Backyard Poultry Magazine

While talking with a customer this morning about our chickens (she has about 70), she told me about Backyard Poultry Magazine! As you'll see from their website, they are "Dedicated to More and Better Small-Flock Poultry." After hearing all this magazine had to offer and that it originates in Medford, Wisconsin, I ordered my own subscription (6 issues/year). They also have an online library with several helpful articles. I pulled the following information about the magazines contents from their website:

In addition to feature articles, each issue contains informative articles in the following departments:
Breed Selection
Housing
Management
Health and Nutrition
Rare and Historic Breeds
News and Views
Other topics of interest to promote more and better raising of small-scale poultry.

I'll be sure to review the magazine further once I get my hot, little backyard chicken-raising hands on my first few issues!

Egg Shades

Once my ladies start producing eggs, I'll be selling egg shades for only $5.00/pair. It's really quite a steal; you can protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun for the day AND have a great meal packed with nutrients at the end of it all. What could be better? Just leave a comment below if you'd like to pre-order. These babies are going to sell fast!

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I thought I'd share my enthusiasm about the many shades of eggs our happy hens will be popping out in just a few short months!


The Barred Plymouth Rocks, Speckled Sussex & Australorps will be producing eggs in various shades of brown...








The Welsummers will produce rich, dark brown eggs with speckles...

The Easter Eggers will be popping out eggs in beautiful shades of green, aqua, blue & maybe even pink!

The Wheaten Ameracaunas that we're adding to our brood this Sunday will brighten our lives with blue eggs.

And, last but not least... our little, fluffy Silkies will give us fun-size cream eggs like the one pictured in the lower right well of the egg carton.

Each day that passes, I find myself getting more and more excited about finding that first egg! This week, we are finishing the chicken condominium, trading our 2 Silkie roos for pullets, and picking up our 4-Wheaten Ameracaunas that I have longed for since the start of this project. I'll be posting step-by-step pictures of the coop build as soon as it's finished. I know you're all on the edge of your seats; I do appreciate your patience!

The Wisconsin State Fair!

I really love, and I mean LOVE, the fairs this time of year! The Wisconsin State Fair is one of the BEST. The agriculture, animals, activities, music, shopping, rides, drinks, and the food, food, FOOD! This is just one of those can't-go-wrong family fun days!

The Wisconsin State Fair website has loads of information to help you plan the perfect day: Daily Schedules, Deals & Admissions Info, Concert Info, Activity Info, Competitive Event Info, and MAPS...Food Maps (it's no secret that this is MY favorite map), maps on how to get down there, Park Maps, Stage Maps, Bike Maps...you name it, there's a map for it! Map is kind of a funny word, don't you think?

I'll be following my map to the cream puff line. These totally puffy, creamy, dreamy, sweet blobs of perfection are not to be missed. Another one of my must-haves is the Italian Sausage Sandwich smothered in all the peppers & onions a girl could want. The fair is certainly no place for calorie counting. You must just go, have fun, eat and leave the guilt at home!

Be sure to swing through the show barns to see all the animals too. The kids love it and I always enjoy seeing the fruits of the child labor & love that goes into raising such beautiful animals. The poultry barns have been my favorite this year. I keep finding new chicken breeds I'd like to add to my hen house! For some added fun, sing the verses of Old MacDonald as you pass by each different animal. Don't worry about the looks, you'll never see those people again anyway. I never got my Mom's needs/desires to sing in public, totally embarassing me as a kid...until now!

If you've got the time, post some of your State Fair must-do's in the comment section. I'd love to hear them...And, have a blast at the fair this year!

A SWEET Follower from California...

I was pleasantly surprised tonight when I noticed that I had a new follower AND she happens to NOT be a friend or family member! Don't get me wrong my dear friends and family, but there's just something really neat about having a total stranger interested in reading my chatter.

There was even a bonus to this sweet discovery. Mary Abbott of California also has a blog and it's right up my sugartooth's alley. The first few recipes I've seen have made me want to preheat the oven and start baking right this very minute. My tooth is mad at my body for being too tired to actually follow through at this point, but I can assure it and all of you that it won't be long!

Check out Mary's blog, SweetsSuccessBaking here. Is it just me or does the delightful pink background of her blog remind you of cotton candy?

