Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

As I was looking back over my blog post archives, I thought this one worth highlighting again,  after making a few updates and edits. My oldest hen is "Daisy", who is a white Easter Egger who I bought from a hatchery in April 2011.  She holds a special place in my heart, even though her egg laying days are over.  Why? She was my first hen to go broody in 2012, and hatched 3 chicks, one of which became "Michael Jessie",  who is also still living with the flock and sired chicks during the summer of 2016. Both Daisy and Michael Jessie are very inspirational in starting my interest in hatching chicks, and mark the starting point of what became the Catskill Homesteader Chickens. Olive & Daisy's chicks - Hatched between Oct 9 - 12th, 2014 The last hatch of 2014 was definitely "survival of the fittest", even though I don't believe in evolution. But, it is true that without human intervention, in the wild, usually it's only the stronges...

Another "draft post" I found that I'd not published, even though I'd written it several months ago. So, thought I'd share it anyways! Still got quit a few CL/EE cuties fro m who I have ga ve to 2 broodies who'd hatched chicks, but I'd given them to another hen. They decided to leave their nests the day I was planning on giving them the incubator chicks! But, they were still acting broody, like they were going around & clucking to "invisible" chicks. When I came out with two chicks to see how they'd react, they came right over. Separated them out from the rest of the flock, gave them a few more chicks - in the daylight, no less! And they accepted them & they're doing so well outside with the broodies. I had two scares last night - we were coming home late last night & there was a huge black bear running down the road. My brother thinks the bear was about 300lbs, and it was less than 1/2 a mile away, just up t...

As those living in NY state know, April greeted us with cold temperatures and the most snow we had all winter. But, 10 days later, and spring came back. It was wonderful to not be bundled up in layers, and the chickens enjoyed the sunshine. The grass has been growing beautifully, so while I spring-cleaned the "Brooder Barn", I let the young chicks, broody hens & "Mini Flower" breeding group out into the fresh spring grass.  Lydia & the Feb 2016 Hatch chicks  "Mini Flower" Group  Dec 2015 Hatch Pullet - "Dos"  Jan 2016 Hatch Pullet  New SFH chick - new bloodlines, not sure if this is a rooster or pullet yet. Supposed to be a rooter.  Elly May is broody again & should be getting chicks next week. The Swedish Flower Hen group also enjoyed the sunshine and fresh grass. After adding new bedding, I moved the younger chicks out of the brooder, so they'd have m...

A quick Sunday morning photo blog post. On my iPhone I took some photos of that pullet who was checking out the nesting box yesterday.  My regular camera doesn't like the cold temperatures, so the batteries will go dead. But I found that if I carry the iPhone, I can take photos with that & at least capture the moment even if my preference is still a digital camera. The chicks were waisting so much feed, so I used some welded wire to prevent them from scratching through the feed . It's not pretty but it works. Now, this chick is one of the suspected roosters - I can even see little wattles forming! And this one looks to be a pullet; see the difference in comb size & both have single combs?  No wattles either The following are of this "camera hog" that has this out-stretched neck pose! Finally, I was able to capture a precious broody hen moment with the chicks snuggled up!  Last but not least, these chicks are busy scratching & digging through the hay pellet...