Chicken and Rice Soup

YUMMY!! Ok, can I say that again? Or shall I say DELICIOSO!! Ok, well here is the recipe and the steps.

Chicken and Rice Soup

1 cup of minute rice (I made mine in the microwave so I could start on other steps, make according to the direction on the box, and set aside after cooking)

9 bouillon cubes

2 quarts of water (8 cups)

2 whole chicken breasts, with skin and bones, this makes for a scrumptious broth.

Boil all of this together on med-high heat, until the chicken is no longer pink.

After the chicken is done cooking (supposed to be about 20 minutes or so, mine took longer because it was frozen), cut into cubes. It doesn't need to be perfect. Heck, you can even shred it!! Keep the water and bouillon you boiled the chicken in, you need this as your stock.

1 Carrot

1 Celery stalk

1 Onion

Onto the other half of this recipe. Dice up carrots, celery, onion, and other veggies that you like in your chicken soup. Sauté this in a skillet with about 1-2 tablespoons of butter and the diced up chicken. Just until the onions are soft and pearlescent (yep, that's what it's called when they are "see through" onions). Add all of these ingredients (minus the butter, I use a slotted spoon or a "colander" spoon to get the vegetables out) to the stock pot holding your chicken broth.

3-4 TBS butter (not margarine, you don't want pure grease, yuck!)

4 TBS flour

*~*OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL*~* (Did I mention this ingredient was optional??)

You can substitute the butter for about 1/2 a cup of the broth, but this does need to be thick enough to put into the soup. Not stuck to a whisk thick, but almost gravy thick, do ya know what I mean???? I used this instead of the butter, it didn't work out for me, and the broth should have enough fat in it from when you boiled the chicken.

In the same skillet, bring together 3-4 tablespoons of butter, melted, and about 4 tablespoons of flour to make a roux (a thickened butter/fat base). Get all the lumps out of the mixture. If you can't get the lumps out, pour the roux into your broth, and use a hand blender to mix it up. It doesn't need to be thick, just sort of creamy. I used my Food Network ® Immersion Blender that I got for christmas!! Thanks Mom!!! Let this boil for about 5-10 minutes just to get the taste throughout the entire stock. Last, yet not least, add your rice!!! I put a little bit of curry powder into my soup, just to give it a slight bite. And Vóila!! Soup!! Good luck and if you have ANY question, please feel free to give me a ringle or a comment!!

And I did all of this while the cat was meowing at me... now as I WRITE this, she's finally fallen asleep. Just as bad as kids!

Also, a new way to "hard boil" your eggs. I did this for Josh yesterday, and the yolks were actually softer. Take a pot of water with about 1-2 cups of water, place a steamer basket or steaming pot into/onto the pot. Gently place your eggs in/onto the steamer. Cover with a lid and allow to boil on med-low for approximately 20-25 mins. I usually do this about 23 minutes. Than take out your eggs and let cool down in a bowl of ice cold water for 15-20 minutes. Yes, I let mine cool this long, or else you risk losing half the egg in the shell. Now, when you go to take the shell off, don't just crack on the sides and start peeling. You want to make your first initial crack, and ROLL your egg on the counter, that way it cracks everywhere instead of just a few spots. This seems to make peeling a little easier and sometimes (now I didn't say EVERYTIME) makes the egg not stick to the shell.

Happy Cooking!!

TnChickHen!!!

BRRRR!!! It's Cold Outside!!

So it's getting cold out, and just our luck, wouldn't you know it, our heater quit on us!! Yep! It was GREAT to wake up to a cold floor (we really need that carpet now) and it being about 59 degrees in the house. We moved the boys to our room at about 415 am, and yep, you guessed it, I've not slept a wink. I'm really hoping josh will be able to get this AER loan. It will help us with the defroster board. We just need to move to somewhere it's warm all the time. Anyways, Sam and I are bundled up and Easton is at school We are apparently on the "priority" list for the heating people. Yep, the last time we were on "priority" it wasn't until about 430 in the afternoon and they didn't even do anything but diagnose the problem. Now it's a bigger problem. We have no heat, before the emergency heat was able to turn on, but now, nothing. So here we are, sitting in a cold house... I think it's going to be a soup night or go out to eat night just so we can get something warm in our bellies..... sigh......

TnChickHen

Homemade noodles

Well, here it goes! Onto making the world's greatest meal for the best holiday ever..... THANKSGIVING!!!!

