more about the pigs

                                              pigs


    Two of the pigs are going to the market on Dec. third. The two we are going to bring in are about 220 lbs. Uncle Brad is going to bring the other 4 in on Dec. 16th. It is hard to keep animals in the winter.    

 

                               ** Pig fact **

Pigs constantly communicate with each other. They have a range of different oinks, grunts and squeals which have distinct meanings.

     

Ginna Hens.

Guinea Hens

I got these 6 guinea hens on Sep. 14th. I got them from the farmer down the road. We put then in the old chicken coop. We had to put fence over the guinea yard, so they don't get out. Because guineas need to be in a in closed area, for a while, other wise they will not stick around if you let them out. We will let them out in the spring, and if they go near the pool we will scare them away. I am mad because 2 of them already died.         

  **CHICKEN FACT**The guinea fowl is a large wild bird that is natively found inhabiting a variety of habitats across the African continent. Today, the guinea fowl has been introduced to various countries around the world as it is farmed by humans. 

pigs

 Sorry for not updating it for a few months, but these are six big pigs. The one pig on the far right is the runt. That is the one that we chased across county road 11 about 4 times, he is only about 100 lbs. All the pigs are about 4 - 5 months old. All of the other pigs are about 187 lbs. And in the bottom picture in the back of the pic. is the shed we are building.  

Bad news. July 27

So dad went to check on my girls and when he opened the door Rosa was laying on the ground dead. Rosa was like the only named bird. She would lay large, light brown egg.  Rosa was the "mother hen" of the flock.  However, over the past few weeks, she took to brooding and would not leave here nest box.  Dad did some research and found that some chickens will starve themselves to death trying to hatch her eggs.  She will be missed a lot.

I thought I was done with babies!!

Last night, Kelly and Logan took grandpa's truck and headed to WI.  They returned a little before 9 with 2 baby 2 week old jersey bull calves.   The boys were quite excited to see 2 calves, as they were under the impression that Logan was getting one tonight.  We unloaded them and made them comfortable in their new homes.   The boys wanted to stay and watch them, but it was already past bedtime.

The calves made it through the night with Kelly and I getting very little sleep as we listened for coyotes, and any noise from the calves.  Glad to say that they both survived the night.

Unloading from the truck

Nolan checking in on Bucky

The boys were up early to make bottles and feed.  Very excited to this today, let's hope the excitement continues.

Mixing the milk

supersized

Farm Visit

On Sunday we built a calf barn in hopes of buying some calves soon.  We figured we should have a place for them before we get to serious about looking for something to buy.










 
We also went to one of Mom's coworkers to farm to look at some calves.  It was a big farm with lots of different animals: goats, sheep, chickens, cows, horses, donkeys, and a brand new calf.  We looked at everything.  The calves were yearlings, so they were a bit bigger than we wanted, but we did get a chance to milk a cow.

MORE ANMILS April 22nd

     sorry.!!!!!!!!           please comment 
      

 NEW cats;) The one on the right is a girl and it's name is Reeses.
        and the other ones name is mrs. si,








      I bought 10 chicks to raise with Grampa's 100  yellow chicks.
I got 5 black and yellow ones, and 5 light orange ones.

This one is a a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

                                                

                                                           
                                                Rosa laid abnormal egg:)
We might  get 2 calves.

           

                                         

                                                       The orangish one on the left is the Buff Orpington.

                                                                  **CHICKEN FACT**
                       For the first 14 days, chicks need to be raised separately in a brooder (not on pond), 

March 29th

    I have like 30 eggs in the fridge. So if you need some ask me. Guess what. I'm geting like 5 more. Which means that I should have more eggs. I will have eggs coming out of my ears.  HA HA HA.

BABY ARRIVAL 22nd March

meow, meow meow, meow, meow:)

please welcome 5 new babies to our family.

I went to go do the Girls. But when  I went to put my boots on I saw kittens. 

March 17th

"SORRY" 

Today is St.Patrick's Day...... So i made green eggs and ham and green pancakes for breakfast. While we were eating, Logan got up to get water and.... He said,"sh,sh,sh  I see three deer.    He was right!  Walking through our back yard was a doe and 2 fawns.

