New Years Eve

It's raining today ☺ I have been covering my raised beds every night and beginning to think it's silly. I'm hoping this rain will give my veggies the final push to grow so I can harvest what's left. Last year I harvested brussell sprouts late into Febuary, this winter is already proving to be much colder. I still have broccoli, brussell sprouts, and collard greens. I'm going to cook the greens tomorrow for New Years Day, my mom says it brings you good fortune for the year. I'll take a serving of that ☺ I know my critters aren't enjoying this weather today, but it's just a day and it's washing chicken poop off porches and bird poop off my car and fingers crossed amping up my veggies!
I sewed all day yesterday, I made three tote bags out of feed sacks, a few reusable veggie bags to take to the store, I'll be interested to see how those hold up, and I made the cutest curtains for my goat barn. I will take pictures of them as soon as the weather clears up!


Happy New Year to all my blog friends, I hope 2013 brings us all good luck and fortune!!!! Eat your black eyed peas and collard greens though just to make sure☺

Boogers, Barf, and Christmas

Update::: I changed the name of my post, it was more fitting LOL!!! Also just made Mama Peas cauliflower cheese soup. It's delish, I'm so glad she shared it with us ☺

We had a great Christmas this year, we were supposed to get snow Christmas day, Ha! not even a flake but it was cold!!! My mom suprised me with an apron with recipes transfered onto the fabric. Some of the recipes are in my grandads writing, he's been gone for sixteen years but I feel him with me quite a bit, especially now that I am doing the things he loved to do. So that present was very special ♥ At my grandma's we always do a "white elephant" "dirty santa" whatever you want to call it game. It's pretty fun! This year after all was said and done my cousins wife was wanting our OU hooded bath towel, so my husband started trading with her. So we ended up with this....
and a Si from Duck Dynasty shirt! I love, it!!!! Redneckanize!!!! I also received a package in the mail from a fellow blogger ☺ I was like a little kid opening it up! I got wild grape jelly, it's good. You don't realize how much sugary corn crap is in store bought jelly until you have homemade grape jelly. Thank you CR it is awesome!!!!
That night I went to bed with a sore throat and woke up Christmas eve sick! My oldest had a stomach bug that same day but we carried on. We had one more party with the hubs family. I made it through and passed out on the couch until 5am when I had to get up and finish wrapping presents and making magic happen. Luckily my little one was really tired and didn't wake up until after nine, so I got a little more sleep! I made ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, candied yams, deviled eggs, and rolls that day. It took forever with my cold! I ate, and slept the rest of the day! My middle girl woke us up at 2 am with the stomach bug her sister had, let me just say I'm glad my nose was clogged!!!! She didn't make it to the toilet in time uuuggghhh gross!!!
The tree is down as of yesterday. Our weather has been absolutely cold! I keep covering my garden HA! We'll see how long this goes on or if they survive! You never know, this is Oklahoma and it could warm up! My little chickens have been free ranging since my last post, I was going to wait but they rushed the door and came out. They put themselves up every night now, I'm soo proud. I ♥♥♥ having ten little furry footed fluffy butts in my yard! One of the little roos is a keeper! He is mean and nosy but his personalitly is just like his mamas was so his name is Lil' Squirt! I lost one chicken last Thursday, I don't know if predators like that day but it's not a good day on my farm. I'm thinking hawk. I saw a huge one feasting on something in my neighbors yard, it might have been my little chicken :( Miss Lolly hasn't had babies yet. I'm still hopeful but if she doesn't this time we are going to rethink keeping rabbits.
As for my pay it forward homemade gifts, well I didn't get them done by Christmas so you guys are just going to get a gift on a random day probally in the year 2013!!!!!!!  Have a great weekend y'all!!!

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

His sore throat and boogery nose!!! Merry Chrismas from my sickly home to yours!!!

Friday...

We're still here! YEAH!!!! Yesterday was crazy windy! 55+mph wind gusts with 35mph sustainable winds and it was cold! At some point something got one of my chickens :(  It may have been the big cat I've seen creeping around. It's been a few months since we have lost any birds, but not long enough. So thank God today is a beautiful day and I am able to stay outside with the critters!!!! I have moved my Miss Lolly (rabbit) into the house. I think she's really pregnant this time! She has built a beautiful nest and is as big as a barn! She is due Christmas day and we are supposed to have snow and really cold temps. I can't have the fur babies out in that! Our grandpa had found a chinchilla cage, I'm not one to turn down any sort of critter cage especially free!!! So I cleaned it up, it took forever it was NASTY, calmly (it's a miracle) got Lolly into the pet taxi and brought her in. My husband had built the rabbits fully enclosed boxes with a little rabbit hole to get in and out of, so when I looked in hers I found the most beautiful nest! So I brought her rabbit box/nest in and opened the door to the new cage and just sat the box in front of the door. Fingers crossed for healthy baby buns on Christmas! This will be my first and I have had rabbits for almost two years, so I'm excited ☺

Some more LOL's

This isn't our elf I Facelifted it LOL!!!

