You Never Know Who's Watching

It's funny how people say "a picture is worth a thousand words" yet in in the same breath "the photo does not do it justice". So is it actually worth two-thousand words, or only 500? Hummm...

I love taking pictures - especially of flowers and bugs. For years I was using this little Olympus point-and-shoot camera that took AMAZING pictures - the BEST camera I'd ever owned. I took thousands of pictures with it and created 2 full-color garden calendars with it's help. Sadly it was damaged and I upgraded to another Olympus camera. It was still the point-and-shoot style, with many more features, but unfortunately picture quality was not one of them. I blame it on my ability to properly operate the camera (or read the owners manual), but I was so use to just snapping a photo with ease I soon became frustrated with it all... enter the smart phone. I can't believe I'm saying this but my phone was taking better pics than my new camera - UGH!! See, it all comes down to ease and efficiency!

I periodically post some of my favorite pictures on my blog to share with you. I think one of my all-time favs is on the site now - honeybee taking her "pollen bath". It's all about right place & right time... with my smart phone!

A fun thing happened to me last fall; Dorling Kindersley (DK), a publishing company in London, England contacted me about some of the pictures I had posted here on my blog. I was both shocked and flattered that they were interested in possibly using one of my photos in a new publication they were working on... WOW! Talk about friggin' cool!

After several months and emails flying back and forth I was pleased and honored to learn they had selected one of my photos for inclusion to their March 2015 publication Biodynamic Gardening book. It's just a little picture of some dried spinach seed (on page 192), in the "collecting seeds" inset but I'M PUBLISHED!!!!!  WaHoo!!! I even have photo credit!  : )

Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time, and other times it's just about being out there. Do what you love and love what you do... cause you never know who's watching.

PEAS OUT!
~GP

Oh Honey, we're getting Bees!!

Honey Bee taking a pollen bath
in a zucchini squash bloom

I love bugs (yes, I use the term very broadly) - I could watch them all day long! From the wonderful ground beetles that hunt the slugs in my garden to the beautiful bees that pollinate my zucchini squash plant (yes, just 1 thank you!), and even the small sugar ants that that make their long journey from here to there. They all are in integral part of the food web that has evolved over thousands of years in our world and one would hardly survive without the other.

Native Bee on Calendula flower

Even if you've been living under a rock you're entire life, you still know Honey Bees have been struggling to stay alive under the stress and constant attack of agriculture and home garden chemical use, disease, and pests - which can ultimately lead to a heart-breaking colony collapse. Please be careful and do your part to protect our garden warriors! Not only the bees (Mason, Bumble an other native bees as well), but all the beneficial insects that roam your yard and garden need your help and protection.

PLEASE BE KIND TO YOUR GARDEN FRIENDS - 98% OF THEM ARE BENEFICIAL!

Titan sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos
 planted for the birds and bees
 at The Wade Creek House!

Last year the wild honey bee swarm that took up residence in an old bee box in the garden at The Wade Creek House was busily collecting pollen and nectar from nearby plants and flowers. I loved going over to watch them furiously work over the humongous sunflowers and explosion of lavender in the garden, bringing back loads of food to the hive they comfortably called home. I even noticed the bees in my yard would come and go from the direction of the shop - I was also a "honey hole" for these little darlings with a profusion of Calendula, Borage and Phacelia growing in my garden. Bees will travel up to 3 miles looking for food!

Bubmle Bee on Pole Bean blooms

Not a huge consumer of honey, I was not in it for the golden comb, I wanted to help the bee population survive. So, I did it... I did some research, went to Ruhl Bee Supply and bought a hive. I figured Becky's bees would eventually swarm (conveniently to my yard) and I would also have bees!

YUMMM! She was able to harvest 4 frames of honey from her wild swarm last summer - it was a beautiful golden wildflower honey, a true treat!

