Spreading Their Wings.

So far this morning these little chicks have been rather entertaining. Between jumping from one end of the tank to the other, and trying to "fly" out of the tank I'm really glad that we made sure they had a secure roof! Haha. The kids can't get over how quickly these babies are growing, it seems each day they are doing something new and entertaining. Yesterday it was tossing their treats around the tank today flight! 

Hmmm I wonder what tomorrow will bring haha!

~ Niki

Natural Treatments for Common Chick Illnesses

I came across this fantastic link tonight that I thought I would share with you all!

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/protect-your-chicks-from-7-common-illnesses.aspx

This is a great list of common illnesses as well as what to do in case any of your flock gets infected. This is the natural way of treating those illnesses, very important to those of us trying to raise our flocks as organic as possible without pumping them full of medications and chemicals. 

~ Niki

Easter Babies!

So excited to share with everyone the newests members of the Gurney homestead! We got 2 Cooper babies (2 weeks old) and 2 Gibsons babies (also 2 weeks old) from a wonderful lady and friend Kara at Three Mile Ventures who breeds these beautiful birds. (Make sure you check out her page on facebook!!!)

The Gibsons will lay pretty green eggs, and the Coopers will lay a dark brown egg! We are so excited to watch them grow and mature, and even more excited to try their first eggs. 

Kids are still working on names for them, but so far we have "Bare Bum" and "Morgan" lol

~ Niki

Grazing Options for Chickens.

Anyone that has ever raised chickens knows that if they have lots of area to roam they will munch on the greenery and move on. However this can be an issue for people have have to keep the grazing area to a smaller scale or may not have the idea growing conditions to keep up with the demand. Chickens will pull vegetation out of the ground roots and all for fresh greenery.

There are many ways to curb this issue, either by expanding their free range area, constructing a chicken tractor, or building a grazing grid. Not only is it beneficial for the chickens to get fresh greens, and cut down on your feed bill, but it will make happy healthy birds, and very yummy eggs!

This spring an summer I plan on building many of these options out of recycled material, but in the meantime check out this fantastic post by another blogger and get some ideas of your own for your homesteading projects!

http://www.thegardencoop.com/blog/2012/02/07/grazing-frames-backyard-chickens/

~ Niki