Chicken injuries & the pecking order

Fall is never dull when you have animals to care for.

Hello Napoleon. This hen is the smallest of our half dozen flock. She is little, bossy, and unhappy with her position in life. As a result she tried to change her place in the flock's pecking order. She began instigating and causing problems. 

My other hens put her in her place and left a pretty bad bald spot on Napolen's back. About 2-3 hours after I checked on them, the troublem maker ended up bloody and in pain. I had to separate her so that she could heal. She's on the mend and before putting her back with the others I am going to fashion her a coat to protect her back while she regrows her feathers. This will probably take a month or so.

Meanwhile, my 3 year old started preschool... I know, and I can hardly stand it! My sweet 4 month old is a rolling over machine. The best part is that they totally adore each other. Be still my heart!  It has been a crazy busy fall but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

Well hello teeny tiny 1st egg!

We have had our new chickens for about a month now. Upon arrival they were pretty skittish. They've luckily calmed down quite a bit with the help of several fun treats from my sweet three year old.

They've gotten bigger, they've  been eating more, and man have we been hoping for them to start laying eggs. They were quite the freeloaders until this morning. Usually my husband checks the chickens in the morning but today we waited until the afternoon and lo and behold we were able to collect our first egg from our new hens. 

Technically they began laying about two days ago but the eggs' shells were so thin that I couldn't even pick them up without breaking them. After we saw that they were laying thin shelled eggs we decided to go to the local feed and seed store and pick up some calcium (oyster shells) and scratch for our girls. I sure am glad we did because it seems like that did the trick. The new egg shells are nice and thick and I'm super excited that we will soon be able to eat breakfast every day courtesy of our own hens again. 🐓🐔

In other news, I had a baby boy & we are so excited to introduce David.

He arrived on May 29th weighing 8 pounds and 14 ounces and he was 20 inches long. We quickly fell in love and are so enjoying getting to know our newest family member. As a mom of two life certainly has been quite different but I am so proud to announce that my daughter has become an extremely helpful and sweet big sister. I fell in love with her all over again seeing her sweet tender love of her brother.

 

And I just think to myself in this moment everything is right. I love these kids to the moon and back and they just make my heart feel like it's going to explode.

Sorry that I've been gone a while but I'm sure you can understand life is gotten quite busy; hopefully I'll be back to blogging & as always...

Welcome home.

Veggie gardens, new chickens, and a baby on the way, oh my!

Oh May, Oh My! 

May has been such a busy month already. We ordered new hens, put in our veggie garden, and made final preparations for Baby Baker #2. Elena has been all about baby brother but I have a feeling that may change when he gets here. 😉 

This year we planted strawberry plants, zucchini, sugar snap peas, onions, carrots, three varieties of tomatoes, basil, and potatoes. We so love harvesting our own food, the taste is more than worth the effort. This year my three year old planted all of the onion sets and pea seeds. She also picked out zinnia seeds which we will sow later this week. 

During our spring trip to the hatchery, we placed an order for 6 road island red started pullets. Those are young chickens that have already begun to lay eggs. Many people enjoy raising chicks but with a baby on the way, we were not prepared to take that on this year. Sadly, our current hens will be processed and frozen this fall. It is all part of responsibile animal ownership, it's just not my favorite part. 

Dirty hands make for yummy gardens!

What kind of gardening do you do at your home?

Welcome Home.

Update and Refocus - This SAHM's Newest Adventures

Hey Y'all,

It's been about 6 months since I have posted here and my how life gets crazy. In June, I set out on a mission to lose weight. 100lbs in 10 months to be precise. I can say that I lost nearly 50lbs in 4 months and have (since June) lost 63lbs total so far. One thing has been slowing me down a bit since September...

We found out that we are expecting our newest member of the family and its a boy! David Anthony will be arriving in late May and we feel so blessed that our two year struggle with infertility is over.

I feel whole heartedly that our struggle to conceive was in fact due to my being overweight. I have slowed my weight loss down and eat more since I'm growing a baby but I continue to get stronger every day. Healthy food and fitness have become such an important part of my life. This blog will continue to follow our family life but will also be a way to share my fitness goals and workouts. Yes, that means I am back!

"I feel most beautiful when..."

... I take care of my body. Sweaty face and all, this IS my best side!

What do you do to make yourself feel happy and confident?

Welcome Home.