 

LOL!!!

End of the World.......

I don't want to be this way, but I'm scared! Not of the end of the world on Friday at 11 or whenever they say it will happen, but of people. People have gone nuts!!! I am usually a homebody anyways, but I also procrastinate especially around the holidays, so I still have alot to do. Today I am going to gather everything I need to stay home until my families Christmas party Saturday. I need to finish up some homemade gifts and baked goodies anyway, so those will get done! I have told several people today that I'm staying in for the next two days and they ask why and I say because I'm afraid people will be nutty because of the end of the world thing. They don't even know what I'm talking about, so now I look nutty. Whatever, I have two tons of crap to do, and I will be home just in case. I hope everyone stays safe these next few days, I don't know what if anything is going to happen, but my gut says to stay put!!!! So take care my friends ♥

I'm hoping things settle down and I can get back to posting Happy Homestead stuff instead of being Debbie Doomsday! So don't leave me yet, things are just really bugging me lately, there is alot of bad things happening in our world but I am hopeful things change for the better☺

Hunting eggs :/

The other day I posted about processing six roo's. That night we put three girls and the lucky boy in with the big girls. I have been letting them out earlier than normal because anyone with chickens knows that there is alot of butt kickin' going on until everyone finds their place in the flock. Well I didn't get eggs for almost a week! With one egg a day this is horrible, so the other day I was refilling the hay manger for the goats and in the bottom area that catches the dropped hay I found two eggs!!! One of my hens that I thought was molting is laying again, yippee, but in the hay manger! So now I started checking the hay manger daily for eggs, and they are there!!! The next day my little lucky roo was sounding the alarm, I went to see if the cat that's been sneaking around lately was beside the shop and nothing was there except a nest of four eggs from a different hen!!!! She went back to the same spot the next day and started screaming because I had taken her eggs LOL!!!! So now she has made a nest on top of the hay stack in the goat barn! Good grief!!! I know the big change in the flock has caused them to go wonky with their egg laying, I just don't know how to fix it! It's kinda fun hunting for eggs everyday except when you can't find them!!! Any suggestions on how to get them laying in the coop again?
The baby chicks have finally started putting themselves on the third level of the new coop each night. I do have to bribe them with scratch on level two and make sure the light is on all before 4:30 but hey whatever works. I will let them start free ranging next week if they keep up the good work ☺
Bella and I put lights on a small tree outside of the coop last night. It's the chickens Christmas tree ☺
Enjoy this beautiful day everyone!

They are in God's hands.......

That's what I keep telling myself this morning. I can't quit crying though, I don't know why. Since my 1st grader stepped out of the car the tears came and they won't stop. The school had a police officer there, I don't know if that triggered my emotions by making all of this more real or what. My kids are at school, they are in Gods hands until this afternoon, it's going to be a long week of praying, and a huge relief to have them home for Christmas vacation.

♥Hug your babies, pray for the families who lost their little ones, and embrace the true meaning of Christmas ♥

 

Silence of the yard....

The homestead is too quiet now. We processed (or whatever you want to call it) six roosters. There used to be too much crowing and now there is none. I miss my big boys :( but one would chase my children and the other would chase my dog so they had to go.


the button looks like a smiley face LOL!!!

I made a beaded crochet bracelet the other day, thanks to Kim at the red farmhouse for the inspiration and link to the instructions. This one I will give to my cousin in California ☺

The baby chickens in the new coop have started coming down to the first level during the day, well thirteen of them, one must be scared of heights. At night they wait for me to put them one by one back on the third floor! If they were smart they would put themselves up at night, that's when I will let them free range during the day!
We now have two layers, two molters, and a ton of babies! One rooster survived butchering day only because the hubs thought he could get him without me. HA!!!! I am chicken mama and I know my chickens. I told him REPEATEDLY that we need to get him together and he took it upon himself to get him. Well he got away LOL!!!!

It's really cold here today. Last night I harvested a bunch of collard greens, I will cook them down and put them in freezer bags, thank you Sunnybrook Farm for the info ☺ I also harvested three heads of broccoli! I can't wait for dinner tonight, my little one is already gagging at the thought, but it will be yummy!

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

This week....

I have not only been having fun with the elf! And playing with my adorable puppy! I have made soap! The white one is my plain ol' goats milk soap and the brown one is called peppermint patty ☺ It looks like a brownie and smells like peppermint! The hubs thinks it looks gross but smells good, I will share the recipe once it's ready and I can try it!

 

I was also pleasantly surprised that my tomatoes ripened in the window. Yummy! I'm going to make chow chow with the green ones. My mom and I love chow chow on bean chowder ☺ Hopefully the recipe I have is a good one!

