February Developments

Happy Leap Year!

It is hard to believe that today is the last day of February!  While we humans spent more days sick (colds and flu) than in any month I can remember, we had magic happening in our nursery.

Remember my craft room turned poultry brooder last summer?  It has once again been made into a baby bird nursery though on a smaller scale for now.

Last November, Derek met the father in law of a friend who aside from being just a real neat guy, happened to have an older style, large scale incubator he was willing to sell.  Though a little older, the  technology is the same and the wooden panelled unit was in phenomenal condition!

So, in the last days of January, Derek and Nicole moved the incubator into the craft room and Derek set to tinkering and  calibrating and on January 31 we set our first five duck eggs into the incubator.

What  a learning curve... learning to candle the eggs to ensure they were indeed fertilized and growing,  reading the humidity and temperature and adjusting as needed and finally, learning to recognize distress in hatching.

By day five we could see that we indeed had four growing embryos and one unfertilized egg.

Day five

And once those blood vessels stretched out, the embryo seemed to grow so fast!  For videos, be sure to check us out on instagram!

Day six

Day ten

Day sixteen

Day twenty-five

Newborn "Acadia" Day twenty-seven

Learning on a farm is not always easy and our girls are handling the ups and downs phenomenally.  Our first egg 'pipped' the outer shell almost 24 hours earlier than the others and knowing it can take a day for the duckling to emerge we did not panic.  Unfortunately, the little duckling passed while trying to hatch.  :(

Our little duckling Acadia emerged on her own moments after we sadly realized the passing of the first.

Worried about the progress on the final two ducklings and seeing similarities in the 'unzipping' progress we attempted to assist.  Knowing that the umbilical is attached until the very end we were very careful to assist only with some of the shell along the air pocket.  Sadly one little duckling perished shortly after getting its little body most of the way out of the egg and our final little duckling was quite weak from the hatching process.

We set this final little duckling into the brooder under the heat lamp to dry and keep warm and would you believe, little Acadia would not leave his side?  As we checked in throughout the night, Acadia had moved the little duckling away from the heat and helped him roll.  

By morning, the little duckling was up and exploring!

Nosy little duckling.  :)

The hatching process can be influenced by many factors - humidity being a big one.  As the incubator was reset, Derek spent the day reading up on the different situations that can arise and tweaking our original thermometer calibrations.  Our girls spent the day loving our new little family members.

 "Taylor (left)  and Acadia (right)"

Our next trays are in the incubator and include chicken eggs for me, the crazy chicken lady and ducklings for a neighbour down the road as well as some duck eggs for Krista's kindergarten class who would like to welcome them into the classroom for some learning adventures (can I say again how much I LOVE our small town? How cool are classroom ducklings??)  

New babies... all just in time for the Easter weekend.  :)

Jeanette

DUCK eggs.. the secret ingredient!

Howdy all,

I have an admission.
I am no Martha in the kitchen.
I can't even say I try hard.  Recipes are read like a guideline and ingredients are rarely measured; more often than not, just eyeballed.

But over Christmas I had beautiful pastry, tasty pie filling and decadent cakes... all from scratch.. and all with one secret ingredient.


DUCK EGGS.

Say WHAT???

True story.  Prior to Derek adopting ducks, I had no idea that you could eat duck eggs or how tasty they are!  They are bigger, thicker and creamier than chicken eggs and have made all the difference in my home baking.

We are gradually spreading the word on our EGGcellent duck eggs but last week I found myself with an abundance of duck eggs... and one pineapple left over from the holidays.  I decided my family needed a pineapple upside down cake.  I went to my 'go-to' baking guide, a dated, well loved "Five Roses Cookbook" circa 1967.  An easy recipe that even a person as backward as I am in the kitchen can succeed at.

 And so I got to beating my butter and duck eggs and I noticed right away the creamy perfection!!

I burnt my hand twice melting butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the pan because for some reason I just forgot to grab the oven mitt.  ??  (wearing oven mitts was NOT in the recipe I need to add.  ;)  )

However I did not sustain ANY injuries while working with the pineapple.  As we do not have a coring knife, my cake will not have pretty rings of pineapple... just boring slices.

Brown sugar and butter with pineapple slices ready for the cake batter and then into the oven.

Thirty five minutes later... no smoke alarm and a beautiful golden cake.

A dollop of whipped cream and we had dessert.  Of course the girls picked off the pineapple pieces before devouring the rest, but at least the 'duck egg cake' portion was pleasing to their palates.

And with a full pineapple being just a bit too much for one cake, you know who I shared the leftover pineapple with, don't you?  :)

So the proof is in the puddin'... or cake if you prefer.  Duck eggs are wonderful in baking.

Jeanette

A la carte.. CHICKEN style! Or.. what I feed my free range birds.

Happy Monday!!

Sooo... I have learned a ton of what chickens (and ducks) DO and DO NOT eat and what may change when the winter snows cover the scrumptious green grasses or the tasty bugs.  I was surprised at what my birds enjoy eating and thought I would share my discoveries.

We do have a balanced "Layer" stage poultry feed in crumb form accessible to the birds at all times along with fresh water.  We also have dishes of crushed oyster shells for extra calcium - essential in strong egg shell formation.

Another source of calcium for our birds is egg shells themselves.  This surprised me but its true and the birds love to eat them!

I had originally tried just breaking up the shells of eggs I had used in the kitchen but the inner membrane made the shells hard to break into small pieces and the birds didn't seem to enjoy eating the membrane either.  After some reading, I decided to try drying the egg shells in the oven, cooling and then crushing. 

