This Is What Happens To Chicken Snakes Around Here

And if they haven't eaten chickens, or eggs, we send them to an obliging field.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

BECAUSE OF THIS GUY!

To get away from THIS GUY! :)

MY VERY OWN TRACTOR MAN!

We are getting ready for a dump of rain early next week! It is coming from Hurricane Polo. We just had our driveway redone and it seems the flow of water will go directly towards the house, so Mike is trying to solve that issue now!

It appears he had his own Henny Penny Tractor Partner!

Good Morning and GoodNight!

What a gorgeous morning sunrise! I have heard red in morning, Sailor take warning! We have hurricane Polo headed our way as a storm with loads of rain! My guess is this beautiful sunrise is a reminder to prepare!

I took this photo last night! It almost looks fake! But it is unaltered! What a gorgeous evening to spend with family!

It's HOTTER than HADES AROUND HERE!

This post was from 2011 when we had goats! Our temp is reading 106º in the shade, with who knows how much humidity! UGH
I felt sorry for the goat and chickens, so we decided to give them  a treat. :)
Here is Bryan and Midnight sharing a popsicle.  Of course, Midnight did NOT get her fair share. :)

Our Rooster

Isn't he Gorgeous? :)
We were supposed to get Rhode Island Reds, ALL GIRLS! 
Ummm.  Something got mixed up... but we think we'll keep him. :)

We are now Fish Farmers

Alli has been saving her money for quite a while. I am so proud of her. She said, "Mama, a long time ago I would have wasted my money on gum and little things."  "But now, I'm learning to have self control. "
She got a book from the library about raising Beta fish.  And she is convinced she can do it!  We used Anna's old beta fish tank and then found a pretty jar for very cheap at target.  So the boy is in one tank and 2 girls are in the other. 
This will be a fun experiment. :)

 

 All right Mr. Grumpy Gills.... Yes, you have new neighbors. :)

  I love the names she picked for them.

So happy that she is enjoying her new adventure!

This And That

 The Girls are producing like you wouldn't believe!!!! We are in Egg Heaven!
Thank you Hens! 

 The red coffee pot died.  We replaced it with a coffee pot and hot water dispenser.... So far,  I really like it!  The warranty is 3 years. I kept the receipt! HOPEFULLY it will last longer than that!

I asked Erika if she could make me a few pot-handle- holders. I like to cook with cast iron, but the handles get HOT!  This worked really well!  Thanks Erika!

It's That Time of Year Again!

Pecan Season!!!!
Let the Pecans Fall... I'll be there to catch them!
We can use a few extra nuts at our house!

THE EGGS HAVE ARRIVED!!!!

This morning Sarah and I were sitting on the front porch and we heard a chicken singing the chicken happy dance song.  It is the sound chickens make after they LAY AN EGG!!!!

We knew we were close to getting eggs  because our 2 roosters have started to crow.  Young roosters are so funny.  They have that "teenage boy" sort of sound to their crow. :)

 Sarah ran to check, and sure enough, they were laying!!!  It is Pay Off time at the Minich Family Farm!

 Oh yes! Oh yes! We are doing the happy dance!
No more buying those awful tasteless eggs at the grocery store!  No more paying premium price for an organic egg that doesn't taste any different than the cheap ones. 
The funny part is.... I broke down yesterday and bought eggs. We went without for almost a week because I was just SURE they were going to lay! 
This is my omelette cooking.... :)   We learned in science last week that eggs contain all 9 essential amino acids!

Thank you Lord for our fresh eggs and for chickens willing to let us have them!

What in the World??

 I think our chickens are part Ostridge!

Surely this doesn't make them any cooler! LOL

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL!

Warning: Graphic photos and video. Well, this was not a person, but a SNAKE!  So he is really a ROTTEN DIRTY SNAKE!  He ate one of our chickens! 
I went out to open the coop doors and check on the babies and there he was right in front of me, with a BIG FAT BELLY FULL OF OUR BABY CHICK!  It is one thing to be caught innocently in our yard, it is another thing to take my livelyhood.  So THIS snake did not get let off into a welcoming field.  For this one, we administered the death penalty!  And to be perfectly honest, our neighbor did the dirty deed.  He gave me the tools  and then kindly offered to do it. :)  It is after all a guy thing to do.... rescuing 2 damsels in distress when everybody else is at church and one of us is sick. :)

 Miss Alli is one brave girl giving that snake a dirty look for killing her baby chick!

So, we were VERY curious about WHICH chicken he ate.  I figured what went in, must be able to come out.  It was very interesting squeezing the little fellow out.  I could feel the snakes muscles and bones retract and compress.   Glad I wasn't that poor chicken!  Glad I wasn't the snake either. :)

Here is some interesting video of our morning event! :)  The first video we get the baby chick out.

The second video gives a good lesson on not touching a snake after it is dead because it can still bite and move.

Eyed Click Beetle

We found this guy yesterday near our back porch.  

As soon as Alli put him in a jar, he looked like this!

I thought she had been too rough with him and killed him.  But it turns out, playing dead is this harmless beetle's only defense.  He is  sort of a "Possum Beetle". LOL

I did a little "google research"  and found out he was  a nice beetle that will eat harmful bugs...so he gets to live and to STAY! :)

Do your job little click beetle..... do your job! :)

Baby Chick Check Up

It appears we may have  Rooster. :)  He has little tail feathers that are distinct. He stays close to his mama and doesn't wander far. Rooster Cogburn and the goats were interested in seeing him today. :)
His mama is very proud! :)

The Difference of TRUE FARM FRESH

I never knew there was a difference in eggs or how they tasted until we started raising chickens in 1998.
But just to show a real difference.  Here is a picture of a store bought ORGANIC FREE RANGE egg, vs. Our homegrown, ORGANIC FREE RANGE egg.  Guess which one is ours!
If you guessed the one on the right, you are correct.  Maybe we just have more bugs and worms to choose from ??

More Pictures of the New Baby Chick

 Miss Broody Britches is still sitting on 3 of her eggs. They should hatch sometime tomorrow.
We moved her to the dog kennel to protect the baby from falling out of the nest. Little chicks can get into all sorts of trouble! LOL

 It is hard to believe a little chick fan fit into an egg like that.

 Here she is resting on mama.

The cat is VERY amused! LOL The chicken growls at him everytime she sees him. :)

NEW LIFE!

Well, one little Chick has arrived. We were walking out to go to church, and I checked to see.... and there she was! :)  3 to go!

What Is Miss Broody Britches Up To?

BROODING of course! :)

20 days until hatch day. :)

Miss Broody Britches.....aka Midnight

We gave an unplanned Science Experiment! They are usually the best kind!  We have a chicken who has gone broody.  Today is her second day of sitting on eggs.  She has 4 of them.   So during the month we will document her behavior which is mostly..... brooding. LOL

We will document how often she gets up to stretch and we will hopefully watch the chicks hatch out of their shells.   The average chicken sits for 21 days before eggs hatch.... I'll post updates and hopefully catch the process on video when they are ready to come into the world. :)

DON'T FORGET!

Don't forget to thank your chicken today!  Yes, our famous back door chicken is now laying eggs on the front porch.... right on my table cloth! LOL 

Thank you Crazy Chicken! You saved me a trip to the coop. :)