Better Slow my Roll

We went to Tractor Supply to pick up some food for the big chickens, and we got to looking at the new chicken houses that they have in there. Naturally I got really excited about them, because they are just so fun and perfect looking.  All of a sudden I could imagine adding another chicken to our breeding list. *sigh* Right now we are planning on breeding for Sex Links, Rhode Island Reds, and French Black Copper Marans, I just don't think we need to add Easter Eggers to the list just yet. (although the EE are quite popular considering they don't lay the best)

I do have plans to have different houses with different breeds set up. I have dreams of having my very own little hatchery that people want to come and visit so that they can take home those little chicks to raise up and enjoy. I love the thought of literally surviving off of what we could make off of a farm, we would never be rich, but at the same time, we would never be hungry. I just need to remember that we will fund everything with what we make from the different breeds. We just have to remember a little bit at a time. I like the thought even more that its something my hubby and I can do together. (That's my favorite part)

The first thing that needs to happen is, all of this crazy snow needs to stop!!! Its looking like we have a big snow storm coming, and that I'm not looking forward to. I'm hoping that it will wear itself out before it gets here.

So, how about a little feedback on how you like my blog...is there anything you would like to see, any recipe's your interested in, or even crochet patterns...
feel free to email me!!!
crochetbrandi@gmail.com

Chocolate Eclair Crumble Desert

 



Oh what could be better than an éclair? Lots of things possibly, but when you want the goodness of one of those, in a bowl, this is the way to go. The best part about this is how fast it works up, and it requires no baking, and serves about 8 people I guess its one of those cheater deserts where you just crumble up stuff and layer things.  This is actually a retake on a recipe that my mother in law makes, I just kind of changed it around a bit, cheated you could say.

2 packs of graham crackers, crumbled up
2- 1.34 oz. box of vanilla pudding mix
1- 8 oz container of whip cream
1/2 of a 16 oz container of creamy fudge frosting

Prepare the pudding mix as directed on the box, and then while its still runny like, add the cream, mix it in well. (I mixed it in with a blender)

Then put the frosting in the microwave for about a minute.

Once that goes off, layer it graham cracker crumbles, pudding, and drizzle the melted frosting, do another layer of the crumbles, the pudding, and drizzle more melted frosting, repeat that one more time, and then put the rest of the pudding on top and drizzle the last of the frosting on top of the pudding. Put in the fridge and let it chill.  It sets up pretty fast.

Now since my hubby is diabetic, I used the no sugar added, and low fast stuff. It tastes just as good, but you can use any that you like.

ENJOY!!!

Chicken Math

Its been a busy few days, but thankfully things are slowing back down to normal again...or as normal as it can in our crazy house. As you can see by the top picture, we got some chicken stock made from our weekend butcher. The chicken pieces that are on the bottom of the jars, is what cooked off of the bones. We wasted as little as possible. We had some that didn't quite fill a jar full, so I used that this evening when I made dinner, and it was great.

As you can see by the next picture, we have more chicks than what we hatched out last week. (we hatched out 15, and I gave away 3, which left me with 12...and there are 30 in the chicken nursery now) (So we made a trip to Tractor Supply today...we bought 18 chicks, 3 different breeds, 6 of each, and its a straight run, so we don't know who's a boy and who's a girl) (but that's chicken math..lol)

Sam and Jasper were pretty tired last night after helping us make cut up the chickens yesterday, and then making the chicken stock. As you can tell, the boys are some great helpers. I love when they lay like that, they make me think of Ying and Yang. Its great to be able to see the difference in their colors, and their fur types.

Now, I couldn't remember if I shared the chicken that fell off of the chicken truck with you guys or not, so I thought I would share the picture just in case. This little guy is doing great. I was hoping to be able to let him out with the big chickens soon, but it looks like that Polar Vortex is making a comeback, and I would rather keep him/her safe and warm in the coop that's near the heater.  I don't think he/she can get up on the roost, so I don't really think he/she will be able to snuggle up with another bird anyways. I've got to admit, I'm really tempted to bring him/her in the house where its warmer, but in all honesty, the little fellow probably has it better in that coop than it did when it was on the factory chicken farm.

Yes, the Polar Vortex is coming back....I am so not looking forward to more cold weather. It was so nice over the weekend...It was in the mid to upper 60's all weekend, and NOW its calling for more cold weather, and snow...more snow...blah...I'm going to be so happy when spring finally gets around to getting here.

