My sweet Ginger has been sitting on a nest and this morning I noticed her acting strangely. Meet the very first gosling hatched on my farm. This little darling is an American Buff crossed with an African because Spud is a typical gander and Radish is a home wrecker. 😅

A few favorites from the mixed rainbow dozens my friend picked up as a “bonus” when grabbing a runner drake had to get an exclusive photo shoot. She’s going to be test hatching from the Rainbow Coop I’ve been working on for a few years now. Here’s hoping for a great hatch rate and mostly pullets! 🤞🏽🤞🏽

Bob learned a new trick. I have no idea what he wanted bad enough to climb the stairs to my front deck. Must be something about my car’s extended warranty… My front deck is over six feet off the ground mind you. Thankfully he went back downstairs on his own but…what a strange experience.

As much as I could wait on spring (and the included tornado season) starting, it has arrived anyway. The redbuds are blooming, the elderberries are sprouting leaves, and my girls are coming back online. Kinda hard to complain when the season brings me stunners like this again.

A new year has dawned! Not that the animals really care beyond the sun coming up = time for feeding and fresh water. I’m looking forward to a year filled with building new coops, clearing more land, working on putting in our garden, & focusing on health and happiness for our animals and ourselves.

Two days. Two dozen eggs. All while in the dead of winter. I may be drowning when spring comes back and the older hens start back up. 😬 …it may be time to plan a farm stand.

The ✨grip✨ that Blue Laced Red Wyandottes have on me is immense.

Winter decided to remind us that it does exist with a barely above freezing high temperature today. Which naturally sparked a recollection of this hilarious moment from before the unseasonably warm past few weeks. Yes, I did pick him up off the ice. Yes, he was indignant about it.

Decided to stop precariously balancing eggs or finding random containers to store them in and got myself more holders. I can now fit 6 dozen chicken eggs, 2 dozen duck eggs, 8 goose eggs, and 43 quail eggs on the counter. Aside from needing a bigger basket I think I’m ready for spring.

Why yes, those are speckles that look ✨purple✨ due to the bloom on the egg, thank you for asking. (Proceeds to scream with incoherent joy for eternity.) Every year my rainbow coop gets closer to my dreams. So happy with the hens I added this year. 🥰

Interrupting our bacon seeds coverage to bring you some of the gorgeous eggs my girls laid today.

I think I’m going to tentatively commit to a “Meet the Bacon Seeds” series. There’s only four so I might actually see this one through… No promises though since life, uh, gets in the way… Names are mostly picked but 3/4 still lack their full titles. (This will make sense later) Anyway here we go!

Listen, this was always a goal, it was just a “let’s do this in a few years!” goal. Then a certain someone showed me a picture of a lone piglet so of course I said yes and let’s get him some friends too. So, the Kune Kune have landed. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I’ve waited eleven weeks for this moment… Big thank you to Southern Biophilliac Urban Farm for helping make my Snowflake Bobwhite dreams come true! Now here’s hoping the other one is a girl 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

Radish update: She big. Our small gosling is looking so grown up as her feathers come in. Not to exclude anyone Bobby and Ginger are doing their summer molt so they look as rough as she does. 😅 Soon it will be hard to tell her and Ginger apart… I should probably get leg bands actually 🤔.

🦆Duck update 🦆

My goose Ginger went broody a few months ago but none of her eggs ever developed. Since she refused to give up and kept sitting on the nest I ordered a gosling for her so she could be a mom. Meet Radish. They took to each other immediately. And now Bob has a family to protect.

I give up on my chocolate Muscovy hens. After 1 day of having ducklings Tiramisu decided that the juvenile ducklings must be hers actually and she abandoned her kids. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Thankfully Pudding Pop is an absolute unit of a mom. Though head count at sundown is a bit rough now with all the tiny zoomies. 😅

After being mostly MIA (not really she was just hiding under the house) for over a month my little Pudding Pop has come out with 7 small fluffy Muscovy ducklings in tow. Good job Pudding.

Holding on to the small moments of joy whenever they appear.

…did I mention we added quail to the farm? These tiny birds are amazing. Definitely happy to have finally added the livestock I originally planned to start with. 😅 Still waiting on other hatching eggs to ship but so happy to have these full grown ones already. Eight weeks flew by…

In the chicken keeping world it’s advised to never have a favorite because the second you give one that title it’s equivalent to putting a red shirt on them and telling them to have fun on their away mission. So I don’t have favorites. I just think this one is neat.

I wish to be as care free as a duckling playing in a muddy puddle.

While these aren’t the first ducklings hatched out this year they are the ones I’ve been waiting on the most. Mainly because Nori decided to lay a nest in an empty planter on my deck. 😒 After over a month they’re finally here. Which means I can power wash my deck now. 🫠 (Ft: Gajeel aka Mr. Dad)

The final chick has hatched. Five adorable fluff balls and one tired but happy hen. Darling did a fantastic job for a first time broody - staying with it for an extra week even! - so now we get to see how she does as a first time mom.

