From the mouths of babes!!!

It amazes me how much we influence our children-- Our little rodent killer runt cat, who adopted our family and bonded with my 11 year old has been fixed~apparently while in heat~ which now she goes into pretend heat--- So she is doing this again and my 11 year old says to me " Mom this cat is driving me insane! She has gone BROODY again" I could barely stop laughing :) Yes I am creating little chicken addicts !!! :)

Goodbye Peeps....

The peeps find a new home ...

2 weeks old above and in 1 week check out these wings below...

Last little stretch at our house, outgrowing the brooder tote...

And don't forget the peep pre-school---watching the muppets --gonzo singing with the chickens 

Now they are off to their new home... made it there safely and I have a very happy niece and nephew... my daughter is sad, and then I reminded her the next hatch should start on Thursday!!! Why yes we are chicken addicts here :)

The Long awaited hatch (21 days) !!!

We have been turning and watering our little clutch of eggs for 21 days now... this morning we were enthralled with peeps coming from the brooder, and then we wait..... and wait.....and wait.....

Finally something is happening!!! 

The girls were very upset they had to go to bed since it was after 8:00pm when we finally saw this ;) Then below is what we saw in the morning!!! 

Why yes we need our first official photo shoot!!! 

Posing for Valentines pictures

1 week old already and look at those feathers... 

2 weeks old and starting to outgrow the brooder... still to cold to go outside

We had so much fun with this we decided to sell these little peeps and start again-- still at our house for a little while but niece is super excited to come and get them, so unsure how much longer they will be here.

Next hatch due in a week!!! May even have some ducks we are hoping.

New Neighbors!!!

New Neighbors moving in today, it is the house right above us, the last on the Cal-de-sac, feeling a bit anxious about them moving in.  We live in rural Pa, in a farming community however living in a Cal-de-sac with farm animals, gardens and a hyper border collie might not be someones idea of a good neighbor.  I love to free range my birds on weekends and evenings as much as possible. (of coarse lately not as much due to the temps just being way to cold for me to stay outside long)  However there are still times I let them out to play and just go check on them every so often.  Since I live on almost 2 acres you would think it wouldn't be an issue, but chickens and ducks seem to think the neighbors yard looks like a good place to play and forage.  The "old" neighbor didn't mind that the chickens, ducks, cats and dog would come to visit occasionally.  Not sure if we will be that lucky again??? We had hopes of adding some more animals to our homestead this year. I am really pushing for some pigs and rabbits, hubby would like some goats....now how do you stay a good neighbor but still reach your own self sustaining goals.... 

we're free!!! 

chicken and duck hearder :)

bath time

why yes I really do like playing in the leaves

incubation!!!

My children are just tickled pink with the eggs in the incubator.  We candled them yesterday and could see 16 little red dots swimming around in the shells.  Found this amazing chart to show the kids too, so we are truly making this a learning experience.  Love that we can teach them how precious life can be through watching a peep develop.  Yes sometimes the little things can be amazing!!!

/http://www.poultryhub.org/physiology/incubation/

NO change on the outside but amazing things happening on the inside!!! :)

more snow and wow is it cold outside~~

www.facebook.com/pages/Campbell-Art/109396075764779

More snow outside today... roads were a hazard coming home....but everyone is safe and sound.  It looks as though someone threw crystals all over a white blanket...just beautiful!!!!  Chickens refused to come out of the coop, and the ones that did stayed in the covered area....smart chicks, the ducks however didn't seem to really care much about the snow.

Dreaming of spring and the hope of some new animals coming to the homestead....thoughts on miniature sheep and cattle, pigs and meat rabbits are filling my thoughts lately.  Oh and a greenhouse since grocery prices continue to rise... so much to dream of, so little time... soon my friends...soon I am determined to get things rolling, baby steps at a time maybe, but steps forward they will be!!

Baby it's cold outside....

so what do we do but start some eggs to try to hatch!!! And dream of playing in the dirt in the warm sunshine...and daydream of the animals and gardens for the year...

January birthday gifts.... so nice and spring like!!!