And for those of you who like the elf pics, Snowball was found watching a movie with Flynn Ryder this morning! Have a great day everyone ☺







Welcome ☺

Welcome to my newest followers. Thank you for joining me on my journey! I hope my daily elf stuff isn't putting you off. I am really having fun with it and just want to share!!! So welcom Creative Carmelina, DFW, Steve, 5 Monkeys and a Chick, Misty, Sandy ( a fellow okie), and Jacey Storer. If you have a blog link that my technologically challenged self didn't find please leave it in the comments. I would love to check out your blog too ☺

Wednesday

Thank you  Jacked Up Glock Mom for this idea for snowball! I think a wood booger could be in the car and my child wouldn't notice! She's not too observant in the mornings LOL!!! Maybe after school she will find her ☺

I am very busy today but wanted to tell all my blog girlfriends thank you for your comments! I love your stories about what you want for Christmas! We girls are awesome and our fella's are lucky to have us!!! I hope everyone gets what they want for Christmas (goat prodders, ammo, guns, clean rooms, good health, ect. )!!! Have a great day!!!

I'm not normal!!!

I went to Walmart last night, I had to, I hadn't been in forever and we were out of alot of things. Walking through the aisles of CRAP made me long for sturdy well made products. Where are they? Everything is soo disposable its sad. I avoided the toy isle completely... I have a small child and I know what happens to most of those "cool right now" toys, they end up at the Goodwill! I did find my neice, what I think is a nice present. I still have alot of presents to get and not alot of time especially if I want them to be thoughtful gifts. Anyway, heres why I feel "not normal". Last Christmas eve my husband built me a compost bin! It was a great present! This year I want a clothesline, so I can save on energy costs and dryer sheets, outdoor fresh you can't get anymore outdoor fresh than being outside!!!! My dad is building me a rain barrel! I've been wanting one for awhile but had to get guttering first LOL!!! These are presents a "normal" woman shouldn't want!!! What are my blog girlfriends wanting for Christmas? Hopefully I'm not alone in my weirdness ☺

For you Mama Bear LOL!!!

Snowball was taking a bubble bath with friends this morning ☺
She says Hi Mama Bear!!!!

Monday

Snowball was found this morning looking at my little ones Christmas list!

Chicken coop is DONE!!! It still needs paint and I'm sure we will have a few things to change. It's three levels and we didn't get it done until late last night, so I put the birds (two by two) into the top roost area. This morning only one was brave enough to stand on the ramp so I put them (one by one) into the bottom open area. I hope they start exploring today and visit the second floor nest boxes and then find their way back to the top floor roosts or I will once again have to put them (two by two) into their roosts. I am hoping by the end of the week they can venture out into the yard and will then put themselves up at night. My little one who used to be an outdoors girl has been petrified of our yard since our rooster Larry chases her anytime she comes out. She now spends most of her time indoors and when she's out has anxiety. I think the time has come to just have only sweet ladies in the yard. We have about eight roo's that need to be sent to freezer camp and that still leaves us with four (for now)!!!! Time was against us this weekend and the hubs is back to work so I'm hoping this coming weekend we will stock the freezer. It will be much safer for the little chickies to come into the yard without the boys although some of the big girls can be rough with the little chicks, I guess it's the pecking order business. I will take pics once it's all done ☺

What did snowball do today?

She made snowflakes out of napkins ☺

And yes my green, reuseable, friends, I am going to use cloth napkins. I hate wasting paper. I am faced with a little resistance here from the family but they don't do the shopping so I will win ☺

I also forgot a piece of yesterday's story. While the hubs was taking care of the bird, he had a shop light shining on him and into the woods. He was skinning away and heard a noise, when he looked up a fox was about 20 feet away staring at him and walking across the clearing to the other side of the woods. He was so shocked at how close it was he just stared at it, and he only had a knife on him so he wasn't prepared for this guy. Peeing around the yard is back on in full force. That is a chore I don't think he'll mind LOL!!!!

Snowball has arrived!

Snowball the elf on the shelf is here today! This should be fun ;)

A real quick story. Last night I was super busy with my girls and didn't have time to mess with my chickens. So, my husband put them up for me, let me just say he never has to do this!!!! Eighteen of the chicks I hatched still live in the big brood boxes in the shop until the new coop is built so everyday I take them two by two to my fenced in garden to spend the day and every night I take them two by two back to the shop. I end each evening huffing and puffing from the nine trips and sick of all these roosters (we have plans for them and soon). The hubs says he'll take care of it LOL!!! I get back from dropping my little one off at a dance and he has one of the roosters in the tree! I guess it wouldn't cooperate (duh!) and he got irritated with it (men!) so now it's in the fridge! It was headed there anyways, it just got there quicker than the others. All I have to say is HA!!!!! Now he knows what I do every night and he couldn't do it without someone getting butchered!!!!
Seven more roosters are headed to the freezer this weekend and hopefully the new coop will be done tomorrow ☺

Food Dehydrator

So the hubs borrowed a food dehydrator to make deer jerky. Did I tell you all he got his first deer? It was just outback in the woods not too far from the house, well he's addicted to hunting now. I'm not loving deer meat so far, either I cooked it wrong or they processed it wrong, but it was just wrong!!! Any recipes would be much appreciated ☺ So he made jerky, and I just cleaned the machine today and I just happened to have a bag of cranberries and two pineapples that I got for a great price!!! So I am dehydrating those and so far soo yummy!!! We may never return this item to his friend or it needs to be on someones Christmas list!!! Has anyone used a dehydrator before? What did you shrivel?

