by Susan | May 6, 2016 | Chickens, On the Farm
We once had as many as 18 egg layers at Downeast Thunder Farm. The numbers have dwindled over time and we now have just two girls in the hen house. It’s been a few years since we’ve had farm babies (other than Gidget!). I heard the local feed store had...
by Susan | Jul 9, 2015 | Chickens, On the Farm
We all have our evening routines. This time of year for us, it goes something like this. I head to the greenhouse to visit my plants. I’m battling powdery mildew on my spaghetti squash, something is eating my Swiss chard, and my peppers are looking a bit...
by Susan | Dec 26, 2014 | On the Farm
Today brought another round of record-breaking temperatures to Downeast Maine. The long shadows of winter belied the springlike weather. Less than one week into winter found me lounging in a chair in front of the pond taking in the sights. The banties were out en...
by Susan | Sep 5, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
A little bit of cute to end your week. Like momma, like baby.
by Susan | Sep 3, 2014 | Chickens
The new banty babies had an adventure today. Salty’s brood is almost three-weeks-old and she’s a bit bored hanging out in the coop and run. The run door is on the second story (so we can open the door when there’s loads of snow on the ground in the...
by Susan | Aug 20, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
A moment of cuteness to make you smile on a Wednesday morning. We are smitten with these little babies!...
by Susan | Aug 16, 2014 | On the Farm
Today was a most productive Saturday. We managed to outsmart the mink these past few weeks and the last of the meat chickens are now in the freezer. More babies are hatching and I dried the first two loads of laundry on the new clothes line Paul built for me. Paul...
by Susan | Aug 15, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
What’s a farm with out farm babies? Shadow, our little bantam hen who we lost this last winter, was our resident farm mama – the only hen, chicken or duck, who managed to hatch babies. This summer, we’ve had four broody girls. Salty, one of our...
by Susan | Jul 8, 2014 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm
Meet Peep. She’s a one-year-old Pekin duck, born in our incubator last spring. She is broody and seems to be doing a good job at sticking to her nest. The only problem is, we don’t need any more ducks! We have eight – three of them boys. That fact...
by Susan | Apr 7, 2014 | On My Mind
Today was a gift. The sun shining, temperatures soared to 50 degrees. I brushed off the long unused porch chairs and parked myself for a few minutes to admire the view. The pond is still frozen over, but the ice is dwindling. In the front, the only remaining snow are...
by Susan | Mar 24, 2014 | On the Farm
It was a sad weekend here. We lost two roosters over two nights to what we believe is a single predator. What makes it even harder is that we knew that one of the coop doors needed repair and our delay in fixing it properly cost us. In the banty coop, a predator got...
by Susan | Jul 5, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The other weekend, we sold ten of our two-year-old hens and they moved to a happy new home. It was sad to see them go, but we did this because our flock had grown too large for the size of our coop. And because of their age, egg production was beginning to decline. In...
by Susan | Jun 30, 2013 | On the Farm
A day without rain is a glorious day! I spent as much time outdoors as possible – weeding, trellising the tomato plants, snipping the scapes off my garlic, weed whacking, etcetera. I’m not the only one who was happy to be out and about today. Shadow took...
by Susan | Jun 1, 2013 | Chickens, Garden, On the Farm
I’d noticed that my Phlox was looking a little sparse. Just the other day it was in full bloom, and today, only a couple of the plants had flowers on them. I justified this by telling myself that the ones in bloom were planted later last year – therefore...
by Susan | May 31, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The new girls on the block are ready to leave the brooder and be introduced the the rest of the farm critters. Last year taught us that a gradual approach is the best way to merge new chickens with an existing flock. So Paul built the new girls a mini-coop – a...
by Susan | May 19, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
Shadow, our broody Banty, takes a moment to stretch her legs. While she enjoys her break, Salty temporarily takes over the broody duties. The two Banty hens seem to be taking a tag team approach to sitting on this clutch of eggs!
by Susan | May 16, 2013 | On the Farm
I locked myself into the chicken coop this morning. On accident. But that’s not what this post is about. Just thought I’d share. I arrived home late last night from a week in Pennsylvania only to have to turn around and leave again on business this...
by Susan | May 9, 2013 | On the Farm
The egg on the left is from an Orpington Buff. The middle egg is from bantam hen. Paul delivered the third egg to my desk yesterday, collected from the chicken coop. At about 1.5″, it’s the tiniest egg I’ve ever seen outside of an Easter...
by Susan | May 3, 2013 | Chickens, On the Farm
The 50 meat chickens moved out of the garage this weekend at 3 1/2 weeks old. They grow so fast that they’ve run out of space in the brooder. These little Cornish X Rock chickens are so ugly, they’re kinda cute. Don’t you think?
by Susan | Apr 14, 2013 | Bird Patterns, Domestic Bird Patterns, Felt Patterns
Inspired by some of our latest chick additions to the farm and a rainy day, here’s a Delaware hen felt bird. To download this pattern, right click here and select “Save target as” to save this PDF to your computer. Share your pics if you decide to...
