Farm Life

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My how time flies!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 12 weeks since my visit with my friend Tammy and her family, and these guys and gals hatched!  We had such a wonderful time watching them hatch and cheering them on as they entered the world.  What a great learning experience for all of our kids to get to experience!  I was so glad that the timing worked out to where they were hatching whey they were here. 
Here they are now:
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Where has the time gone?  I miss Tammy terribly, but we talk almost daily, and we’re planning a trip up there next year.  I can’t wait! 
Back to the chicks.  Right now, they are in their own separate area (but not completely cut off from the rest of the flock), but soon, they will be joining the rest of the flock.  They have approximately another 8 weeks before the girls start laying, but we’ll have to separate the young males before then.  Unfortunately, we cannot keep them all, but I might keep one or two.  The rest will go into my freezer at around 20 weeks of age.  We’ll just have to wait and see how my flock’s doing at that time. 
We also finally got part of a garden planted.  Not what I had originally planned, but it’ll do.  We planted 5 rows of corn, 2 rows of beans, and 1 row of potatoes.  So far, I do have corn and beans coming up which is great!  I’m praying that they will continue to do well and that I’ll have something to put into my freezer to last us through the winter. 
Well, there you have it – an update to our farm life.  We stay pretty busy, but I love it!  I’m so very thankful for all that God has blessed us with.  I’m more blessed than I could ever put into words.  

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Fresh Eggs

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I LOVE FRESH EGGS! There is nothing better than a fresh egg.

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Before we started raising chickens last spring, I had never had a fresh egg, but I was really looking forward to it! I waited impatiently patiently for the time when my young pullets would start laying for me. When they did finally start, we were in the middle of moving them from a small coop to a much larger coop and was pleasantly surprised to find 2 little eggs in the far corner of the little coop the day before we actually moved them!

I waited until I had enough eggs for the whole family to have some and then I scrambled up some fresh eggs first, and then I scrambled up some store bought eggs. Just the color was completely different. The store bought eggs were almost white compared to the bright orange yolks of the fresh eggs. And the taste! Oh my! There really is no comparing the two! Store bought has NO taste when comparing them to the fresh eggs. My family has gotten to the point that, on the rare occasion we do go out to eat for breakfast (or to Cracker Barrel were you can get breakfast all day) we do not eat the eggs. They are so lacking in flavor that they taste terrible. This is mostly due in part to the fact that we free range our chickens. They do get layer feed, as well as some scratch and scraps of food (no meat), but the majority of their diet comes from what they find themselves.

Right now, I’m getting an average of 14 eggs per day, but I get as many as 17. The Lord has been so good to us and provided us with just enough people wanting to buy my eggs that it covers the cost of their feed. That is all I prayed for, and He provided. I’m not in this for the money, but it does get expensive even with them free ranging, so this really helps out and makes it more affordable. My girls (and guys) are well loved and very spoiled. They get lots of treats (i.e. veggie & fruit scraps, oatmeal, etc.) and think they should have them any time someone comes out the back door.

If you have never tried fresh eggs, please do! They are so much better for you! It has been proven that fresh eggs from chickens that are free-ranged are much better for you than any store bought eggs. According to Mother Earth News here are the nutritional values of fresh eggs from free-ranged chickens:

  • 4 to 6 times more vitamin-D
  • 1/3 less cholesterol
  • 1/4 less saturated fat
  • 2/3 more vitamin A
  • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
  • 3 times more vitamin E
  • 7 times more beta carotene

WOW! Eggs really are good for you! Who knew that you could find so much nutrition in such a small package? All I can say is “YUM!”!!

Don’t forget to check out The Diaper Diaries to see what everyone else has to say about “Things I Love Thursday”!

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And then there was one

Out of my original 42 eggs, I ended up with one chick. I’ll be able to tell in a couple of weeks if it’s a cockerel (baby rooster) or a pullet (baby hen).
If you’ve been following along, you know that I’m really devastated that this is all that I’ve gotten, but there nothing that I could do. Unfortunately, the thermostat on the incubator went bad and got WAY too hot on day #2 which killed most of my eggs. I’m really very lucky to even have this little one. It’s a miracle baby to be sure.
We did manage to get a copy of my receipt to submit to the manufacturing company for a replacement thermostat and a replacement motor for the automatic tuner. I will probably still be on the look out for another incubator, but since it’s not going to be needed until spring of next year, I’m not going to be in a hurry.
Here’s a pic of what the little guy/girl looks like all fluffy:
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Gotta love fluffy chicks!