing a chromosone or something it's face looks weird, it acts drunk, and it's got a slight case of spraddle leg. Double geesh!!! The other four thank goodness are perfectly fine. Has anyone ever had a baby chick that acted like a drunken, crazy legged, goober?

Snow!!!!!!

We finally got snow! I'm going to break out my snow boots today, they have been on vacation for awhile! Here's some pics of the chickens in the snow and the goats haven't left the barn since it started LOL!!!! I think the little chickens think the pallet will save them and the big girls will just stay in their nice dry coop ☺ After 24 hours and no progress from the last baby chick, I intervened this morning. I helped it from it's shell and boy I'm glad I did it was a big chickie! It seemed to be chilled so I watched it for what seemed like forever and decided to blow dry it. It's sleeping now and not shaking, so I hope it wasn't cold for too long. First time doing that and it wasn't fun, but the baby is okay ☺

Baby Chicks :)

Sunday, day 23 of incubating the first two chicks hatched! The first one is soo cute all yellow like it's mommy. It's personality is already telling me it's a roo, we'll see :/ Monday morning I woke up to two babies in the bator and by the afternoon one more hatched ☺ This morning day 25 I started to take all the maran eggs out and wrap them in a blanket so I could clean the incubator before they hatch and the plan was to toss the remaining two eggs from this first hatch, well one is cheeping in it's egg, so cleaning will have to wait! These cute little barnyard mutts are 1/2 New Hampshire Red, 1/4 Barnvelder, and 1/4 Cochin! Only one is colored like a New Hampshire Red and the other four look like Barnvelder chipmunks only blonder. And only one of the chipmunks got the feathered legs! This hatch had been yet another learning experience. I think the temperature was too low for too long this time and that caused the delayed hatch. I will be buying a new themometer before incubating again for sure!!!! Sunday we also got my two evil roosters into the freezer! The yard is so peaceful now and I don't have to carry around my broom to shoo them away! I plan on 86'ing the fall garden and getting the raised beds ready for planting today. I think the next two days are going to be icy, rainy, and cold, so outside work needs to get done today! Have a great day ya'll!!!!

For those of you checking your doe's butts everyday LOL!!!

Doe Code of Honor The doe’s secret code of honor is as old as goats themselves and is the species best kept secret. No doe shall ever kid before its time. (Its time being determined by the following factors): 1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner’s house must be a wreck, their family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent. 2- “Midwives” must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability to form a sentence mean the time is getting close. 3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each item. If they use an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting. 4- If you hear the words, “She’s nowhere near ready. She’ll be fine while we’re away for the weekend,” Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing! 5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you’re getting close. 6- When you hear the words “I can’t take it anymore!” wait at least three more days. 7 -You must keep this waiting game interesting. False alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait. 8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates. Think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time. 9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you’re waiting for. In the heart of the storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching for a flashlight that works! 10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too. Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind man of how truly special goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait.~~~~ Author Unknown~~~~~~~~ Sorry about the spacing! WONKY BLOGGER!!!!!

Saturday

You know the old saying don't count your chickens before they hatch! Well I counted them and guess what, they haven't hatched yet! I think I had the temperature a little lower than last time. I had planned on getting a new themometer before I incubated again, but I didn't :/ I have raised the temp and keep checking so far not even a pip. I hope I fix this hatching problem with the barnyard beauties, because my Marans are due to hatch in 10 days and I don't want them to fail. We got the stanchion built last week and finally got Miss Lady on it yesterday. She did pretty good for her first time she really likes the sweet feed ☺ Trimmed some hooves and attempted to shave some hair off my girl, but my brand new clippers quit working after about 10 minutes! I'm planting my trees tomorrow before I host a party for my MIL's birthday, I hope I get my house clean! Have a great weekend y'all!

Valentine Gift

The hubs outdid himself this year!!!! For this Valentines I received a nice bouquet of flowers, three fruit trees, and a pair of overalls! I don't know how long it took him to guess my size and find a pair of mens overalls to fit me, but they fit like a glove! According to him, he had never seen anyone look so good in overalls, but they are a little snug in some parts and although I might look "hot" in them, I would rather be comfortable while working in the garden. My goal with the overalls is to avoid having plumbers butt and these gave me a super wedgie! I did enjoy the compliments but they are going back to the store. I'm impressed with his thoughtful and sensible gifts this year. It shows me that he is really listening when I talk LOL!!!! What did you get for Valentines Day?

Facebook

Hey guys I have a Facebook page! If you've read my blog for very long you know how techno-challenged I am, so this is a big deal LOL!!! I'm still having issue figuring out how to facelift stuff and put it on my page correctly but whatever, I will eventually figure it out ☺ So please look up Happy Hollow Homestead on FB and feel free to push the LIKE button! I promise not to clog up your newsfeed everyday! Happy Valentines Day Y'all!!!!!

