Concaves & Chickens

It was time to prepare for our next type of harvest here on the farm. Milton worked on cleaning up, waxing, and changing concaves on the combine.  This photo was taken prior to the washing and waxing, he had it put away in the shed before I remembered to get one of his handy work!

The concaves are parts of the combine.  Don't let them fool you, they are heavy, so he called on his trusty farm wife to come help him! He is holding one of them in this photo.

See the metal rod, I'm holding the other end.  Too hard to get a photo while working to include me! I promise I'm there.

Inside view of a Case IH 6088 combine anyone?

The chirps are growing quickly and if we are outside in the early morning we can hear those lovely roosters we have too!  

We have started letting them out midday and they do enjoy it!  The cleaning of the chicken coop was long overdue.  Time got away from us.  They gathered the items needed.  The mule, a couple shovels, and straw.  

The red thing on PV's head is a Frogg Togg. Seriously a great purchase in my eyes.  She loves it on hot days and Milton has one too. Although he doesn't wear his on his head! :) 

Off to get straw! Watch out farm yard animals and people, young driver!

That pretty much sums up our current events.  I'm hoping this week to get some photos of our current crops to show you.  Corn, soybeans, and milo are growing in our fields!

Thanks for stopping by!
Julie

The Chirp Chronicles - Round Two - 4/23/2015

I decided to update you all on our round two of chirps! They are changing pretty quickly! I expect by next week we will remove the little pen we have them in inside the coop.

This photo was taken around April 6th.

This one was taken April 22nd.

PV is enjoying checking them and picking them up. They are pretty quick little birds, so she has to be fast! :)  

She insists on wearing her leather farm kid gloves! Not sure why but she always grabs them on our way to the coop! :) Love having a farm kid at home!

Thanks for stopping by!
Julie

Chirp Chronicles - Round 2

We have started round two with new baby chicks in the coop! To read about our first batch you can start by checking out PV The Chicken Farmer! (It was only a 2 years ago and PV looks SO YOUNG! Yikes!)

The Chirp Chronicles are back and hopefully we can keep all 15 safe and well!  We bought Rhode Island Red and Buff Orpingtons this go around.  Only two breeds verses three.

When I went to check on them this morning they were running about in our their little stall.  They were chirping away and hanging out like good buddies do.  












I did notice one particular chick that I think is either going to be the "mother hen" or the "naughty chick".  Still out for debate - too soon to tell.  She was pecking at the others way more than she should have been!

Ok honesty she's took cute right now to be mad at!

They all found the gold shiny items in the corner of the cardboard very interesting.  They would take turns pecking at it, I guess it was entertainment for them.  Either way the chirping of these little chicks made my morning better and brought a smile to my face.  

They probably won't lay any eggs until fall but until then we will watch them grow, keep the dog at bay (and other critters) and care for them!  We hope you will join us for this second round of chicken raising!

On a side note, corn planting has began. 

We have been able to sell our old combine and some other farm equipment. Spring cleaning is happening on the farm! I should probably get started on the house in the near future, huh?


Thanks for stopping by!
Julie

Update on Chickens & PV

I had a few minutes this Friday morning and thought I'd play alittle catchup on the blog! 

This week.....

 

 

This gal finally got a name.  It's PV's chicken that will allow us to pet and hold her and she lingers around PV when we are in her midst. Are you ready ..... drumroll please!  

ROSY GLADYS

 

PV chose Rosy out of all the names, she decided to give Gladys as a middle name.

I was impressed with her figuring this out on her own too!

 

 

We usually find one or two eggs each evening, they must go back in

and lay them after we let them loose for the day! The eggs are slowly getting

 larger. They love being free from the coop that is for sure!

 

This week PV began Kindergarten!  So far she likes the bus ride!

We might revisit that in about a week or two!

 Last year she loved the bus ride, but it was a lot shorter!

Positive of this, it means Mom & Dad don't have to pay a daycare bill anymore!

HAPPY DANCE! I'm sure some of you can relate!

She also gets to spend quality time with Dad doing farm work, so she will

know the farming life when she grows up. 

 

I'm almost completed with my training, but will be away from home again next week.

Life is somewhat of a blur right now, but I'm continually praying for the transition to

be one for the better for my family.  Thanks to all of you who have supported me and our family!

 

Until next time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie

 

 

 

What's in a Chirp's Name?

Yesterday I wrote a quick post about our 2nd day of egg finding.  As I published it, the 5 year old decided to bang on the front door, and yell "MOM"!  Of course I was to come running, she had SOMETHING to show me!  I could tell by her voice it was something of excitement, or at least I had better grab the camera as I was strolling to the door!

I come out and she's next to the UTV and says "TA DA"!

Her and her father had decided to take the tamest chicken we have for a ride!  

This lady allows PV to pet it and MV can hold it.  

I think her size intimidates PV at this point, 

so she only pets while the chicken is roaming free.  

I asked PV this morning about a name for this particular chicken.  She was listing names from movies. I said no, let's go with Gladys, she didn't agree.  (imagine that!)  Well I decided perhaps we could gather a few names and let PV choose from those!

So, are you all up for alittle fun?  List on here or the Facebook post any names you think should be considered for this little darling!  

I will leave it up to PV in the end, but options are good in life I do believe!

This week is quite busy for me, so it might be next weekend before we choose!  Thanks for participating and for stopping by!

Julie

PS: There was no eggs this morning!

