Six eggs from three happy backyard chickens...
Plus six fresh homegrown lemons...
Helps to make one very delicious lemon meringue tart.
Showing posts with label Chooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chooks. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, October 3, 2011
Can you spot the odd one out?
I think one of the chooks sneezed unexpectedly...
Have you seen anything surprising lately?
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A mix of seasons
A couple of months ago I put a huge pile of autumn leaves into the chook house - the chooks had a wonderful time scratching through them and eventually the leaves broke down into nothing. This week I raked up some more leaves (yes, they are still falling - our pin oak holds onto them for months after they turn brown) and put them into the chook house. In the time it took for me to go into the house to get my camera and walk back to the chook house the three chooks had already spread the tall pile into an even layer across the floor of their run!
Harriet (the Rhode Island Red) and our two Australorps, Cottontail and, in the background showing us her feathery bum, Philadelphia. Oh, and in excellent news - the younger two are now definitely laying eggs!
Our first jonquils of the season - Soleil d'Or.
One of my favourite spring bulbs - beautiful Tete a Tete's.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
This weekend
We got eggs! We haven't had home laid eggs since before Easter. We think they are from Phili, but they could be from one of the new girls - Harriet or Cottontail.
I've got the flu. Lots of aches and snuffles.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
More feathered friends
It took a little time, but Phili has some new housemates. Here they are - a Rhode Island Red and an Australorp. They are both 15 weeks old, so they have some growing to do and it will be a while before they are ready to lay eggs. We are still thinking of names for these lovely new chooks, I'll keep you updated.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
It's been a while
Hello friends and family in blogworld, I'm terribly sorry that I have been so remiss in writing lately. So you don't think I have completely forgotten you all - here is some news from our part of the world...
Early last week Butter Chook passed away. We don't know why. One day she was fine, the next she was dead. There were no visible signs of anything wrong. It is very sad. Phili Chook is doing well - and her feathers are slowly coming back after her massive overnight moult a couple of weeks ago - but she is lonely in the chook house and it will probably be a couple more weeks before we can get her some new housemates.
Autumn is in full swing in Canberra and the changing colours of the deciduous trees is a wonderful sight. We've already had a few overnight temperatures of only 1oC (33.8oF), but no frosts yet so some of our summer vegetables are still producing (although in reduced quantities). I have planted lots of seeds for winter vegetables, and have started pulling out the old summer vegetables that have stopped producing. The garden looks very different from a couple of months ago.
I have been on school holidays this week and have been so busy that I have hardly had time to draw breath - but I have squeezed in some crafting so keep an eye out for some posts about it soon!
Early last week Butter Chook passed away. We don't know why. One day she was fine, the next she was dead. There were no visible signs of anything wrong. It is very sad. Phili Chook is doing well - and her feathers are slowly coming back after her massive overnight moult a couple of weeks ago - but she is lonely in the chook house and it will probably be a couple more weeks before we can get her some new housemates.
Autumn is in full swing in Canberra and the changing colours of the deciduous trees is a wonderful sight. We've already had a few overnight temperatures of only 1oC (33.8oF), but no frosts yet so some of our summer vegetables are still producing (although in reduced quantities). I have planted lots of seeds for winter vegetables, and have started pulling out the old summer vegetables that have stopped producing. The garden looks very different from a couple of months ago.
I have been on school holidays this week and have been so busy that I have hardly had time to draw breath - but I have squeezed in some crafting so keep an eye out for some posts about it soon!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Zucchinis!!
Wow, we have so many zucchini's we just don't know what to do with them. We have been giving them away, eating them ourselves and giving them to the chooks. The funny thing is - 95% of the zucchinis are coming from only one plant.
Our Zucchini Tromboncino is highly prolific and we usually pick at least 4 every couple of days from that one plant. Unfortunately the chooks don't like those zucchinis because they are all firm flesh and no seeds. So the chooks don't eat the zucchinis, even if I cut them up. Today I went through the fridge and pulled out all of the zucchinis that we haven't been able to get through. The crisper section of our fridge was full of them! I zapped the zucchinis through the food processor to grate them and gave the gratings to the chooks - they quite enjoyed scratching through the huge pile!