And Mama bear, I am going tomorrow to the post office! Dealing with this little puppy is a big pain in the butt! I have to take it everywhere so I don't go anywhere and if I do it's a really quick trip! But the post office will be my quick trip tomorrow ☺

And the winner is.......

Mamma Bear!!!! Thank you to everyone that commented, this was fun! Congratulations Mamma Bear you can send me your address to  daveandkelly1@gmail.com ☺

Last Chance ☺

Okay guys last chance to sign up for my giveaway I will put the names in the hat around 6 in the morning but will wait till my little one gets up so she can do the drawing so go comment on my post for your chance to win some soap Good Luck☺

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends!!!!! I love blogging because of you guys! I talk about some of you, like you live down the road LOL!!! I hope everyone has had a great day ☺

Babies and 100th Post Giveaway!!!

The prize!

My youngest daughter is finally on the mend. We had to go back to the doctor Tuesday because she had a fever that wouldn't go away. They did another chest xray and her pneumonia was clearing up, but the fever was a problem. They gave her another antibiotic to take and it has helped her finally!!! She didn't eat for days and still doesn't eat alot and taking two antibiotics she has a messed up stomach. Attempted school today and ended up back home two hours later. I'm confident she is getting better, now I just need to get her tummy up to snuff.


My puppies to go bag

 

Yesterday I made my puppy a travel bag out of  two placemats, a napkin, some lace, and an old canvas bag. Cost me maybe three bucks and eight hours off and on of putting it together. I love it! Almost as much as I love this puppy!!! I don't know how I could love something soo much in such a short time, but I adore this little girl. Her name is Angel ☺


♥her little eyes opened two days ago ♥

Now for the giveaway! I can't believe I have posted 100 times, WOW!!! So in celebration I am giving away two bars of my goats milk soap! Just leave a comment on this post and I will put your name in the hat! The winner will be picked November 25th I know that's a long time but with the holidays I wanted everyone to have a chance to enter ☺ Have a great weekend everyone and good luck!!!!

Puppy Update

I took one of the puppies back to my dad's house. It was the runt of the litter and I didn't feel like it was thriving on formula. They are letting the mama dog nurse the pups twice a day and supplementing the rest of the time ( thanks to the homestead lady's advise, she's been eating cottage cheese and tums) and the pups they have are BIG, mama's milk is the best for sure!!! I kept the little pup I will keep as my own. She is still smaller than my dads pups since she's only getting puppy formula. I'm going to mix her up new formula that's goats milk, yogurt, egg yolk, and syrup. I'm hoping this mix will be good for her! She is eating, peeing, and pooping great so hopefully this new formula will make her want to eat more and put on more weight. She's a little doll and I can tell she's going to be ROTTEN!

I got a suprise gift today, one I have wanted for years! It was quite a suprise and I'm still in shock! But I now own a Kitchenaid stand mixer!!!!!! Let the baking begin!!!!!!

On a crappy note, my youngest has been sick for over a week and only went to school Monday. A trip to the doctor on Thursday and we found out she has bacterial pneumonia :( We haven't really left the house except a quick trip to my dads today which she was ready to come back home and take a nap. It's scary when your kids are sick especially when you don't realize how seriously sick they are. I love this kid soo much, she's a hoot, and will grow up to be a very special lady for sure. Wednesday I couldn't wait for her to go to school and now I'm just happy she can breathe. I have a bit of cabin fever being cooped up with a sick child and baby pup but I am glad just to be here with them ☺

My next post will be number 100! I can't believe it! I will have my FIRST EVER give away, it will be a homemade something or other so get ready, it will be fun!!!!

A little funny!!!

Watch this video! It's too funny!!!
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=492147367484858

Puppies

I know today is a bit of a bummer for most people including myself, but I wanted to show you the puppies! Yesterday my dad's momma dog got really sick and almost died from a deficiancy caused from nursing her pups. Anyway, she had six puppies nine days ago. She can no longer nurse them because of her health so they are all on the bottle. I picked up two yesterday to take care of. They are like newborn babies up all night, super needy, but soo cute. This probally wasn't the best idea since my time is soo precious and now I have to spend it with them, but this is an experience I will cherish good or bad. I really didn't want another non productive mouth to feed but with three girls in the house we just couldn't resist such a cute puppy? Dumb or not I have them in my care and I will keep you all updated on their progress!
p.s. We are only keeping one. I just brought home another one for cuddling purposes!

Tuesday

I only made it a week without posting or commenting! I did look at everyones posts daily, I just couldn't help it!!! With winter looming and the election ever so present I felt completely unprepared! I don't even think I would be ready for a winter storm much less the zombie apocalypse my middle daughter talks about LOL! I still don't feel very prepared for the winter but I'm getting there.

