Meet Our New Peeps!

We're expanding our flock to keep up with demand for our eggs! *Yay!*

 I'm thrilled that folks are looking for home-grown fresh eggs, and are willing to buy them from us or barter with us.  Eggs are pretty much a currency here - you can trade for all kinds of things with them, and we certainly do.  Perhaps I will bring some to the barter fairs this autumn, if there are enough...  

A couple of our older girls are starting to slow down, and the newest pullets haven't begun laying, and this momentary lull made me realize that we are definitely going to need more laying hens in the future!  So, of to the feed store we went. 

We brought our teenage neighbors, who are homeschooling, and for whom I sometimes teach spontaneous botany or gardening lessons.  They're a lot of fun, and we learn a lot from them as well.  (Guitar hero, anyone!?)  And, of course, they always love a chance to go to the feed store.  :)  We love our neighbors - we have been blessed with a truly awesome bunch of people living near us.  Everyone is so different, with unique beliefs and lives, yet we all get along splendidly, helping weed each others' yards and watching each other's kids, and sharing what we have.  It's the kind of community that springs up on its own, comes together organically, where folks just recognize the importance of each other, and genuinely care.  I am so grateful that my children can grown up with neighbors like these.

We drove up the sunny countryside to the Farm and Home, a place where my little ones have a tendency to go a little bonkers.  There's baby chicks and ducks everywhere, and outside there's baby goats bunnies and cute little bantam chickens, and even a miniature donkey!  (I just wish I had pictures!  I'll have to take some next time we go!)  It's pretty much my kids' favorite place.  Eli nearly goes nuts with excitement.  From all corners of the place, you can hear him shouting, "chickies!  chickies!! chickies!!!"  Our neighbors were kind enough to help chase him around this time. ;) 

 I was able to take some time to look through all the varieties of chicks, and pick out some breeds that I've never tried before.  We brought home two Blue-laced Red Wyandottes and two Delawares (I can't help my love for those rare heritage breeds!)...and a little Chocolate Turkey!  Hooray!

Could you find it in the pictures?

:)

The turkey was an awesome surprise ~ I had purchased some Chocolates and Bourbon Reds earlier this spring, and the shipment of birds had all been sick.  (This is part of why I so badly want to raise a breeding pair.)  All of my birds and many of the birds at the store, including some they set aside to watch for me, died, which was a heartbreak for everyone.  I had also been waiting on a batch of locally-raised Bourbon Reds, which had sadly failed to hatch.  (They are trying another hatch this month - cross your fingers!)  So, I was out of turkeys and out of luck...until I discovered, while buying our chicks, that one of the baby turkeys had survived, was about three weeks old now, and was happily waiting for me in the back of the store!

After all that we went through to get it, we won't be eating this one. ;)

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What kinds of breeds of poultry do you like best? 

What kinds do best where you live?

Are your spring chicks laying yet?