In the Home Stretch

I'm counting down the days...kindling day is Wednesday, but it could happen as early as tonight. You can imagine I've been watching closely. Doris has actually started making a nest. She hasn't started pulling fur yet, but she's made a nice neat little hay nest. Ginger hasn't pulled any more fur yet, but she's really been obsessing over her nest. We are keeping our fingers crossed that yes, there are babies on their way from her. I'm very excited about her babies more than Doris's babies. Mostly because I do know what the genetics of Fred and Gingers babies are. Fred and Doris have been bread, and the only colors I'm certain of in their genetic make up are blue and black. So much excitement I can barely contain myself.

I don't have any pictures of their nests or anything right now. I'm working on keeping the stress factor down as low as I can in there. I've been trying to be fast in there, and making sure that they feel secure with their nest boxes. But I can tell you as soon as they kindle, and I know that they are going to care for their babies, I will most definitely make sure to take lots and lots of pictures.

So, I've been letting the big chickens into the grow out pen during the day. They've bee keeping the feed cleaned up that the chicks drop through the bottoms of the coops. The Tetra Tints will be able to come out of their coops, and run around the grow out pen here in about a week. Once they get to stretch their legs and wings, I'm positive they will really start growing. I need to get the spare water jug ready and clean, and I need to pick up some bedding for the grow out pen. I decided I wanted to put bedding down on that end of the run, because when it rains that end gets really super soupy with the mud. I'm going to put down one layer to soak up the water and the mud, and then a second layer for dryness. About once every other day, I'll turn the bedding to help keep stuff dry.

My Easter Egg chicks aren't quite ready to be let out yet. They are small enough yet that they will be able to get through the panel walls. The eggers are smaller chickens anyways. I think they are between the size of the leghorn, and the rhode island red hen.

Some of my older pullets that we hatched out back in February should be close to ready to start laying. (yay) Not that we need any more eggs a day, more like I just can't wait to see how they are going to lay. We've been giving eggs to family. Its nice to be able to share eggs like that. My older Easter Eggers probably won't start laying until the end of July or beginning of August.

Well that's about enough from me!!! I'll just leave you with a cute picture of one or more of my dogs!!!
Have a great day

Busy Day

So, as some of you know, I'm a housewife/farmer/pattern writer/recipe trier outer, some days are busier than others. My husband works 12 hour shifts, mostly nights. Its the days/nights that he works that I'm the busiest. I like to try to get as much done as I possibly can while he's sleeping (well the quiet stuff) And then after he leaves for work I really put the wheel to the grindstone or however that saying goes. My favorite thing to do is to actually sit down, and write out a list of stuff I absolutely want to get done. This is day 2 of a 3 day work stretch, so my list was bigger than his 2 night work stretch. (Those who work 12 hour shifts will understand the 2 and 3 day stretches)

For tonight's dinner, I had cooked down a chicken in the crock pot, and then picked it apart. I used it for chili. I didn't do what's called white chili with the white beans and whatever else is put in that. I just used the basic chili recipe that's used for the chili used with beef. It was a pretty big hit, and I made enough, that I've got left overs for tomorrow evenings dinner. That will help out with the amount of dishes that will need to be washed.

Right now though, I'm kicked back with the dogs, watching one of my favorite movies. (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, the one with Kevin Costner) Bella has worn herself out with a rawhide, and Sam and Jasper are in the middle of the floor pretending that they don't care she found one of the hides they stashed. I think they are waiting for the perfect opportunity to steal it back.

I'm just under a week until I find out if my rabbits will give birth or not. I'm quite anxious about this. This will be Doris's second birth. I truly hope that this one goes much better than the first did. I had given her a nest box over the weekend, thinking that maybe she would want to nest early, or get comfortable. I had to take it back out yesterday. She started using it as a potty box. I washed it thoroughly and left it in the sun to dry. In the morning, I'll carry it back into the rabbit enclosure and put it on top of her cage until we get closer to time. We are only about 5-6 days away from their due date. I'm thinking I will give it back to her on Monday. Ginger is still carrying hay around, and rearranging it. She takes it out of her nest box, carries it around, and then puts it back in. I need to give her some more though I'm thinking. She's got a pretty impressive hole made. She hasn't pulled any more fur, so I'm waiting to see if that happens again.  Her and Fred both carry the blue and chocolate gene, so I'm really excited to see what we will get out of that pairing. My rabbits that are pedigreed all come from excellent lines.