Has anyone read about Temple Grandin? I recently read her book and was impressed with her ability to connect with the animals. One cold day I went to get my five little chickens out of their cage so they could roam the yard and I had on gloves. I hadn't worn gloves before to take them out so they all freaked! You would've thought I threw a coon in their cage the way they acted. I took off my gloves and they settled down and came to the door so I could put them on the ground! Temple was right, even those tiny brained birds don't like change! Silly story but I thought it was interesting and wanted to share.

The 23 chickens I hatched are growing like crazy! 12 are pullets and 11 are cockerels! Three of the little guys have already started crowing.

I have the craziest story to share about my boy goat. I have a video to upload and then I will share it. It was a long day thats for sure!!! The goat barn is useable and we built a hay manger this weekend that will keep them from wasting so much I will take pictures soon!

I harvested two pie pumpkins and even though my pumpkin vine died from the last frost the pumpkins are turning orange still ☺ My fall garden is looking great and so far we are harvesting lettuce and I hope we get a couple of tomatoes soon! I also harvested a big bag of pecans, I need to start cracking them for Thanksgiving pie!

I also made goats milk soap with a new recipe, I have tried a bar and it's heaven to the skin but doesn't last long, maybe I didn't let it cure long enough, I don't know!

The middle bars are oatmeal, I haven't tried it yet!

Have a good day everyone!

MIA

The last few days I have realized some things, like I spend entirely too much time on the internet. I have read some things this morning (not on blogger) that have put things into perspective for me. So I have renewed energy to get back to doing what I need to do so I will not be blogging for a little while! I will miss reading what you guys are up to, but I need to get busy around here. So take care my friends and I will be back in a few weeks ☺

Welcome ☺

Mama Pea this pic is for you! I have my first ever pumpkins turning orange!!! Of course we are getting a frost Friday and Saturday morning :/ but after battling squash bugs and the heat wave I'm covering these babies up so hopefully they will survive until Thanksgiving!

Welcome to my newest followers
Mamma bear @ http://challengedsurvival.blogspot.com/
lisa.berry01 @ http://ewescrazysoisi.blogspot.com/
L Murano @ http://muranochickenfarm.blogspot.com/
Rocky Oak Homestead @  www.rockyoakhomestead.com
Mystic Mud @ http://mysticmud.blogspot.com/
Parsley @ http://seasonsofmymind.blogspot.com/
Kitty Moore @ http://kittymoore.blogspot.com/
fullfreezer @ http://fullfreezer.blogspot.com/
Thank you all for clicking that button and joining me and my family on our journey to self sufficiency!

Hard Cider!

I mixed up some hard cider today and it smells yummylicious!!! Jenna at Cold Antler Farm, so graciously shared her recipe heres the link http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/10/make-small-batch-of-hard-cider.html#links  if you want to try it yourself, it's soo easy and I bet it's going to be good ☺

Thank God It's Monday!

We got alot done on the goat barn this weekend, but I am glad it's Monday and the kids are back in school, the husbands at work, and I can get to work on cleaning this house! I spent most of this weekend outside with my husband holding boards and whatnot! I would come in clear a space in the kitchen cook something and go back outside. Dishes aren't my favorite thing to do, so needless to say my kitchen looks like a bunch of lazy teens live here, oh wait they do LOL!!! Grandpa brought us a window yesterday so we added it to the barn, it's on the side that is mine and the goats will only be in there to be milked so I'm hoping it doesn't get busted out! We had to put a piece of metal over it because they already tested it out in the short time they were running wild while we redid their pen! I found two doors on Craigslist this weekend. One is a vintage door that had a glass window, we took the glass out so it will go inside the barn as the door to the milking area. The other is metal and is for the outside entrance for me to get in ☺ So far I think we are still under $300 for the build, we got the metal free from my dad, so all the cost has been lumber.



shabby chic don't ya think ♥

this is a picture of our back back yard the hubs builds targets when I don't have him slaving away as a farmhand ☺

a better view of the inside

I found this buried in the dirt in the yard. It made me think of my grandad ☺

Progress!

Poles are set for the goat barn!!! I didn't take any pictures because I was holding the beams but I will take some as we continue to work! The goaties were their usual overly helpful selfs giving us kisses as we dug holes :p The hubs has a job out of town for awhile so his days will be longer than normal. So I have decided to take on my first build! I am going to transform my daughters playhut she no longer uses into a chicken coop for my new babies. Our existing chicken coop will hold the first five we hatched plus the six big ones we already have comfortably but I need space for the 18 little ones! I'm no builder, so this may be the wonkiest coop yet LOL!!! The first five chicks I hatched are getting big, I have for sure 2 girls and for sure 2 roos 1 is iffy but I think it's a boy too :( The farm plan as of right now~~~ Build goat barn and chicken coop, get all the chickens settled in and in a routine. In the spring we're going to try our hand at pigs and hatch out more baby chicks to sell. Things are happening around here and I'm excited☺

Agricultural Exemption Permit....

is what I got approved for!!!! Whoo Hoo!!! People had told us we couldn't get one because we only have 2 1/2 acres! This is an example of you don't know until you ask!!! What does this mean for me, well I need to start selling eggs, chickens, rabbits, or produce every now and again. The benefit is I pay NO sales tax on items needed for my farm! It's official I have a farm and now it's up to me to make it productive!!!!!!

