whitey update

Whitey is still sitting nicely like all good broody's do. I really am very impressed!
Im not sure if I should be pushing her off the nest once a day or just leave her. I have been letting nature take its course and just giving her a handfull of pellets in the nesting box. She does seem to love that!


 <- Whitey all puffed up and annoyed at me looking at her




The babies are due on April 10 so she has been sitting for 8 days so far. Not sure when I should candle them and see if anything is going on? Since dark browny and light browny have been still laying in whitey's nesting box I have been checking the eggs daily to take out the new ones. None of the marked eggs are feeling particularly light and I would imagine after a week of warmth that if they werent fertile perhaps they would be lighter with off-egg gases by now?




Husband updated the chicken pen on the weekend and it really is looking all suburban farm like!

Eggs incubating

I think Whitey was happy this morning when I put eggs UNDER her rather than taking them away! 4 eggs are now incubating. Lets hope something appears on April 11th!

And then there was three-Murder in Suburbia

It is a sad day today at the manor. There was a murder in the chookly way. Poor Black, may she forever lay eggs in heaven.

We foster dogs here at the manor, or the 'property'. Working with dog rescue groups we temporarily take on dogs to save them from death row in the pound. We hold until homed, to sum it up in 4 words.

Our current (previously current) foster dog was definitely too too interested in the girls. Our two dont care about them. Having either grown up around them or just being of the calm nature they dont care.

I arrived home to find a very annoyed Husband. It would appear that Blacky had escaped from her camp despite the super shortened left side wing. Foster dog has caught her and proceeded to end her life in front of her other fat camp holiday makers (read: chook pen with no consistent egg laying->holiday).

Husband reported that the Fat camp holiday makers were all very shocked and informed him that it was indeed the Foster dog and that husband should be moving said Foster dog along to a new home soon.
We dropped him off to another carer who had been wanting him for awhile.

Went to visit our family this weekend who live a bit further north and dropped into my mothers place to grab some eggs. Once of our new hennys-Whitey is clucky. My mother has a while flock of chickens and a giant light sussex rooster.
Instead of buying a new henny or two (for introducing purposes) I thought we might give Whitey a go, see if she can hatch anything out. Eggs will be under her at 4:30am tomorrow! As it is now 10pm and I clearly have an early start to get some things done before that place called work I should be off now.
Good night all!

Surprise Pumpkin!

I forgot to post this last week! The one plant that did survive the floods was a zuchinni/pumpkin/squash looking vine. I bought a whole heap of seeds from Ebay last year and planted what was supposed to be an eggplant.

It was overgrown and not producing anything-so I thought- Halfway through ripping it out and surprise! Its a pumpkin! And it has been quite productive actually!

So it stayed.

Hmm cant quite to seem to right the picture. Must be off to that place called work now so will look it again this afternoon.

Happy farming!

New chickens, new garden

Ive been slack on the posting! Been busy digging garden trenches, going to that place called work and then collapsing after that place called work.

We decided to purchase 2 new chickens; whitey and blacky (for continuity's sake).
Bigger pen has been built and a lovely clutch of 4 eggs was being laid everyday as our pullets were more than ready to go it would seem. For a few days anyway.

It would appear that I had not cut light brownys wing short enough as she decided to go flying ala guinea fowl style. Unfortunately unlike the guinea fowl she is too fat (and does have one wing slightly shorter than the other) and cannot fly all that well.
Mr. White Man (my bull arab x) decided it would be a great game to play chasey with light browny. He did catch her but not without stustaining face wounds of his own during battle!
Light browny did survive and is now recooperating with her other inmates. Hence we are now missing 1 egg per day and everyone has one ridiculously short wing. Not sure if she'll lay again for awhile but at least she is alive and eating!

Seedlings have been purchased in the way of Tomatoes, Basil, Lettuce, Capsicum and strawberries.
Seeds have been planted: Corn, snowpeas, carrots, more tomatoes, silverbeet, more Basil, marigolds and nasturtiums. I am right into the idea of companion planting so we'll see how that goes!

After the floods

Something I may have forgotten to mention is the QLD flooding. Yes our property was flooded and unfortunately we were not able to get home and had to couch hop for a few nerve racking-migraine inducing days.
In actual fact we were not in the country when all this flooding started. The first we knew of it was when we were sitting at the international airport waiting for our flight back to Aus and I receieved a text message from the QLD government informing us everyone in certain areas of QLD were being evacuated. Our little praire is in that area. So we got on our flight and for 13 hours entertained ourselves with movies and movies until at about 5am Aus time my migraine announced itself disguised as a lack-of-caffiene-induced headache.
After downing 2 coffees from the attendant it then became apparant that my nervous teeth grinding had given me a migraine.
I got off the plane with a sick bag hidden inside my stupidly expensive bag in case my migraine caused me to lose the dinner, snack, snack and breakfast the plane had provided us with.

