Introducing Jed :) Born on the 28/9/2010. His mum "Tick" is a Bullarab and his dad "Spinner" is a Great Dane x Neopolitan Mastiff. Jed is a wonderful addition to our family and im sure he will fit right in.
Some new babies hatched out this week. We have eggs hacthing almost every week now with an excellent hatch rate due to the pc fans i have installed into the incubators.
The garden beds are going well and we ate out first lettuce from the gardens on Thursday night YUMMO!!
Ok so i put out a call to my forum buddies for eggs to be donated to our schools gardening program. The kids are going to hatch and sell any left over chicks and use the money to buy plants for their gardens. Im pleased to say that i was FLOODED with offers of eggs :) and im stoked. The first lot should arrive today 2dz crossbred eggs and a doz mixed. The kids will be very happy im sure. The idea is for me to hatch them at home (ditching any bad egsgs) then take the chickies to the school when they are a few days old to hopefully help get past that delicate "dropped dead for no reason" stage and save tears all round. A huge thankyou to those who donated eggs :)
Some new chickies arrived over the week. We now have australorps,australorpx,australorpxwelsummer,australorpxsussex,light sussex(1),chinese silkie(1),pekin(1) and 2 of the cutest little jap bantams bubs in the world calling my brooder box home, plus "Ranger" the lone chickie.
I fitted a pc fan to my still air incubator and after a sleepless night getting up to make sure i wasnt burning the house down, im please to say its running like a champ! Temp is steady and im getting excited that i might actually get a decent hatch rate this time round.Its a wonder what folks can do with an old mobile phone charger and a pc fan :)
The 3 boys went camping to "Cascades" on the Tuross River and had a blast, a natural water slide forming the highlight of their weekend. They are heading back next weekend and taking the 2 older girls, so its will be just me and Miss Lolli for the long weekend.
Not much in the way of gardening going on, my leeks are up and look wonderful and i can see cabbages poking their leaves up. And my silverbeet in the foam box is looking good too. More tomatoe seeds to plant. Second raised bed will be finsihed this week in time for the tomato seedlings to go in.
School holidays are a mixed blessing with no early morning starts but as the week wears on the kids start to get bored and fight.Keeping them busy is the key and the boys love to do gardening so its a win win situation.
Yes we know that caged eggs are a no no. We all know what goes on behind the scenes with hens being crammed up to 5 deep into small cages in stinking hot sheds with lights running 24/7.
So most people opt for "barn laid eggs" which are endorsed by the RSPCA and brings to mind a peaceful setting of a nice barn with a loft filled with straw in which the hens can scratch and get exercise and have space to move.
That is what I thought too, sadly this is not the case. When I went to purchase some hens that were being offered by my local barn-laid egg place i was shocked and horrified to learn that the eggs I had been buying and feeding to my family we causing such distress and cruelty to hens.
They were practically bald and were a miserable bunch of birds,crawling with lice and packed into small plastic freight crates to be eitehr sold off to people like me or off to the dogfood companies in the following days.
Many had large open wounds from other hens picking at their bare flesh. Some had lost the tips of their toes due to a build up of ammonia in their feces in the bottom of the shed. Nearly all had sores on their feet. One had even had her eye pecked out and a nasty infection had set in. I had originally gone out to buy 5 hens for my backyard coop and ended up bringing 10 home and in the following weeks managed to help re home over 200 birds with friends and through advertising. This is where my love of Hy lines comes from. The girls were in poor condition but soon started to come good with fresh air and room to move. They even managed to become tame enough to tolerate being picked up and toted around by the children. We love our chooks and their eggs are a bonus.
We here is the awful truth behind "barn laid" eggs. The hens are in a tin shed in tiers or banks instead of cages. The national recommendation is 12 hens per sq metre which works out to be about the size of an A3 piece of paper per bird. This is apparently enough space to move around and nest properly.
The hens are 'de-beaked" a process which involves cutting the beak with a heated blade or laser in order to stop the birds cannibalising each other. Feather picking and cannibalism is a sign that the hens simply do not have enough space.
There is no happy end for the hens, once past their laying peak they start to cost more to feed than what they make so they are culled at 80 weeks of age and when you consider that naturally a hen would live for up to 10 years that is a very short lifespan.
Some are sold off to the public but most just end up as dogfood or compost.
Barn-laid is the egg companies and the RSPCA's dirty little secret.
Choose free range or even get a few of your own hens to supply your eggs. Don't let hens pay for your eggs.