I acquired a recipe for homemade noodles from a FANTASTIC friend of mine in Alaska. Rachel Kahler has me addicted to these noodles! (shame on you girl lol). Here is the recipe: (hope you don't mind as there really is only one person on my blog)

1 egg

Some milk (about a cup or so)

A pinch of salt

enough flour to stiffen the dough

Lol that's the way she taught me. Add it all in one bowl, mix her up, and than flatten it out with a rolling pin and cut your noodles until you're content!! Yields about 2 cups of noodles, enough for 4-6 people.... Than just put them in some chicken stock or broth and voila!! you have your own gravy with noodles!!!!

Chicken Stock Recipe

Homemade chicken stock!!! Yummy!! Well, the time came today that I actually HAD time to make my chicken stock. Want the recipe???

1 large chicken (or 4 wings, 4 legs, 4 breasts, 4

thighs, bone in, skin on)

2 large carrots, cut into chunks

2 large stalks of celery, cut into chunks

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

10 cups of water (you're going to need a very large dutch oven pot or a stock pot)

1/4 cup of salt (yeah, I know it sounds like a lot, but this helps draw out the flavor in the bones)

1/2 tsp of black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 tsp basil (or 2 sprigs of fresh)

1 tsp parsley (or 2 sprigs of fresh)

Combine all ingredients in a large cooking pot. Allow to boil on medium for 2 1/2 to 3 hours (yes, I know, this sounds like a long while, but I took a nap while the baby was napping!)

After the meat is very tender on the bone, debone the chicken (aka take the meat off the bone). Place the bones and the skin of the chicken to the side on a plate or in a bowl. Don't throw this away, you're going to need it for the next hour!! The bone doesn't have to be completely cleaned off. If there is a little meat on it still, that's fine!!! Don't worry!!

After deboning the chicken, pour all the broth into a colander into a separate bowl. The vegetables and herbs should stay in the colander. After pouring the broth out, transfe

r it back into the pan, along with another 3-4 cups (or how ever much broth you may need) of water. Toss out the veggies or make some soup out of it!!

Toss the bones that you just tore all the meat off of and the skin back into the pot and let this boil for about another hour, hour and a half. If need be, you can add a little more salt if it tastes bland.

After that next hour or so, dump all ingredients back into the colander, and toss out the bones and skin. Now you should have some scrumptious chicken stock!!!!! YUMMY! I threw in a couple of bouillon cubes too, our little chicken wasn't very big (4 lbs maybe), so we needed an extra "chicken flavor" boost. Now, you can freeze this in freezer bags, or you can CAN it. Lol can can it... ugh! That's a mouthful! Enjoy and look for my recipe that a friend gave me for homemade noodles on Sunday!!!

TnChickHen

That Darn Dog!!

Well, yesterday was a frenzy!!! We lost our very first chicken, Henny, to Jack attacking her. Jack, our little beagle pain in the butt, got out of the kennel and ripped half of her feathers out. Well, as first aid was being taken care of, Sammuel, our 2 year old, decided to pull her off the table and squeeze her (more of less try to make her feel better and give her hugs) and accidentally did the job in. That's all right. We needed some chicken stock. So we are (ok, more or less myself because Josh doesn't want to butcher the chicken) are going to defeather her and make up some stock for Thanksgiving.

This year's Thanksgiving is going to be fantastic as we are going to have Josh's mom, dad, sister, and nephew down here to visit for 5 days!! We are so excited! We haven't seen them in a while, and it will be nice to have them visit us! Especially now that we are closer than we ever were! Alright, off to defeather the chicken.... Adios!

TnChickHen

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

Well, it's chicken night, again!!!! Tonight since I don't work until 10 pm, I'm preparing a delicious recipe (something new of course) for the family. It is going to be a bacon wrapped stuffed (with cream cheese, onions, chives) chicken. Also I made a chocolate cake from scratch and I'm going to drizzle caramel over it and inside of it!!! It might be covered with the rest of the cream cheese frosting I have left. YUMMY!! Any who, here is the recipe for the 1 person that's following!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

4 Boneless Skinless chicken breast halves

4 oz of cream cheese with rehydrated minced onions and chives (I put the onions and chives in a tea steeper and rehydrated with boiling water for about a minute. I also substituted Kraft® mexican cheese for Josh and the boys)

4-8 slices of bacon (depending on how much you really LOVE bacon)

Salt (to taste)

1 tablespoon butter or margarine.

