Vintage Home and Farm

 One of our peep-ducks passed away this morning.😢 She was about 5 years old. We referred to her as a "peep-duck" because she was raised with ducks. She was one of two Barred Rock chicks that joined us at the same time as several ducklings toward the beginning of the pandemic. Since they were all raised together, the chicks preferred to be near the ducks and occasionally had odd duck-like behavior. The chicks and ducks would snuggle together in their warm bedding. The odd assortment of birds became a family, always together, as close as best friends, brothers and sisters. Above is one of the peep-ducks after we moved them outside. It was hard to tell the two chicks apart. Later, the only way I could tell them apart was by their preference for how closely they hung to the ducks. One peep-duck stays with the ducks at all times, even bedding down in a pile on the floor of the coop with them at night. Meanwhile, the other peep-duck began hanging out with the chickens, and chose t...

Recently, we commissioned our daughter to create a mascot for the blog. She chose to draw one of our chickens, Angel (we mostly call her "Little White Bird!"). See more from the artist here! Here's the real chicken. She's a white Ameraucana hen. When we got her as a chick, she was supposed to be a white leghorn (think Foghorn Leghorn; they lay white eggs!), but sometimes they mix up the breeds, and we ended up with her. We couldn't have been happier! She has a wonderful personality. She loves to escape and explore, and usually ends up in the middle of the yard or around the back side of the chicken coop. We've found piles of the green "easter eggs" she lays hidden before from her adventures; we've realized she must figure out how to get back in sometimes, and she's probably gone in and out without us even knowing. Here she is posing with Miss Prissy Fuzzy Bottom!

These ducks are so cute that it's worth sharing a video of them splashing and swimming in their little blue pool. Joining them are their two favorite hens, Simon and Garfunkel, who hang out with them every day and watch curiously from the sidelines. The duck's names are Big Duck, Cheese and Quackers. We're not sure yet, but we think we might have accidentally gotten a male and female pair (the two gray ones, which are Khaki Cambell ducks).  The duck with the poof of feathers on it's head might be a male.  We had ordered all females, but sometimes this happens.  If we do have a male, no worries, we've decided it would be pretty awesome to let them nest on their eggs and see if we will have ducklings some day!

Look how big the ducks have gotten! They were born in early April and so they are about 13 weeks old now. We've been enjoying their antics as they swim around in the little blue pool, ducking their heads and shaking their tails as ducks will do. Adding ducks to the coop has resulted in a huge water mess every day and likely due to this we have begun to see more flies than ever before. Most of the flies swarm around in the duck pen. To get control of the situation, we decided to try using Black Flag Fly Paper. I've never used fly paper before as we've never had this many flies, but I was encouraged by Black Flag's claim that "once they land, they never leave." Intending to hang the fly paper from the rafters in the duck pen, I grabbed a couple of thumb tacks from the cork board and took the fly paper outside. Sometimes things just don't work out as planned. Once in the duck pen, I unwound the fly trap and it immediately got stuck to my hair, arm, and shirt...

Friends have asked us what our goals are for raising ducks and whether it's any harder to raise ducks versus chickens. Our goals in raising ducks are simple; we're interested in having duck eggs and we also want the opportunity to get closer to ducks and interact with them. Raising ducks allows us to get to know these birds better. In doing so, we've found that there are definitely a few differences in raising ducks versus chickens. At just over two months old, our cute baby ducklings have grown up to be adorable, mature-looking ducks.  The ducks have moved three times, beginning with a metal feeding trough with heat lamp when they were tiny little ducklings, to an outdoor covered coop, to an indoor/outdoor space that now features a small blue swimming pool.  Joining the ducks along the way are two Barred Rock chicks that we raised alongside them.   In the adjacent pen are ten chickens who are very curious about the ducks but none-to-friendly to the smaller chicks. ...

Like most everyone else, we've been hunkering down at home and doing our best not to catch and spread COVID-19 in our community.  Daily phone calls and texts with family and friends are a lifeline and help us stay connected.  My sister reminded me yesterday that I was overdue in posting a farm update - so here it is!  We've been spending a significant amount of time working in the yard and garden -- an activity that just about everyone I know has been indulging in as well.  Right now across the country, I have a feeling that perhaps a few million people have planted vegetable seeds and have been spending time baking bread and other treats, too.  Something about this time we are in has caused my family to want to listen to jazz and swing music, especially from the 1920s through 1940s.  Take a listen!   I am feeling a strong connection to the past, to my grandmother's and great grandmother's eras.  While listening, I like to imagine how often this m...

Aren't ducklings cute?  We couldn't resist.  On Thursday my daughter helped me clean out the giant metal feeding trough that will serve as their new "home".  We washed it out and then set it in the sunroom on the back of the house to dry.  This morning I put several inches of pine shavings inside it, cleaned out a water container and food dish for them, and installed the heat lamp.  Then I went to Airport Garden Nursery as soon as they opened.  There was already a line of people waiting in their cars.   The nursery is considered an essential business here in Washington and so it remains open during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It was quite a challenge to continue social distancing while the mad rush was going on to get these birdies.  I clearly wasn't the only one looking to purchase chicks and ducks.  A bit worried they'd run out before it was my turn, I nonetheless waited patiently in my vehicle until my number was called.  Then, ...

The days are becoming longer which means several of our hens that had stopped laying over the dark and dreary months of fall and winter are now back in the nest.  Where most winter days we've been lucky to get a single egg, yesterday there were a whopping 4 eggs in one nest. The hens have a whole bunch of nests to choose from, but for whatever reason they prefer to wait and take turns in order to deposit every egg in just one nest. This does make it more convenient for me to gather the eggs. Included in yesterday's haul was one of the prized Easter eggs, a delightful green-shelled egg laid by Angel, our puffy-cheeked white Ameraucana hen.  We haven't been eating that many eggs lately and so I have now accumulated enough to fill this wire egg holder.  I can't decide if the wire holder is a bunny or a chick. It depends on how you look at it - we can see both. Angel and one of the Rhode Island Red hens that is appropriately named Little Red have been up to their old...

The other day, a visiting friend noticed a cookie sheet filled with baked eggshells cooling my counter and inquired about it.  I guess it does seem a bit odd to have eggshells sitting out on the counter.  I can certainly appreciate the novelty of it as it's not something seen in every home.  Prior to starting our own flock a few years ago, I'd never heard about chickens eating their own eggshells, either. Eggshells are a good way to supplement calcium in a chicken's diet.  Chickens need extra calcium in order to maintain their health and for hens to produce a thick protective shells on their eggs.  In fact, one of the signs that hens need more calcium in their diet is if their eggs become thin shelled.  This has happened with our own hens a time or two when I haven't put an extra form of calcium out for them.  At times we have provided them with crushed oyster shell, which is also an excellent calcium supplement.  However, purchasing oyster shell ...