I'm not sure if I told you guys yet or not, so I'll tell you again just to be sure. So, Frank and I decided that we had better go ahead and check out Cadburry and Pinkerton to make sure of their genders. We also decided maybe we had better weigh those two, especially Pinkerton who is getting quite impressive in size. Cad weighed in at 6 pounds, and Pink weighed in at 7 pounds. So we poked at Cad, and I was like oh no, she's a boy!!! So I'm was thinking that she was a he, and we put Cad back in the cage. So we pulled out Pink, and Pink is definitely a boy, no doubt about it. (they were too young to properly determine the gender of when we checked that first time) So Frank says to me, are you sure Cad is a boy, because that looked like a taco to me...(yes, the girls look like Taco's and the boys look like tubes) So we turned on all of the lights in the living room, and flipped the poor thing back over, and Cad is not a boy, Cad is a girl, we were both poking, and looking, and I am surprised the poor girl has bee letting me pet and love on her after that ordeal. We plan on mating those two for sure, because we think they would make some beautiful babies, and I'm hoping for some broken patterned babies.

My older Chickens are still laying. We have been referring to them as the Senior girls. Today all 4 of them gave me eggs, which is always pleasant . They will get to live on since they are from the original 8. I feel like they survived our learning curve, so they get a pass. (The other 4 of the original 8, had to be culled...they turned into egg eaters) Two of the older girls have been giving me some Freakishly big eggs. I need to crack them to see what I'll get. I need to do that outside though in case its got a funky smell. Our one friend Aaron got one of those eggs from us one time, and he said it was a very funny color with no yolk. (Don't worry I plan on taking pictures of that event)

Well, I suppose I've rattled on enough about my dogs, chickens, rabbits, and whatever else it is I've chatted on about. Hope you all have a fantastic night!!!!!!

Brandi

Pancake Recipe

We love Breakfast for dinner here, and my husband especially loves it if Bacon is involved, and everything is cooked in the Bacon Grease..(I know I know...not the healthiest, but we don't eat bacon enough for it to hurt anything) I'm not a huge fan of pancake mix, because to me, I can taste the fact that its from a mix, and its lacking something...So I did some searching and came across a recipe years ago now. I don't know where it came from, but I've changed it and tweaked it enough, that's its not really the same recipe at this point anyways. There is nothing better than taking a recipe and making it your own.
As you can see in the picture I did add some fresh fruit to my pancakes. I've got all of those black raspberries we've bee picking, so I added a bit of fruit to my pancakes. Just a small handful to each pancake. That's the great part about my recipe, I can add any extra's I want. (and yup, I've been known to add chocolate chips)

Alright!!! On to the recipe

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tb sugar
2 tb veg oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
dash of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl, and cook until golden brown Yup that easy
OH, and when I say a dash of vanilla, I just flip open the top of the vanilla lid, and just do a quick shake. It works out pretty yummy.  This is a hubby approved recipe, so I hope you all enjoy!!!

The Countdown

Well, I'm in the final week of possible bunny pregnancies.  Both of my girls have nest boxes, plenty to eat, and drink, lots of hay, and all of my extra attention. Seeing as we aren't experienced enough yet to palpitate our girls, we don't know if they are actually pregnant or not. Since Ginger started nesting super early, we don't even know if she's having a false pregnancy, is an early nester, or if she miscarried.

I have heard lots of different things on bunnies that nest early. Sometimes if it's there first pregnancy (as it is hers) they will start the nesting process early. I know that Doris was an early nester for her first pregnancy which is why I think none of her kits made it. She hasn't really shown any interest in her nest box yet. She's been in it checking things out, but hasn't done anything towards pulling fur, or arranging the hay in her box.

I will admit, I'm on pins and needles over this, not sure what is or isn't coming. I've already had some interest in the kits if my girls are pregnant. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet. I mean, yes the plan is to sell off some, and eat some. I think its the whole unknown thing.

I do have a plan in place though should Doris have kits, and abandon them. I'm going to fix up a place for the kits here in the house to keep them warm, and safe. I have some kitten milk, and a special dropper. I plan on trying to nurse them myself. (yeah, not sure how that's going to go) I do know that this is her last chance. I've had an offer on her should she turn out to be a bad mom. I think they are wanting her for a pet, because she's a blue bunny.

