Setting up a brooder box

     A few posts ago I shared with you that I hatched my own chicks , today I thought I would take the time to show you a simple way to set up a brooder box.

     You'll need a storage tote, use one you already have or run out to Wal-mart or Dollar General and grab one.  

Fill the bottom of your storage tote with some fine wood flakes, I picked mine up at Rural King.  Use a clamp light with a 60 watt bulb.

You will need a thermostat, I picked mine up at Dollar General in their garden section.  When you first set up your brooder box the temperature needs to be between 95 and 100.  Decrease it 5 degrees per week, do this by adjusting your light up.  I've read that decreasing the temperature helps them feather out faster.

You will need some chick starter to feed your chicks.  Any feed store store should have this but I found this at Rural King.

I picked up my feeder and waterer at Rural King.  I had mason jars at home that fit perfectly, but if you don't have mason jars they also have the plastic tops you can purchase separately. As your chicks grow you'll need to cover the top with something(I used a window screen), so your more daring chicks wont escape.  I went in to feed and water one day and found one perched on the side of the tote!

 

These little ones are from my first hatch.  The one on the waterer is my little escape artist.

Today is day 21 of my second hatch, two hatched so far.  So if you're thinking of hatching your own chicks, good luck and happy hatching.
 Until next time...

just because they're too darn cute!

To the left is when my Tiny was just a baby, and on the right here he is napping with kiki cat.











                                                                      Until next time...

                 

I hatched my own chicks!

  When I was younger my mom used to hatch eggs in one the styrofoam incubators.  I thought it was just the most amazing thing to watch.  The anticipation of waiting the 21 days and finally being able to watch them break out of their shells.  It was something I've always wanted to try but was just so nervous about.  She had to manually turn the eggs daily and I knew that this wasn't the right fit for me.

  I found this little incubator with automatic egg turning on amazon. Its supposed to hold 12 eggs, but I could only fit 9.  So I began by collecting the eggs I wanted to incubate.  When you collect your eggs make sure you use clean eggs as you cannot wash them because it takes the protective layer off and they are susceptible to bacteria.  You'll need to store the eggs pointed side down until you have enough to put  in the incubator ( I used an old egg carton).  From everything I've read you can store your eggs from 4 to 6 days before you need to put them in the incubator.  Make sure you follow the directions for your incubator and do a lot of research.  The directions that came with this one were HORRIBLE!  but with all the information on the internet it was easy enough to figure it out.

   I put 9 eggs in the incubator but throughout the candling process found that only 6 were fertilized.  Out of the 6 fertilized eggs only 5 hatched.  Sadly one (seemed to be really weak) did not make it through the next day.

                                           
                                               Such adorable baby chicks!

                                                         Until next time...

 

Well, at least the flowers are loving the rain!

     Let me tell you we have been getting some serious rain for the last few weeks in Florida,  I feel like I've been mowing the grass every few days.  That being said along with the grass, my precious flowers are also loving all the rain. 

          

I'm not really sure of the name of this lily (there are so many!), a family member from Georgia gave us this one.

I believe this is a type of miniature rose.  I rescued three of these from a landscaping company, they were headed for the burn pit.

A type of sage, I rescued these from the clearance rack at lowes.

Banana trees that I transplanted from another area in our yard. Also new guinea impatiens my mom got me as a birthday gift.

I bought these marigolds for a BBQ for mosquito control, and another type of lily in the background.

Awwwww, the sweet smell of gardenia!

My mom gave me some starts of these mexican petunias. Beware these beauties will spread rapidly,   they are now on both sides of the house.

Lantana, another clearance rack rescue, growing beautifully in between the walking iris.

Walking iris, another gift from my mom. I divided these and planted between my lantanas, such gorgeous blooms.

Most the flowers that I have were either gifts or rescues.  Please forgive me if I get something wrong, I'm always learning, feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time...

Treats for the chickens

     Let me begin by saying I honestly had doubts that this would grow.  I was browsing around on pinterest one day and found this and was like hmmm.  I thought through the processing or packaging process that it wouldn't be possible.  To my surprise it actually did grow.

 This is how I grew popcorn from the grocery store to use as treats for my chickens.

  I put a layer of compost on the bottom, spread a layer of popcorn, then put another layer of compost over the popcorn.  Within 4 days it started to POP up.

 About a week later.

                                     

        With this little experiment I found that I planted to much popcorn at one time and its actually choking it out.  So I am going to replant less so I'll be able to keep trimming to have more treats for the chickens.

Either way the chickens sure seem to love it.











                                                                   Until next time...

                                                                      

How I made my own hummingbird feeder

    I usually have a couple hummingbird feeders filled and out by the first signs of spring.  I love sitting on my front porch or watching them out the window. I think they are the most wonderfully amazing little creatures.  I was on pinterest and seen a few ideas on how to make your own feeders and it kind of took off from there.

 Here's a few things you'll need to make your own with just some recycled items you have around the house.  A plastic bottle with a screw on lid, a container with a tightly fitting lid, I used a KFC container, but I seen some made with small storage containers, scissors, pen or marker, (not shown- hammer, nail, glue gun, and some wire.

 First you'll just need to take the lid off your bottle and center it onto the lid of your container.  Trace around the bottle top and use care cutting out the circle.

 Use a nail to punch holes in the lid of your bottle for the liquid to flow through.  Push your bottle through the opening of your container lid and screw the bottle cap on.

 Use your nail to punch  four holes in your container lid for your feeder holes.

Then push your nail through the opposite direction to make sure the holes are big enough.  I glued on yellow beads to mimic a flower in hopes the hummingbirds will be more attracted.

I glued around the top of the bottle to make it a little more sturdy.  Then just make a hanger around the top, fill it up, and your ready to feed your  beautiful little visitors.  I added some beading to mine to pretty it up a little bit.







 Here's a few more more ideas you might like to give a try, I found the feeder plugs on amazon.

I pilfered this bottle from my sons house and finally found a use for it.

I made this one from an extra chicken waterer I had, I'm not really sure if the hummers will feed out of it but it will make a tasty treat for the bees and butterflies.

I made this one for my mom for a mothers day gift.

  Check out my previous post for a quick, simple recipe on how to make your own hummingbird food.

Have a look around, if you like what you see, please subscribe or follow me!

                                                           Until next time...

Food for your hummers

                                                  D.I.Y.   HUMMINGBIRD    NECTAR

 Instead of running out to the store when your hummingbird feeder runs dry, just use this simple recipe. The supplies you're going to need

• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• small pot
• spoon
• stove to boil your water
• and of course your feeder

directions

1. add 2 cups of water to your pot and bring to a boil(this gets out any icky stuff that may harm your beautiful visitors)
2. add 1/2 sugar, stir well until completely dissolved.
3. remove from heat and let mixture COMPLETELY COOL before moving on to next step
4. pour your hummingbird food into the feeder,depending on how your feeder is made a funnel may help with this step.

I know some people that use red food coloring before adding the mixture to their feeder,  I've read that it is unhealthy for them as it makes their eggshells weaker.  Whether this is true or not I really do not know.  I quit using the red food coloring and still seem to get just as many visitors.  Just hang your feeder and sit back and wait for your little beauties to arrive.