When we got back to our home airport our friends picked us up and filled us in one everything. We called our beautiful neighbours who had been looking after our dogs. Property was flooded but house and dogs were fine. PHEW!!

We did have a beautiful vege garden started and an almost full compost bin! After the water had subsided and we were able to return home we had to empty the compost and pull out the dead plants from the garden.

Today after we visit the Home and Garden expo it will be back into it, setting up the compost bin and expanding the vege garden.
Till then....
Ciao!

Garden bed pic - Still no egg from Light browny

Woo hoo! Garden Bed no. 1. We have put a little fence around it just in case poochies decide to jump in and have a nose around. We will have to eventually just put a fence around the whole garden and Orchard.

To come on Saturday will be another couple of garden rows for veges. Possibly not the same as this particular bed as these take wood and Husband has informed me he probably only has enough stockpile of this wood for another 2 beds.

Home & Garden show on Sunday in the City so hopefully it has more than just Flat Screen TV's coming out of kitchen benches. Some knowledge (and quite possibly a purchase or two :) ) to be garnered would be lovely!

Still only one egg per day.
Good night for now!

No egg yet-first garden bed framed

Still no egg to report. First garden bed frame is complete YAY Husband! It just needs the soil improver I will be buying at a shop near that place called work today.

Ill be happy snapping as soon as its filled with beautiful, fertile soil! Have been collecting seeds.
First to be planted will be Zucchini, Snow Peas, Rocket, Mint & Radish. Need to get them in and sprouted before the weather cools down!

No egg from Light Browny yet-Veggie garden under construction

No eggs from Light Browny to report. I did kind of think that since Dark Browny has been laying everyday it might spur Light Browny to start if she hadnt already. We shall see, we shall see.

The first veggie garden bed has been put in place this afternoon. About 2.5 metres long by 1 metre wide. The plan is to have at least three of these beds built by the weekend (today is Tuesday).

We discovered that the property came with a fantastic Compost bin on its own little legs. So compost is now in the plan within the next few weeks. I must admit Bunnings (Australia's love child of the oversized hardware+ garden centre+ home reno) is fast becoming one of my favourite places.
Off to bed now so that I can get up early early to start planting before I have to go to that place called work.

Its an EGG! Its an EGG!!

So the produce centre were telling the truth. Dark Browny IS laying! Hooray! Our very first egg!

and the coop is up!

Let the laying begin! Chicken coop is done, well, for the moment. It has taken a couple of weeks but most of the trees are out so Husband is happy. I went down to the local produce store and purchased 2 Pullets. Although one of them->we are calling her Dark browny - is already laying apparently.

I hate purchasing from these produce places, the hens are never kept is good surroundings. Always overcrowded, generally on wire and sometimes they get half of their top beak cut off to prevent Hen pecking. This doesn't grow back and can seriously debilitate them for life. Luckily Dark Browny and Light Browny still have their beaks intact.

I like to comfort myself by thinking I am giving them a good home. In reality all I'm doing is supporting the mistreatment and continuing the cycle. But anyway, two new happy, soon to be fat hens.

supplies and more supplies

Its Sunday and we're both working. Me at work work, as in being paid for my troubles. Husband at work around the 'property' or the 'manor' as we've taken to calling it :)

Still on the morning coffee whilst Husband is dressed in his work gear figuring out what measurements he will be needing for the chook pen! We already have heaps of chook wire from a dog penning project we undertook a month ago. Hardware does not open till 9 today :(

Discussion arise about the back fence. At the moment its just a 4 foot dog wire fence. Backing onto a bit of a nature reserve we have people walking by our back fence nearly all day long and husband is a bit worried about nighttime privacy. Well, I said, if you would stop knocking down trees we wouldnt have any issues with privacy now would we?
"But it makes mowing easier!" He replied.
We'll see who wins this battle but Im pretty sure its not going to be the XX chromosome.

Home from work and beautiful, reliable, sturdy dependable husband has Been at it all day ripping trees out here there and everywhere! Even my favorite night jasmine that's growing outside our bedroom window. As it's name would suggest it blooms at night and is just beautiful! Well there won't be any night blooming for awhile. My poor jasmine tree/bush resembles not much more than a 20cm high stump covered with a few leaves. Sob!

The lawn will be easier to mow now! He defends himself with. Humph. Says I.

On the plus side the neighbours poked their heads in to see what all of the construction type noises were about. They were most pleased to find out we had bought the place and we were not, as they said; tenants.

First things on our to-do list? Clear some dammed trees (that's a job for the ex landscape gardener current neat freak husband and his dingo/mini mini excavator)and build a chook pen (also husbands job but he will definitely need my input and direction). Chickens being an integral part of this whole self sustaining idea.

Space, here I am!

We are here. Here in our new place, fresh from city live in a duplex unit on 350 sq metres. Now we are in our large house on Half an acre. Half an acre you say? But I thought you had names
Yourself suburban FARM girl for a reason? Well yep, I did. Because with my half an acre plot I am determined to make as much of a sustainabl farm as so possible in suburbia.