Preheat the oven to 400•. Between 2 sheets of wax paper with a mallet (or in my case the rolling pin) flatten the chicken breasts to 1/2" thickness.

Spread the cream cheese (or mexican cheese) on each chicken breast. Place a small amount, 1/4 of the butter on each piece of chicken on top of the cheese. Season with salt. Roll the chicken up and wrap the bacon around the chicken, secure with a toothpick to hold it together.

Bake uncovered in a baking pan for 35-40 minutes. • Or until the juices run clear.

Turn on the broiler and broil chicken about 6" from the heat for about 5 minutes or until bacon is crispy.

Now, for my chocolate cake, I just used Hersey's ® Cocoa powder and followed the directions on the back of the container for the cake. My frosting I've been keeping a secret for quite some time, but I'll share the carrot cake recipe the next time I make a cake..... Be on the look out!! YUMMY!!!!

A duck! A duck!!

We have a baby duckling hatching today! Very excited about this hatch! This is our first duck to hatch. I have someone interested in getting the duck for her granddaughter which is very exciting for me. As I've found a home for the one right now. He/She will live here for a couple weeks, and than go on to it's palace. Lol. Apparently her "daddy to be" is building a palace for the duckling. At least I know it will be well taken care of. I also got a cochin egg this morning. It's about time Henny! Sheesh! We are going to incubate this one and a rhode island red egg, we want to find out what the "mutt" chicken will look like. All in all I'm very excited about all this hatching. We are also getting a Jersey giant rooster this weekend. So that little miss Cheese will have someone to rendezvous with in the future. And have huge chickens!!!! On to other things today...

TnChickHen

Little Turkey

Well, a little turkey hatched the other night! Adorable as all get out (ok, it's pretty ugly). We are hoping to raise it for meat, but the way that it goes, I'm sure it won't end up that way. He/she is pretty big compared to our one little easter egger that hatched this week as well. I'm waiting on 2 muscovy ducklings to hatch as well!! It sure is an adventure to hatch these guys. This next week, I'm going to put a rhode island red/dorking cross egg in the incubator. I just want to see how it comes out! It'll be really interesting! I'm hoping to pick up a Black Jersey Giant Rooster this weekend for my hubby. Our little Cheese is turning out to be a.... female. On to the life of a farmer....

TnChickHen

French Cooked Chicken

Here is a recipe I'm going to try tonight with a whole chicken. Don't worry, it's not one of our girls!! Or boys for that matter... but if that barred rock rooster out there continues to pick on the others, HE might make it to the dutch oven pot........ Bon Appetit!

The cooking times are for a 41/2- to 5-pound bird. A 31/2- to 41/2-pound chicken will take about an hour to cook, and a 5- to 6-pound bird will take close to 2 hours.

Use a 5- to 8-quart Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid.

French Chicken in a Pot

Start to finish: 2 hours (20 minutes active)

Servings: 4

1 whole roasting chicken (41/2 to 5 pounds), giblets removed and discarded, wings tucked under back

2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 small celery stalk, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed

1 bay leaf

1 medium sprig fresh rosemary (optional)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Adjust an oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

3. In a large Dutch oven over medium, heat the oil until just smoking. Add the chicken, breast-side down. Scatter the onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and rosemary around chicken.

4. Cook until the breast is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon inserted into cavity of bird, flip chicken breast-side up and cook until chicken and vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

5. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Place a large sheet of foil over the pot, then cover tightly with the lid.

6. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of breast and 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, about 80 to 110 minutes.

7. Transfer the chicken to carving board, tent with foil and let rest for 20 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, strain chicken juices from the pot through fine-mesh strainer into a fat separator, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard the solids. You should have about 3/4 cup of juices).

9. Allow the liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into a saucepan and set over low heat.

10. Carve the chicken, adding any accumulated juices to the saucepan. Stir lemon juice into the saucepan to create the jus, or sauce. Serve the chicken, passing jus at table.

It's Done!!!

Our chicken coop is finished! Josh finished most of it while I was at work Saturday night. It's fantastic. I'm glad we finally got it done, because it's been in the 30s at night lately. Not cold for us, but cold for the chickens I'm sure. All we need to do now is get sand for the flooring and paint it, and we will be on our way to being finished with it! I want to thank him so much! He did such a great job. And he worked hard on it as well!!! Picture coming soon.....


TnChickHen

Welcome to the family Little LuLu!!!