Our Zucchini Tromboncino is highly prolific and we usually pick at least 4 every couple of days from that one plant. Unfortunately the chooks don't like those zucchinis because they are all firm flesh and no seeds. So the chooks don't eat the zucchinis, even if I cut them up. Today I went through the fridge and pulled out all of the zucchinis that we haven't been able to get through. The crisper section of our fridge was full of them! I zapped the zucchinis through the food processor to grate them and gave the gratings to the chooks - they quite enjoyed scratching through the huge pile!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Chicken soup and hot dog
Our latest tips on helping pets keep cool in summer (or, another post about the heat...).
Dog: We put ice cubes in Tansy's water and she 'bobs' for them. Then she chases them around the floor.
Chooks: Last year we made several soups with part of our vegetable harvest. Some of them were very nice, some not great at all. As a result, several takeaway containers filled with plain zucchini soup have been sitting in our freezer for a year - so we have been placing one a day into the chook house over the past few days of heat. Phili likes to stand on top of it when we first put it in, then she gets off it and she and Butter both start pecking at it. We used the last of that soup this afternoon, so tonight I cut up some zucchini, put it in some water and placed it in the freezer. Some more chook ice-cream for tomorrow!
Dog: We put ice cubes in Tansy's water and she 'bobs' for them. Then she chases them around the floor.
Chooks: Last year we made several soups with part of our vegetable harvest. Some of them were very nice, some not great at all. As a result, several takeaway containers filled with plain zucchini soup have been sitting in our freezer for a year - so we have been placing one a day into the chook house over the past few days of heat. Phili likes to stand on top of it when we first put it in, then she gets off it and she and Butter both start pecking at it. We used the last of that soup this afternoon, so tonight I cut up some zucchini, put it in some water and placed it in the freezer. Some more chook ice-cream for tomorrow!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Hunting in the dark
Warning - this blog may gross out squeamish readers...
As part of establishing a sustainable garden we are trying to avoid chemicals, poisons and pollutants. There are various natural methods for controlling snails and slugs, but I prefer to go outside on rainy nights to hunt for them.
I don't mind hunting for snails, they have a nice hard, dry shell that is perfect for human hands to pick up. But slugs really gross me out. I've tried several methods of picking them up without having to touch them, but nothing really seems to work - they curl up and fall off sticks and other implements. I'm wondering if maybe a small pair of tongs would work, so I will look for some next time I am in a kitchenware shop. If anyone out there has any good ideas or any tried and tested methods, please let me know because I hate picking slugs up and then having to spend ages washing my hands to get the slime off!
We used to kill the snails and slugs, which made me feel terrible because there were often so many, but since we bought the chooks they take care of that job for us. We keep the slugs and snails in a little bucket until morning and then give them to Butter and Phili who peck them up and eventually turn them into eggs.
When Tansy came to live with us, she would follow me into the rain on my snail hunting expeditions and once she understood what I was looking for, she started to help. We nurtured her willingness to please, and her enjoyment of snuffling for snails and crunching them in her mouth (then spitting them out!), by encouraging her to hunt for snails. She will often hunt for them even when we aren't, and some wet evenings we will find several large snails and slugs deposited on the mat by the backdoor! She has proven to be an excellent snail hunter, and sees it as wonderful family bonding time when we are all there. So last night when a light shower of rain passed overhead we went outside with her to see what we could find.
It turned out to be an excellent night and we reaped a bumper harvest - our little slug bucket was full in hardly any time at all.
Last night's haul.
I did say this wasn't for the squeamish!
As part of establishing a sustainable garden we are trying to avoid chemicals, poisons and pollutants. There are various natural methods for controlling snails and slugs, but I prefer to go outside on rainy nights to hunt for them.
I don't mind hunting for snails, they have a nice hard, dry shell that is perfect for human hands to pick up. But slugs really gross me out. I've tried several methods of picking them up without having to touch them, but nothing really seems to work - they curl up and fall off sticks and other implements. I'm wondering if maybe a small pair of tongs would work, so I will look for some next time I am in a kitchenware shop. If anyone out there has any good ideas or any tried and tested methods, please let me know because I hate picking slugs up and then having to spend ages washing my hands to get the slime off!
We used to kill the snails and slugs, which made me feel terrible because there were often so many, but since we bought the chooks they take care of that job for us. We keep the slugs and snails in a little bucket until morning and then give them to Butter and Phili who peck them up and eventually turn them into eggs.
When Tansy came to live with us, she would follow me into the rain on my snail hunting expeditions and once she understood what I was looking for, she started to help. We nurtured her willingness to please, and her enjoyment of snuffling for snails and crunching them in her mouth (then spitting them out!), by encouraging her to hunt for snails. She will often hunt for them even when we aren't, and some wet evenings we will find several large snails and slugs deposited on the mat by the backdoor! She has proven to be an excellent snail hunter, and sees it as wonderful family bonding time when we are all there. So last night when a light shower of rain passed overhead we went outside with her to see what we could find.
It turned out to be an excellent night and we reaped a bumper harvest - our little slug bucket was full in hardly any time at all.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Back in action
It's official - Phili is back in the egg business. Three out of the past four days there has been two eggs waiting for us in the nesting boxes. It could be that Butter has gone egg crazy, but we think Phili is helping out.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Phili Update
Hooray, operation 'Stop Phili being broody' was a triumph! Since Saturday afternoon she has been back into normal chook behaviour.
I had been tipping Phili out of her nesting box each morning and afternoon, but on Saturday I waited until Butter had laid her egg and then removed both nesting boxes. On Sunday morning I put one nesting box back into their house for Butter and then removed it when she had laid her egg.
Thankfully Phili didn't try settling down in the dirt, or I wasn't sure what my next option would be!
The only sad note is that her time away from normal chook life has made her forget how fabulous bugs and grubs are to eat. I don't think Butter minds though as she now gets to eat them all!
I had been tipping Phili out of her nesting box each morning and afternoon, but on Saturday I waited until Butter had laid her egg and then removed both nesting boxes. On Sunday morning I put one nesting box back into their house for Butter and then removed it when she had laid her egg.
Thankfully Phili didn't try settling down in the dirt, or I wasn't sure what my next option would be!
The only sad note is that her time away from normal chook life has made her forget how fabulous bugs and grubs are to eat. I don't think Butter minds though as she now gets to eat them all!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What's in the garden shed?
When we moved into our house last year there was a small garden shed in the back corner of the yard. By adding a fully enclosed run to it (thanks Dad!) we had a chook home. Earlier this year we bought two lovely young chickens (they weren't fully grown). Butter the Rhode Island Red and Philadelphia the Australorp.
Phili was the first to start laying eggs a couple of months after we got her, and right from the start she laid perfect 50g eggs. Butter started a bit after and she also laid lovely 50g eggs. Sadly for our poached egg weekend lunches Phili has been broody for about 7 weeks. We thought she would have snapped out of it by now, but no such luck. So we are down to only one egg producer. I've been tipping Phili out of the nesting box she has settled into every morning and evening, but so far it hasn't stopped her. So this weekend I will be in full 'Stop Phili Brooding' mode - trying some of the tactics I read on the internet. But if anyone can offer their own techniques, please let me know.
Butter is hard working though and she is converting greens, grain and grubs into about 6 eggs a week. And they have the most vibrant orange yolks I've ever seen. Her yolks even change the colour of cake batter.
We have to be very careful to always refer to Butter and Phili as 'chooks'. We can't call them 'chickens' because we don't want Tansy getting ideas that her feathery friends are related to the tasty chicken neck treats we give her!
And after that long introduction, here are the chooks:
And their home:
Phili was the first to start laying eggs a couple of months after we got her, and right from the start she laid perfect 50g eggs. Butter started a bit after and she also laid lovely 50g eggs. Sadly for our poached egg weekend lunches Phili has been broody for about 7 weeks. We thought she would have snapped out of it by now, but no such luck. So we are down to only one egg producer. I've been tipping Phili out of the nesting box she has settled into every morning and evening, but so far it hasn't stopped her. So this weekend I will be in full 'Stop Phili Brooding' mode - trying some of the tactics I read on the internet. But if anyone can offer their own techniques, please let me know.
Butter is hard working though and she is converting greens, grain and grubs into about 6 eggs a week. And they have the most vibrant orange yolks I've ever seen. Her yolks even change the colour of cake batter.
We have to be very careful to always refer to Butter and Phili as 'chooks'. We can't call them 'chickens' because we don't want Tansy getting ideas that her feathery friends are related to the tasty chicken neck treats we give her!
And after that long introduction, here are the chooks:
And their home:
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