Today I gathered 5 eggs for the chickens.  Wacky laid a very small egg, it looks funny.  This was the first time we have seen something like this. She might be half quail.

                                                      **CHICKEN FACT**

                   Chickens aren’t completely flightless—they can get airborne enough to make it over a fence or into a tree.






Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/08/14-fun-facts-about-chickens/#ixzz2NqRpv6Ar 
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

March 2nd

       "PLESE COMMENT"   Today I yolk up at 8:00 a.m. I got mom out of bed, to come out with me. When we go in the coop I grabbed a egg. We saw Wacky & Rosa in the nest boxes. Then mom said,"is that all the eggs?" I said," yes maam, I usually get one every morning ." Next we stayed in it for 3 more min. talking. Then        Rosa jumped out of the box. So I looked in the box and I found a nice warm, sticky, and light brown egg. 

              Me and dad started some fires in the stump pile. I ran to the coop and I found a white egg. SO I brought it in to mom. Then I got two more latter that night. :}              





                                                        **CHICKEN FACT**
       Chicken are pretty fast. The chicken can travel up to 9 miles per hour when it wants to.         PLESE COMMENT 

Feb.28th

   Today I went out and got, then I came in and there was a sausage "EGG" muffin. Then I went to school............ When I got home I got 5 more.










                                                **CHICKEN FACT**
          A chickens' heart beats at an amazing 280-315 beats a minute.

                   /Chicken Facts;

Feb. 25

    Yesterday I spent the day in the coop. I swapped their nest and food boxes to the opposite wall. I did this to make it easier to clean and collect eggs . I also moved my metal rooster from the inside to on top of the roof.  I also got 4 eggs :} 

   Today, when I got home from school I went to the coop and I found out that there were 4 eggs but.... They were eating one of rosa's light brown egg. :( I hope that this does not turn into a habit. 

Feb.17th

        This morning I went over to check on the girls.I got three eggs. Then at 5:30 p.m. I went back over to check again and I got two more eggs. With a total of five

Feb.16th

 There were no eggs eaten today that I know of.( Good ).  My mom & Dad are at cancun mexico, right now. So now I am sleeping in a hotel in Grandma's basement . I got five eggs today:)


                                                **CHICKEN FACT**
      Female chickens, over a year old, are called hens, and younger females are called pullets
        

           

      Animal Information and Interesting Facts about Chickens







          

Feb.15th

 Today I got mad, Because when I got into the coop they were all eating a egg. So I through the egg shell out. Then I looked in the nest box and I saw all the egg yolk. Then wacky jumped up and started to eat all the egg :( I was about ready to smack her.



                                                  ** CHICKEN FACT**

There are at least two hundred breeds and variations of domestic chickens on record, most though are extinct or rare.

     

Feb.10th

 Sorry that I have not updated lately. :(
  

     So I got two eggs in the morning, then I got  three more in the afternoon. In the evening I got one more.   After a delicious Sunday morning brunch, our family walked to Grandma's house.  It is a one mile walk through the woods behind our house.  It was snowing hard, and all the snow and our snow pants and boots made it hard to walk.
   When I got to Grandma's I started to snowblow her driveway, up by her house while dad plowed the rest of the driveway. We spent seven hours at her house, playing pool, shoveling, and snacking.    



                                              **CHICKEN FACT**
 It is believed that chickens were first domesticated over 10,000 years ago in the far east.

Feb.5th

Today was a typical day, I got four eggs. But my black and white girl, has not been giving that much eggs :) A few weeks ago I started to give them crushed up egg shells. We have been incubating some eggs for 21 days now but they did not hatch:(              












 A fertilized egg starts developing into a chicken when its temperature reaches 86 degrees.

Jan.31st

Sorry that I did not updated lately. It has been one month ( I think )  so far with the girls. I have sold  about 7 dozen so tell me if you want eggs ask me.

                 We just saw this in our backyard :) At 5:40 p.m
                                       
                                                             **CHICKEN FACT**
                                    Over 50 billion chickens are raised to eat their meat.

     

Jan.27th

Hi this is Jacob,again.!!! Today "Jan 27th", I got 4 eggs. 1 in the morning, and 3 in the afternoon. People are telling me I should"put up a chicken cam . If you think I should, leave a comment ."Click on comment below this. Then please leave a comment.:)




                                                  **CHICKEN FACT**
                        Chickens will be less 'flighty' if while tending a pen or chicken house the caretaker walks backwards. 

