Thursday Dose of Cute: Chicken Crossing

© FarmgirlFare.com, the crawling with critters foodie farm blog where I've decided that what this place needs is more signage. We still have this one (which I love), there's a little sign in the barn that says SHEEP COUNTRY, and last year I couldn't resist a round metal sign that says MANURE MOVERS OF AMERICA (I can't even imagine life without my marvelous sheep manure), but now I'm thinking CHICKEN CROSSING, SHEEP CROSSING, TREAT ROOM, BIG DOGS ON DUTY, STOCK DOG AT THE READY, WELCOME TO DONKEYLAND, and of course at the entrance to the barn during lambing season, WARNING: SERIOUS CUTE OVERLOAD INSIDE. Is 20 degrees too cold to cut up a few pieces of wood and get out the weatherproof sign paint?

Monday Dose of Cute: Behind Bear's Back

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Off to Vote

See you at the polls!

Want to get to know our feathered farmyard friends better? You'll find links to all sorts of chicken photos here. And we keep links to the baby chick photos here.

© 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the equal treats for all foodie farm blog where we know that every vote really does matter. Way out here in the country, many elections are literally decided by three or four votes. The most important thing isn't who or what you vote for—it's that you exercise your precious right to cast yours. Just please don't let Cheeky know that, except for barnyard ballots, chicken votes still don't count.

Thursday Dose of Cute: Thinking Outside the Box

The short version: We've started a free ranging chicken experiment, and so far it's going pretty well.

Wednesday Dose of Cute: Um, Excuse Me

You're feeding us part of a lawn? What happened to the pizza?

Last year I started growing wheat grass for the chickens, and after a long break, my little sprout factory is finally up and running again. Sprouting grains is a great way for them to get some fresh greens (especially in winter when garden scraps are scarce), and it makes a 50 pound bag of wheat go a lot farther, while delivering a lot more nutrition. Hopefully someday I'll write a whole post about this quick and easy process for growing your own chicken feed that includes step-by-step photos, but I couldn't resist skipping ahead and sharing this one first.

Most of the chickens go crazy for the sprouted wheat, so I'm wondering if this guy expects me to juice it for him. I've actually been thinking about buying a juicer for a while now (possibly a Breville, though my pal Finny swears by her $49 Waring juicer) but it would be for making fresh carrot and other juices for me, not green smoothies for a demanding rooster, even if he is good looking.

I may spoil my animals, but even I'm not going that far. I mean, unless he was sick and really needed one or something. Do you have a juicer? Do you use it? Do you love it?

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!

8/9/07: Showin' Some Style

4/9/08: Rooster Two-Step

4/9/08: Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!

8/23/09: Morning Peace

1/1/10: Little Guy with a Big Feathery Future

5/30/10: You Awake?

Peep! Peep! Peep!

The 2007 Baby Chick Chronicles: Whitey Gets Her Wish

2008 Baby Chick Photos

2009 Baby Chick Photos

2010 Baby Chick Photos

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

A Whole Flock of Chicken Photos

Somebody's Laying Green Eggs! (and links to more farm fresh egg posts)

© FarmgirlFare.com, the picky foodie farm blog where even the chickens are foodies, and this rooster always cracks me up. I'm pretty sure he actually was one of the chicks at that pizza party, though we've had so many batches of chicks in the past couple of years I have trouble keeping track of who hatched out when.

Sunday Morning Dose of Cute: You Awake?

Good. I'm going to pose for you.

More photos below. . .

Sunday Dose of Cute: Two's Company

Close Company

Want to see more of the flock? You'll find links to lots of fine feathered friend photos here.

© 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the comfy cozy foodie farm blog where the green you see in the bottom of the photo? That's an empty nesting crate twice the size of the one they're in, which means these two hens (who are missing a few feathers from either molting—the natural annual losing of old feathers and growing new ones—or an overexcited rooster) are crammed in that crate laying eggs together by choice. Chickens: yet one more source of nonstop farm entertainment.

Monday Farm Photo: Somebody's Laying Green Eggs

Woohoo!

"How many chickens do you have now?" asked my foodie mom, who thoroughly enjoyed some breakfasts of fresh fried eggs on toasted Farmhouse White during her recent holiday visit.

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen? How'd you get so many?"

"They just keep hatching!"

"Oh, that's right—you have a rooster now."

I've been raising chickens for 10 years, and our eggs have always been brown or white. The white hens lay white eggs, the brown hens lay brown eggs, and the black hens lay brown eggs, though Joe says he's had white hens who laid brown eggs.

Back in June 2007, when little old Whitey got her motherly wish and was given a dozen fertilized eggs to sit on, three of those eggs were green (scroll down the page on the above link to see them)—and at least one of them produced a chick. Several of the seven chicks that Whitey hatched turned out to be roosters, and none of the hens lays green eggs.