Hatching Chickens ~ Guest Post for UpCountry Living

Jenna at http://upcountry-living.com/ has asked me to do a guest post on hatching chicken eggs. I am honored and thrilled that she has asked. Her blog is full of great ideas, information and beautiful pictures. So here it is, I hope she and everyone else likes it!
Let me start by saying that anyone that knows me or has read my blog knows how much I ♥  my chickens. So, in trying to make my homestead a little more profitable I wanted to start raising cochin chicks. They are my absolute favorite with their feathered feet and fluffy butts ☺ My birthday was approaching and my mom wanted to know what I wanted. I said an incubator, then I said no I will build it myself, then I changed my mind again (women do that sometimes). Well I had been collecting fertile eggs for over a week and luckily my mom wanted to have an early birthday lunch! So cash in hand I went to Atwoods and bought my incubator!!! I spent a little extra for the one with circulated air, now I know I didn't really need that one, it's for when you hatch them in a barn or somewhere without a constant ambient temp. but whatever this thing worked out perfect. I was really nervous through my first hatch. I checked the temp. and humidity constantly!!! The temperature needs to be 99.5 degrees F and the humidity needs to run about 55-60% the first 18 days. You also need to turn the eggs twice a day to make sure the embryo doesn't stick to the shell. I had alot of advise not to touch them too much but I didn't listen, I was in the closet candling them every three days. I started with 10 eggs, five were cochins and the other five barnyard mutts. The five cochin eggs were infertile here's the story on that  http://kellyshappyhollowfarm.blogspot.com/2012/08/couldnt-wait.html On day 18 of incubation you need to quit turning them and raise the humidity to about 80% and keep it there. The eggs need the moisture in the air to make them soft enough for the little ones to peck out! Now to the blessed day, it was like Christmas waking up to the sound of peeping from your living room! We rushed in to see there was a baby chick, I did it right I was so thrilled!!! I took my girls to school and by the time I got home there was another baby chick! While I was on the phone telling my husband that two had hatched I noticed another one rocking! I quickly got off the phone and video'd the third one. In less that ten minutes from the rocking it was out! It was the first chicken I had seen hatched out of an egg! Here's the video, ignore my voice please ☺

   I have since hatched out 18 more chicks. In the three weeks from first hatch to the second we have had some unwanted visitors in our yard and I lost three of my hens. One being my precious Cochin Mrs. Squirty. Luckily I had collected ten of her (fertile this time) eggs and now I have ten cute little cochins chicks. The hens are on lockdown until the afternoon when I can stay outside with them. As for the profit of the homestead I will be keeping all hens from this hatch and hopefully selling the roos. I need to see what they look like when they grow up before I sell them anyways ☺The incubator is cleaned and put away until these babies have grown up and start laying then I will do it again! Having the incubator has been one of the coolest things ever! Not only do you get to watch an egg transform into life, but you can increase your flock to whatever number you want! Homegrown Babies are the best!

From the first hatch

these guys are over a month old now and going through their ugly phase LOL!

babies from the second hatch~five more came later one yellow one and four little cochins

Chicken Count 29!!!!

I just turned off the incubator this morning, the last four eggs have hatched! To my husbands horror all of the fertile eggs are now wee little chickies!!! All 23 of the babies have feathered feet! Ten of the babies are Mrs. Squirty's so they are purebred cochins☺ The other 13 are cute little mutts! I have tons of outside chores to do today, I think it's supposed to rain all weekend (hopefully) so have a great day, I've got some work to do!!!

Best Husband Ever!!!

These are the babies from last weeks hatch. See the little black headed bird peeking over the back of the brown one. That is a Squirty baby, so is the little fluffy butt in the front. The yellow baby with black speckles on it's head is one of the cutest things you've ever seen and it really stands out amongst the sea of black and brown. The bigger brown ones in this picture have what looks like chubby cheeks that squishs their eyes a little. Just darling if you ask me.

