The new year has been exciting and full of awesome stuff already, and it's only mid-January. I finally got off my butt and started taking video of the chickens doing fun chicken stuff, also set up a youtube channel so that I can share my babies and the neat stuff they do with the entire internet, which feels like a much bigger accomplishment than it is, considering kids half my age have youtube channels already. I guess I'm just a little behind as far as technology goes.
And...Our eggs are finally fertile! Well, at least Bigfoot [Cochin] and Popcorn Chicken [Orpington] are! I cracked them this morning for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised to see the tell tale fertile, white bulls eye on the yolks. I'll be setting them up in the incubator at the end of the month. I can't wait to see the babies from this hatch.
Splash English Orpington x Buff American Standard Orpington
Splash English Orpington x Red Bantam Cochin
They should be some form of Red Penciled mixes. Unfortunately, I'll be hatching to sell or give away because these aren't the colors that I'm breeding for, but it will be fun to see what they look like either way.
Fertile eggs have a white bulls eye shaped pattern on the top or side of the yolk. If you've seen it before, you won't be able to miss it again.
Also, the weather here has been lovely. Warm, happy, sunny, springtime weather and it's making me want to do stuff in the yard; till the garden, plant flowers and bushes, and just be outside to enjoy the fresh air. I know this weather is nothing but a small reprieve from the winter that will no doubt follow, but it's still nice outside so it's hard not to take advantage.
I bought my strawberries and have to figure out where I'm going to put them. There is a space on the side of the house that gets perfect sun/shade that strawberries desire, but there is a tree there and I hate to take away a hiding spot from the chickens. I've got to do some research and find some other shrubs that I can put in the trees place once I take it down.
I'd really like the strawberries to have their own plot of land, just so they aren't contaminated by any of the garden vegetables [can't plant strawberries near eggplants or they turn sour and too bitter to eat, for example]
We'll be trying out some companion gardening in the spring, once everything is up and running. I'd like to make it through the season without using pesticides or chemicals on the plants, but last year out aphid and caterpillars were out of control. I hope that by companion gardening, we can help naturally keep the bugs at bay. I know the chickens will also be more than happy to help out.