Another Day on the Farm



We've had quite the day on the farm today. We did our first chicken cull, and are now down to 2 roosters. My hubby and his long time friend Aaron, did the culling. They did 5 roosters, and 1 hen. We had to take care of our hen that was an egg eater, and could not seem to be discouraged.

We've done a bit of what's known as chicken math, Yesterday (Friday) I gave away 3 chicks, and 1 rooster to a good home. Then today Aaron brought me a chicken that fell off of a chicken truck. I put that one in a coop for the time being to make sure that its not sick, and to get everybody used to it. And then we culled the 6 chickens today...so we were down, up and down, and are possibly going to go back up again.

I had to make the boys come in today for a bit, so as you can see, Sam is enjoying a blanket and the television. He seems to like the commercials better than anything else. He truly is a funny little man.

The next two pictures are of the chicks I hatched out. I love the little yellow and brown striped chicken. That little chick, has feathers going down her legs. She is a Dark Brahma/Rhode Island Red cross. I cant wait to see how this little chick turns out.

The last picture, is a pic of  just how awesome fresh eggs look. As you can sort of see by my "great" picture taking skills how it fills up the little fingering cup, and then how the yolk stands up instead of laying flat like the store bought eggs are. You can also see the rich shiny, yellow of the yolk. Its not as washed out as store bought eggs are. Truly there is a great difference in flavor.

Oh, it got up to 65 today!!! It was completely awesome!!!! It gave me hope that spring really is on the way...I'm hoping that we don't get the wintry mix that they are calling for next week.

So, I hope you guys are having a great weekend!!!!

Still more hatching

As you can see, hatching wears everybody out. There are still several eggs in the incubator, but only one of them has a pip in it. Its looking like the Marans eggs have done just about all they are going to do.10 of them have hatched out, and 5 of the mutt eggs have hatched. Its a mutt egg that has got a pip in it now. Although, the Marans can take up to a full 24 days to hatch out, so there's no telling if they are really done or not at this point.

Its going to be another beautiful day here, so that means more melting snow, and more mud. I don't mind the mud, I just have to be careful not to slip and bust my hind end.

I'm hoping that my Rhode Island Red pullets start laying, like soon...like really soon. We are culling 10 chickens this weekend, and 5 of them are our first egg layers, who are barely giving us anything. They did quite well over the winter, but I think doing the supplemental lighting may have wore out there egg laying abilities a bit. That's ok though, more food for the freezer.

Still Hatching out on Weds

Well, this is day 3 of the hatchings, and technically today is the official hatch out date. They just started a wee bit early. I have to say though, that even though this isn't the biggest hatch we've ever worked on, it does seem to be the most spread out hatching we've done. Now I do have 3 eggs in there that aren't due to start hatching out tomorrow, so I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to start hatching out today. I'm up to 9 chicks today. I do have one that's working on hatching out at the moment.

When we do hatchings, I wake up really easily. I actually herd a chick in the incubator hollering that she was free. (I don't know that its a she, but I decided to refer to them as she until I know what they are)

Its raining here today, which I'm not complaining about one bit. Its raining and going to get close to 60, so that means if I'm lucky, all of this darn snow will be gone by the end of the day....oh I'm looking forward to seeing grass again....lots and lots of grass. Of course this means that its going to be muddy, but that's ok

morning chick chirps

Last night at 7:58 PM,  the first of our chicks hatched out. It was one of the French Black Copper Marans, and this morning she (I'm just going to refer to them all as she until I can tell the difference) is all fluffed up nicely, and is quite adorable. She was all over the place in that crate, and I think the poor little thing is lonely...but don't be sad, as of right now there are 4 more eggs pipped, and ready to emerge. Three of them are the FBCM and the other is one of the eggs from our back yard. Those are basically mutts...

I couldn't resist snapping and sharing that last shot of Sam with you guys, as you can see he doesn't seem to care about all the little chirps happening in here. As long as it doesn't interfere with his comfort and tv watching, Sam is just going to keep doing Sam things. Pardon the fact that I need to vacuum. That's a daily kind of thing that needs to happen here.

I'll update you guys later on once more hatches happen.

OH its supposed to get up to 50 today, so I'm in high hopes that, all of that snow outside melts off!!!