After only laying three eggs the peahen–we call her Mrs. Peackockles–decided to start the roughly 28 day hatching process. She’s also setting on a few turkey eggs that got laid in her nest. Fingers are crossed for a healthy delivery early as the 9th of August.
Category Archives: farm life
Mite Patrol: update
In the post “Mite Patrol” we discussed why chickens take dust baths and shared how we manage the mite load in our flock. But I think we may have come up with something better than Sevin® dust to add to their dust bath area: diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is made of minute exoskeletons of diatoms,Continue reading “Mite Patrol: update”
Gail Damerow Discusses Egg Candling | Murray McMurray Hatchery Blog
FINALLY!
It’s a small crop but it’s a crop.
Mite Patrol
Here’s an easy way to treat for mites in your flock.
Another Typical Spring week on the Farm
Ever notice how Nature never procrastinates? Other than a siesta during the heat of August, and a short breather in winter, Nature is in an explosive sprint to eat or be eaten, to reproduce or die out, and to otherwise keep farmers and gardeners scrambling to keep up. It’s the last week in May atContinue reading “Another Typical Spring week on the Farm”
Update on turkeys
If you read the recent post “Fragile…” you’ll be happy to know that the combined chicken & poult family is doing great. The chickens went to bed thinking they were chickens and woke up thinking they were turkeys. They all ended up with one hen. They had been divided so one hen had the twoContinue reading “Update on turkeys”
Fragile, but determined
Our turkey hens, usually excellent mothers, had to deal with a move in the middle of nesting season. As a result, they were forced to leave nests half full of their clutch–usually around 10 eggs for these hens–and start fresh in an unfamiliar coop. As a result they frequently changed nests, laying their eggs randomlyContinue reading “Fragile, but determined”
A rare bee siting
While enjoying the blooms of a buddleia I noticed this lovely bee on one of the flower clusters. The bright green of the bee and soft lavender of the flowers were a beautiful compliment to each other. And for once nature cooperated, the green bee sitting still while I fished out my phone to getContinue reading “A rare bee siting”
Coming soon to a U-Pick near you
First crop year for these blueberry bushes, and for this blueberry farmer! It shouldn’t be much longer before there’s berries to be picked. It’ll be a no frills adventure this season. We do have a Port-o-Let but any other amenities, like pavilions and picnic tables, are for next season. To compensate we’ll be selling blueberriesContinue reading “Coming soon to a U-Pick near you”
Big Branch Apiary, LLC 