2014 Harvesting honey from the
hive  at The Wade Creek House!

It was too late in the year for a swarm to find my bee box, so I put a greenhouse panel on top weighted down with concrete blocks to keep (most) of the rain off, and dreamed of being a future bee owner, reading books, blogs, magazines and attending several beekeeping club meetings and beekeeping classes.

Then Christmas came... my sister, who happens to get her honey locally here in Estacada, got me BEES FOR CHRISTMAS!!! The guy she gets her honey from has several hundred hives he rents out to pollinate various crops throughout the region. She got me a small hive (nucleus hive) that will come with 5 full frames and a mated queen. I am so very excited!

The bees will be here end of March/beginning of April - will tell you all about it!
In the meantime, here are a few awesome websites you need to check out - take a little time and learn how you can help out and protect our pollinators!



www.buzzaboutbees.net
www.beesource.com
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mb/
http://www.orsba.org/home.php


PEAS OUT!
~GP


ps..... I am sad to report that the bees at The Wade Creek House did not survive this winter. When we opened up the hive at the shop last week, we discovered that water had gotten in. As it happened, a local beekeeper checked the hive earlier this winter, about 6 weeks ago - bees were good with plenty of food. He plopped a small pallet on top of the hive cover to keep the wind from blowing it off; this inadvertently tweaked the hive cover enough allowing water to seep in and ultimately kill the bees.

Forcing The (egg) Issue

There are so many wonderful chicken breeds out there, I want to try them all!

My initial flock (back in 2011) consisted of 1 each: Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Rhode Isl Red, and Gold-Laced Wyandotte. I wanted dual-purpose breeds that would lay well for eggs then provide good stew meat. Unfortunately the BR was taken early by a raccoon, but the other 3 prove to be quite good layers. When the time came I had the final 2 processed for the freezer; note to self... these are stew hens, not so good for Traeger!

Since then I have tried several other breeds, the most current being Black Jersey Giant, Ameracauna, White Rock and White/California White Leghorn.

2015 Calendar on sale now
at The Wade Creek House!
503.630.7556  (shipping available!)

As I only keep my hens for 2 years, (I don't know why) it has never dawned on me to add supplemental light to keep egg production up during the winter months. Finally, this year I was going to do it so the end of August I strung a 10' rope light thru the coop and into the run, ran the extension cord and got an outdoor timer. I was ready to go, and wouldn't you know it... ALL my hens went in to molt (losing their feathers) one-by-one right after Labor Day!

Needless to say, putting lights on molting hens - who won't be laying anyway - is a mute point. So much for my "bright" idea!!  : )

notes on egg production, weather, day-length...
the only ones who have been laying
are my new chicks!

I keep a calendar to record the goings on with my flock... temperment/illness, egg production, weather, and I also keep track of how much daylight there is (mid-Sept thru mid-March). Looking back and doing the math, I calculated that my 1st hen (BGJ) should start laying around Christmas.

Around here, our darkest winter days only have 8h 42m of daylight (12/17 - 12/25), after that the days start getting longer - YEA!!!!

I set the timer and on Dec 17th, the lights came on at 6.45am - giving them aprox 9h 45m of light. My husband was giving me a bad time for putting "christmas lights" in the coop, but i insisted it was for egg production ; )

hens are up early!
lights come on at 6.45am

On Dec 19th, I got my first egg out of that BJG! So far, I'm getting and egg every-other day from her. The rest of my hens should follow about every 2nd week.... with the Ameracauna being the last to start laying around the 1st part of February.

Aside from being day-length sensitive, they are also night-blind so if you plan on adding supplemental light to your coop add it in the morning. You don't want them running around when the lights go off at night!

The 2 WR hens ("ghost hens" as they are referred to) are my oldest... 2015 is end of the line for them, so off the processor they will go, and new chicks will follow to take their place.

I'm not sure yet what breed(s) I will get - thinking about maybe getting Gold Star or Red Sexlink as they are both excellent (brown) egg layers and will also provide good stew meat.