I have tracked down some Indian Game hens and some fertile eggs through some people one of my favourite forums "Gourmet Backyard" Its a great local forum based here in the ACT,promoting organic gardening,livestock keeping and gourmet cooking using homegrown produce. A friendly bunch inhabit the forum and i never fail to get a giggle form their musings. I have learnt quite a bit on the site and made some friends too :)
We had 2 chicks hatch out of 8 on Friday, not a very good result but I'm having trouble stabilizing humidity. Unfortunately one has since died due to a birth defect, he was born without an anus. Quite a strange thing to happen.
So we have one chick left, his/her name is "Ranger" as in the lone ranger (hehehehe) Ranger has been given a teddy to snuggle up to and get plenty of cuddles throughout the day. From what i have read i expected to have a nightmare on my hands with constant chirping but Ranger seems quite happy with the teddy
We also had an outbreak of cocci which is a parasite of the gut, go through all our chicks. We lost all but 2 of our older chickens :( Everyone in the pen is now on sulphaquin.
We had some more tomato seeds arrive from eBay and even more have sprouted in the their pots.
I planted some zucchini plants,some cucumbers,cabbages and sage.
After watching my new favourite show "Return to River Cottage" i decided to build a poly tunnel. Hugh seems to be able to grow anything in his poly tunnel so we will see what ours lets us grow.
Today is day 18 for 8 of our chicken eggs in the incubator. I have topped up the water trays and added a damp cloth to help with humidity. The incubator now wont be opened until the last chick has emerged from the egg.
I also added 8 more eggs to the other incubator they and 9 others are due out between the 2-4th of October. We have 12 campbell duck eggs due out on the 7th of October.
hmmmm whats happend this week?? Oh I know we got our first duck egg from our new ducks :)
We planted some heirloom tomatoes,eggplants,chilli plants and pumpkins.
I learnt how to make lemon butter YUMMO!
Bought some more tomato seeds on Ebay, going to have toms coming out our ears, oh well i will have a crack at tomato chutney :)
The quails are growing well and are almost fully feathered now. I have 7 chicks from a friend that im growing out to see if they are Arthurs or Marthas hehehehe Arthurs will be eaten, Marthas will be kept to lay eggs.
Im trying to track down some Indian Game eggs so i can grow my own meat birds.
My first chicks of the season leave in a few weeks and my bantams arrive, we have decided that the colorbond aviary will make a wonderful Bantie Barn. They arrive in the school holidays.
On Friday we said a very heartbreaking goodbye to our sweet dog Bundy. Loyal,loving and ever faithful protector of home and family. She was always up for a game of zoomies with stroodle or a swim with the kids. So with a very heavy heart she left us for doggy heaven. Run free my beautiful girl, we will always love you xxxxx
Yesterday we welcomed 2 beautiful white call duck ladies to our flock :) They are super cute! I have put the this link in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_Duck so you can see all about this breed. They have settled in nicely and we even splashing in their little pond half an hour after they got here.I love having ducks again :) My 3 quail chicks are growing like weeds and are little eating machines. All the info i ahve read on quails says they are scared of humans from about 3 days after hatching...no one told mine that lol they actually come over to me when im feeding them and dont mind being picked up and handled as i try to figure out if they are males or females.
The chickens in the brooder are growing well and im turning the light off on them for the day it seems warm enough to me. They should be ready to go to their new home down the coast when the new owners come for them, bringing my new bantams :)
We have switched over to multigrain bread this week,on a whole it has been a smooth change with only one of the kids jacking up that he didnt like it. But with no other choice, its that or nothing.
We have been enjoying cake made from our fresh eggs and of course yummy curried egg sandwices on multigrain bread.
The coriander,mint and parsley are going gangbusters now that the chooks are confined to their pen. I feel kinda mean but they have desimated the grass and weeds with absoultly nothing left but bare dirt and chick poo at the back door. And we dont want them getting into the new vegie garden. But i have been weeding the front gardens so they have heaps of green stuff to keep them busy, i sprinkle their feed amongst the weeds and they spend the day scratching through it.
I just realised I had this blog, which has been very neglected :( So here is an update on whats been going on around here.
A few weekends ago we started on our raised garden beds. Hubby build a huge bed and we filled it with a mixture of composted chicken manure and a vegie mix bough from the local garden supply place. We planted carrots,cabbages,corn,capsicum,zucchinis,onions,lettuce and marigolds(to bring the bees in).
I also planted some heirloom tomato seeds,leeks,silverbeet and butternut pumpkins in pots to get started while the soil warms up. I have an old reptile enclosure that i use to start plants, as its warm and i have fitted a UV globe which help the plants grow strong and healthy.
Our Hyline chicks from January are now hens and are laying like champions. We also added some younger hylines a few weeks ago. We bought a lovely Speckled Sussex rooster, who has been dubbed "Stuart" and he has proved to be very fertile as every egg I have put into the incubator has developed. We currently have 8 chicks in the brooder hubby made for me and more eggs in the incubator as well as 4 dz Japanese quail eggs.
