Mama Hen

Mama Hen

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Hopeful for a great hatch!




Well my husband, Gd love him, unplugged my Brinsea incubator and I did not notice for 7 hours. The temp had gone to room temp of 73 by then, but I have high hopes that these little chickees will hatch out alright. It was easy to get the temp and humidity back up. With in an hour everything was back to normal. So heres hoping for a happy new years!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

MIA but back...

I have been MIA for a bit after a devastating miscarriage and a surprise pregnancy after which resulted in the worst morning sickness I have ever experienced. To call it morning sickness is an understatement. It was all day sickness feeling like I was riding the Tilt_A-Whirl at the Carnival. Or perhaps the worst cruise in the world.

But I am back, and feeling pretty well at 18 weeks preggo. I got a wild hair and decided to give chickens a try again. My last hatch actually did go so bad considering I used Trader Joe's eggs and we had a 20 hour power outage, I still managed to get 2 eggs to hatch! That is nothing short of amazing. Go Brinsea! I did wrap my incubator in a blanket and it did the trick.

So I am about ready to try out my Brinsea again. This time I am setting 17 silkie eggs for the New Years hatch a long at Back Yard Chickens. I am super excited to see hwo this goes. I already love my Brinsea Eco and the ease of the auto turner. I wonder if the folks at Brinsea Eco could come up with some different egg holders, those wire one a tough to use, I fear breaking an egg using them. While I have not broken an egg yet, some thing flexible might be nice.

So here we go! Check back for more updates.

Friday, June 3, 2011

I lost the bet!

Last night began the drama that ended in complete shock today.

All I wanted to do was go to bed. First I had to make the bed, I hadn't quite put the fresh sheets on the bed and it was getting late. I tromped upstairs to throw the sheets on the bed so I could snuggle in bed and read my book.

Of course my lovely wonderful husband who could care less about clean sheets was plopped in the center of the bed with his laptop.

I whined for him to get up for a moment so his exhausted wife could make the bed.

This started the endless teasing from him. Rather than give up I told him I would make the bed right over top of him if he didn't move.

This is when the first bet came.

"I bet you can't." he grinned at me.

"I will too and I can." I growled at him.

"I'd like to see you try." He laughed.

"I will!!" I grew more and more irate by the moment.

I grabbed the sheets and I made that bed right over top of him! Threw on the pillows and blanket and plopped my self on top of him.

"SEE I TOLD YOU I WOULD!"

The next comment floored me.

"Baby, are you pregnant? Your late and really emotional right now" He got even more of a kick out of this, because this made me even more upset.

Fast Forward to this morning. I can't remember what it was, but I apparently was acting more irrational than I was the night before. My husband kept teasing that I was pregnant and glowing and how proud he was of him self for knocking me up, oh yes I was his little conquest!

This of course led to my next bet.

"I am not pregnant and I will prove it! I bet you a 100 bucks I am not pregnant!" I howled in dismay and I grabbed my purse and zipped out the door in my PJ's to get a pregnancy test.

I was going to prove that man wrong! I raced to the store right when they were opening up, grabbed the first pregnancy test I could find, and marched to the counter.

I was met with a knowing grin of the clerk to which I responded to by rolling my eyes.I grabbed my bag and zipped home.

I rushed through the door and straight to the bathroom with my husband calling after me..

"Honey you don't need that test I already know your pregnant!"

GRRRR!

I was never so happy to pee on a test in my life. I would prove that man wrong.

I set the test on the counter and watched and waited and my pee wicked up that little stick. Pee which is normally so gross had my full attention at that moment.

Then I saw it, one line and then two. WHAT!! HE WAS RIGHT!!! I screamed. I thought he would come running with me screaming, he didn't. I peeked my head out the door to see him laughing.

So he won the bet and here I am.

I know this has nothing to do with chickens, but had to share non-the less.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Picking a Breed.

Choosing a breed of chicken is not as easy as I thought. I pictured those fluffy yellow little chicks that you see for Easter. Picking a breed of Chickens is a whole lot more involved. i had no idea that eggs came in other colors besides brown and white. Oh yes, there are Blue eggs, green eggs, olive eggs, and yummy chocolate colored eggs too!

My dad told me as a child I was so indecisive. Once I was taken to the store and told that I could choose one toy. I agonized over the choice for so long, and then finally chose one. As we were leaving the toy isle I burst into tears. Sobbing I cried, I can't leave the other one she will be sad with out me! I let the store that day with 2 My Little Ponies.

I learned today that that same little girl still lives inside me. Deciding what breed of chicken to pick has been agonizing! They are all so neat. I decided I wanted 2-3 breeds. I can legally have up 10 chickens so that choice has been made for me.

To decide the breeds I wanted I made a list of what I needed from me chickens.

I need..

Heat Tolerant, yeah it gets hot here!
Quiet (No target practice for the neighbor)
Lays fairly well
Tame enough or the kids to play with
Has pretty eggs.
Fun to look at. Ok I am superficial, or maybe its the artist in me, but I want to look at something pretty.

Based on these requirements I have narrowed it down to these breeds...


Orpingtons
These Fluffy butts are so flipping cute I can hardly contain my self. They are supposed to be docile and quiet which is a plus for me.






Ameraucana~ Also supposed to be gentle and quiet, but even better they lay super cool blue and green eggs! I can resist the coolness factor of having blue eggs, t will be like and Easter egg hunt every morning!




Australorp

These are supposed to be very heat tolerant, which is important for the desert. Although I can't quiet figure out how with the black feathers. These were developed in Australia, so I think they could survive our heat.




Silkies
While these are a bantam breed, I fell in love with their look. They look like fuzzy little cotton balls with legs. A plus for me is that they are great with kids and they make good chicken mommies. the eggs are smaller, but eventually I want to hatch eggs and, well my nerves just can't take hatching chicks!

So if I can make the hard choice which ones I want, I think these are in the top running. Knowing me I will find something cute that I will have to have and will have a variety of cute fluffy butts!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Are you crazy?

The shocked look on my neighbors face said more than her snide comment and she wasn't the only one. Many of my neighbors were not as excited as I was about raising chickens in my backyard. The police office next door gruffly mentioned something about not wanting to hear a rooster crowing. Ok so he works the night shift, but was that comment about using my chickens for target practice really necessary?

Am I crazy to raise a flock of Hens in the backyard of my middle class neighborhood? I don't think I am. Chickens are some of the best pets that I have ever had; they are cute and have funny personalities and best yet they make you breakfast every morning!

Although I think my chickens will be the only chickens on this planet with a pool to sunbathe by. Join me as I start my journey in to the world of urban self sufficiency and my back yard chickens! I will be posting about my journey from my coop, to buying my chickens, and more.