I'm also doing Cornish Cross meat chickens again this year - Chick to Traeger in 8 weeks!!

PEAS OUT!
~GP

Kraut for All - All for Kraut!

Call me Mary Jane! (that whole farm-girl thing...)

I made sauerkraut for the first time Thursday... we'll see how it turns out.   : )

I was at Spicer Bros Produce in Oregon City last week and was shocked to see the biggest cabbage ever! I eat cabbage all the time... fresh, sauted, steamed, roasted, there is always both green and red varieties in my frig!

Being a lover of kraut, but never attempting to make it myself, I took the challenge and bought the 15.26lb monstrosity.  I found a recipe on wikihow and started the endeavor.

I purchased a glass crock specifically for this task at World Market ($14.99), with rubber mouth seal and stainless top. The neck is smaller that the body of the crock, which is a bit of an issue but I made it work. I would recommend to buy (if you don't already have) a crock with no 'neck'.

It took me over an hour to slice-and-dice the beast, but we have kraut - should be done in time for Thanksgiving!! Will let you know how it turned out...

PEAS OUT!
~GP

2015 Garden Calendar

They're here!!  They're here!!

The 2015 Garden Calendars have just been delivered and are now for sale at The Wade Creek House. Pick yours up today - they also make great holiday gifts! 

Only $15.00

Calendar sponsored in part by:

Tri County Management, LLC

Tri-County HVAC, Inc

Tina's Healthy Living

The Wade Creek House

Please support these small local businesses 

that support our community!
(click on the name to link to website)

This year, $3.00 from every calendar sold will be donated to the SEED project, helping to fund continued education and outreach at the garden located at Estacada Jr High. 

SEED broke ground during the winter of 2010-2011 at the Estacada Junior High on a lovely pinwheel-shaped garden, using donated funds. The garden was first planted by students on Earth Day 2011.

SEED wrote a successful $2,000 grant to the Whole Foods Kids Foundation to expand and build a second garden at Estacada Junior High. This row crop garden capitalizes on the long-standing partnership between the Estacada Junior High students who volunteer weekly at the Estacada Area Food Bank. In Spring 2014, this garden was built and planted, and is being maintained and harvested by students providing fresh produce that the Food Bank otherwise would have to buy at great expense.

Join us in supporting our local school garden!

For more information about the SEED project, please visit seedestacada.org

Enjoying the Summer harvest & settling in to Fall

This summer seemed to go on forever! The long, hot & dry days made for amazing melon and squash harvests! Some of the sweetest Hermiston watermelons I've ever tasted... I ate about 6 of them.   YUM!!  I tried growing a few melons in my garden this year, but with the lack of rain (and normal irrigation from yours truly), it was a meager harvest. I did get a few which were tasty, but will definitely try again next year with a bit more TLC.  : )

Mini Honeydew, Tigger melon & Sugar Baby watermelon

The rest of my garden did great - tomatoes, corn, chard, garlic, beans even my Rose Finn potatoes, which I mostly neglected, were the biggest I'd ever grown! I'm saving these as seed potatoes for next year.

Tomatoes: Red Romanian heirloom, Pineapple, Indigo Rose,
Purple tomatillio, Walla Walla Sweet onion

I tried something new with potatoes this year - growing them in burlap bags. This is something I will try again next year and see if I can perfect. The idea is good.... I took a burlap coffee bag and folded it down, adding 3" straw to the bottom and 6" of compost then planting a few 'Purple Peruvian' fingerling potatoes. I added finished compost as they grew, until the bag was 1/2 full and left them to do their thing. To harvest, I just lifted the bag and everything fell out the bottom, which had rotted out - quite easy! The potatoes were small and scaly, mostly due to my neglect, but this is pretty slick and will keep trying!

Growing potatoes in burlap bags!

The one disappointment? Moles! This is the first year I have really had an issue with them. I extended my garden to the North this year and planted my carving/cooking pumpkins and tomatillios in the deep compost. The moles had a great time tunneling in the deep beds which in turn left the plants roots starving for water and nutrients. I did get a few small pumpkins, buttercup & patty pan squash.

