Mmm... blueberries

Last year we planted a few blueberry bushes.  Most have withered away, but this one is not only healthy, but is producing fruit for us this year.  Now, if we only had about 20 more plants like this!

Chicken processing day

Today we processed 18 Cornish Crosses we started raising just 7 weeks ago. Cornish Crosses are your typical American chicken you find in the grocery store. I'm truly amazed at how fast these birds grow. With that said, I don't think we're going to raise them again. We had no issue with the birds, only an internal struggle as to how humane it is to raise them. These birds are bred to put on weight quickly. Which they do. But, by about 4-5 weeks we noticed they had a hard time walking. It's because their bodies are growing at a faster rate than their legs, muscles, heart, etc. can keep up with. It's really kind of sad that the desire to free range has been bred out of them in order to give us those beautiful big breasts and legs we desire. We've found another breed that grows at a slower, more natural rate. We're looking forward to experimenting with this breed next.

However, these birds are raised and we are quite sure they will indeed be tasty! The last time on butchering day, we went to the coop and grabbed two birds at a time, which put stress on the birds not being processed and wasted time. So, Dan built some transport crates to load up all the birds at once and carry them over to the processing site. This worked really well:

I should also mention that we processed one turkey that had leg issues. He was healthy as could be, but he was born with splayed legs (they grow out instead of down) and we just couldn't bear to watch him grow like that. And the other turkeys were starting to peck at him. Poor little fella!

We also processed our rooster, Big Boy. After deciding to keep one of the Barred Rock cockerels, we read they can be very aggressive. And indeed he was! The Ladies particularly didn't like him and the Girls that were raised with him only tolerated him. We decided to process him while he was still fairly young. We're going to replace him with a more docile breed that will be raised amongst all the hens, so hopefully they will all get along.

Egg count

Ladies: 24
Girls: 16
Total this week: 40

Green eggs and ham

Well, not really the ham part, but we do have a green egg!  We recently got our first egg from one of our new Ameraucana layers.  They are nicknamed an Easter Egg chicken because they naturally lay eggs with a green and/or blue hue.  I'm not entirely sure how nature does it, but it's pretty amazing looking.  Here are three little eggs from our new layers, all with distinctive hues.

Our first harvest

Here is our first harvest from the garden this year...

Egg count

Our new girls started laying this week.  The eggs are little bitty, so I can tell who is laying what.  Of course the Ameraucana's are blue and green, so we'll always know who is laying those.  As long as I can tell the difference, I'll log them here seperately.  I'll get a picture up soon to show you.

Ladies: 22
Girls: 3
Total this week: 25

Mmm... yogurt!

A little while back you may recall I made a huge batch of yogurt.  Considerably more than two people can eat.  Fortunately, chickens LOVE yogurt and the bacteria in it is really good for them.  As it started to get a bit sour, we decided to give the new layers their first taste of yogurt.  It didn't take them long to discover they couldn't get enough of it...

Of course, I didn't want the Ladies to be jealous, so they got a little yogurt too.  Check out the milk-moustache they're sporting...