Jan.25th

 My mom's friend offered us a two year old horse. This is how I am going to ride.In style!!!!


                    Well I got five eggs today. Two in the morning,  three in the afternoon. Today I went to the eye doctor. Because my eyes were bugging me,when I read. Then I went to my grand parents house to sleepover.  At 8:30 p.m I went back to check on the girls. 


                                            **CHICKEN FACT**
    A rooster will usually perform a special waltz or dance in an attempt to attract a mate.

Jan.24th

Today I got one egg in the morning. Then I went to school when I got back I got......5 more eggs!!!



                                    **CHICKEN FACT**                  
                                         The average chicken lays about "260"eggs per year.

Jan.21st

So far the girls gave me four eggs.The girl's waterer was frozen solid agin.  It got down to 8 degrees in the coop last night.



                                           **CHICKEN FACT**
                                  **There are more chickens living on earth than people**

Jan. 20th

Farm fresh omlette 

Family enjoying home grown eggs

When I went out to the coop I found that the chicken waterer was frozen solid:( My girls survived the coldest night of the year so far.Today they gave me five eggs.

Friday night, dad and I cleaned the coop and put down fresh pine shavings for the girls.  They were so eggcited with it.  We also attached the feeder pan to the wall so that they would not get any more shavings into their food.  The girls seemed to be happy with this also.

 

Watch this!!!! I hung up some bread, on the wall for the girls to peck at.    

**CHICKEN FACT**

Did you know........you can tell what color eggs a chicken will lay by the color of her ear lobe.  

Jan.11 Day 9

It has been 9 days since we brought our hens home.   They have adjusted well and have laid several eggs for us.  We are averaging about 4-5 eggs each day.  This morning, our family had our first breakfast of home grown eggs.

  

  Friday, I sold my first dozen of eggs to my gym teacher, for $2.50. Then on saturday I sold my second                          

     dozen to my uncle. So I have sold two dozen eggs so far.





                                        **CHICKEN FACT**
                   Chickens are the closest living animal to the t-rex
  

The End Of The First Week At The New Home.

   All the eggs from the first week

There new home

Day 5

 I got up  at 6:00 a.m to go do the chores. We got three eggs in the morning. Then I went to school.When I got back I got I  found two more.

Not much. Day 3

We didn't get much today. I only collected three eggs  today. Went to Fleet Farm to get some food . We got a food block for them to peck
and scratch at.  



                             Jurek,
                               Jacob

look what i found :) Day 2.

I yolk up this morning at 7:00 a.m. I was egg-sited to see if I had any eggs.  I got dressed and headed out to the coop to see how the chickens had done the first night.

In the corner of my eye I saw a bright green egg :) So I stepped out to get a picture of me and my egg.  Mom took a picture from her and Dad's bedroom window.  

While my family went to a wrestling tournament in Pierz, I stayed home to keep an eye on the chickens.  Grandma Lutz came over around 9:30 to hang out with me. When Grandma came I showed her all my chores I need to do. We found a bright white egg.   

Before Grandma and I went to Clear Lake to get grit, I checked in on the hens one more time. I found another pinkish egg.  When we got home from the store,  there were 2 more eggs. 



At the end of the day, Caleb and I found another under a hen on the ground.  Final count for the first day was 7 very colorful eggs.  I am quite the happy farmer. 

Getting the chickens!!!

                             




    Today mom brought Adam & I  to St.Cloud  to meet Dad. Dad, Adam,& I headed to Motley to pick up five chickens. When we got there we decided that the coop could fit six chicken.  As Adam & I were picking out six chickens...Adam eyed a goofy black chicken that he really liked...

Adam kept looking at the goofy bird and asking about getting it.  Eventually the lady told us that the bird was not worth the food that she feeds it and that she would give it to us for free.  That meant that we were coming home with 7 chicken.

we packed  three in one crate then two in each of the other two crate.We put the crates in the back of the suburban then drove the chickens  two hours away to their new home:)

Nolan helping unload the chickens

Unloading chickens to their new home