In other farm news, I'm still getting lots of black raspberries!!! I have a freezer full of berries, and fresh chicken at this point. Not a bad combination...lol...I'm going to be making some fresh jam once things slow down a touch.

My Easter Egg chicks are going outside in the grow out coops today or tomorrow. They are starting to get a bit on the cramped side here in the house. They are mostly fully feathered at this point. With it being warmer outside, that's a huge help in getting them outside faster. I do feel kind of bad for these guys right now. I'm sure they don't mind each other, but I'll bet they are ready for a little stretch.

It will probably be the middle of July when they and the Tetra Tints are ready to be out of the grow out coops, and into the grow out pen, where they can socialize, and run and play and well...grow. My favorite part about that is not having to keep filling the little food and water bottles. At that point, they will have a big water jug, and a big feeder to use.

Yesterday (shame on me for not mentioning it) was Bella's first birthday. Right now she's sleeping at my feet, which is why I haven't done as much this morning as I usually do. Its so nice when she decides to be all warm and cuddly like that. Usually she's a blurry mass of tail, legs and wriggling doggy body.

So, now that you guys are all caught up on todays Farm news, I need to make myself start moving, and start getting things ready for the chick move, and go gather eggs, and everything else that goes along with having chickens, and rabbits, and worms, and dogs...lol

Have a great week!!!!

Five Ingredient Bread Recipe

Hello, and happy Sunday evening to you all!!! I've been meaning to try this recipe, and then get everything posted for you guys, but I guess you could say I've been procrastinating a bit on this. Its not that I didn't want to do it, it was more I had to wait for a day that I didn't have five billion things going on. As we all know home made bread requires some time, with all of the kneading and rising, and blah blah blah...thankfully though, this recipe doesn't do all the excess rising, you know let it rise, punch it down, let it rise again, put it in the bread thing, to rise a third or fourth time...I like it. This stuff has a decent flavor, and is nice and moist. Moist enough that you will want to maybe let it dry over night if you want to use it for sandwich bread.

Alright lets get on with the Recipe.
Ingredients:
2 cups of warm water
2/3 cup honey
1 & 3/4 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
6 cups of bread flour

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together warm water and honey, until honey is dissolved. Then add yeast and cover with a towel.

In about 10 to 20 minutes when the mixture is frothy, mix in salt and add bread flour 1 cup at a time. Once you have it mixed as well as you can, add extra flour to your hands and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Then place the kneaded dough in a large greased bowl, and cover with a towel.

After about an hour when the dough has raised, punch down and then knead again for a few minutes. Divide into two lightly greased loaf pans and cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise for another 30 min.

Bake in a preheated oven @ 325 for 30 to 35 minutes.

See, easy!!! Now here's a little tip for measuring the honey, and then getting it in the water. I actually saw this on an episodes of 19 kids and counting...yes...I watch the Duggars...and I've picked up more than one handy tip.  So take the cup your going to measure your honey in, and then pour vegetable oil in it, swirl it around so that it covers the sides, and then pour the honey into that measuring cup, and it will just slide right out. Nice and Easy!!!

Alrighty, hope everybody has a great night, and enjoys this tasty recipe!!!!

Quick Break

Happy Saturday everybody!!! Its been a busy day here today so far. This morning when the hubby got home from work, the two of us set off to pick more of those delectable Raspberries. We've gotten more already between last night and this morning than we did in the last two years combined. I'm thinking from the looks of things that this is just a great year for berries.

We had something new pop up for us this year. We now have growing, Red Raspberries!!! It was quite the surprise. Of course, we know how they got there obviously...some little birdie was eating them somewhere else, and then happened to poop them there, where they decided to grow. Where the Reds are good, they aren't nearly as good as the blacks, so we have to be careful not to let them take over and kill out the blacks. I'm going to keep an eye on them though so I can get them picked as soon as they are ripe.  We've been watching our black berries as well, and they are still hard and green. I want to try to get them as soon as they are ripe, because they flash from the heat rather quickly.

I managed to make it to the coop this morning before they closed. That's where we've started getting our chicken and rabbit feed. the price is excellent, but I'm not a fan of their hours. They close at noon on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays. Well, I don't mind the Sunday part, but it does make it hard when you are just running around like mad trying to keep up with everything.

