Category Archives: Chickens

2013 Goals – Final Recap

Posted on January 2, 2014 by jrh

At the start of 2013, we laid out a set of goals for our work on the house, farm, and studio.  These were meant to be things we’d accomplish within 2013.  As of mid-year, we were on track to hit … Continue reading →

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Process Improvement: Poultry Scalding Water

Posted on November 27, 2013 by jrh

Preparing to process the turkeys in chilly mid-November (high around 20) forced us to think carefully about how we handled getting the scalding water to temp and keeping it there. We made two changes that I think were massively helpful, … Continue reading →

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Secret Stash

Posted on October 25, 2013 by jrh

With egg laying rates dropping as winter approaches, it’s not possible to notice an egg or two missing on any given day.  Moreover, it’s been a while since our surrogate mother in residence Buffy has actually laid eggs — that’s … Continue reading →

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Compost Helpers

Posted on October 21, 2013 by jrh

Cleaning up the gardens as we prepare for winter creates a lot for the compost pile.  The chickens and turkeys, who are accustomed to getting their table scraps from the compost, were right on my heels as I dumped each … Continue reading →

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Egg Laying Rates: A Sign of Fall

Posted on October 4, 2013 by jrh

Egg laying rates fluctuate with the seasons.  Mature birds lay fewer eggs as the days get shorter, and most lay almost no eggs while they’re molting in late fall / early winter. Knowing this, and not wanting a repeat of … Continue reading →

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Seeya, Summer

Posted on September 13, 2013 by jrh

Earlier this week it was nearly 100°F, and it’s currently 42°F.  Despite having almost another week before it’s technically fall, it seems to have effectively arrived (and the weather forecast agrees). We’ve been settling back into the school routine, which is … Continue reading →

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A little sibling reading time

Posted on September 11, 2013 by amyj
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Chicken Dust Bath Upgrade

Posted on September 10, 2013 by amyj

Step one: Get some wood ash Step two: Get the pool Step Three: Amuse yourself by taking a “selfie” of you moving stuff to the coop Step Four: Put pool in chicken area and fill Step Five:  Watch the chickens … Continue reading →

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Success Hard-Boiling Fresh Eggs

Posted on September 5, 2013 by jrh

Really fresh eggs tend to fail miserably when hard boiled in the typical manner.  The white sticks to the shell and you have an egg that’s harder to peel and ends up missing half of its white by the time … Continue reading →

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New Trailer – Next Mobile Coop?

Posted on August 31, 2013 by jrh

After our somewhat lackluster results with the mobile coop we built last winter, we’ve been looking for a well-used utility trailer to use as a the base of a new mobile coop.  Our hope is that by starting with something … Continue reading →

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