Happy chick
Molly and Tahiti are hard to get a decent photo of at the moment- they are so grateful to be back that they are at my heels the whole time I am in there with them. They are big girls now and I have a sneaking suspicion that Manu (the gentle Hereford Boar) bred at least one of them the night of the big storm. That was about two months ago. I hope not though – they would have been a bit young – they were big enough just not old enough. But we will see.
It would have been crazy for him to not breed Poppy while having her for three months and then breed the gilt over the broken gate in the middle of a lightening storm before we were even ready!
Theo the peachick was sleeping with his hens last night – I had to use the flash to get these shots for you or you would never have believed me. Once more ignoring their roosts they had all gotton up onto the top of his dog house for the night and he was crying-crying on the floor trying to get up there too so I lifted him up and placed him with them just to see what would happen.. he snuggled right in and went to sleep. 
This is such an ugly shot but you need to see this.
Later again I went out and the five day old chick had fallen to the ground so many of the Rhode Island Red pullets had gone down with him and he was sleeping under the wing of one of them, all I could see was a little of his white wing feather poking out and hear his sleepy peeping. Once again I need to point out that he was not sleeping under a broody hen tricked into thinking this was her chick. He is a tiny five day old orphan chick sleeping with a flock of mean three month old pullets. There is no putting him back in his box now – we will have to just see what happens. The good news is that if he does survive this unusual upbringing he can live with these hens for years as they are being brought up as layers for the farm.
Speaking of layers; my big hens in the chook house are laying between 15 and 20 eggs a day now. These are used as the protein for the animals plus for the house of course. There are no meat products in my animal feed ( as you know I do not trust their provenance – in America the pig food has pig by-products in it – either processed fat or blood or ground up carcasses from rejected animals – all sterilised of course but I prefer not to feed pigs to my pigs) so I have my own feed specially mixed from locally grown grain and then add protein to their diets by way of milk, whey and boiled eggs. Lots of milk and lots of boiled eggs combined with pasture and weeds and produce from the gardens. By boiling the eggs we make more protein available to the pigs and it is fed to them shells and all.
Even the layers and the birds I raise for meat are fed vegetarian feeds and I supply their proteins from my own trusted supply of milk and eggs and left overs from the kitchen.
As a positive side effect the farm does not smell bad – the manure I mean.
I have always said that if I did not raise my own proteins and meats or was not able to find a trusted source I would happily be a vegetarian. I need to be able to trace where my food is coming from. That is my choice though, I do not mean to sound preachy. Not everyone can do this. In fact most of the world takes what food it can find and is grateful. Many, many peoples are too poor to be picky. Luckily I have a few acres to enable me to feed everyone very well.
I hope you have a lovely day – it is Memorial day here and my girls are making Pulled Pork. It is an American dish that I have yet to master so I look forward to their version. John has put it in the smoker already.
Love celi
33 Comments on “Happy chick”
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thekitchensgarden 
Yes, pulled pork! My daughter in law makes it – delicious. I so agree with all your comments. One question- why don’t you feed them the eggs raw?
By boiling the eggs it releases more available protein.. plus makes the shells more palatable.. c
I see. Very interested, thanks!
That little peachick is very lucky to have so many warm and welcoming Mums. Lovely pix, as usual.
love,
ViV xox
Love all your beautiful healthy girls belly deep in the green stuff.
Love all your beautiful healthy girls belly deep in the green stuff.
That was weird. It made me fill in all my details. It’s not as if I’m exactly a stranger over here… Oh well.
Hi Kate. I’m guessing that you accessed today’s post via your cell phone or other device you don’t usually use in viewing this post. For the longest time I had to put in my information whenever using my cell phone. Now it finally has accepted me.
You could well be right. Mystery solved. Laptop it shall be from here on in!
Those peachicks seem to readily adopt any handy birds as surrogate family. One thinks it’s a turkey and another a chicken. I wonder if that ever happens in the wild.
I hope you have fantastic pulled pork – I did a barbecue roast beef yesterday, where the meat got sliced of the outside somewhat like cooking a kebab. We ate it in corn tortillas with a Mexican salsa.
Animals are so amazing. It almost seems like the hens want the little pea chick to take care of. Or it moved in with such confidence that she became the alpha bird. Either way it is amazing and so adorable!
When we make choices about the foods we eat, more and more of it is un-processed and made by our own actions. That way we know its history.
hah! we’re are working our way through 3 kilos of pulled pork I made the other day. It doesn’t get old!
Now, that pulled pork in the smoker must smell really good by now. It is a dish I too have yet to master. Your girls should put the recipe up as a guest post. Although I do not have a smoker….
I love hearing about your farm and enjoying the lovely pictures, Thank you
Look at that sunshine and those summer clouds!
What a sweet pea chick. I sort of love these experiments with animals both domestic and wild. We never quite know what to expect with babies. 🙂
Fingers crossed for Theo! Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to the men and women who made our countries free. I hope your pork dish is as delicious as I’ve had. Enjoy!
Celi, why boil the eggs? Don’t your pigs eat the raw eggs, cracked onto their food, shells and all?
Yes – I used to throw in the raw eggs. But have recently discovered that cooking them makes the protein more available to the animal. I still throw the whole egg in though – shell and all . Also with it being very hot now the cooked eggs don’t make quite as much mess in the bowls .. c
Super! I will try that as well! 🙂
Does Theo think he is a chicken?
He is still having an identity crisis – wherever he is though I am fairly sure he thinks he is the boss.
I am new here and I have to tell you
I am loving my morning visits with you and your farm . The animals are interesting and your pictures are so beautiful .
looking forward to seeing how well Theo is doing with his new mommy’s. Thank you so much for sharing your farm with us.
WELCOME! always.. c
Welcome, Cheryl. It’s a wonderful place to be!!! Love, Gayle
Ditto what Cheryl said. This blog is my lifeline…no exaggeration.
I agree – it’s a visit with a dear friend, her animals friends and her ‘people friends’!! ; o )
I’m just loving the continuing story about that adorable pea hen orphan! The pullets could have very easily pecked the poor thing to death….. And now it seems we can look forward to years and years of seeing photos of the peacock who thinks it’s a chicken! ; o )
Happy Memorial Day!! And tell the girls they’re welcome to do a guest blog on My Yellow Farmhouse if they’d like do – and – their pulled pork recipe sounds just right!! ; o ) If they’re interested, they can just get in touch with me by posting in the comments section of any of my posts.
I try not to think of anything in years and years – you just never know what will happen next. The girls leave the day after tomorrow – seems to fast! c
Those red hens have chosen a toyboy as their new rooster 🙂 Laura
I was thinking along similar lines… a flock of hens with their very own glamorous peacock 🙂
Celi, your photos are jumping off the page here. They look so real – I want to reach through my computer screen.