We quack ourselves up.

These little gals are our new addition to the farm and will be living in our garden. We have a little duck truck for them. They don't have names just yet, but I'm sure something will come to me soon. The one not standing in the food dish is the off spring of my friend Meredithe's duck Penelope and Scurbles. Scurbles disappeared one day and a day later Penelope went broody. Since she was broody we took a few on my chicken eggs and put them under her. She successfully hatched one of the chicken eggs and we now refer to the little peeper as Chuck. After a few days she gave up on her clutch and decided Chuck was all she needed. Meredith took the remaining duck eggs and one hatched. So he is going to keep Chuck and I'm taking the duck. I went to the local feed store and got her a friend so she's not lonely. They are getting along great and growing so fast. I'm looking forward to offering Duck eggs to my customers and also learning about another animal. So much to learn and enjoy in life. We are so lucky...or are we now Ducky?

Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg.

It's been toooooo long

This spring has been ridiculously wet. The chickens are not very happy, but I'm sure they are happy that it's not snowing. Lots of new things have been happening around the farm. We've installed chicken proof fencing around the veggie garden and a new gate for the driveway, which also keeps our curious girls from roaming and ending up on Thompson's Farm. Our Barn Owls had four owlets this year and they have fledged and are in training mode. The screeching at night is amazing...beautiful, but so creepy. The chickens and owls live in harmony. The owls look down from their perch high in the barn and the chickens go about their business not actually knowing there is a raptor watching over them. It's when the owl gets spooked and flies to a new location that the chickens freak out. It's all OK in the end and they have been living together for 4 years now without a problem.

I recently found a great new website for chicken lovers, The City Chicken. I was also introduced to a wonderful zen experience available on the net, Chicken Cams. A fellow artist and lover of chickens told me when she is having a bad day she goes to the chicken cam and watches. There is nothing like the carefree simple life of a chicken to make all things right in the world.

Remember to Spread the word. Spread the Love and Be A Good Egg.

A good year it was

So 2010 is here, but 2009 was a good one. My goal for my little egg selling project was to raise $150 for 2009. The girls came through and we ended up donating $165 to Heifer International. I went with 5 donations of chickens and the rest to where ever it is needed most.

I'm planning on adding a few new layers this year to keep production going. The winter months are very slim on eggs, but they are stilling running around enjoying life on the farm.

A huge Thank you to all my loyal customers. My girls work for you.

Remember to do for others when you can, it feels good even when it is something small and a lot of times the small things you do for others are the most important.

Spread the word, spread the love and BE A GOOD EGG!

P.S. the picture is of Meadow and William. Meadow loves to guard eggs so sometimes we just put a few in the grass and leave her in charge. She won't let the other dogs or chickens near them.

I thought I was clever

I thought I was being cute and clever by calling my blog Be A Good Egg, but there is a charity in the UK that goes by that name. Originally I just wanted to call my blog Good Egg, but someone else had that and wasn't doing anything with it. So now I find out that there is a nice group in the UK that raises money to buy chickens and they are called Be A Good Egg. Of course I am not actually upset because we are both doing really great things for those who have much less then we do. My operation is a much smaller scale, but helping just one family is still help. Also, I wanted to use this blog as a way to point out different charities or ways you can get involved in your community and make a difference to others. So check out Be A Good Egg and other charities on this blog and try to find the one that works best for you. Of course let me know about it so I can post it for others to learn about.

Remember...Spread the word, spread the love and Be A Good Egg!

But summer went on

Our experiment was not successful. My broody Australorp decided she had enough for being cooped up, pardon the pun, and went for a walk about. She abandoned the eggs, including the duck egg, she had under her for about 20 days. It just was not meant to be. She is back to laying delicious eggs and sales are doing great. The last time I counted our fund we already met my goal of $150 and we still have lots of year left. Way to go girls!

Speaking of good causes...have you heard of Empty Bowls? Wikipedia has it defined as “Empty Bowls” is an international project to fight hunger, personalized by artists and art organizations on a community level". If you Google it you will find lots of local Empty Bowls events. This is a great way to do something small and make a big difference. The Oregon Potters Association is a good example of a group of artists raising money for the hungry. Their event happens in conjunction with the Waterfront Blues Festival every year. Take a look around for these events in your area.

Spread the word, spread the love and Be A Good Egg!!!

-The showcased chicken today is Stacey. She is an '05 Araucana that likes to make a lot of noise, but is a consistant layer, even after all these years.

Crossing our fingers

Yesterday I got the sad news that a good friends Khaki Campbell duck, Stonkelbonk, was killed by a raccoon. Her mate Goober is devastated. She laid an egg the morning of the attack and last night we placed it under my Australorp, Teri, who is broody and we'll hope for the best. It's a long shot, but maybe Stonkelbonk and Goober's love will live on. I've read that the incubation period is 28 days. This puts us around the 16th of July. Cross your fingers and let's hope Mother Nature works her magic and gives us a lovly Khaki.

Remember to Be A Good Egg!!!

Chasing bugs

The summer season is moving right along and we are having fun on the farm. Sadly we have lost two chickens this year to either a hawk or coyote. Not a lot of evidence to support a theory of either one so we just move on and hope we don't lose any others. We are working hard chicken proofing the deck and garden. I love my girls and want them to have lots and lots of outdoor time, but they sure do a lot of damage to a garden in a short period of time. So it's a constant chore to revise chicken proofing. One of my Australorps has been trying to go broody, but it just doesn't seem to be taking. Maybe June will be a good month for her.

Another big deal on the farm this month is the discovery of three baby barn owls. Their fuzzy little white heads have been peaking out the owl box, curious to what the world has to offer them. Our mason bees are hard at work, but the squirrels have discovered how tasty they are and have been cracking open the bamboo tubes and eating the larvae. We figured we have lost several hundred eggs. So squirrel proofing the mason bee nests became a priority.

Be A Good Egg!