Aaron helped assemble and put up the new seedling tables. This is where we will start the plants to go out in the garden. The farm is turning into a farm. The fencing is almost done and the tables are set up. Next up is mapping out the beds and ordering the drip irrigation tapes.
Anyone need eggs? We have one or two!
Here is a picture of a sleeping dog….. just because.
HELP!!!!! We are getting close to 20 eggs a day!!!!! Time to start putting them in unlocked cars and running away!!
After having to postpone fence construction due to bitter cold and snow, the holiday week has been practically spring like. We got out today and did a badly needed coop cleaning and I started to string the fencing onto the posts. It is turning out great!
After 14 years of use and all of the adventures it took us on as a family, the black Ram pickup died. It is heading for the Make A Wish Foundation as a donation. For Solstice we replaced it with the latest and greatest. The new farm truck is ready for duty!
So we are still trying to decide the fate of at least one of the roosters. At this point we are kind of leaning toward keeping the Wyandotte male, the biggest of the Orpingtons and one other. The one we hear crowing the most may just be advertising his willingness to become stew. It seems that his favorite hobby is crowing. All four crow but this one seems to be calling out to the crock pot.
The Wyandotte’s name was Sorpressa (Spanish for surprise). When she was found to be a he it became Sorpresso (masculine). We have decided to call the biggest Orpington Gandalf. Gandalf protects his flock, is compassionate and gentle with the ladies and isn’t overtly noisy. He even lets us pick him up. The other two Orpington roos are noisy, rough and obnoxious. Gandalf fits.
Da Eggs was Tasty!
Although the first eggs from the new girls were not much bigger than golf balls, they were very tasty! The yolks were practically rusty orange. Of course, if you have never had eggs right outta the bird’s butt you haven’t lived! We compared them to the organics we get at Whole Foods and the store boughts couldn’t come close in color and flavor. Fun!
What a surprise! After over a week of bitter arctic weather, today was in the 50’s. The waterers are thawed, the chickens were out in the sun, and…….. we have our first 2 eggs!
I put decoys in the nesting boxes to kind of show them where they should go to lay their eggs. Right now we have 5 boxes (two more are built and in the barn waiting to be hung). Each of the boxes had three of the ceramic decoys placed inside so it was quite easy to see if there were more. Today there was! The birds are right around 22 weeks old now and this puts them right on schedule. They weren’t very big, in fact one was fairly small. But they will increase in size as they get a big older.
I think the heat lamps gave them enough extra light that they started to develop their eggs. We will see in the coming days if there are more or if this was just a one time shot! But what fun to find your first eggs at the right time and in the right place! JAZ Farm be havin’ eggs!
So What Does A Farmer Do When He is Cooped Up Like The Chickens?
He starts building the seedling starter room in the basement of course! Until I get my greenhouse made of recycled and reclaimed windows built (another heavy outdoor project) I need to have a place to start the seedlings for this spring. As the basement is just about 60 feet long, I have most of the light fixtures and cords, Voila order some greenhouse tables, string some lights, get the hydroponic lettuce tables going and we are in business. Just found out the tables shipped yesterday. Now I get to go to where my money lives! Home Depot!!! Woohoo!
http://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs_greenhouse_benches_shelves;pg106075.html
We have now survived the 3 nights of minus 10. No bird losses and only minor frost bite on a couple of the rooster’s combs. Even in this cold, the boys are gleefully engaging in Fen Hucking. The new jiggering of the water system has kept the water thawed in wicked cold. Zina and I went inside the coop to see what the conditions are really like in the cold and wind and it is surprisingly comfortable. No drafts. The girls are all roosting, the boys are strutting their stuff and we can hear them crowing all the way inside our house. JAZ Farm chicken ranch has been put through the paces and come out the other side with a gold medal! Woohoo!
I have lived in Colorado for 20 years and I have never seen such a cold snap this early in the year. I’ve seen snow in July, weeks at a time of over 100 degrees, blizzards, hail and tornadoes but I can’t remember ever having minus double digits in December! For some reason the jet stream is coming down from the north and bringing us some arctic cold. The mountains have had better than minus 25 degrees and snow. Out here at the farm we have been between minus 5 and minus 15 at night for the last several days. It doesn’t look like it is supposed to warm up much until next Tuesday (4 days).
I am continuing to work out the kinks on the watering system for the chickens. I must say first how resilient they are. As I write, I can hear one of the roosters out there crowing his fool head off. Just like my chicken bible said, they have figured out that heat rises and have been perched up on the higher rungs of the roosts all poofed up staying warm.
It appears that our metal waterer with the heated base is winning the contest. The heat lamps can keep the plastic waterers melted on the top but they aren’t strong enough to overcome the cold and keep the base, where the water comes out, thawed. The metal container, though, stayed thawed all night and when I went out this morning it was minus 7. It was likely several degrees colder earlier. So far so good. I will go out again this afternoon to check on it but it appears that it is the one that can withstand the cold. All of the others have done well until it reaches about plus 15. Sub-zero has just been too much.
As the other waterers were ice bricks this morning I discovered a new use for the bathtub. Thawing. The taller of the waterers is 7 gallons. When solid it sure takes a considerable amount of time to warm it back up. Oh well, just another adventure. The birds are ok, the water issue is being handled, and its the weekend. All is going to be fine.
JAZ Farm Blog 