Snow???

Isn't it crazy how the weather can energize us! During our week of flu sickness, I still managed to get outside for two 60 degree days and finish the barn painting project I had started the day I got sick! Pictures of that to come soon. It looks amazing! Today with the threat of cold rain turning to snow, my usual coop cleaning chores are already done and it's only 10am! I plan on making white chili tonight! I have never tried it before. I think it will be a nice change. It has chicken instead of beef and great northern beans instead of the ranch style beans I normally use. Chili with a little cornbread, chores done, and a warm (but dirty)house. Bring on the snow, I'm ready ☺ The latest chicken news, today I quit turning some of the eggs in the bator, they are due to hatch Friday ☺ My two pullets that hatched early September are laying now! One of my little cochins layed an egg last night and it was the cutest thing, barely bigger than a quarter. It reminded me of Ms. Squirty's first egg, she made quite the fuss that evening and I was so worried about her, around 9pm I came in with the cutest pink egg, I think I even cried LOL! I miss her so much but I have 10 of her offspring and a few of them have her spunky attitude ☺ Stay warm and safe!!!

This was Ms. Angelsquirt's egg from last year :) I can't seem to upload pictures from my camera today, but her sweet daughters egg looks about the same maybe smaller and not as pink. They make great deviled eggs!

How many chickens.......

Is too many? I'm curious to know how many chickens you guys have! I'm at chicken count 21 with 21 in the incubator! I all goes right this would put me at chicken count 42! Well until I send a couple of horrible roosters to freezer camp! Also do you let yours free range? and on how much land? Mine stay on probally less than an acre so poop scoopin' is a daily event for me. I am just wanting to know if I am turning into THE CRAZY CHICKEN LADY!!!!! That little guy in the picture says YES!!!

I got a phone call today in response to a letter I sent. I'm giddy with excitement over this! Look for another fun giveaway really soon, this one will be sponsored!!!!!

And the winner is...........

Roxie, from Sweet Vintage of Mine! Congratulations! Send me an email with your address and which bag you want and I will get it in the mail ☺ daveandkelly1@gmail.com

Blogger ?'s, last hours, and eggs ☺

I'm hoping my blogger savvy friends can help me out ☺ Two questions. 1st one~ Once you leave a comment on a fellow bloggers post is there a way to get a notification that they replyed without repeatedly going back to that post like a crazed stalker? 2nd question~I want to put my own pictures behind my blog header, what button do I push to do that? And one more ? Why can't I have spaces in my text anymore? WONKY BLOGGER!!!!!!!!! You still have about three hours to enter my most fabulous giveaway for an upcycled tote, so get your buns over to that post and comment!

Final thing, I got my beautiful dark chocolate eggs in the mail yesterday morning. What a treat when your dog sick! I asked for 12 and I got 15, Kristin is the sweetest ☺ I'm going to candle them in a couple of days and see what's going on if I can even see inside the eggs they are soo dark! I already had the incubator going with seven eggs they are due Valentines Day. They will be 1/2 New Hampshire Red, 1/4 Barnvelder, and 1/4 Cochin. INTERESTING mix if you ask me! I can't wait to see what these barnyard beauties grow up to look like!!!! Okay that's it, please help this blog dufus out ☺☺☺☺

Sick :p

The flu is going through our house, even though we all have had flu shots we still got it! My little one brought it home from school last week. Her dad was down from Thursday night until he had to go to work on Monday and I got sick suddenly Sunday night. I'm going to strip all beds today, wash all blankies, open the windows and spray every inch of this house with Lysol. Thank you to Parsley for posting about Oscillococcinum I started taking it first thing yesterday morning and I think it's kept me from being too tired. I'm looking forward to the mail today, I hope my dozen fertile Maran eggs will be in there, I'm going to put them in the incubator right away. Regardless how I feel the animals still need me and life on the homestead is still going strong. If you haven't signed up for my giveaway the clock is ticking so hop over to that post and comment ☺

Strawberry Seeds

Call me silly but I didn't realize I could grow strawberries at home! I thought you had to buy them at the nursery for twenty bucks a flat! I was so excited to find these while looking through the Baker Creek Heirloom seed catalog! I'm trying the Garden Berry Red Wonder Wild Strawberry and the Yellow Wonder Wild Strawberry! The yellow one looks sooo neat! The back of the envelope says they are very tasy and unique looking and many prefer the taste of the yellow fruited type to the more common red strawberry. Last year when I started my strawberry patch we didn't get a fence around it quick enough and the chickens took out most of the plants. So fence is up, chickens are out and I'm going to attempt to fill the bed back up with these beauties!!!!! I have 36 pots with seeds in them. I will keep you posted on my progress :) Has anyone else grown strawberries from seed?