But the six hens born last April, who are all related to Whitey's original chicks, have recently started laying (which means we're now averaging 49 eggs a week!), and one of them is giving us green eggs. The other five are laying brown eggs of various shades, even though one of the hens is white. I think the green egg layer is the gorgeous black and white one you can see in the top of this photo, but I don't know for sure.

What I do know is that I've always loved green eggs. Some people say the color doesn't affect the flavor, but it's always seemed to me that the green ones taste just a little bit better. Whether they really do or not, I'm thrilled to finally have some.

Chickens and eggs that came before:
7/1/07: On Loving Lettuce and Eggs on Salad for Breakfast
4/20/08: Chick Days Are Here! (Hatching Photos)
11/11/08: Farm Fresh Eggs, They're What's for Breakfast
3/7/09: Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! Ouch.
10/25/09: Egg Layers, the Next Generation
Links to lots more chick pics

© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the ready for Easter foodie farm blog where all we need now is some ham.

Wednesday Dose of Cute: Easiest Guard Job Ever

Lucky Buddy Bear and some extremely safe chickens (taken 12/07)

Love the chick pics? You'll find lots more of them here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, the whiteout foodie farm blog where tomorrow I should have freshly fallen snow photos!

Thursday Dose of Cute: Cheers to You on New Year's!

Drink Up!

Thank you all so much for another fabulous online year. This whole blogging thing continues to amaze and surprise and delight me. I just love it—and I love how many wonderful people I've 'met' from all over the world. Here's hoping to find even more time to share photos, stories, and recipes from my crazy country life with you next year!

Anything you'd like to see more (or less) of in the coming year? Do speak up! I'm constantly fine tuning what I post according to your feedback and am always open to ideas and suggestions.

Fine feathered friend fan? Flap over and end your year here:
2/14/06: 5pm and Looking for Love
7/21/06: And Sheeeeeeee's SAFE!

6/1/07: Whitey Gets Her Wish
6/5/07: I'm Just Wai-tin' On A Friend
6/17/07: Whitey and her Baby Chicks
6/19/07: Caution—Foodie Forming
8/2/07: Curious Chickie
8/3/07: Baby's First Perch
8/4/07: Baby's First Dust Bath
8/5/07: Mother As Landing Pad
8/9/07: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
8/26/07: Capturing a Quiet Moment
11/22/07: Enjoying A Feast

1/26/08: Faithful Chicken Guard?
3/6/08: Do Chickens Ever Smile?
4/5/08: Chicken Dance
4/9/08: Rooster Two-Step
4/20/08: 2008 Chick Days Are Here!
4/22/08: Who Needs Ducks?
4/24/08: Country Classifieds
5/6/08: Baby Cary Checks Out the Chickens
6/3/08: Chicken Snacks (Not a Recipe)
10/2/08: Gossip Central
10/11/08: Farm Fresh Eggs, They're What's For Breakfast

1/28/09: Snowed In! (scroll down for chickens)
2/11/09: Evie and Esmeralda Learn to Count
3/7/09: Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
4/13/09: Chick Days Are Here Again!
6/12/09: Last One Born's a Rotten Egg!
6/14/09: Another Chick Pic
6/15/09: Pizza Party
8/23/09: Morning Peace
10/25/09: Egg Layers, the Next Generation
12/3/09: Look Up, Look Down

1/1/10: Little Guy with a Big Feathery Future
1/6/10: Easiest Guard Job Ever
1/18/10: Somebody's Laying Green Eggs
2/21/10: Two's Company
3/18/10: Chick Days Again?
4/5/10: Peep! Peep! Peep!
5/30/10: You Awake?
6/11/10: Just Hatchin' Out
6/15/10: Hangin' Out
6/23/10: Wordless Wednesday Dose of Cat and Chicken Cute
7/1/10: First Corn of the Season!
8/14/10: A Cheeky Chick
9/15/10: Um, Excuse Me

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the no drinking and flying (and probably going to—yet again—fall asleep before midnight) foodie farm blog where in order to drink, chickens have to lean over and take in water through their beaks, then lift their heads and glug glug glug it down, then lean back over, lift and glug, lean back over, lift and glug. . . They're always amusing to watch, especially the baby chicks.

Tuesday Daily Dose Of Cute: Back To Baby Cary

Two Week Old Cary Checks Out The Chickens (taken 5/20/06)

Cary turned two years old today!

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where there's always something new going on around the farm but there's one thing that never changes - everybody wants to hang out with the chickens.