This is why I love my husband! Look at the size of this thing! He built this for me over the last two days. See all the baby chicks in the one corner, theres FOURTEEN of them! Crazy how big this brooder is they are going to love it!!!! The hubs got all the material for free from the job site he is working on. See there is perks to being  a blue collar worker ;) I did have to buy some hardware cloth and some sand. Let's talk about SAND!!! I absolutely love it in my chicken coops. When I first got chickens I put pine shavings in the brooders and coop! I loathe that stuff. Imagine me with a spoon trying to get every little chicken turd out of it :p And when you put it in the compost bin it takes forever to break down. So back to sand... did I mention I love it? Heres why 1* with a litter box scooper the lightly sanded chicken turds are easily on their way to the compost bin ♥ 2* no need to buy grit for chickens the sand is their grit ♥ 3* dust bath, sure heres you sand ♥ 4* when you change out the sand it can go into the garden or compost no problem ♥ 4* Twenty one feather footed chickens have clean feet ♥ We put the babies in last night and one of Squirty's little ones took a dust bath, it was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Did I mention that I have two of these brood boxes? The other one we have had but we modified it to make it bigger and hold the wonderful thing called SAND! It isn't as big as the new one but thats where the five, one month old chickens stay and they love it!!!! If you don't use sand in your chicken house you should try it! It keeps the birds wonderfully clean and makes fast work of chicken poop removal ☺

*UPDATE* I do not recommend using sand in the brooder. It was too dusty and at times I worried about the health of my babies. They were all fine but my husbands shop had dust in it for months which tells me those little chicks inhaled quite a bit. I do recommend sand in the run or in the bottom of a coop where the chickens roost at night. It's great there ☺

Welcome

I just wanted to welcome my newest followers! So welcome Jenn, Beth @ http://bmariede.blogspot.com/ and Jacked Up Glock Mom @ http://talesfromtheclothesline.blogspot.com/  I appreciate you all for joining me on my homesteading journey and I hope you all have a wonderful day ☺

This is too funny!!!!

And the Winner is....

The 2012 Annual Blogger Cook Off Award goes to all participants because it was a four way tie. Congratulations, and I look forward to seeing the pictures from the recipes.

Copy and proudly post on your blog!!!

Who's a winner?

Me! Well actually the hubs he gets the shirt!!! Modern Day Redneck  http://moderndayredneck.blogspot.com/2012/10/zombi-t-shirt-winner.html?showComment=1349105684225#c2161568900703231916 had a t-shirt giveaway and I won!!! It's been a rough couple of weeks with the loss of my hens and the new arrangements around here so this was a great start to hopefully a great week ☺

Heres what....

has been going on at the homestead. My hens are locked up for most of the day which has made them less than happy. The boys have been put back in the man cave (chicken tractor) at night so I can let them out in the mornings. They would drive the girls nuts if they were all cooped up together. My five babies that I hatched out three weeks ago are getting so big, I am starting to stress over the accomodations for all these little ones :/ All fourteen of my eggs in the incubator hatched the last one was yellow with yellow feathered feet, soo cute, it really stands out against the others. I managed not to cry for the hatching of Squirty's babies they don't look like her at all so that helped! The little yellow one tugged at my heart the most because both my yellow birds were gone in a weeks time and one we witnessed :(  The hubs spent a week trying to catch a coyote. He saw a fox but wasn't able to kill it. I was a little unimpressed by his hunting and trapping skills so Friday evening after a couple cans of liquid courage I hopped in the woods and set my coyote trap. No luck with that so far. We talked with the neighbors who had lost chickens a few years back to a bobcat! The hubs friend who walked the woods with him the other night said there could be ANYTHING living in those woods. This worries me alot! Our new plan is to fence the front yard, build a good size chicken house out front, and put a bunch of hiding areas to protect the hens from hawks. This will take awhile but I really like the idea of my chickens having soo much space without the fear of the wild dogs and animals from the woods. Scorpions have been coming into my house again, I don't know if it's this time of year or what but they give me the heebie geebies!! My garden is doing great with this cooler weather and rain. I have some good size pumpkins on the vine and everyone comments on how pretty the pumpkin patch is. It's only two plants but it is huge!!!  I think that's it, I have to clean my house this week it's completely trashed since I spend all my time outside protecting chickens! CHICKEN COUNT 25!!!!

Blogger Cookoff Entry~ Posted on the correct day this time☺

I couldn't decide what to make for the cookoff, I was leaning towards something really healthy. I must have leaned too far because I wouldn't consider this meal real healthy but it's good comfort food ☺ The official dinner of Oklahoma. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and fried okra.

Get some okra from the garden

wash it, slice it, while it's still kinda moist cover it in bread crumbs then fry it up

Next get your potatoes, I had red ones on hand so I used them

Peel them, put them in a pot bring it to a boil, cover and simmer 20 min. drain, mash, add lots of butter, pepper, salt, and a little milk

Then get your chicken fry ready

In a bowl crack an egg add a bunch of dashes of hot sauce and some milk

On a plate put your flour and seasonings, I like seasoning salt and garlic pepper

Dip the chicken fry in the egg mix and then coat it in flour

Fry it 5 min on each side

Save the crunchies and grease to make gravy

Add lots of fresh ground pepper and salt to the gravy

Told you it wasn't healthy but it was good ☺

We didn't have wine, my husband doesn't drink so we had iced tea

There it is all fried up and covered in gravy

♥Bucket of Babies ♥

The six black ones are Miss Squirty's they will stay small ☺ Four of these are from my green egg layer and the other three are from the same mom that gave me the last little chipmunks. One egg left in the bator it's from my buff orpington

Blogger Cookoff

I couldn't decide what to make for the cookoff, I was leaning towards something really healthy. I must have leaned too far because I wouldn't consider this meal real healthy but it's good comfort food ☺ The official dinner of Oklahoma. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and fried okra.

