The Peeps, One Week Later

It has been cold here at night so the chicks stay huddled together under the heat lamps to stay warm. A few mornings ago we lost two of the chicks, either by trampling or cold.  The rest seem healthy and are getting fatter.  They are also getting their first set of fathers.  In a few weeks they will be they will be getting so fat that their feather growth cannot keep up with them and there will be many bald spots.  I will post more picture to show this later.

Huddled together to keep warm

The first real feathers appear

Time for breakfast in the coop

The Peeps Arrive

Got a call today from the PO at noon to come get my chicks.  I was just about to go there anyway to mail some packages, good timing. Picked them up and they all survived.  After getting the water ready, I took them one-by-one from the box, showed it where the water was and placed each of them in its new home.  So cute, but we can't get too attached as they will be dinner in 8 weeks.

The Priority Mailing box with chicks inside

50 little peeps inside the box

The peeps eating

The peeps drinking

The new home until they get bigger

They will be kept here in the coop until they get big enough to put outside into the chicken tractors.

Getting Ready for Spring

The snow is almost gone. I think there is still a small pile of dirt covered snow at the end of the driveway, but its good enough.  Next week we will be getting our batch of 50 chickens to raise as meat birds. The coop has already been cleaned out and it ready with the heat lamps, etc.  The chicken tractors are ready in the front field for when the chicks get too big for the coop.

The inside of the coop ready for the little chicks

We also have already started some seedlings under lights to get a jump start on the outdoor planting.  This works out well and the seedlings are thriving under the 24 hour lighting in a big plastic storage tub..

Cilantro, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers

The critters are also out, we will have to be very vigilant when the chicks arrive to protect them from this red fox that has been wandering about our backyard.

The backyard fox

Its nice to have spring back even though some days is seem like winter has never left!  Warm weather soon.

My Old Snorkel Stove

Here are some pics of my old Snorkel Stove.  We had the tub for about 15 years, but 2 years ago we took it down because it was old and no longer held water so well.

The tub in its heyday, I think this is 2007

We demolished the deck to make room for the patio.

The deck being demolished

So now we just have a patio, and a used snorkel stove.

patio where the deck & tub used to be

Here's the pictures of the Snorkel Stove.

Snorkel Stove without cover

This is where I had it welded. Works fine now.

The other side of the stove

Stove with cover

Its just sitting out back.  I don't think we will ever use it, but I saved it anyway. Who knows.

Spring Time in New England!

Ya right!

We also decided today to take a ride to get some milk.  We purchase it at a farm stand in Hardwick, MA about 45 minutes from our house.  Here is their website: Misty Brook Farm.  The ride out there is always enjoyable and the scenery was amazing with the snow still sticking to the trees like frosting.

The milk at the stand

The farm stand 

The price of everything has gone up dramatically.  Raw milk is $5 for a half gallon.  The grass ground beef is $9.00 per pound.

After we picked up the milk, we stopped at the Hardwick Farmers Coop to pick up some shavings and chick starter for the meats birds that well be arriving on April 17 in the mail.  The prices there have also increased.  Non-medicated chick starter was $16.00 while the organic starter is $32.00, both for a 50lb bag.  This is why organic eggs and organic chicken are so expensive. Misty Brook Farm is charging $32 for a single 4-5 lb broiler.  That is why we are doing our own meat birds again this year.. 

More & More March Snow

You call this "global warming'?  Since we got back from California, all it has done is snowed.  Now it is the middle of March  (3 days from the beginning of Spring) and we are getting more snow.  Alright already!
 

We are where the word "ice" is on the map

We have already started cleaning out the greenhouse and putting out the patio furniture.  I guess that was wishful thinking! 

"Wishful thinking" patio furniture

 I guess the groundhog was wrong. This is the last time I will take any weather advice from a rodent.

More March Snow

It looks like we are getting more snow, thanks to the Nor'easter that came this way.  According to the forecasts, it look like we may get close to another foot of snow.

 Enough already!  Looks like we picked the wrong year to spend in California. The snow is supposed to last through noon on Friday, then it will warm up to the 50's by the weekend.  It's good that I finally got the snow blower carburetor issues resolved and the tractor is running fine.  I should be able to clear away this stuff without too much actual shoveling.

We are getting tired of the snow, the cold and the feeding of the outdoor boiler.  C'mon spring!

Afternoon Update:

Well it finally stopped snowing about 3:30 today.  It looks like we got about 18 inches of snow!  It was easy to clean up with the tractor and snow blower.

The front walkway

The snow pile at the end of the driveway.  There's no more room for snow.  This will be here until April

The back walkway

Me feeding the birds

I hope this is it for the snow.