The first chicks of 2025 have hatched! Darling is a tired but happy momma - who is getting an egg and grub scramble later to help replenish her nutrients after a MONTH of being broody. She’s hatched out three tiny fluff balls, here’s hoping they’re pullets! 🤞🏽

After an extra week (explanation to follow) my little Darling is almost done sitting on her nest and it sounds like the chicks are ready to meet her. Did you know chicks will call to each other while hatching? It’s like they’re saying “We can do this!” Here’s hoping hatching goes well! 🤞🏽

I would like the record to show that she has access to a full pond that is less than a two minute walk away. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I’m fairly certain there are still hens not back online after the winter break but almost everyone is laying and the fruits of a year’s worth of adding to the flock are showing. I’ve got lots of hatching eggs on order and the first round (right picture) are already in the incubator. 🤞🏽

For the record, there was an empty nest box next door. But they both wanted the “favorite”. 🙄

The ladies are in their pastel phase today. Also got surprise speckles on the green egg. They look pink until you wet the bloom and discover the flecks are actually brown. I love the artistry of nature.

Winter finally hit this month and after an arctic blast dropping temps we’re getting some snow. I’m thankful for more water to slowly replenish the land and our aquifer. The birds are having a blast with the frozen water falling from the sky too. I honestly don’t know who’s happier - them or me.

Meet my newest farm hand - Callie Coco. She’s about three months old and is the litter mate to my Benimaru. She’s warmed up to me finally and has apparently fallen in love with Chopper. He seems to be catnip to female cats. 🤷🏽‍♀️

My Saxony ducks are so hard to get photos of. Mainly because apparently pointing my camera at them means I’m trying to eat them so they need to run away. Carlton. Ladies. Listen. I don’t want to eat you. I want pictures of you. Though I do want to eat your eggs so... Pay rent already.

Decided to group Patina’s eggs that are in the fridge so I could see the progression of her finding her color groove. She was labeled as an olive egger but this gal is pure Black Copper Marans. I’m not mad about it…

Cooking up breakfast this morning and got a reminder of when Patina’s ink cartridge was still sorting itself out and having misfires. My lovely Black Copper Marans lady is now consistently laying a dark brown (slightly speckled) egg so I probably won’t see ones like this again till next year.

Discovered which of the new layers is responsible for the tan egg. She’s lucky she’s beautiful. On the upside she’ll be in my goth pen and none of the others slated for it will lay tan or cream eggs. 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽Still waiting on the other two to start laying.

Spring hatched girls are finally starting to pay rent. The tan layer is irritating (I have so many tan layers 🙄) but those ✨speckles✨ *chef kiss* Also added a true goth chicken to the farm after going to a poultry show. Meet my new (pet quality) Ayam Cemani pullet. 🖤🖤🖤

One goal is free ranging the chickens, so to that end allow me to introduce Chopper (aka C1-10P) my farm’s livestock guardian dog (in training). He’s 4 months old and a blank slate so first up is bonding, house breaking, and crate training.

We’ve been super busy! The barnyard chickens are hanging out in the new coop and loving all the space. The Ameraucanas are feathering out and looking rough 😅 And my partner decided we needed some Bielefelder chicks so we also picked up the Black Australorps I’ve been wanting for a while too.

At seven weeks old my first babies are firmly in their chicken tender level and starting their first molt. My BBS Ameraucana babies are still in their chicky nuggie level at just over a week old.

The after hatch pancake mode is honestly my favorite thing.

Wish you could have seen the latest hatch happening? Well luckily for you I compressed three weeks of waiting and 24 hours of hatching to under two minutes: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8NWBANp/

And that’s a wrap on hatching! 5/19 shipped eggs made it. Our newest fluffy nuggets are a day old and have been settled into their brooder. All that’s left is the growing. Here’s hoping we get a few hens.🤞🏽 Also their cheeks will never not be my favorite thing.

The six eggs went into lockdown yesterday. Hopefully I’ll have some new chicks by Tuesday 🤞🏽🙏🏽

mods are asleep, quick post your favorite anti-lawn memes

The difference a month makes… Forgot to post about the brooder clean out last week. Chicks are now crowding in the largest cat carrier we have. Few more weeks and they can move into their coop and run. Here’s hoping temps are a little bit cooler by then. 🤞🏽

I spent all spring waiting and hoping for my one Wild Senna plant to come back. Last year the drought was so bad it died long before it could bloom. This year it came back and has grown to about 3 - 4 ft tall. The flowers opened right at the end of July and it hasn’t stopped blooming since.

And then there were six. We’re at the halfway mark and of the original dozen I ordered plus the seven extra that were sent only six have made it so far. Darkness with every light. Life with every death. I know it, but it still sucks.

Hey gang I just ordered my very first art sticker! This is something I've wanted to do for a very long time and there's no time like the present. The link below is a pre-order form PRE-ORDER HERE (Payment through Venmo @xaqind ) https://forms.gle/6H3DubBGQHoSCWSk9 #art #ttrpg #stickerclub