Shoebox Farms

03/21/2015

So, I just got 13 eggs... I have 13 laying hens.

03/18/2015

Oh god. I just had a 12 egg day. Seriously, I'm am drowning in eggs.

01/08/2015

It is with heavy heart that I tell you guys that the raccoons finally found my coop. I was really lucky that the attack wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I lost Little Lady, the bantam red cochin, and Sam, my speckled suss*x. I also lost 2 quail in the attack. I have since fixed the hole where they got in and will carry on, but I'll really miss those two girls.

Remember, if you have chickens, make sure that they are safe from predators, and also keep in mind that some predators, such as raccoons, are more clever than others.

12/27/2014

Seriously, most terms mean nothing. Unless you're buying your eggs local, don't assume the chickens laying your eggs are having a great life

Egg cartons these days are often plastered with an array of terms that can confuse and even mislead consumers. Here's a glossary of carton jargon for the wannabe informed egg buyer.

11/09/2014

So I was mistaken in my last post, I still had a rooster in my flock. Jack for some reason was really slow to mature and only about 3 weeks ago started showing definite signs of his s*x, and this morning found his crowing lungs. So NOW I'm finally rooster free for the year :/

I will say, Jack was a very good rooster. He defended the flock from raccoons and made enough racket to get me to go out and chase them off, (I'll have to tell you the story sometime) which in my mind earned him a gold star. He was the last one out of the shell from my incubator hatch and the one I thought wasn't going to make it for the longest time. Never aggressive, but not skittish, Jack was a good rooster.
Thank you, Jack.

09/27/2014

I just realized that it has been a while since I posted on here!

I am finally rooster free for the year, just in time for Autumn, which is an immense relief! Now instead of counting down until another roo starts crowing I can settle into counting down until the last of this years hens start laying! Hopefully I'll have some green egg layers out of this batch, as the last batch of girls came from Amerecauna crosses that carried the blue egg genes.

I have to say, breeding for egg color is really fun and makes me wish I had more time and space to devote to breeding (oh, and the ability to keep roosters!). But for now, I'll just keep on with hatching out my lovely partner's barnyard mutts :)

09/13/2014

The day has come to harvest Big Boy, the last of the three roosters from the first batch of eggs this year. After him, one more to go. I'll be so happy when I'm rooster free once more

09/07/2014

Holy crap! I got 10 eggs today! You go girls!

Also, someone want to buy eggs? I'm back up to 5 dozen in the fridge!

09/03/2014

Alex, my Ameracauna from this spring, is a blue egger!!!

08/30/2014

*Sigh* Rooster number two for this year. Last night I had to harvest my fav rooster, Jerk-Face. I knew this day was coming, but it's still not easy. Someday when I live out in the country I'll be able to have a few roosters, but for now I can't subject my neighbors to crowing at 5:48 in the morning, which is when Jerk-Face found his ability to crow.
Thank you, Jerk-Face, for out growing your name and being a really sweet rooster.

08/24/2014

One of the Blue Andalusians laid her first egg today! Be prepared to see more white eggs in your cartons! Hopefully I'll get to see soon if my Easter Egger that I got at the same time is a blue egger! *Fingers crossed*

08/19/2014

Today I woke up to hear SLR crowing for the first time, and he was not being shy about it. This of course means that I had to harvest him when I got home this evening. I have to say, he was almost as big as his father who was a Jersey Giant, which means I got a good amount of meat off of him. Hopefully he will be tasty as well when I get to roasting him up.

I really am truly grateful to be able to raise my own livestock and be so connected to what it takes to get meat.