I'm officially on watch for new layers in the chicken house. Its getting close, I should have at least 2 or 3 getting ready to lay here soon. I had some that we hatched out in February. So, those 4 should start laying here within the next few weeks. (fingers crossed)

I went ahead and set up the nest box for Doris. Even though we don't know for sure that either of our two bunnies are indeed pregnant, I thought It was better to be safe than sorry. I do hope that if Doris is pregnant, that she will give birth to them in the nest box this time, and that she won't eat them this time either. I'm also hoping that since Ethel has been working so hard on her nest over the past week, that she is indeed pregnant, and not having a false pregnancy. (You know, hatching eggs is so much easier, because while waiting for them to hatch, you can candle them, and know for sure if something is growing or not)

Bella has been doing well not sleeping in her crate at night. I'm waiting until we can start letting her sleep in the bedroom though. For now we are taking turns sleeping in the living room, with her and the boys. Although, Sam has decided that the crate is his. I think he likes the fact that its cave like in there. I'm wondering if we will ever be able to get rid of that crate. I'm thinking at this rate, probably not.

Ok, its time for me to move on, I need to set out something to thaw for dinner, and then I'm going to start on that 5 ingredient bread that I want to try. I've been looking at all kinds of Facebook recipe's that I'm getting written down to try. Some of them are so quick and easy, and then some of them are like...naaahh...but I want to try making more of them to review, and share with you as to weather its worth making or not.

Alright...I'm off!!! Until my next blog...have a fantastic day!!!

Picking Black Raspberries

Its that time of the year!!! We are well into June, and the black raspberries are getting ripe. They are as you can see ready to be picked. Even though we had an incredibly harsh winter, it did something great for the berry briars. I didn't even get halfway around the yard, and I had picked so much for so long (6 cups, and that's pretty good for me by myself) that I had to stop. When my hubby gets home in the morning, we have plans to go ahead and pick some more. Then there will be more ripe tomorrow evening, so I'll pick then as well if its not raining.

As you can see, my buddy Jasper helped me to pick some berries. (By helped, I mean he was eating them as I was picking them) These are nice and juicy this year as well, so I'm good and stained up.

Then, I was quite startled by something jumping in the grass, and once my heart restarted, I saw that it was one of those little tree frogs!!! None of the dogs paid him any mind, so he just kept on hopping along. I'm always glad to see those every summer. They may be little, but they still eat their share of mosquitos. (and that's a happy thing)

I'm not sure what I'm planning on making out of these berries this year, but I'll keep you all updated on that!!!

Hatching Eggs

Good Morning everybody!!!! Its grey and dreary here today, and calling for scattered storms all day...we need the rain, so I'm pretty happy about that. I'm hoping that it helps with the humidity today as well. I think all of my critters would love a break from the humidity.

So, we are about to embark on a new adventure!!! We are going to start selling some hatching eggs on eBay.  I'm going to start with some Rhode Island Reds, and then some Tetra Tint eggs.  I'm going to sell about a dozen plus 4 at a time. I'm going to do a listing about once a month, and then go from there.  Seeing as I only have 5 Rhode Island Red hens at this time, and 5 White Leghorns (they make the tetra tints with the RIR rooster). If we do well, I plan on hatching out some RIR chicks later on this summer, and then ordering some more Leghorns. In the spring we will have the fertilized Easter Egger hatching eggs, so that's pretty exciting.  We haven't decided on prices yet, because we don't want to undercut too much with there being other sellers, but we don't want to over price either. Once I start listing, I'll post the link.

If you are interested in ordering hatching eggs directly through me, you can email me at crochetbrandi@gmail.com  I will soon have a facebook page set up for our farm stuff, to go along with this blog, with daily pictures and updates as well. I'll let you all know about that as well once I get it up and running. That will probably be a while down the road though.

Another Day on the Farm

I've been trying to get some better pictures of my bunnies, but that's hard to do...but I managed to get some...I managed to get Hudsen, Fred, Cadburry, and Betty. I love me some Betty, she might not be the most loveable bunny, but man she is beautiful!!!

The weather has been really hot, I promised myself I wouldn't use the H word, but I just did...really its the humidity, and honestly, it doesn't bother me as much as it does the fact that I can't bring all of my animals in the house, so I spend lots of extra time making sure their water is cold, and that they have ice bottles to help keep them cool. I'm hoping that we will be able to have a building up by fall. Its not looking like summer time will happen, but hopefully fall will for sure. I'm just going to have to work extra hard through these summer months to keep them as comfortable as I humanly can.

