The New Girls

We added three old gals to our flock this weekend. After checking our chicken reference books, I think we have a Buff Orpington, Maran, and Sussex. We needed the eggs! Word has gotten around the neighborhood about our eggs and we were pulling in one a day with the birds we had. These three should help to boost those numbers and help appease our fans. 

Welcome girls! 

Introducing...

The Ninja Turtles, Master Splinter, and Shredder! 

Matilde and Evan had fun picking five new broilers and a turkey this week. We lost the other turkey to what we think may have been a bird of prey. Our Mr. Bowling enjoyed roosting high, so we will be sure not to wait before clipping Shredder's wings. By clipping a bird's wings it grounds them. We haven't done it to the Donnas or any of our other birds but none have wanted or attempted to fly out of the yard. Anyway, the NInja Turtles and Master Splinter are Cornish Cross chickens. We will harvest their meat around Labor Day. As for Shredder, he is an American Standard White turkey that will grow between 25-30 pounds by Thanksgiving! I am so excited and will do everything I can to keep this guy alive and well fed until November. 

Thank you to Bradley Farms in Puyallup for ordering the bulk quantity birds and sharing their skills and knowledge with other farmers around the area! www.facebook.com/thebradleyfarm

Playing with the Donnas.

The kids had a lot of fun holding, feeding, and playing with all of our animals today. It was a ton of fun! 

Power Ranger Thursday!

The Red Rangers' visit to SWEL Preschool today was another fun experience!  I was able to explain to the children that there are chickens that lay eggs and chickens that we eat. Matilde blurted out, "We all had chicken for lunch today!" Perfectly timed!  It made it so much easier to explain after they all realized it was CHICKEN. We did have one request for an egg layer to visit, so Donna may be making a trip to the school next week. The kids were also able to feed the Power Ranger/Ghostbusters some chicken scratch. 

It's nice to share this fun part of our lives with Matilde's classmates. It really opens conversations with parents about the importance of knowing where their food is coming from, and the kids are really enjoying watching these birds grow!  

The Power Rangers, 3 wks old

We have been invited to share our Red Ranger broilers with Matilde's preschool class on a weekly basis. We dropped in with them last Thursday because we were so excited about having just purchased them hours before school started. The kids were excited to see, hear, hold, and smell them!  Matilde's teachers asked us to bring them every Thursday so the children can see how fast they are growing. Miss Amy said the kids are learning about living things right now, and it would be a perfect complement to their current curriculum. 

I just don't know how to handle not bringing them in after their 12 weeks are up!  Andy suggested a bowl of fried chicken!  Terrible!  

I love watching sweet little Tilly's reaction to her friends who have never seen live chickens. It is so normal for her to live with these animals that it didn't occur to her that others do not have chickens at home. A couple friends asked if they are the mommies that lay eggs and Tilly candidly replied, "No. These are the ones we eat."  

This is our normal. :) 

I spy...

...three Red Ranger chicks!  Can you see them? 

We bought three broilers this week. This is a different, larger bird. These guys should grow fast and plump up just as the Cornish Cross birds did. 

Matilde calls them her Power Ranger chickens. :) Again, six chickens is still legal, and we'll be back down to three in about 8-12 weeks. This is the only time of year to buy meat birds, so we'll be raising them as long as we can continue to get our hands on them! 

One bird. One shot.

That's a quail. 

Only a whole bunch more to feed the rest of us.  

Hahaha 

For the Birds

This birdhouse is mounted without a back on our bedroom window. If any birds decide to stay, we will get to see what they're up to right from our bed. Sort of like a lazy bird watcher.  ;) 

Anyone notice the line Andy mounted for his hops???

For the Birds

Tilly made a few bird feeders last week, and we decided to place a few in the front trees.  There are two in this tree, and the small orange dot in the background is another for Mr. Matt, our friendly neighbor.