Beautiful Quiet Mornings

The 5 year old in our home was the first one out of bed
this morning and actually dressed!
I can only hope she feels the same way about starting school this coming week!
Her anticipation for "egg finding" was quite high and
 that was the reason for the fully dressed by herself morning! 

We all headed over to the chicken coop to see if there was any to be found!  

First we "freed" the Ladies, they were anxiously waiting to be released into the farmyard!

Their "run" is quite muddy, I'd want to be free too!

PV found ONE egg this morning!
  I wish we knew which chicken was laying these little jewels!
The egg this morning was smaller than last nights, but same color.

PV decided she wanted cereal verse eggs this morning,
so they are both waiting patiently in our frig to be ate! :)

The chicken coop sits in the farmyard, so we took the road home verses tromping through mud once again!
We went to our water logged garden to inspect it!
We found two of these little guys!

In amongst our carrots! I don't know if I have
mentioned it, but I LOVE cooked carrots!
I can not wait to have some for supper this evening!

We have decided to put the dill worms into a jar.
We wanted to show PV about how they turn into butterflies!

This Saturday morning has been delightful in
 the fact that it was lovely weather with sunshine.
I was able to do my online learning for my new job on
the front porch, MV & PV ran to the lumber yard
to gather supplies for the church roof repair next week,
and now they are cleaning out the chicken coop.
(So sorry I am busy and had to miss that last job! NOT!)

I hope your Saturday morning has been one of delight as well!
I'm heading back to the online learning after lunch! I never thought I'd say
I'm sick of being in front of a computer, but that time has in fact came!
I'm excited about the upcoming week though! It will be busy but I get
to visit with LOTS of people, and start building relationships and help others!

May your weekend be blessed!
Thanks for stopping by!
Julie 

Chickens & the Excitement They Bring!

Waiting is sometimes difficult.... but our wait is over!  

If you have followed us on our Facebook page you have noticed that we have let our chickens/chirps roam the farmyard in the past couple weeks.  They are very good about heading back to "roost" each evening for us.  I am thinking they like it alot, and the farm dog does leave them alone!

Are you tired of waiting.... ok.... here goes!

PV and MV went over to shut the door on the chicken coop this evening

 and guess what our little gal found!

AN EGG!

Our First Egg!

Yep!  

I was relaxing on our front porch and she comes out 

all smiles with her hands behind her back!

"Mom! Guess what?!" 

 I am 100% serious when I tell you that she was bursting at the seams!

  I love that smile! It's awesome!

In fact, it was so cute I snagged a video of her to share her excitement with you!

We will keep you posted on the Chirp's Egg Production!

Exciting times at the Farm!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie & Milton

Shots from the Farm

It's been too wet to plant corn, so there's hasn't been much to farm blog about.

Today Milton worked on the combine, but we don't have any pictures of that!

Here are a few shots from around the farm , like many others we have had ALOT of rain!

How about alittle of The Chirp Chronicles !

They are growing quickly, and PV is doing a good job of caring for them.

It's been pretty chilly when she went to feed them, but she's a trooper!

I'm hoping it dries out so we can get these lovelies in the ground!

On our Facebook Page this morning, I asked what the certain plant is.

Some guessed it correct, and I am kinda excited to get it planted.

I use it in jam making. I probably won't have any for this year,

 but looking forward to years to come!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie & Milton

PV the Chicken Farmer

It’s official!

We have Chickens on our Farm!  Yep – 12 little chicks picked out by Miss PV herself! She is not only known as a 5 year old but a Chicken Farmer as well now! 

Heading to the check out line with baby chicks!

 And I might add, she is taking this job seriously (for now)! She is like a Mother Hen, wanting to check on them often and shares about them like a brand new momma!  

When we arrived home, we still had alittle work to do before the chicks could settle into their new home.  So PV unloaded them into a bigger box so they could catch some sunrays.  

The three of us then proceeded to work on the chicken house. 

A new floor and a hole or two was needed so other little varments wouldn't get in!

These are pig pen plywood panels they used on the farm YEARS ago.
See!That is why Farmers do not throw things away,
years later being used again! Recycling & Saves Money!

While Dad was busy doing alittle electrical work, PV decided to introduce the chicks to the water fount.  Yep…. A few got a face full. 

I know I know, don’t let her handle them too much.  I decided you know what....  She’s 5.  She isn’t afraid, I’m going with it. You are only a kid once RIGHT!?

Then when my back was turned she thought she'd be really silly!  Putting them in the laying stations! Look at that smile, just warms my heart to see joy on her face!

The chicken house/coop is nothing fabulous by any means.  But it was free, it’s sturdy, and it was in the in laws farmyard! :)  I figure if we are still into chicken farming, PV & I have a pet project next spring.  I think red metal with white trim would be cute.  Milton plans to build a fence pen but of course they aren’t in need of it yet and we ran out of time.  Corn planting is hopefully going to begin this week!

Milton built a little "pen" for them to stay in for now.  Here they are putting some bedding and then the chicks in!

And a final shot!

I am sure there will many stories to share!  All I know is, we are going on this adventure in hopes of just that, good stories, to teach our kid responsibility, and get some fresh eggs out of it!  

Be sure to come back, you won't want to miss the ________________________! 

OH here is where I am asking my readers to help me pick a name for this area of the  blog! I am looking for something cute, funny, and related to Chickens!) Feel free to comment here or on our Facebook Page.  PV will have final say! :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie