Archive for the ‘Hen Life’ Category

03/16

Today our little ladies turn 1 year old!  It is hard to believe that they came into our lives almost a year ago already.  They have brought us so much joy and togetherness.  To celebrate this big moment in their lives, we made them two chicken friendly cakes.  Yes, we really did.

We used 2 Happy Hens Treat Squares and mashed potatoes to make the cake.  Instead of candles, the girls put meal worms on top (also from Happy Hens).  mmmmmm…..

The hens could barely control their excitement.  Queen of the Hive jumped up and tried to grab the plate from C even.

March 16, 2016
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Aren’t they cute with their little mashed potato covered beaks?

March 16, 2016-6

02/27

Winters in Minnesota are pretty predictable. They are cold and snowy. This year was no exception. Us humans are use to it and we know how to prepare for it. Snow boots? Check. Waterproof gloves? Check. Extremely warm winter coat? Check.

What we didn’t know is how to prepare our coop and the little ladies that live inside it.

Last winter when we decided to add hens to our family we knew that we needed winter hardy chickens. A lot of research went into the breads that we chose to have. Our biggest concern is that we needed chickens that could regulate their body temperatures in sub zero or close to sub zero temps and of course we also wanted family friendly chickens. Our Barred Plymouth Rocks, Australorps, and Buff Orphingtons can do that so we went into this winter being comfortable (ok almost comfortable. Jon and I still worried every night about our ladies being too cold when the weather was -20 before windchill).

We also knew before winter started that we needed to figure out a way to keep the water from not freezing for the hens. Jon decided to put electricity in the coop in the fall so that if we needed to run a heater or something, that we could. This turned out to be a good move. The temperature of the coop did not stay warm enough on its own as we were hoping so we ended up adding a space heater by the water dispenser. Great plan right? Nope. The space heater couldn’t keep up with the weather conditions and broke. Our next plan was to use heat lamps that are mounted to the ceiling of the coop. The problem with the heat lamps is that they produced a red light every time they turned on, which was usually at night. Yes, our chickens became red light district party chickens almost every night this winter.

February 07, 2016

The bright side to this is that today it feels like spring outside. Our chickens are able to run loose and enjoy the taste of grass again. They love running around the yard when it isn’t covered in snow. Hello early spring! I am sure that you won’t last long before the next snow storm, but today we are going to enjoy you!

February 19, 2016

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08/31

I took time to read everything that I could about chicks and chickens so that I could be a well educated Mama to our lil’ chicks.  I quietly wished for a “What to Expect When You’re Expecting Chickens” book, but sadly no one has written that book yet.  (I will have to talk to N about that.  That boy writes better than me.  He has already asked me if he can write some of the blog posts down the road because he loves to write.)

I felt confident in knowing what breeds of chickens would work best in our climate and for our family, I read about health concerns, how to clean coops, best type of feed to purchase during the different stages of life; but the moment that I saw our little chickens all of my knowledge flew out of my head.  They were sooooo tiny and looked incredibly fragile.  I felt the urge to keep the little chicks away from my 4 kids so that they wouldn’t get hurt, but on the same side I wanted teach my children about raising chickens.  Such conflicting thoughts were running through my mind.    I was a nervous wreck holding them in my clear Rubbermaid container on the way home.  I knew that they were nervous about what was going on, where they were going and probably wondering who this giant lady was that kept talking to them.  It must have been really scary for them.

Luckily, our chickens didn’t have a thing to worry about.  They are loved 6x over by each and everyone one of us.

Our chickens came into our lives in the middle of March 2015.  The Buff Orpington’s and Australorp’s were hatched on March 11th and the Barred Plymouth Rock’s were hatched on March 16th.

Here are some pictures of our lil’ chicks when they were just a few days old.  The Buff Oprpinton’s are the yellow ones, The Australorp’s are black with white tummies and the Barred Plymouth Rocks are black with the white dot on their heads.

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08/26

We are a family of 6 that lives in a suburb of Minneapolis on an acre lot.  Jon and I purchased our home in 2001 and are slowly modifying our land to fit our needs.  In 2013 we removed our large above ground pool to plant our second garden.  We have 4 beautiful kids that range in age from 5 to 12 years old.  They are active, playful and almost always on the move.

In 2015 we decided to make the leap and add 6 chickens to our family.  In addition to our 6 chickens we also have a cat that thinks she is a dog.

Our lives are a little crazy, creative and always funny.  I hope that you enjoy our adventures.

 

Photos by KME Photography

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