Hen #2 SOLD

This hen is also solid black, no copper color. Pictures of her egg are below. Lovely speckles on her eggs!

Hen #2

Egg from Hen #2

Egg from Hen #2

Pullets (young laying hens) for sale

I have lots of young hens I will be offering for sale in the next few weeks. These are young hens (pullets) 4-6 months old that just started laying. Some are pure Black copper marans that I am selling either because their eggs are not as dark as I like or because for one reason or another they do not meet the french breed standard. Some are a cross between my Blue Wheaten Ameraucana hens and my Black Copper Marans rooster. They will lay eggs of various green colors. I will be posting pictures of the hens & the eggs they lay as they start to lay & I am able to isolate them & get pictures.

 Hen #1 is a pure black colored hen who lays a lovely uniform honey-brown egg. (Hen #1 is SOLD)

 If this hen is not what you are looking for, use the "contact us" on our webpage to be put on our waiting list for a hen when she becomes available. Just let us know what color eggs you are looking for & we will let you know when we have a hen available.

Hen #1 SOLD

Violet kidded

Sorry for the late post. Violet kidded Sunday 4.22.12 with one very beautiful girl. My 9 year old niece just happened to be here when she kidded, so she got to watch. She helped wipe her off. I showed her how to tie off the chord, cut it & dip it. Then she got to carry her out of the barn & finished drying her off. She was quite thrilled. She thinks I should name her Daffodil :)

Pullets & Cockerels

Some of the chicks that hatched out in November. They are old enough now that I can almost tell males from females (it is not a easy a you think :) Some of them are starting to lay.  I will keep the pullets that most closely meet the French standard for Black Copper Marans. The rest are for sale. Some are marans, some are olive eggers. Use the "contact us" on our website if you are local & interested in purchasing some ready to lay hens.

Some of the girls hanging out in the coop. 

Can't wait to see what color this little one is going to give. She has a pea comb & "muffs" which would imply she got the "blue gene" , but she also has the dark eyes & ears.

Olive egger cockerel

"Just A Goat" Author unknown

"Just A Goat"
From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a goat" or "that's a lot of money for "just a goat." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a goat." Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a goat." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a goat" but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my ......saddest moments have been brought about by "just a goat," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a goat" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it's "just a goat," then you will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a goat" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a goat" brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person. Because of "just a goat" I will rise early, take long walks, and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a goat" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. "Just a goat" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away. I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a goat" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a woman." So the next time you hear the phrase "just a goat" just smile, because they "just" don't understand.

-Anonymous

and Lily, too

one of each....I see a pattern here....

Lizzy had twins, too....

also one of each

Annie's twins

One of each. The white one is the doe, born first. Then the black one. I kept thinking dominoes, then I thought yin & yang, and then it hit me....Lokai & Bele!!!!

Daisy's Doe

Rheba's twin bucks

The dark one was born first. 6lbs 13oz. The silver one was second. 6lbs 8 oz

Heidi wins the race...

Doe with frosted ears, then buck & buck.

TRIPLETS!!! two buck & a doe. If i have the dates correct she kidded at day 141, which is WAY early. But they all seem fine. The bpys were 4 lbs 8 oz each. the doe was 4 lbs 5 oz.

Not Kidding yet....

But getting close.

Rheba at day 147

Daisy (front) @ day 144. Lily at day 139

Olive Egg (or as we like to call them, camo eggs) Layers

I have been crossing & back crossing Black Copper marans and Blue wheaton ameraucanas for about 8 generations now. This is the rooster I kept from last summer's chicks for breeding this spring. He is papa to all the chicks I now have running around, one of whom will be his replacement :) So he needs to move on to a new home. He is a big handsome guy. Very gentle & takes good care of his hens. (I do not keep any nasty temperament roosters because I do not want them breeding). He looks very much like a Blue Copper Marans but he is not. He does not have a pea comb, but I am betting that he still carries the blue gene needed for olive colored eggs. 


He has some slight frost damage to his comb. My coop is not insulated and we had one very cold night here about a month ago. It will probably "repair" itself over time. Right now, since I am trying to keep him in with his hens, he is in one of my Chicken tractors that fits over my raised beds. Most of the year they are more or less free range.

Only one of the hens has some very light feathering on one toe 

Lovely copper coloring with no straw color 

This is the best picture I could get, but the color does not really come thru. 

Winter???? really???

The girls were out for a browse walk last weekend. Warm & sunny & beautiful. Rheba will be the first to kid this year. She is due sometime between March 1st and March 11, so i expect it will start snowing around March 6th :)

Only 1 Buck (front & center) really is the only buck we have right now :) To his right is Ashley, then Coco,& Alyssum, behind them Clarice, then left to right is Lizzy, Lily, Phantom, Daisy, Heidi, Rheba, Annie, Violet and Diamond.

Clarice, Phantom, Heidi, Rheba & Daisy

Getting big....

Coco

Lizzy

Winter Solstice

From The Winter Evening by William Cowper

Oh winter, ruler of th' inverted year,

Thy scatter'd hair with sleet like ashes fill'd,

Thy breath congeal'd upon thy lips, thy cheeks

Fring'd with a beard made white with other snows

Than those of age, thy forehead wrapp'd in clouds,

A leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy throne

A sliding car, indebted to no wheels,

But urg'd by storms along its slipp'ry way,

I love thee, all unlovely as thou seem'st,

And dreaded as thou art! Thou hold'st the sun

A pris'ner in the yet undawning east,

Short'ning his journey between morn and noon,

And hurrying him, impatient of his stay,

Down to the rosy west; but kindly still

Compensating his loss with added hours

Of social converse and instructive ease,

And gath'ring, at short notice, in one group

The family dispers'd, and fixing thought,

Not less dispers'd by day-light and its cares.

I crown thee king of intimate delights,

Fire-side enjoyments, home-born happiness,

And all the comforts that the lowly roof

Of undisturb'd retirement, and the hours

Of long uninterrupted ev'ning, know.