Raising Chickens

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Our chicken arrived a couple of weeks ago. We got a phone call from the Post Office early in the morning (did you know that the Post Office is open for pick ups at 6:00 am?) telling us that our chickens had arrived. We had called them the day before, when we knew that they were shipped, so they would know to expect them. I picked them up right after I dropped the kids off at school, and hurried home so we could get them food and water. How many wives do you know that come home telling their husbands that she picked up some chicks for him?

We had a big bin from Costco that we filled with pine wood shavings to keep them in initially. We ordered a food dispenser and water dispenser from the place we ordered the chicks from, so we got that all set up. Apparently, they need a little priming to learn where the water is, so we picked them up one by one and put their little beaks in the water before we let them go in the bin. We also bought a red heat lamp for them. We read somewhere that you could keep a red light on all day and not stress them out.

It didn't take long before the chicks started looking cramped in the bin, so we got some corrugated cardboard chicken fence and made a little brooder for them. It's amazing how sturdy cardboard can be! They are still in the garage with the heat lamp to keep them warm.

We have five female light brahmas, five female and one male Cuckoo Marans, and five female and one male Easter Eggers.

My biggest lesson was that you have to make sure the their "vents" are clear. That means that if you see poop sticking to their little bottoms, you get to clean their "vents" by sticking their bottoms in warm water to soften the poop and clean it up. To get their body temperature back to normal, we held them under the heat lamp and close to our bodies for a while before putting them back in the pen. Apparently, we'll have to keep this up even when they are adults.

So far they seem very happy and healthy. It won't be long until we can put them outside. I think it takes about four to five weeks before they can regulate their own body temperature. We'll have a coop that will be entirely enclosed for nigh time as well as room for them to wander and peck during the day.

Meet Our New Dog

Getting a new dog was a big decision. My husband wanted a puppy, but I was worried that a puppy meant that I was going to have to clean-up a lot of messes in the house. The kids may say they will clean-up, and they may even try to help clean-up, but when it comes to poo and pee, I'm afraid what they consider "clean" may not match what I consider "clean."  I understood his concern that he didn't want an older dog with strange issues, but I thought we could find a good young dog that was already house trained...and we did.

Our new dog is about nine months old, potty trained and issues free! She is still a playful puppy, she is happy and full of energy and we all love her dearly.

I did learn a few things from adopting an older puppy:

1. I wanted to be sure that the dog had been well taken care of and the owner was able to provide me with records from the vet so I could see that she had been cared for.

2. We got her bed and toys from the previous owner, and I think that helped make the transition easier.

3. My kids checked out a number of books on owning and training dogs so they were aware of what needed to be done. I think when information comes from books rather than from mom and dad, kids are more willing to believe it.

Next week, we get the chickens!

Getting Ready to Move

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I truly hate packing! Maybe because it reminds me of what a pack-rat I am. I cannot believe how boxes we have.  The good thing is that we will be ready to move most of our stuff by Friday (tomorrow!) and we will still have a couple weeks to get everything out of the old house and do all the necessary cleaning to try and get our deposit back.  I am glad to be done with renting, yet terrified at being a home owner again.

I am looking forward to decorating the new house. We have a lot more room than we have ever had before. In this house, if we do not have a place for something, then we will need to get rid of that thing. No more saving things for "some day." That "some day" has finally arrived.

The most difficult room to decorate will be the master bedroom. The room is huge with a very large fireplace on one wall, a big window on one wall, a bathroom door and opening to the closet on another and a large mural on the fourth. None of the four walls will accommodate a TV. I think that we can live without a TV in the bedroom, but Hubby does not feel the same. And to be honest, I do like snuggling and watching a movie and falling asleep to John Stewart.  We are going to have to get creative.

To do list

A list of some of the things we want to build on our new land:

1) a chicken coop
This Old House: 10 Ways to Build a Better Chicken Coop
2) a fort for the kids
Some ideas from Houzz
3) an outdoor shower. Maybe a changing room too.
Ideas from Sunset
4) a pizza oven
HGTV shows us how
5) an outdoor kitchen
Inspirational photos from HGTV

I'm not sure how long it will be before we build all of them, but I think we can do it!

Buying a Farm

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Okay, so it's not really a farm, but with four acres it's a lot more like a farm that any other house I've ever lived in.  I've always wanted to move somewhere rural with a lot of land, but I never thought we'd find a place with acreage that was close enough to the city to get to work easily. Alpine is only 20 miles from work and in a direction without much traffic.  It's really more like a suburb that being truly rural, with all the amenities that we could need, even a micro-brewery and a Starbucks. So, for a family used to the city and the suburbs, it won't be too different for us. With four acres we will have space for a few farm animals and some vegetables and fruit trees. The kids, particularly the girls, really want to raise some animals.

Right now, we are waiting for escrow to close. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and we get the house. I will use this blog to keep track of everything we learn about raising animals and growing vegetables. I think we have a lot to learn.

The first animals we will be getting are two dogs and a bunch of chickens. We can get the dogs right away, but we'll have to build a chicken coop before we can get the chickens. I think I'd like to get some goats, but we need to learn more about the types of goats to get. Apparently there are different breeds for meat and milk, and then there are always angora goats if we want to get some wool, but I'm not sure how much work goes into keeping the wool clean. Maybe we'll get sheep instead...

The house we are trying to buy has three horse stalls,  but we still have quite a bit if work to do before we get horses.  We will want to fence off an area for the horses to roam and maybe grow grass for them to do some grazing. The girls will need some riding lessons so they know how to handle horses and learn all the responsibilities that go with owning a horse, like feeding, brushing, cleaning the stalls...

As for gardening, there are currently a bunch of citrus trees and two fig trees. We will want to plant a vegetable garden and maybe more fruit trees. I am looking forward to fresh from the garden vegetables. We will have to learn all about keeping out gophers, squirrels and rabbits of course...

Like I said, lots to learn! Let's see which things we actually accomplish.