My go to method now is to collect the used egg shells in a dish on my counter and when I have finished using the oven for baking or cooking, I turn off the oven, place the egg shells on a cookie sheet and let them sit in the cooling oven.  By the time everything is cool, I have dry brittle egg shells that I crush in various sizes in a ziplock bag and take out to the coop.

The birds are very happy with the end result!

I originally believed chickens were herbivores... watching them devour mealworms and bugs changed my thinking completely and now, when I am cooking meat - even beef, I take a little bit aside, chop it into fine pieces and share it with my feathered friends.

And even my furry friends.

 Look at Chachi here waiting patiently, giving the hens first dibs on the meat.  What a gentleman.

And bowl cleaned right up.

Lastly, our family always seems to have yogurt in the fridge that is nearing expiration.  Before it gets that far and has to be wasted, I mix it up with a little bit of oats and we have a tasty treat that is high in fibre AND calcium!

Darling, you have a yogurt moustache.

Good sharing, and another bowl cleaned up!

Obviously, all the above are occasional treats and don't make up the majority of the diet.  Just like us, too much of a good thing isn't always the best thing.

Other items from my kitchen that our birds enjoy as a treat are leafy greens (spinach, lettuce) and cooked pasta.  They loooove cooked spaghetti - do they think they are worms? 

And there you go!  Maybe a little more about a chicken's menu than you wanted to know. :)

Jeanette

Duck Love {{WORDless Wednesday - November 18, 2015}}

Happy Wednesday!

Call me a pervert... call me a peeping tom, but when the ducks began their full on courting and mating around the ol' wading pool, I had to take out my camera and get a picture.   After a week of culling roosters from our flock, this was a welcome reminder of the happier times in the circle of life.

Can't really get more of a direct invitation than that, can you Mr.?

Now there's balance for you fellas!  And I just love the other duck to the left of the mating couple.. "oh never mind me dears, I just need a drink of water; go about your business".

I had really hoped that this might mean there are eggs coming... but unfortunately the mating behaviours can begin weeks before the first egg is seen.   :(  Ah well...

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Jeanette

The COOP - fruits of our LABOUR (Labour day weekend 2015)

Good morning!

We are wishing everyone a very happy and safe LONG weekend - the last one of the summer.. where did the time go???

I am so excited to finally be sharing some photos of our chicken coop.. the SCHNICK project of the summer.  Yesterday we moved our flock from the barn to the coop and I was able to clean out the horse stall so that it is ready for an equine friend.  :)

In July, Derek and I discussed what our perfect chicken and duck coop might look like.  We read a lot of articles on the subject and made some decisions.  We would definitely like the coop up off the ground, we would like it to be insulated and we would like to frame in a utility room so that the entrance to the birds would be inside (think blowing snow come December).  Derek used his schematics to calculate how much wood we would require.  We decided to go with pressure treated 2x4s and barn board - to match the barn.  :)

Determining WHERE to put the coop was a big decision as well.  We ultimately decided that it should be closer to the barn instead of behind the workshop - here it will get beautiful morning sun as well as the wind protection of two large evergreen trees.  And although I don't doubt SCHNICK plans, it is comforting to know that should we need to move the birds back into the barn in the future, the barn would be close.

Let the framing begin!

When family came out to visit during this time, we put them to work.  :)  Big thank you to our siblings and our nieces and nephews.  xo

Next came the outer walls... the roof - (again I am amazed at how my hubby knows how to angle, cut and install trusses and shingles) and then the insulation and plywood inside walls.  We also constructed the windows and vents to allow for storm windows and shutters to be placed in front of the metal screening when the weather requires.  Soffits were equipped with venting as well.

With these finished,  we decided to floor the coop using recycled pallets (thank you for the donation, Papa).

I spent one day in the sun ripping the top boards off the pallet legs.  The time trade off for the price, but you can't beat free!

I then laid the boards out in the coop staggering the seams and began screwing them down.  

My little helper.

I really like the way the floor came up...

Finally... we were ready to set up a temporary chicken yard using the green chain link fencing that we had ripped out.  We hope to have full free ranging chickens and ducks but until we get them used to coming into the coop at night, we thought it best to keep them somewhat contained.  

The girls and I cleaned the hardened mud out of the bottoms of the fence posts and Derek used the tractor to push them into the ground.

With fencing in place, we prepared to move the birds.  Now, this is where I noticed a HUGE difference in approach between hubby and I.  I hadn't realized what a cowboy I had married.  :)  I knew that Derek had worked at moving livestock during his teenage years but I was not prepared to see my husband grab three or four chickens by the feet, turn them upside down and carry them to their new abode.  In contrast, I cradled one bird at a time and walked each bird in turn to the coop with gentle words of "look at that glorious sun darling, welcome to your new home!"... yeah it totally would have taken me all afternoon without Derek.  :)

But all forty chickens and ten ducks made it safely into their new coop and I was so excited to finally open that door and get them out exploring the grass!

Thinking about venturing out...

Okay... I want back in now!

Derek and I installed some roosts and began constructing nesting boxes that will have accesses from the utility room so we don't need to disturb all the birds when collecting eggs.  I'll be sure to write another post about those as I plan on sewing curtains for the nesting boxes.. yup, you read that correctly.  Don't believe me that there will be sewing for chickens happening?  Its a real thing, as are crocheted sweaters - its coming!!  :)

By 8:30pm we had our babies tucked into their new coop for the night and I was showered and into my flannels with a glass of wine on the back deck where I could appreciate the view of our coop.  Our LABOUR of poultry love.  :)

Another SCHNICK-success and a venture that brings my heart so much joy and contentment.  Thanks for reading along,

Jeanette

xo