- Every chick deserves a mother: one man’s crazy dream for how chickens deserve to be raised.
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- Life is Full of Mystery February 27, 2021
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- Blue Skies in November November 21, 2020
- Sunshine Is Just Beyond the Clouds November 17, 2020
- Winter Returns to the Hills November 14, 2020
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- Fog and Less Fog October 5, 2020
- First Blush of Fall September 29, 2020
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- Six Short Weeks September 24, 2020
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- Hottest Day of the Year August 16, 2020
- Morning Surprise August 12, 2020
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- It Blooms, It Dies July 15, 2020
- A Cool Start to Summer July 7, 2020
- Each Flower Has Its Own Strategy June 29, 2020
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Monthly Archives: March 2014
Sometimes the Best Laid Plans Don’t
Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work. After building an incubation suite for the hen who went broody, I tried moving her into the suite Saturday night (March 29), but Sunday morning, she wanted out. She was determined to get … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Agriculture, Egg incubation, Humanely raised chicken
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Chick Adventure in the Wild
What a morning for these five day old chicks. When their mother tries to lure them through a stream, they panic. The water is too deep for them. Separated from her, the chicks chirp loudly, begging her to come back. … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Cherry Blossoms are for Eating
What does a cherry tree full of blossoms look like to a chicken? Manna from heaven? The taste of things to come? Each spring, the chickens enjoy a feast of cherry blossoms. Did the chicken you buy get a chance … Continue reading
All It Takes Is a Little Sunshine
All it takes is a little sunshine to make the cherry blossoms explode. What a pleasant surprise after many days of clouds and rain. All it takes is a little sunshine to bring out all the chickens. And what are … Continue reading
Why Chicks Deserve a Mother – Reason #2
Another reason chicks deserve a mother is that with a mother, they get to go outside at a very early age. These chicks are just four days old and they are having the time of their lives scratching around outdoors … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Why Chicks Deserve a Mother – Reason #1
Imelda is curious about the new chicks. The last few days, she’s spent a fair amount of time hanging out with the new mom and her chicks. Is she wanting to hatch eggs of her own? Does she think the … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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More Chicken – The Other Red Meat
This probably isn’t what comes to mind when you think of chicken. You probably don’t associate such a dark, red meat with chicken. But when roosters get to live outdoors, courting hens through pasture and woodland, breathing fresh air all … Continue reading
A Very Safe Place
The wonderful thing about letting mothers raise chicks is that you don’t need to keep the chicks under heat lamps. Whenever the chicks need to warm up, they can duck under their mother’s warm feathers for a rest. The other … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Coq au Vin – Chicken, the Other Red Meat
Usually, you don’t think of chicken as a red meat. But a year old rooster has meat as red as beef. The pictures below are of the roosters thigh and legs, and breasts. Using Julia Child’s Coq au Vin recipe … Continue reading
The Lucky Ones
This is a sure sign of spring, the first chicks of the year. They hatched yesterday, and this is their very first morning. These are the lucky ones. The tiny, nearly infinitesimal percentage of chicks born each year which develop … Continue reading
Hatching Day
It’s a quiet, drizzly spring day. The brooding hen’s chicks are hatching. This is what a hatched egg looks like. For the first day or two, it is next to impossible to see the chicks. The mother keeps them tucked … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
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Chicken Love – It’s Not Nothing
It’s about her last day brooding. I can hear some of her chicks starting to peep. They start peeping before they hatch so I’m not sure if some have already hatched, or if they are about to. So what drives … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Egg incubation, Humanely raised chicken
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Deepening Spring
Spring is deepening day by day. A few more days and the cherries will be in full bloom. Tomorrow, the temperature may even get up to 60ºF (15.5ºC). The last time it was so warm was back on October 27, … Continue reading
Soufflés Don’t Just Happen
Before you can take a freshly baked soufflé out of the oven you need to pour the soufflé batter into buttered ramekins and put them in the oven. Before you can pour the soufflé batter into buttered ramekins, you need … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Happiness
Tagged Agriculture, Eggs, Food, Humanely raised chicken, Poultry
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Anatomy of a Branch
So that’s what a branch looks like inside the trunk of a tree. It penetrates deep into the center of the trunk. Rachel does not want to be disturbed when she is on her nest. Svenda just takes it all … Continue reading
Spring Battles
Spring sets life into motion. It’s also a time of heightened competition between the roosters. I culled one of the roosters today when he and Sven, the Swedish Flower Chicken rooster picture below, got into a vigorous fight, and both … Continue reading
Five Blossoms
Five open blossoms is what it takes for the meteorologists in Japan to proclaim that the cherry blossoms have bloomed in a city. In each city, there is one tree which is declared the reference tree, and when five blossoms … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Counting Eggs and More
Tomorrow is egg delivery day. Most of the eggs are used by Tweets Cafe, but some are destined for retail sale. Those cartons get special treatment so that when customers purchase them and open them, they get a nice surprise … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Hazel
Hazel is nine months old. Here are some pictures of her from June of 2013, July of 2013, December 2013, and March of 2014. She has stunning patterns on her feathers, and with her naked neck, she cuts quite the … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Heat
Chickens are but a part of a man and his hoe®. The 800 garlic I planted last fall are shooting up. Come May, the garlic bed will provide a bounty of garlic scapes to enjoy. Much of this is made … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Humanely raised chicken
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