 

Get some okra from the garden

wash it, slice it, while it's still kinda moist cover it in bread crumbs then fry it up

Next get your potatoes, I had red ones on hand so I used them

Peel them, put them in a pot bring it to a boil, cover and simmer 20 min. drain, mash, add lots of butter, pepper, salt, and a little milk 

Then get your chicken fry ready

In a bowl crack an egg add a bunch of dashes of hot sauce and some milk

On a plate put your flour and seasonings, I like seasoning salt and garlic pepper

Dip the chicken fry in the egg mix and then coat it in flour

Fry it 5 min on each side

Save the crunchies and grease to make gravy

Add lots of fresh ground pepper and salt to the gravy

Told you it wasn't healthy but it was good ☺

We didn't have wine, my husband doesn't drink so we had iced tea

There it is all fried up and covered in gravy



Now 13 babies☺

Aren't they cute!!! These babies are tiny. They are two of Miss Squirty's babes. She was a lavender cochin and the boys are partridge cochin so these little babies will be mottled (speckled) cochins! I'm in love with these babies, the one on the left hasn't even fluffed up yet but they are super cute! I will let you know the progress of the rest of the eggs.
Update~~~ Six wee ones in the brooder this morning three of them are Miss Squirty's ☺
Update #2~~~~ Thirteen of the fourteen wee ones in the brooder all six of Miss Squirty's are here and precious none are the color she was, which is good because I probally would have cried. One more egg to go, I wasn't sure about it since it came from my new layers, so I picked it up to candle it and it cheeped. If this little one comes out fine all 14 will have hatched 100% hatch rate again. High five to my boys in the yard, they are doing a good job ☺

GEEZ!!!!

This morning we had wonderful thunderstorms, good for the garden rain and no drama in the yard  WRONG!!!! As soon as the rain let up I went to check on everyone outside. All chickens were in the coop except one, the door was open so I was worried something had ran in and taken her during the storm.  There is alot of feathers on the ground but on further inspection they are Miss Winnies, she is molting.. I have searched my ding dang yard for hours hunting for the tell tale pile of feathers. I'm to the point now that I don't think something took her. Am I crazy? I think that girl is off building a nest somewhere. She is a buff orpington, I'm not sure if they tend to go broody or not, but she has always made a gremlin noise at me since she started laying eggs just like Squirty did. Last night we even laughed at how much she sounded like Squirty just standing in the coop growling at me. So back to it, am I nuts to think she's alive and sitting somewhere and we will hopefully see her in 3 weeks? Either way the hubs has had it and all chickens will be confined from this day forward!

Where's the kleenex?

The eggs are due to hatch tomorrow, but one of Miss Squirty's eggs is starting to pip. I'm soo excited to see them all. I will be a hot mess tonight I'm sure!!!!

Blogger Cookoff!!!

So, K @  http://planningandforesight.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-cookoff-anyone-interested.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PlanningAndForesight+%28Planning+And+Foresight%29 has decided to have a blogger cookoff. I have been stressing for days on what I'll cook! Well look out guys, I've made my choice and even if ya'll don't like it my family will!!! If anyone else wants to play just check out K's link and bring it LOL!!!!

Name change ☺

I am changing the name of my blog to Happy Hollow Homestead for a couple of reasons. 1~ I feel like if you say it out loud or write it down it happens 2~ we are still on the journey of creating our little farm but it's more of a homestead to me so whatever 3~ the last name was a mouthful 4~ the area we live in was called Happy Hollow back in the day so I'm bringing it back and I've had this name picked out since we had just one bunny and 5 chickens. Thanks David and Darcy for the how to on how to change it ☺ One day I will figure all this computer stuff out, maybe ;)

News from the Homestead

 Haven't had anymore incidents yet, I spend alot of time staring into the woods and throwing rocks. The hubs seems to think it's a Thursday thing and the chickens need to stay cooped up that day. Found a plethora of information on the Oklahoma Fish and Wildlife page about coyotes so we are learning alot about their behavior, also we are borrowing a coyote call, and with the full moon this weekend I am in hopes we catch the chicken killer!!! The babies are almost three weeks and starting to feather up, the hubs thinks they are ugly, I think they are little dolls I take them outside everyday to play in my raised bed area that is fenced with chicken wire to keep them safe from the big chickens. I need to set up a new play pen so they don't gobble up my garden. My eggs are due Thursday, I'm excited but nervous that's alot of chickens!!!!  In the garden, I lost 1/3 of my fall plantings due to excessive heat. Suprise, suprise welcome to Oklahoma!!! I am going to fill in the gaps with onions, lettuce, and carrots ☺ Enjoy the day