Today I sent two of my roosters off to a new home. I was sad to see Spot go, but we can only keep so many roosters at a time. The other rooster that went with Spot, was one that we missed when we butchered the other week. I kind of feel like if he managed to blend in well enough to get missed, he deserves a pass to get to live.  They are going to live on a farm where they will be able to free range and live happily. (I know I'm not supposed to allow myself to get so attached to the livestock, but well this happens.)

We've been working with Bella on her house behavior. Its getting so much better. As of right now, she's not sleeping in her crate, which has made a huge difference in her behavior. She actually sleeps more solid at night, and is less wound up during the day. We've been trying not to put her in the crate during the day unless we are going somewhere, or if Sam and Jasper need a time out from her because she's gotten to be too wound up. Today was a much better day though, and she hasn't had to go in there. Instead of getting wound up when she gets tired, she's actually just laid down on the dog bed and took a nap. Little steps.

Well, the day is over, so I'm going to turn down the lights and put my feet up. I need to do a little bit of research, so I'm probably going to do that. I hope you all have a fantastic night!!!!

Early Nester, or False Pregnancy???

On May 30th, we bred two of our does, Ginger (pictured above) and Doris, who had, had a batch of kits last month, but none of them made it due to her high stress level of being put in a new home.  This morning, when I went out to check everybody for the morning feed, and water filling, I came out and saw Ginger, and had about a half a heart attack. I had never really seen a rabbit pulling her fur to make a nest before. I had seen what I thought was fur pulling, but was indeed not fur pulling. Once I realized what I was seeing, I calmed down, finished with everything, and then went ahead and put the nest box in with her, so that she would be able to do, just whatever it was she felt she needed to do.
Then I went and got a basket full of hay, and have been putting handfuls of hay in there, so that I could see what she was going to do. Well, she started carrying it around, and has been working on making her own little nest.

When I talked to one of my rabbit sources this morning, she told me that it could very well be a false pregnancy, from what she has herd. Ginger is 2 weeks away from kindling if she is pregnant. But it would seem that some are early pullers as well. She's had them pull as early as 10 days. So at this point, it truly is any ones guess. So, I have a feeling its going to be a long two weeks wait. My plan is to just make sure she has everything she needs to keep doing whatever it is she feels she needs to do, make sure her water stays fresh, and that she does have plenty to eat.

Now, Doris, our Blue SF that we bred at the same time isn't doing anything like this, so I'll just keep on keeping on like I have been with her. SO now with this news, and these pictures, you all can wait with me!!! (but we should know something by July 2nd!!!)

Incubating Eggs

I feel like I've neglected you guys this past week. Its been a rather crazy week, with warmer weather, trying to keep the chicken house cleaner, and of course we're still getting Bella calmed down, and getting Sam and Jasper to decide to behave properly. (These things don't always happen as you can imagine)

So, I've had a lot of questions about incubating eggs, do's and don'ts. I've had some people ask me about things that I would never do for certain reasons. I'm not saying the people who do them are wrong, but I am saying its just not something I would do. (I'll get to that here in a bit.)  So, I've decided to make a list of things that you should do, and things you shouldn't do when you are incubating your own eggs at home. It truly is an exciting thing, from the first time you candle, all the way up until that chick bursts free from its shell. Not only are you helping to bring life onto your farm, but you are also growing your flock, and ensuring the future of your own flock and blood lines.

So, lets start with the basics that you should do.
Make sure to run your incubator for at least 24 hours before you put your eggs in. You want to make sure that the temperature is going to hold, and that you have your humidity right. You want your temp to hold between 99 and 100, and your humidity to run between 70 and 80. You want to keep it from fluctuating as much as possible.  If you are using an automatic egg turner, you will want to have that plugged in as well to make sure that its working properly as well. As we all know, with electronics, anything could happen.

So, everything is running good, your humidity is good, your temp is holding, and if you are using an automatic turner, you know that's working as well. FANTASTAIC!!! Now, you have your eggs ready to go in, they've sat for about 12 hours to make sure everything has settled properly, and is ready to go. Make sure you place them in there, gently pointy end down, (if you are using the turner) If you aren't using a turner, gently lay them on a side. Its best to mark an X on one side, and an O on the other. You need to turn your eggs at least once every 4-6 hours. The X and O will make sure that you will have turned each egg. Turning your eggs makes sure that nothing sticks to the side of the shell. I have to be honest, I don't know how often a broody hen turns her eggs when she's hatching them herself, but she gets them turned.  Its also good to make sure you are charting your temp and humidity each time you turn your eggs. If you can, try to turn them at the same time everyday so that you know they are getting turned.