Little LuLu arrived while I was at work last night. She is quite the looker! With big dark eyes and cute chipmunk stripping, she's quite a looker if I should say so myself! The other eggs haven't hatched yet, but I'll wait until tomorrow. Sammuel is very excited and wants to look at her every 2 minutes! Lol what a silly little boy. Welcome to the Reese family LuLu!! And yes, I'm sure she's a she, I'm getting the feather sexing down! SUPER SIMPLE!!!!! I'm thinking about trying a photo a week as she gets older....hmmm
TnChickHen

A new one is arriving!

We had a pip today! Sammuel's egg is hatching, and we are hopefully waiting on 4 more to hatch in the next day or so!!!!! HURRAY!!! He was really excited when he got to see the baby chicks beak. It's almost like I'm a proud mommy again!!!

Nu-Nu has a new treat, chicken scratch! It's almost like goat crack. She will climb my leg just to get a pinch! What a goober! She's doing great, and we are thinking about house training her. Maybe......

Picket, my little white rooster is now an ice cream fein! Every time he sees me now he wants to know what I have! What a turd. We finally have 2 LESS roosters, a girl from work bought them, and so it's just a bit of a relief! Thankfully... More to come tomorrow with pictures of a baby chicken.

TnChickHen

It's been a while!

It's been a while since I've entered in a blog. We've just been so busy as a family, that I've not had enough time!!

Last weekend we got a little Boer goat! We named her Nu-Nu, and weren't sure if we were going to keep her. Well, we are!! She's fantastic. Stays in the yard, follows us around, is curious about everything that we do. She also enjoys the chickens company. As you can tell by the pictures. I think she likes the nesting boxes more than the chickens do!! We lost 1 chicken last week, our only barred rock girl that we had. RIP little girl where ever you may be.

We are in the process of waiting on anywhere from 1-6 chicks hatching in the next day or so, and I'm hoping it's tomorrow! A couple of Americana, Black Copper maran, Cuckoo Maran. Than, a week or so later, we will have a turkey and a few ducks!! I'm very excited about this hatch. We are finally getting things going as well. I have 1 customer already that's asking for my eggs!!! GREAT!!

Josh is working on getting the chicken coop up. We are extending the smaller one we acquired from someone. It will be about 12' long by about 6 feet wide. I'm going to see if we can't find some sand to put in the bottom of it. It might be cheaper than buying some more wood for a floor.  Just some wood for the sides and the top along with a HOPEFULLY metal roof. Than we can continue on from there.

Fall is approaching fast, and we can tell with all the waterfowl. Day by day there are more coming in. Our ducks are still enjoying the lake, but won't be able to have that luxury very long, as hunting season is coming up! We don't want anyone gone. I found one of the female ducks in the nesting boxes today, and I'm hoping that she might think about laying sometime soon. Our little baby reds (and they're not babies any more...) are beginning to think about laying as well.

Not much else is going on in the little Reese Farm. Much to do now!! Dinner is probably burning.... I think I can smell it.... Off to the kitchen than to the workplace!

TnChickHen

Another sad day

Well, I went out to the coop this morning, and found our youngest buff orpington pullet dead. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but it happened pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure she just got chilled and got kicked to the curb from everyone else. I just hope no one else gets sick in the coop. We've had a couple others get sick, but showed the signs. I guess the fox will be having a good dinner tonight when he finds the chicken carcass. Yes, I know, sad to say, but I do throw the carcasses out into the woods. It is easier, and actually keeps the dogs away from the garbage pit.

We got 3 eggs today though. Two of which came from our Rhode Island Red and one from the buff orpington that is laying! It was quite a shock when I went to let everyone out, and saw that the red jumped back into the box. I hope that production picks up just a bit before the colder months hit. And when we get that chicken coop, maybe that will help out.

I'm not becoming the crazy chicken lady...... yet. Haha, but soon I will be. I've got 20 eggs in the incubator right now. The most we've ever had at one time! I'm very excited about it, and can't wait for everything to start hatching. We've got turkey, duck, quail, americauna, black copper maran, and a couple other types of eggs! Business should be booming by next spring, and than we can start breeding. I'm just happy that my husband has been supporting me this entire time with hatching eggs and dealing with us having to go to the feed store every other week to get feed for chickens. I love you Joshua!!! Well, off to the couch to fold laundry and to hopefully get over this nasty sinus cold...... Blech!