Becky's Newest Happy Hens

On July 6th I received an unexpected call at around 10:30am from the post office letting me know the 15 chicks I ordered from MyPetChicken had arrived! They were supposed to arrive the week before, but the Easter Eggers that I ordered weren't available so they held the order until they could ship them all at the same time. Lucky for me, I have a very flexible job and I was able to drive into town to pick them up right away.

When I arrived at the post office, I wanted to open the box while I was there to see if any were D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival). MyPetChicken guarantees them for the first 48 hours. A refund is issued for any chicks that don't survive during that time period. Unfortunately, one little lady didn't make the trip. One of the postal workers said, "Maybe she's just sleeping." The poor little thing was stiff as a board and almost as flat as a pancake, so I told her I was pretty certain that wasn't the case. Sad, but it's bound to happen. The first few days are touch and go. I always have a little knot in my stomach when I go to check on them in the morning for fear that one may not have made it through the night.

When I got the girls home, I quickly cleaned up the brooder and got everything ready for them. Broody, Marilyn and Brookie (my Silkies) weren't as excited about their 14 new roomies as I was, but they didn't seem homicidal either, so that was a plus! The new chicks were loving the new space...running about, drinking, eating, resting, and exploring.

Out of the 15 chicks, I had lost 2-Easter Eggers and a Welsummer by day three. The two that died after they arrived were showing signs rather quickly that they may not make it, so I was prepared for the loss. The rest of my girls are doing well. They've been growing like weeds and developing unique personalities. Stand-by for updated photos!

I was amazed at how easy it was to identify each different breed by the markings at such an early stage. Here's a breakdown of the different quantities/breeds I ordered:
5-Easter Eggers
3-Barred Plymouth Rocks
3-Welsummers
2-Australorps
2-Speckled Sussex

Blueberry Peach Crisp!

This recipe is divine. The key here is to use FRESH blueberries & FRESH peaches...This is the perfect time of year to do just that!

Travis always teases me because I am a recipe changer. I can hear him now, "Can't you ever just follow a recipe?!?!?!" I find several recipes ...tweak them, combine them, take the best of one and leave out the worst of the other until I am satisfied with the result. So, maybe I should title this one The HodgePodge Fresh Blueberry & Fresh Peach Crisp! Serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream on top. You're going to thank me for this.

As you're sure to notice, my photography skills are a bit amateur...the picture really doesn't do this crisp justice. I think I need to hire Deborah Tynan to do my food photographs for me! You may also notice that I was unable to snap a shot of this dream before someone (I'll blame this entirely on my husband) started digging in!

Topping
2/3 c. All-purpose Flour
2/3 c. Rolled Oats (I use Quaker 1-minute oats)
3/4 c. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
6-7 Tbsp. Butter (room temperature)

Put it all in a bowl, mix it, mash it....with your hands...until it's all crumbly. Set aside.

Ingredients2 Pints FRESH Blueberries
5 FRESH Peaches (Blanched, Peeled & Sliced)
3/4 c. Granulated Sugar
4 Tbsp. All-purpose Flour
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, combine blueberries, peaches, sugar, flour & vanilla. Pour into a 2-1/2 qt. baking dish-lightly greased (with real butter). Evenly spread topping over fruit. Bake 40 minutes...until the topping is light brown and the juices are thick & bubbling through around the edges.

Oh, this is heaven.

Scrumdiddlyumptious!

I must apologize for my 3 week sabbatical. With all the rain around here this year, we've had an extended "spring" season at work which has required long hours for Travis and little extra time for me. However, after practically inhaling two scrumdiddlyumptious ears of sweet corn this evening, I felt compelled to tell you all about it!

I wait patiently all year for the sweet, crisp, delicious bicolors that are grown locally. Sure, you can get frozen corn on the cob year round or buy the semi-fresh early stuff that comes in from Florida, but once you've had the local stuff...nothing else will do!

You can roast it, grill it, boil it...even eat it raw! The popping noise that it makes as you make your way back and forth like an old-school typewriter is like a party in your mouth. No mushy, rubbery sweet corn here!

Working at a farm cooperative has its benefits. I meet so many local producers and many of them stop by with fresh, sweet treats like the corn I enjoyed this evening. One of the producers that we service, Ingersoll Farms, has some of the best in town. They have roadside stands all over; just look for the gigantic wood cutouts of smiling sweet corn pointing the way!

If you haven't already, go out and get you some...And, don't forget the butter!