Our newest layers have been growing and becoming a part of the larger flock.  It is so picturesque to see them free ranging around while we are out doing chores.  A couple of the bigger breeds have started laying small pullet eggs and we expect most to be laying regularly in the next couple of weeks (they usually start when they are around 22 weeks old).  Our mystery bird included with the batch this time is another rooster.  We call him Jersey because he is a Jersey Giant breed.  He will replace a nuisance rooster who we are now calling stew.  He attacked my mother and gave her an unbelievable bruise on her leg.  She was opening a corral gate for me to get the tractor through.  The rooster was near the gate with her ladies and grandma was a stranger and a threat.  He got his hackles up and spurred into her shin.  It was a direct hit.  Its a good thing it was through jeans otherwise I suspect we would have been taking a trip to the hospital!

The layers taking turns in the nesting boxes

Our newest 50 broiler chicks growing up very fast!

One very fun experience with this whole farming craziness is going to the Post Office to pick up a cardboard box that cheeps.  I have had the pleasure of having little kids in line when I arrive.  Getting to see the look of astonishment on their faces when I lift up the flap so they can see them is a hoot!  Today was no different.  The box was cheeping like crazy and the kids were thrilled.

We selected a mixed batch of chicks this time.  They will eventually go in with our Buff Orpingtons and 3 roosters.  Our goal is to begin managing our own flock and hatching our own chicks.  We may still buy some meat birds to keep the freezer stocked, but these new ladies are considered heavy layers; heavy meaning they are larger birds and lay lots of eggs.  Considering most of our eggs are fertile and we do have an incubator, we are going to embark on a system of making stew, stock and roasting birds, along with replenishing our layers as they age.

They are the cutest durn things.  Our whole basement is cheeping. The little buggers are eating and drinking and look as healthy as can be.  They will stay in our brooder until the first week of March when they will then join the rest of the crew outside.

It is also amazing to watch nature in action.  Chickens need about 12 hours of daylight to keep them laying eggs.  As we approached the winter solstice our egg production dropped to only a couple of eggs a day.  After that time, the days get longer by 4 minutes per day.  As this has happened over the past month, the number of eggs per day has begun increasing! Considering that eggs are REALLY meant to produce more chickens (not just giving us breakfast), it makes complete sense.  Why lay eggs when the eggs and the chicks might freeze to death?  I did some looking and this is why we have eggs and bunnies at Easter time.  At Easter the eggs are in full production by then and the new baby rabbits also begin emerging from their burrows.  The cycle of life!  Too bad the religious nuts hijacked these celebrations.  I wouldn’t have grown up wondering what the hell eggs and rabbits had to do with bleeding Jesus!  Ha!

Here are the new ladies……

The roasters are growing into little Godzillas.  They sure don’t like to get far from the food and water.  The little bit they do go out into the run is early in the morning when it is cool.  The rest of the day they make circles around either the food bins or the waterers.  I give them access to about 11 gallons of water and pretty much unlimited food.  This week, (5 weeks old) they went through all of the water and about 40 lbs of food in less 3 days.  Good thing we don’t have to keep them longer than about 8 weeks.  They’d eat us out of house and home.  If I had to guess, they are all around 3 pounds.  The expectation is that they will be anywhere from 4 to 8 pounds.  We have lost 3 to heart attacks so my purchase of buying 30 to end up with 25 seems to have been sound.  I expect that we will use the 4th of July weekend for processing.  Its a long weekend and it will put them right at 8 weeks old.

I bought the posts to build the pig pen today.  Aaron was tasked with helping to find an optimal location and figure out how to lay out a rectangle on the ground with even sides and square corners.  We will commence the post hole digging once again soon.  This weekend though is hoeing and adding some extra drip lines to some of the garden beds.  I will try to remember to take pictures of the farm beds as well and get those posted.  The root stuff seems to be doing well.  The potato greenage looks very healthy.  Summer growing and chicken plucking is underway.