TnChickHen

Fall is coming

Well, fall is on it's way. We have covered up the chicken run to keep some of the wind out. It's still chilly out for the chickens, but hopefully they can hold out until October when we get that chicken coop. We've been pulling in about 2 -3 eggs a day, and had about 2 dozen this past week! It was great! We have sold some to a friend of mine at work, so I hope she enjoys them.

I just got some new hatching eggs for this month! Duck, quail, chicken and turkey! I'm super excited to start raising other fowl here. We might be a little over run for a while, but we will make do. Some of the chickens are sick, again, but I'm hoping we can beat it this time!! I caught it before they could get worse, so let's hope all ends well.

There has been a lot going on, but not a lot to tell. I'm going to be doing a craft show with a friend in November, but that's only if I can start getting things made. Between work and being so exhausted, I'm not sure if I can do it or not.... off to work again.....

A red hen and a buff pullet and a lovely family.

Well, our Rhode Island Red, the oldest one of the bunch, has finally started laying again. The Buff Orpington pullet has also begun to lay as well. We are getting about 2-3 eggs a day, but it seems like everytime we see our eggs, we almost don't want to eat them! They are so wonderful looking and it took all our hard work to get these chickens to actually start laying. Our youngest Rhode Island Reds should start laying by the end of September as well as all the other pullets we have, than we will have about 2 dozen a week! I could care less about the chicken eggs, I want those ducks to start laying! Now those are the eggs to use for baking!!

Easton has started school this past week. He really does enjoy it! I'm very glad, as it gives me a break from him and he gets to meet new people in his class. He's already telling us he's making friends, which is fantastic! I think this next Thursday when he actually starts riding the bus and is gone for 5 days a week, it might hit me than.

Sammuel is his usual self. Taking his diaper off, peeing on the floor. Last week, he took his diaper off in the yard, and said, "I pee on tree, I pee on dog house, I pee on house, I pee on..... BUBBA!!!" and chased Easton around the yard with his little wee wee and trying to pee on him! It was quite the show! Sam is such a big help with the chickens (although he does more chasing around than work). His favorites are the ducks! He loves to watch them waddle around the yard when they chase him. Every time he takes his diaper off and chases the ducks, Joshua and I tell him that if he isn't careful, the ducks will snatch his little wee wee off! Than he will run away from them! He is quite a hoot!

Joshua is doing some construction with a contracting group on base right now. They are pretty much remodeling an indoor range. He is really enjoying the construction part, minus installing insulation. He will send me pictures every other day of him or someone else installing something. Its very nice to watch his face light up when he talks about something other than the Army. The other night, he got out all of his catcher equipment when Easton was sitting in the room. Of course, Easton had a billion and one questions about everything. Each time Joshua put a piece of equipment on himself or on Easton, his face lit up! I've never seen him happier than he was that night talking to our oldest son about baseball. Easton was totally into it. I just hope he picks up the sport. Easton told Joshua that he wants to be a catcher, so I guess Daddy and Grandpa will have a lot of training to do with Easton. But let's start with a soft ball, just in case he gets scared of actually lets the ball hit him in the face.

Me on the other hand, I'm really loving my job. I was taking care of a resident the other night while I was on "float" and she told me she was tired of being in the nursing home and wanted to go home. But if she was home and she had enough money, she would hire me as her personal nurse. Its nice to know that someone thinks that I'm doing my job properly. I really love being a nurse. It does come naturally since pretty much ALL the women in my family on my father's side and most of them on my mother's side were nurses. I think I might take the LPN course next year once Easton is steadily in school and I can do part time LPN. It might take me 18 months to complete, but it's another step up, and maybe get sent to RN school. I don't know tho. I really do enjoy being a CNA. I'll see....


Toodles,

TnChickHen

It's an EGG!!

We have a mysterious egg layer on our hands! We have finally been getting about 2 eggs a day and it's great!! We think it is our Buff orpington girl. It's fantastic to actually have almost a DOZEN eggs the past week. We must be doing something right or it might just be the weather. We have a few other ones that need to start or should start laying soon. Hopefully by next spring we can get our little business going. $1.50 a dozen for FRESH eggs (we will even ship them too) ;o)

I've finally started my new job, CNA and I love it. There's nothing else I'd rather think about doing. I'm glad we don't need to pay for a sitter, and I'm glad I had some help from Bri Maray for watching the boys when I took my test. I couldn't have done it without you! Thanks so much girl!