Patty Pan & Buttercup squash; 'Knucklehead' pumpkin

Up against my greenhouse, I back-filled the 9" drop and planted ornamental gourds. This faces West which was perfect! I planted new (to me) varieties and was pleasantly surprised with the harvest! I am going to dry these little 'Spinning Gourds' - they will be excellent for my "natural ornaments" class at The Wade Creek House next winter!

Counter-clockwise from bottom left: Lil-Pump-Ke-Mon, Orange Cutie,
 Batwings, Spinning Gourds, Gobblin Eggs (center, black), 

PEAS OUT!
~GP

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

April 12: 4 days old

Yes, I did raise another batch of (26) Cornish Cross meat birds again this Spring. I'm not going to break it down play-by-play... you can read my blog from last year (Chick to Traeger in 8 Weeks) to get all the details, but I will give a few pointers from what I learned this year.

I was a bit disappointed this year as the birds overall ate 25# more food, but weighed over a pound less per bird! I'm not exactly sure why that was but they still taste awesome and Traeger up nicely... YUMMM!!!!

I will tell you that I found it much easier to raise them last year (February-April), than this year (April-June). With the colder weather earlier in the year, it definitely keeps the smell down, and I think - even though I keep heat lamps on them - they eat more because its colder and they need that extra energy.

April 19: 11 days old

This year I went thru 475 lbs of feed, and 11 (eleven) 40# bags of bedding pellets.

Feed companies cut back quite a bit on issuing mfg coupons and didn't run any feed specials at the "Chick Workshops" this year, so I had to really watch for good deals. The best deal I found was when Wilco ran an in-store coupon for $4off/bag of Purina feed (limit 5 bags). I had to hold the feed a couple months longer than I would've liked, but $20 bucks is $20 bucks! The best "non-sale" feed prices I found were at Clackamas Feed & Pet Supply - plus they are a local family business and really awesome people!!

April 20: 12 days old

April 25: 14 days

This year, instead of giving antibiotics when they starting sneezing, I started diffusing Young Living Essential Oils. When they were a couple weeks old, a few started sneezing, then a few more... tho they were probably just clearing their sinuses of debris (mostly chicken-dust), I was not going to take any chances. I diffused Purification, Theives, and Ravantsara (not all at once) at least 1 hr a day. It seemed to help and after 1 week, there was hardly a sneeze to mention.

May 1: 19 days old

They enjoyed time outside and got more plump by the day. 2 days before slaughter, I heard this crazy noise coming from the greenhouse... I'll be damned if one of those birds didn't stroke out!!!  What a waste of good meat - he was a big bird, too! I Googled to see if I would be able to somehow save the meat. I was not able to locate that kind of info in a timely manner (not sure i was searching correctly), but what I did find was a bit of info stating that once the birds heart stops, it's hard to drain. Plus I was NOT prepared for that kind of event, nor will I ever be.. I leave it to the professionals - Scott & his team over at Harrington's Poultry Processing in Boring, OR.  Thanks again!!!

May 10: 31 days old

Anyway, I ended up with 18 birds in my freezer this year ranging from 3-6 pounds (the other 7 went to a friend). One nice thing I found with having smaller birds this year, is that the 3-4 lb birds fit nicely in my crockpot! Just add seasoning and go!  : )

May 14: 35 days old

I already have plans in the works for a new home for next year's birds... they will have a new dedicated 36sqft home off the greenhouse (I refuse to vacuum chicken-dust out of my greenhouse ever again!) with an easy-to-clean concrete pad (like the greenhouse floor), and easy access to the lawn (no more packing them in my Trug-Tub!). I will post updates when construction gets underway later this Fall.

Again if you're thinking about raising your own birds, do you research, read my blog (Chick to Traeger in 8 Weeks), and/or post a comment on my blog as I would be happy to answer any questions!

