It's molting time again, that time of year when the daylight is shortest and chickens tend to molt their feathers and regrow them, sometimes in funny ways.

Our little Ameraucana rooster, Allspice, has molted his tail, which makes his already diminutive stature even more so.

Here he was before:

But that doesn't deter his gargantuan spirit.

Despite Pullet Surprise being over twice his size, Allspice still rules the roost around here.

Tail or no tail.

And that's no "tall tale."

Cheers -

The peeps are about 5 days old now, and as always I am enjoying them immensely.

Despite their diminutive size, they are full of personality and curiosity. 

They bring the spirit of new life, and hope, to a part of winter that I often struggle with, the part that seems to drag on forever, spring a distant memory. 

My daily dose of cheer, these babies. 

In case you're curious about what breeds we got this time, in Papa's hands are a Wellsummer (brown), a Black Sex Link, and an Ameraucana.

Wellsummers are a breed from Welsum, Holland, best known as the rooster on the Kellog's box. She will lay dark brown eggs.

Black Sex Links are a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and a Barred Rock hen. Differences in color of the newly hatched chicks are gender related, allowing for easy sorting of pullets and cockerels. She will lay light brown eggs.

Ameraucanas come in many colors, from light to dark. They lay light blue or green eggs. 

In the top photo on the page, two Buff Orpingtons exchange peep news. One of our all-time favorites, buffs are sweet tempered and curious. They also lay light brown eggs.

This is the earliest we've ever started pullets (young female chickens). It is our hope that they will be laying well before our older girls molt in the fall, a natural process that takes so much energy from the hen that she stops laying eggs for up to 3 months.

These little sweeties are our guarantee for non-stop eggs throughout that period. 

And non-stop entertainment for the next 9 months as they grow in feathers, size and individual personalities.

Cheers- 

The newest batch of peeps has arrived from Cackle Hatchery!

One of my very favorite days of the year on this farm, right up there with hatching turkeys, new lambs and new crias. 

Hard to believe these tiny little fluffs traveled for two days inside this cardboard box.

Mother Nature has given them the gift of being able to absorb nutrition from their yolk right before they hatch, giving them 2-3 days worth of sustenance before they need to eat and drink.  

In nature, mama hen would stay on her nest with her hatched and unhatched babies for a couple of days, waiting for the rest to hatch, before bringing the chicks out of the nest for food and water. Absorbing the yolk allowed the babies who hatched first to wait around with mama until her siblings hatched out and they could all go out for a bite. 

Hatcheries have learned to take advantage of this little window of time in order to mail the birds to new homes.  

At about 8:00am this  morning I got the call from the local post office saying they had my chickens, and off I ran to pick them up and bring them home. 

And then the fun begins. 

After opening up the box and making sure they look OK, I take them out one-by-one, say a little "welcome to our farm" and dip their beaks in the water and food dishes. 

And then I sit and watch and sit and watch and occasionally think about all the other things I should be doing,... then sit and watch some more. 

All of these little cuties "should" be pullets, a term for a young female chicken before she starts to lay eggs.  Occasionally we do get a rooster in the mix.  The sorting method is not 100% accurate. 

I purchase new pullets every spring, because in the fall, all of my chickens will molt their feathers, a process that takes a lot of energy from the hens, during which they stop laying eggs for up to 3 months as they focus on regrowing their feathers again. 

If I can time things correctly, these new babies will be laying eggs by then, filling in the gap while my older hens molt. 

At least that's the plan.  I'm still tweaking the number of birds I need to buy each spring to get the right number of eggs for what we need and what people would like to get from us. 

I think we got it right this time with twenty new chicks.  

Then again, can you ever have too many peeps?

Cheers - 

It's easy to photograph the main event of the moment....

the animals going about their morning routines...

but what you cannot see, perhaps just is well, is the photographer in her fuzzy red bathrobe, black stocking hat, blue muck boots, standing on the split rail fence for a better shot...

you cannot hear my bantam rooster Allspice singing his tiny little heart out, or his flock of hens clucking as they exchange their morning chicken gossip... 

I wish you could.  It is all so lovely and wonderful and sometimes, hilarious. 

Especially the photographer in her fuzzy red bathrobe and muck boots. 

Cheers - 

Today one of the Red-tailed Hawks that live on the back of the edge of our property came by for a closer look.

No doubt scoping out our pullets, which run freely around the property.

Thankfully, no dinner was served.

Cheers -

Our second batch of itty bitty broiler babies has arrived!

This batch came from Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam, WI.

As usual, when I took the boxes into the barn where my kiddie pool brooders were already set up, I took each one out of the box one-by-one, dipped its beak in the food and water, and personally welcomed him/her to the farm.

It's amazing these tiny balls of fluff will be market size in just eight weeks.

Last year I took a photo every day for 56 days.

This batch seems especially vigorous, and I am hopeful they will thrive here.

Also as usual, I will enjoy every single minute they live on our little farm.

Cheers -

P.S. - this batch did indeed thrive - being one of the healthiest batches I have raised in the three years I've been doing it.  We only lost one bird, a small, weak bird that I could tell from the first day would not likely make it.  Every single other bird made it to market day. 

One of the final tasks we do each year on the Little Farm is ready her for winter.  The most unglamorous task involves mucking out the cheep shed and getting it prepped for the long winter ahead.

Ideally we'd have it mucked out in the late spring, as soon as the birds move out to pasture.

However, lately it seems there is always something living in it that prevents the mucking out until the last moments before we're moving the birds back in.

Several loads of woodchips secured from sources near and far lay the foundation under the bedding that will become a "deep litter" system (click the link to read all about the health benefits of this system!).

The hanging black bucket is actually a poultry waterer. On the bottom are poultry nipples they can drink from, keeping their water super clean as they cannot stand on the edge of the dish or sit and poop in it, nor can dust or debris fall into the bucket.

Once the birds come in, they will of course poop all over the bedding.  So about every week (should be every week but sometimes these farmers are all "pooped out" and it goes a couple of weeks) we add another layer of hay, straw, pine needles or woodchips.

A word of warning - being naturally frugal farmers, we always opt for free bedding sources over ones we have to purchase.  We do not raise any grain crops on this farm (yet), therefore we have no access to free straw bedding.

We do have free access to woodchips, although we must haul them from quite a distance.  We also have access to leftover hay (whatever the ruminants don't eat).  So we use what we have at hand, hay and woodchips.

If you use a lot of hay, you will have issues with the bedding becoming matted like a felted wool blanket.  Very hard to muck out at the end of the year, also not as absorbent as straw or woodchips. The more woodchips and straw you can incorporate, the better.

The birds have access to the outdoors all winter long, although the turkeys are far braver about facing the elements than the chickens are.

Which just proves turkeys aren't chicken.

Cheers -