On day 18, you go into lock down. Now what does that mean exactly??? That's the day that you check your temperature one last time, and make sure that your humidity is at 80%, because that's where you need it to be. You need those chicks to be able to get out of those shells. There is a very good chance that they may start piping out on day 18, I've had it happen more than once. Its nothing to panic about. They are fully formed on day 18, that's the day they start getting themselves into position.  Once you go into lockdown, do NOT take that lid off of that incubator for any reason whatsoever. You MUST leave it be. this is literally life or death for those chicks working on coming out of those eggs.

Ok, so your eggs have piped, and its been 8 hours, should I panic??? No, don't panic, it can take them up to 24 hours to hatch out, the same as it can take a woman 3 days to deliver a human baby. Getting out into the world is hard work. I've had people say that after 8 hours they will zip the chicks, and help them out of the shell themselves. That is never a good idea. You have no clue what could be wrong with that bird, or even if they have absorbed the yolk all the way yet. I see it this way, if a chick pips, but never happens, its for a reason. A hen doesn't help a chick out because she knows, so that's why we should never help as well. That chick could be a genetic dead end, it could be blind, it might not even have formed all the way. It could be missing a leg, feet, even a face...anything. (Ok, well the face part may have been a bit overly dramatic, but you get my point)

OK, after hours and hours of watching, that pip has turned into a chick bursting out of the shell, you see this ugly wet chick, that looks almost alien flopping around in your incubator, what's the next step??? Leave it. The poor little fellow is indeed quite tired, and needs to dry, be warm, get all nice and fluffy so that it looks like the chicks that we all know and love.

Everybody has dried, and is ready to go into the brooder pen. I use a dog crate that has screening attached to it. I also use a brooder heater, and not a heat lamp. A brooder heater is a lot safer than a heat lamp, and works something like a mother hen. The plate gets up to 100 degrees, and is safe to the touch. They run in and out from underneath of it as they please. I've been using these since we first started hatching. If you hatch, I can guarantee you, your home owners insurance will thank you most thoroughly.

Well, I'm sure I've left a thing or two out of there, but I shall try to get back to you all on that more at a later time. Until then, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at crochetbrandi@gmail.com  I do so love hearing from everybody!!!!

more stuff

Yesterday was another one of those busy days in the chicken world. I cleaned the chicken house, with a shovel and a rake, and I think it must have been one of the nastiest chores ever when it comes to chickens. Especially when its warmer weather. By the time I was done, there was no doubt that I had to take a shower. The clothes I was wearing went right into the washing machine, with a second rinse cycle. (I was feeling pretty dirty) But I put down 3 new bags of bedding.

Later on in the evening once it cooled off, the hubby and I put together a nest box stand. It was great, it looks much better in the chicken house to have all of the nest boxes together, and up. Of course Buffy was the first chicken to get in there, as always. (My Buff Rock, who has a pass to live since she was part of the original 8)

Later on in the evening, we sold the last 2 of the White Leghorn pullets that we bought as chicks in the spring. I wasn't really much into wanting to let them go, but somebody wanted them, and I needed just a bit of extra space for the birds anyways.

Today I'm going to try a new bread recipe that I found, that was floating around Face Book. I'm thinking if Its any good, I'll share it here for you guys. Its a 5 ingredient recipe. The pictures looked tasty, so keep an eye out for the recipe if I like it!!!

Catch up part 2 The chicken addition

Alright! We got the bunnies posted about!!!! Now its time to move on to the chicken stuff!!! On Satruday, we butchered a bunch of chickens, with the help of My husbands Sister, and her husband. The kids came along, which was awesome, because they got to see where some of their food comes from. They didn't help, but I wouldn't want them to, unless they really wanted to.  We had so very many roosters!!! In fact, when I was out doing some of the chicken chores, I spotted what I think is a rooster, that we may have missed. I'm not sure yet though, because its very hard to tell with that one.
It was 17 roosters, and a Cornish rock, who is in the crock pot right now. She/he was a really big chicken!!!