Amanda Reese, CNA (feels great to put a title behind my name!)

New amateur photographer... and she's a fantastic friend!

A friend in AK has started a new website with her photography!! She's darn good at it, and has finally gotten a copyright for the photos!! I'd like to introduce, Mrs. Rachel Kahler!!

She is a fantastic mother, wife, and worker. She was in the Navy, and I watched her little boy, Jeremiah for her. I had so much fun with him and my oldest son playing together. I feel like I've gotten to know her more than ever. Even though we are far apart (I'm in TN, just a little ways apart), we still stay connected. We ask each other opinions on matters in the home, how the kids are doing, what school has brought us to, and hopefully we will meet again.

Please, check out her website. She has some fantastic photos!
 www.thesearethemomentsak.com

Good luck with your future photography Rachel! :o) miss and love ya'll!

Toodles,
TnChickHen

Super irritated day....

Today is not the day to mess with momma. I am very irritated today. The boys won't listen to anything anyone says. They keep messing around while eating lunch. Sam is on this kick where you tell him to do something he says no, and gives you a little evil smile. UGH!

Anyway, back to my little chicken adventure. Henny our little cochin has begun laying eggs again. Just little things, but boy do they taste swell! Our oldest RIR, I'm not sure what is up with her. She's just not laying. But we should have a buff orpington laying pretty soon. Just need her to do the chicken squat.

I've got 2 eggs STILL in the incubator. They have been in there for 27 days now, and have not hatched yet. I've been told it was probably an issue with the heating when I first put them in, so I hope they don't delay too long. They are still moving around in the egg, so I guess I'll see. I'll let them go until at least the 35th day, than out they will go if they don't hatch by than. I sure hope they do.

Our little Jersey Giant is getting bigger and friendlier by the day. He does really well when you pick him up. His name, of course, Cheese. Yeah, we really didn't name him, the kids did. Haha.

Klara is finally back from cremation, and hopefully we can pick her up tomorrow. I'm so ready to have her home. Her place is here, not behind a desk waiting for us to come pick her up. I sure hope that she is enjoying her time on the rainbow bridge. It was really hard for me to watch her have a dying stroke, but than again, life is a cycle. There was a reason for it. She had her time here with us and taught Sarah what she should know about being a good dog. And Jack sure does miss her. I can tell it in his face. He will only sleep and lie down most of the day.... poor boy. She was pretty much his mommy when we first got him. He slept with her up until he was about 6 months old in her kennel..... RIP dear Klara. I miss you baby.

Toodles,
TnChickHen

Rest in Peace Klara

We lost our dear 2 year old german shepherd dog today. She wanted to play ball last night, and collapsed while bringing it back. We brought her in, and all she did was heavy panting. She threw up a few times, and a horrible smell coming from her earlier that evening. We put her on the back porch, after being cooled down in the shower, but I guess that didn't work.

I woke up this morning to a pool of blood from her behind, and I guess I woke up in time for her to let me be with her for the last few moments of her life. It's so heart wrenching to watch someone you've raised from an 8 week old puppy, and 2 years later, their life ends with no warning. Oh precious girl, you will be missed. I'm sorry your life had to come to an end. I just don't know how to put into words of how awful I feel. For all those times I forgot to give you lovings when you wanted it, all the times you wanted to lick my hand, although I never liked you doing so. I hope you get to play with your orange chuck-it ball in heaven with God, Jesus, and Major. Major should lead the way until we all meet again. Every time I see your ball, or your play rope or something, I tear up. You're still at the foot of the bed, and your remains will stay next to Majors.

I love you Klara. Please never forget. I will see you soon someday........

Love, Mama.... <3

Waiting to pip...

Well, we have another egg ready to hatch, a Silkie, and than another after that, Rhode Island Red!! I've been waiting for my silkie to hatch any day now, and last night we heard cheeping!  I sure hope he/she hatches today or tomorrow for that matter. All I hear from under me at the computer desk is "peep peep! peep peep!"Scratch that!! The Silkie AND Rhode Island Red both decided to pip today! WOW!!!! 2 babies in 1 day! Amazing! It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to watch a creature make it's entrance into the world. http://jaycut.com/content/little-chick-hatching I sure hope that this little one makes it alright. It's pretty exciting to just be able to hear it peep. Lol. Enjoy the video of the little cochin cross mixed babies we hatched in June!! I'll keep you updated, and a possible picture!!!

