I know it's been like crickets chirruping on here for a few weeks. That's because I've been racing the clock, and weather. We had new baby chicks to be delivered this past week and we had to be ready for them. That meant an overhaul to our current chicken set up. The plan is to have our normal sized eggs layers in the front coop/run, and the meat birds in the back, larger coop/run. I'm still not finished, but was caught up enough to move the layers to the front so we could temporarily house the babies, who arrived yesterday. They can stay in the larger back coop while everything is revamped around them. Then, by the time they're out and about, their home will be oh so so!
These are called Jersey Giants. They're a heritage form of meat bird. While they don't look that giant at the moment, from what I've read that will change. From what we've read males can get up to 13 lbs. with hens getting up to 10 lbs. So far we have 25 chicks. We ordered 24 and the hatchery, Murray McMurray, threw in an extra one just in case we were to lose one. So far they seem to all be doing well. This is our foray into raising meat sustainably. We hope. The plan is to keep one rooster and all of the hens to keep this flock going. The rest of the roosters from this bunch will be processed, we hope around 12-14 weeks. We would still get eggs from these hens; maybe not as many as the layers, but still. Any future roosters would be processed for meat. Extra hens would be sold. Sometimes a rooster would go with hens, but that doesn't always happen. If it does, we're happy to do it. Below is what they look like all grown up!
We still have some major work to do for the back coop and a little more for the front coop. I'm pretty happy with what we've done to date. Still need to paint the new gate and house.
All that being said, chickens aren't my only concerns, as the garden is going great guns with all the rain/ breaks of sun, we've been having. It's like the perfect combo of rain and sun. My plants are going great, but so are the weeds! Now that we have a break in the rain; it'll be another marathon to catch up before the rain comes back in: Picking, weeding, planting, etc. Fortunately I have my sweet hubby to help! Check out what came in over the past two days!
Those stalks are rhubarb. It's the only thing I've canned so far. Everything else has either been eaten fresh, or is currently fermenting. I've made a batch of fermented salsa (some store bought ingredients), fermented Latin sauerkraut, and fermented green beans. I'm waiting to get enough cucumbers in for fermented pickles. The potatoes have been washed and are currently curing on my counter before cold storage.
WEEDS! Thought I'd end this with a little info for weed control. It's not perfect, but it beats Round up.
WEED KILLER
1 gallon white vinegar
1/4 cup dish liquid
2 cups salt
Mix well until salt dissolves. Pour into a sprayer. Spray on a sunny day. Avoid your garden plants!
I only use this in my walk ways between the beds. I don't want to risk the plants I want to stay by either spraying them by accident, or rain washing the salt into soil where my plants roots are! This does cut down greatly on having to weed. Time saver!