My one lone Silver Lace Wyandotte has gotten quite beautiful. My Buff Orpingtons have finally started getting big, which is awesome. Sinatra is still ruling the roost, and I think is quite happy that there are not so many teenage roosters running around. Ralph, my Easter Egg chick, still has a very green head, which is good, because we have to deliver the chicks that belong to somebody else. (We went in on a chick order with somebody else) I think its going to be a bit hard to say goodbye to some of these chicks, because they have such personality!!!!! (its a good thing that these chicks are going to be for fertile hatching eggs.

So other than that, that's about all the chicken news there is...enjoy the following pictures!!!! And have a great Monday!!!!

Catch up time!!!!

Good Morning, and happy Monday to you all!!! I have lots to catch up on here, so I'm thinking I may go ahead and divide this up into two separate blogs today.  Its been a busy few days, and thankfully I got some pretty good pictures!!! (yay) I'm going to start with the bunnies. Everybody loves a fluffy, fuzzy bunny...well not everybody, but most everybody.

I'm almost certain that the two bunnies we bred last week took. We bred Ginger, and Doris last week to Fred. Here is why I'm almost certain, Doris has gotten quite moody, and is not at all her loveable self. Ginger has gotten kind of chubby. I don't know about her mood, because unfortunately, we haven't handled her all that much. She was mostly handled when we brought her home, and when Frank took her out of her cage, to put her in with Fred.

Then we got a new Buck to add to our herd of bunnies. He's an 8 week old, whom I have named Hudsen. (After Rock Hudsen. I didn't want to call him Rock, because then everybody would assume I had named him after the wrester Dwayne Johnson, who is quite yummy, but not what I'm going for.) I named him that, because I have a Doris...I kind of like doing the famous old Hollywood couples. I figure I have Fred and Ginger/Ethel...My hubby is not as amused as I am by any of this though.

Cadburry and Pinkerton have grown quite a bit. We think we've possibly figured out what the unknown pet bunny was that Cadburry is mixed with. After having seen so many breeds, and having lived with the Silver Fox rabbits, and looking at the fur on her, we think the unknown, may be SF, based on some of the silvering she seems to be getting in her fur.

So, I hope you enjoy these adorable bunny pictures!!!!

 

The first picture is of Hudsen, Then we have Ginger, Fred, Pinkerton, and Cadburry...I'm planning on getting more pictures of bunnies taken, but its going to be a few days. Hope you all enjoyed the bunny post!!!

flour free pancakes

Yup, you read it right!!! I saw one of those facebook food posts that people are always posting, and this one kept popping up over and over and over again, and I finally couldn't stand it anymore, and decided that I absolutely positively had to make these!!! There was no way around it, I wanted to taste them in the worst way.

These have only two simple ingredients. It calls for 1 banana and 2 eggs. Yup that's it.
All you have to do is take a blender, and blend everything together until the eggs and banana are liquid. Then you cook them just like pancakes...except these take just a little bit longer to cook than regular pancakes, and as you can see from my bungled pancake on the griddle there, you've got to make sure they are ready to be turned. But after about two batches, I got it right. I had to make two batches, because when the hubs tasted them, he liked them so much he wanted more. Each batch makes about 6 small pancakes.

Surprisingly they don't taste as much like bananas as I would have thought they would. They have a nice mild flavor, and don't even really need pancake syrup.  Since my hubs is a diabetic, this is a perfect breakfast idea.

Well, hope you all enjoy!!!!

Mail Call!!!

Sometimes, going to the post office in the middle of the week can be lots and lots of fun, especially when you are picking up something that's making such a cute little peeping noise, although that can get a bit loud once you get them home, and they are having their moment of reorientation.

Several months ago, we ordered some Easter Egg pullets and 1 rooster. I'm thinking they must have had a waiting list, because of our projected hatch date. There are 16 in total. I have to admit though, that these are the most adorable chicks I have ever seen, and I've seen and said that about a lot of chicks!!!

We ordered these guys from Cackle Hatchery, and I must say, the size, health, and energy of these guys, and the fact that they all picked up on drinking from the water dish really fast, after I dipped their beaks, makes me realize that we picked a great place to order from. This isn't our first online order though, we have ordered from...oh the day is late, and it just will not come to me at the moment, but it probably will after I've turned off the laptop and have put it away. 

But, by spring, we will have fertilized hatching eggs ready for sale!!! (well we have fertilized hatching eggs now, but they are Rhode Island Red for purebred, and then barnyard mix for the rest) I'm pretty excited about that. Its part of my plan to make our farm a little more self sustaining.