The little Brinsea oct10 incubator is cracking along with more of our eggs too. It had a less than average hatch a few weeks ago, producing only 5 live chicks from 19 eggs (fertility was not great from these eggs so another supplier has been found)
Out of the 5 chick 3 are still going with the other 2 being put down with very straddled legs.
Plans for the next few weeks include adding some duck eggs to the incubator and some bantam call ducks and bantam chickens to a new pen yet to be built. More and more vegies to plant.
Oh and i have taught myself to sew (kind of) :) I made skirts for the girls and shorts for the boys. Going to attempt making dresses and possibly shirts next time i get the chance to break out the machine. my crocheting is coming along great, i have made beanies and scarves and even attempted booties 9i made one).
Hopefully i will keep the blog updated from now on :)
Today we made a start on planting. We purchased some pots from the local recycling depot. Got heaps and some awesome wooden crates for my strawberries. The we went to bunnings and bought some plants and seeds and potting mix. Ive decided to grow what we can in pots
It rained yesterday! Lovely rain always is always welcome. I never complain when it rains i guess that comes from my upbringing on the farm. Rain out there means everything looks fresh and hydrated and clean and in a week or so everythings green.
I love the smell of rain and the sound it makes as it falls.
The rain yesterday wasnt very much but it was enough to loosen the dirt so i can weed another patch for gardens, ive decided to use all the areas in te yard that arent used by playing children to grow vegies and herbs.
Had a thought today that i might have a crack at growing chook feed. Wouldnt be hard but the girls would love it.
Also might try sunflowers that would certainlly brighten things up.
I spent yesterdat scouring the net for ideas and seeds. I found a blog that deals with saving seeds from vegies to plant the following season, now that i found brilliant! So I currently have some tomato seeds fermenting and i will do some pumpkin seeds today.
I also sent some messages to some lovely fellow chook lovers,who had offered some seeds/cutting to swap or donate.
So on the way i have some garlic chives lemongrass,parsley,coriander,motherwort, Gerbera (singles),Italian and curled parsley,cosmos two types,a couple of different sorts of chillies,Red and green leaf amaranth,Ashwaganda,Pomegranite,Rue, and whatever else can be salvaged in another garden (thanks ladies). Im also picking up some lovely free strawberry plants from yet another chookie person.
They also put me onto a site that tells you when to plant things for your area its great Just put which climate area you are in and it tells you what to plant each month and even tells you when to harvest.
I have a lot to learn to make this work but im dedicated!
Yesterday 5 kids and myself ade a start in the garden.
We moved a huge pile of rocks and bricks (these will be used later to make a rock wall), we weeded,raked and relocated a conifer shrub.Im absolutly sunburnt and i was throughly exhusted last night and sore this morning but very happy.
I have started chasing seeds now with lemongrass,garlic chives and a curry leaf plant ordered thru my favourite chicken keeping site Backyard Poultry.
We also secured our chook pen as we seemed to have a few girls who prefered laying their eggs in a old drum in the backyard instead of their nice laying boxes.
Hubby has some great ideas for the beds, we are going with raised beds with soil bought in and mmixed with our composted material.
The chooks loved the weeds that Miss 6 was pulling out and feeding to them.
All round a good day with much achieved.
Now onto today im doing the usual washing,cleaning yadda yadda then clearing another section of the yard for a lemon tree and maybe another fruit tree havent decided what yet.
The kids were a huge help and they seem excited about the whole project too.
Welcome to my blogsite! This is very exciting as im embarking on a project to grow our own vegies, eggs and meat. With 6 children it makes sense to grow our own. Not only is it cheaper but it also gives me peace of mind that what my family is eating is chemical free and tastes awesome.
Im also a bit of a greenie (only just) as believe in sustainability and reducing our impact on natural resources.
I grew up on a small property in the Riverina NSW and we grew all our own meat,eggs,fruit and vegetables. Water was precious as it recieves very low rainfall and very high summer temps.
Ok so what am I starting with??
My hubby is a builder so he will be making me some raised garden beds as the soil here is well just plain dirt and rocks and could be described as concrete dust.
5 of 6 children to help with the planting and weeding and harvesting of crops (should everything go to to plan) and their bathwater to water the crops.
5 Hyline commerical hens,3 ISA Brown commerical hens,11 Hyline chicks (hens),1 Campine chick(hopefully a hen), and 3 crossbred chicks (also hoping they are hens maybe 1 rooster).Lots of chicken poo and compost soil from previous chicken keeping attempts.
Plenty of space and sun.
So fingers crossed the beds will take shape soon and we can begin!!!