Thursday Daily Dose Of Cute: Country Classifieds

Single Chick Seeks Companion Of Like Size & Species

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where it's always more fun (and more cute!) with friends, but at least if you're the only kid you don't have to fight anybody for the landing pad - and you get all of mom's attention.

Tuesday Farm Photo: Who Needs Ducks in a Row?

We've Got Chickens Lined Up

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the fine feathered foodie farm blog where sometimes you can't help but wonder if the chickens really do all see something that you don't, or if they're just entertaining themselves at your expense - and we still only have the one new baby chick.

Sunday Farm Photo: Chick Days Are Here!

A little freshly picked arugula while you wait?

Three weeks ago, two of Whitey's chicks—who are now grown-up hens and laying little brown eggs of their own—decided they were in the mood for motherhood, so they each settled down on a pile of eggs in side-by-side nesting boxes for the 21-day incubation period. (Did you miss Whitey Watch last year? You'll find links to all of Whitey's 2007 baby chick posts at the bottom of this page.)

8:56 am this morning



11:06 am

1:36 pm

Yesterday three chicks hatched but there was something wrong with them and all three died. Fortunately things are going much better today. This little bundle of fluff belongs to Cheeky (the hen on the left), who isn't in the picture because I had to briefly relocate her in order to check on what was happening underneath her. That didn't make her happy. Fortunately I was wearing thick gloves.

There are six more eggs under Cheeky and four more under the other hen (whose name is still being decided), so cross your feathers that this chirping little cutie pie will have some siblings soon - and that we don't end up with another bunch of roosters!

The chicks all started last year with Whitey:
5/12/07: Whitey's Gone Broody
6/1/07: Whitey Gets Her Wish
6/4/07: Peep! Peep! Peep!
6/2/07: It's Been Quite A Chick-Filled Day
6/5/07: I'm Just Wai-tin' On A Friend
6/17/07: Whitey & Her Baby Chicks
6/19/07: Caution - Foodie Forming
8/2/07: Wall Inspection & Farmgirl Inspection
8/3/07: Baby's First Perch
8/4/07: Baby's First Dustbath
8/5/07: Mother As Landing Pad
8/9/07: Little Rooster Showin' Some Style

© FarmgirlFare.com, the fine feathered foodie farm blog where no eggs, chicks, chickens, or farmgirls were harmed during the taking of these photos (thanks to the gloves), but Cheeky got so pissed off while being gently removed from her eggs that she started screeching like The Alien. And that was a little bit scary.

Wednesday Farm Photo: Rooster Two-Step

More Chicken Dancing

Last June seven-year-old Whitey The Chicken decided that instead of dying of old age she wanted to try her foot at motherhood. Thanks to a kind friend who donated a dozen fertilized eggs to the cause, we soon had seven darling baby chicks hopping around. Unfortunately four of them turned out to be roosters, including this debonair dude. Four roosters on one farm is a lot of roosters, and since we never got around to eating any of them, back in January all but one went to live with the Donkey Peddling Cowboy.

Of course the roosters left with a story, but since it looks like I'm never going to get around to telling it, I figured I'd just go ahead and share this photo I took at their new farm since I still really like it.

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where we just might have another batch of baby chicks in the works. Apparently the hens have decided to try and snatch back some the attention that's currently being lavished on all the adorable baby lambs.

Farm Photo 4/5/08: Chicken Dance

More Poultry In Motion

Welcome new visitors!
Click here for a brief introduction to this site.

Got a thing for chickens?
Whitey The Chicken
Whitey's Adventures With Motherhood aka Whitey Watch (scroll down to begin at the beginning
Chicken Stuff
Farm Life Tidbits

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where our one rooster (that would be the blur on the left who is one of Whitey's chicks) thinks it's really fun to crow at the top of his big chicken lungs at all hours of the night. Every night. We've had the summertime fan near the bedroom running on 'loud' speed for the last seven months in order to get some sleep.

Farm Photo 3/6/08: Do Chickens Ever Smile?

This one doesn't.

Back on Valentine's Day I launched into an impromptu little garden clean-up in the greenhouse, deciding on a whim to clear out my scraggly looking, previously frozen, cat-flattened, permanent arugula bed in order to make way for new spring planting.

I gave an entire bucket of fairly nice arugula scraps to the chickens, figuring they would be thrilled to have some freshly picked greens. Whitey most definitely was not. I think she'd been expecting a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Want to see more?
Whitey The Chicken
Whitey's Adventures With Motherhood aka Whitey Watch (scroll down to begin at the beginning)
Chicken Stuff
Farm Life Tidbits

© FarmgirlFare.com, the fine feathered oodie farm blog where even spoiled little old hens don't always get what they want - and nobody around here appreciates salad as much as I do.