RIP little Twitch

Well, I came home from class yesterday, and our little brown leghorn wasn't doing so great. She was lethargic, and not moving. So, we took her out of the box with the jersey giant, and let her go until she was gone. I feel awful for busting her back, but than again, fate has it's way of handling things. I just wanted to cry. At least she is in a better place now, so she's not suffering.......

Just waiting on a silkie egg to hatch any day now.

Another one bites the dust

Well, another chicken down. I might just have to keep those 17 little chicks that we have instead of selling them. That is, if I have to keep culling everyone else! I had to cull a barred rock this morning. She hasn't been looking too "hot", and pale face and just super skinny/slow. Not sure why, but I just saved her the agony and put her down!!! Poor girl, she'll never know what hit her... well it was a broom stick! Lol, that's not funny, and I shouldn't be laughing about it, but really, it's either lose 1 chicken to culling instead of making everyone else sick, or kill the entire flock. Oh jeez... not sure what the hell to do................ On to picking up the watermelon from the yard....

Rough day

Well, this morning started out rough. That bee sting still hurts like a son of a gun and my leg is still red, but not as swollen as it was yesterday. Than, as I walk into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, there are maggots on the dust pan. Really??? Where did those come from!?! Went to go let the chickens out and of course, the stupid ducks were already in there, pecking at food and everything. ARG!!!!!

I've got to clean my house today before in laws come. I'm just going to spot clean I guess.

I went to check on our new little Jersey Giant chick, and there's bloody stool in the box. Gosh, can't we catch a break around here??? I might have to cull another chicken today, and of course, it's a Barred Rock. She hasn't been looking too great, pale face and such. A friend asked me yesterday how we put a chicken down? Well, lay it down, lay a broom stick on its neck, and simply put ALL your weight on it and roll over the neck. Pretty quick and painless. They flop around for a bit, but that's about it.

I'm just tired of not getting any eggs. I really hope someone starts laying a few soon. It's starting to make me think I'm not in the right "profession". I think I'm just irritated today. We are pretty low on money, barely bought groceries, and the boys are coming home today. Our garden looks like a hot mess, although the mini cucumbers and green beans are growing. So I guess that's good. I hope next season we do a bit better with the garden.

Well, I better go paint the dining room and the floor of the coop....sigh....

Toodles,
TnChickHen

Oh the irony....

Well, this morning I went out to vaccinate all the birds, and got to a Buff Orpington. After giving her the vaccination, she began to cough!!! Her face turned purple and just couldn't breathe. So whatever happened, it wasn't going to continue to happen. The moment I watched her cough in pain, I decided that was it. I had to put her down. Better to put her down than to make everyone else sick. Not sure what is up with her.

I left 3 hens in the pen, hoping they lay an egg sometime soon this afternoon. Not sure exactly what is going on with the 2 laying hens, but they need to lay! I've only got 11 eggs from the past 2 weeks! Really? Come on!

Little Twitch, our inside brown leghorn chicken, is doing well. She's still limping around a bit, but will hopefully walk again. I just feel horrible for hurting her! The Jersey Giant that hatched last night is down right adorable! I will have to post a picture of it soon. We are going to try to find a new home for some of the other chicks, as 17 is a little too much, and we have 8 on the way! Yikes! I think we got a little over our heads. Ok, I got in over my head, but hey! The kids love them as do I... they just need to start laying eggs or they're going to get the boot! Haha! Just kidding.

Well, onto other things, and probably to pick up some more poop from little twitch... I've got to learn how to make a little chicken diaper for her if she wants to become an indoor chicken! :o)....

Toodles.....
TNChickHen

So many chickens, so much to do, not enough time!

Well, in the past few months of having chickens, I've officially become the "crazy chicken lady".

The past week and a half has been rough. No eggs from anyone, a chick died on us, we had to cull 2 of our birds, and I crushed a brown leg horn chick today, possibly paralyzing it! It's just been a super hard time since June. We currently have 14 chicks and about 13 chickens. We have a Jersey Giant that is currently hatching this afternoon, and hopefully Josh will get to see it hatch.

I'm not sure what I would do now, if I didn't have chickens. I mean, yeah, I've got the kids and dogs, but chickens keep you pretty busy. And they are pretty fun for the kids. The ducks on the other hand, just make huge messes. Oy Vey!!!

Well, I will continue my adventure tomorrow.

Toodles,
TnChickHen