Camp Chicky Poo

Woot!!! New Fluffy-Butts!!! (New chickens)

We’ve got a new set of baby chicks at the ranch!

I brought home 8 baby chicks, 4 buff orpington chickens, and 4 Rhode-Island Reds!

 

Right now they’re pretty scared so I’m trying to let them be for the next 24 hours except to check water/food and see how their temp is doing.  Hopefully they’ll fair well and make it, these first couple weeks are always a little nerve-wracking!

3 chickies mooning me!

 

Chicky Mama

About Our Eggs- FAQ

Q: HOW LONG WILL THE EGGS KEEP?
A: Because your eggs are literally days old, fresh eggs can be kept refrigerated in their carton for at least 4 – 5 weeks beyond the pack date I’ve printed on the carton. Quality losses should be insignificant if the eggs are refrigerated as soon as possible after pickup (as I have them refrigerated right after I grab ‘em from the coop!) If you’re getting close to the end date and want to make sure they’re okay, submerge the eggs in water. If they sink, they’re good. If they float, they’re not.

Q: WHY ARE THE EGGS SMALLER RIGHT NOW?
A: Our chickens just started laying a couple weeks ago. Right now they are laying medium size eggs and will start to produce large to jumbo sized eggs within the year.

Q: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BROWN AND WHITE SHELLED EGGS?
A: No. Shell color is determined by the breed of hen and is not related to quality, nutrients, flavor or cooking characteristics. Since brown egg layers are slightly larger birds and require more food, brown eggs are usually more expensive than white, in case you’re wondering why store-bought ones are more.

Q: ARE YOUR EGGS FERTILIZED?
A: Nope! We have NO roosters, all our eggs are unfertilized.

Q: WHAT CAUSES BLOOD SPOTS?
A: Small spots of blood (sometimes called “meat” spots as they’re often brown) are occasionally found in an egg yolk. They are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during formation of the egg. We do candling to look for them but sometimes they’re so small they’re not spotted.
Such eggs are suitable for consumption. The spot can be removed with the tip of a knife if you wish, but do not need to be removed, they are perfectly safe. As an egg ages, water moves from the albumen into the yolk, diluting the blood spot. Thus, a visible meat spot actually indicates a fresh egg.

Q: WHY ARE SOME HARD-COOKED EGGS DIFFICULT TO PEEL?
A: Fresh eggs may be difficult to peel. Those which have been stored for a week to 10 days before cooking will usually peel more easily. Because we do not rob our chickens of vital nutrients nor feed them modified foods to increase egg production like the big guys do, the shells are calcium fortified and are much thicker and harder to crack open.

Q: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR EGGS AND THE ONES IN THE STORE?
A: We raise our chickens with care. They are not caged, tortured or fed chemically modified gross crap to make them produce faster. Ick!

They are fed fresh vegetables and 100% plant-based all natural feed with no animal fillers or hormones. I’ve raised these chicks by hand since they were 2 weeks old.

Your eggs were provided with love from: Amy Farrah “Fowler”, Beaker, Wilbur, Geeter, Duck, Nora or Boba Fettuccini.

Chicky Mama

One Little Egg… Ahh Ahh Ahhhhh

One of my chickies laid their first egg today! It’s small! (which is usual, they take a little while to get up to full size)

I’m so excited!  My husband came into my office while I was waking up and said “Oh, by the way, look on your desk…” (Which is a mess)… so I’m looking around trying to see what’s different, pile of bill receipts I need to file here, notebook there, the cordless phone I forgot to put on the charger over there. He grabbed my head (gently of course) and turned my head straight forward and said “Right there, in front of the keyboard.”   OH!! OH!!!!!

So now begins the daily “Egg Check”. And I can start to use the “Egg Bag” my sister-in-law Heather made me, it’s a padded collection bag with ChickyPoo Embroidered on it with my cracked egg guy, sooo cute.

I’ve got put out an email at work and ask if a few people could bring in their egg cartons when they’re done using them so I have a few empty ones laying around….  and also need to get my list together of those who have asked if they can buy our eggs.

Chicky Mama

The Chickies in their new home

Okay, so it’s not painted yet, but I really needed to get these guys into their chicken coop because as you will see in the pictures below, they have gotten BIG and were about to run out of room in the chicky bunker. We got the roof done really late, so I don’t have pictures of the completed roof with ondura shingles. I’ll take those when I get done painting.

So, the next steps- Fencing, Painting, Cutting a chicken size exit door once the fence is up.

Painting it is probably going to be my favorite part. It’s where I can get creative and make it look really cute. Pics will be coming soon!

 

weather sealing before egg-hutch lid goes on

Bedding for comfort, back area will be divided for roosting but right now is just area for food/water, easy access

Chickies in their new home, headed straight for food of course, see how big they've gotten?!

Lots more room for the chickies!

Chicky Mama

chickies made it through last night

Well, The chicks did well last night on their own. All accounted for this morning which is good considering our farm cat has taken an interest in them. EEP! We are pretty sure he can’t get into the bunker though.

Chicken coop made significant progress today, tomorrow it should have the roof on it (thanks to my husband!) After that, we need to do the swing gate for the front of the coop, paint it, and fencing.

Pics are on facebook

Chicky Mama

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