PEAS OUT!

~GP

Hen, where is my egg??

My hens started molting the first part of October (2013). The Ghost Hens didn't molt last year, so it was their time. I've not had 1st year hens molt before so when the BJG went into molt that was a shocker for me. The amount of feathers in the pen one morning had me panicked that a massacre had happened (again)... nope, just molting, mom!

Ameracauna:  "Puff" (hen) and "Osprey" (roo)

I was getting 30-35 eggs a week late August/early September. The first week of October, I was down to 19 eggs a week, and still on the decline... by the first week of November, "Puff" (my Ameracauna hen) was the only trooper, laying 5-6 eggs a week for me! By the end of December, egg production was coming back around.

I integrated their layer feed 1:1 with an 18% "feather fixer" feed and added a 3rd fount with vitamins and electrolytes to help them thru this rough time. 200lbs of mixed feed lasted the entire molt (Oct-Jan). I've not been thru a mass molt like this before, so I'm not really sure if the food and/or water did any good, but I like to think it did. It kills me that molting takes place in the fall and winter months... don't they know it's friggin' cold out???

Icicles on Coop
(open run protected with plywood and greenhouse panels)

We had some wicked-cold weather the first week of December, with overnight temps in the low-teens and single digits for 5 straight nights. I normally don't put supplemental heat in my coop but with the poor hens molting, and the East wind kicking up, I thought it might be a good idea.

I've had my founts on heating elements as most nights were at or below freezing December & January - the
first part of February wasn't much better with a snow storm followed by freezing rain. I have a couple B9 submersible birdbath heaters that I put under my founts; they're on a timer most of the time but this winter they've been running nearly constantly. These are great little heaters - it keeps the

Not sure about the snow!

water from freezing, even during the single-digit nights!

Anyway, the hens have been troopers and have finally come out of molt - on Feb 19th I had my first "5 Egg" day of the season! (would have been 6, but a Cooper Hawk got one of my BJG late January).

PEAS OUT!
~GP

Crop Rotation - Chicken Style!

So in the midst of all the Cornish-Cross meat-bird craziness last Spring, I acquired 6 new chicks.
I wasn't planning on getting new chicks until 2014, but I went to a chick workshop, and they were SOOO cute, and I just couldn't help myself...

Mar 9, 2013: baby chicks - 4 days old

I got 3 Ameracauna and 3 Black Jersey Giant pullet chicks... AWWWW!!!!!
Jersey Giants are the largest chicken breed - I got Black JG, but there is also a white breed. They take 2 years to fully develop and are layers of XL brown eggs. Fully grown, hens can weight up to 11lbs!
The Ameracauna chicks are a standard breed and are "easter egg" layers - eggs will be shades of cream, blue, and green.

Mar 16, 2013:  chicks are 11 days old

The Ameracauna chicks are different colors - one brown, one red, and one white.
They started their new life in one of my blue tubs, and eventually got upgraded to a 3'x3' box with high sides - turns out they're jumpers!!

Mar 24, 2013: 19 days old - starting to feather out

See how the red one is spralled out? This behavior doesn't change much... it's pretty funny in fact! I call this one my "Sun Goddess". Wherever there is sun or warmth, this one is flat out soaking it up!

Mar 30 - first day outside

The same day I had the Cornish-Cross birds out, these guys also got their first taste of the outdoors. (As you can see, the red one found a cozy spot!) These were very excited and started pecking and eating grass right away!

And again, my WR hen - one of the "Ghost Hens" - is curious, and not one bit excited about MORE critters taking up space in HER yard!!

April 6, 2013 - 1 month old

At 4 weeks, the Ameracauna chicks are really starting to show their colors! The white one is knows as a "splash", with the black and white color. And you can tell the Jersey Giants (BJG) are going to be big birds!

April 21, 2013: 6-1/2 weeks old

Most chicks are fully feathered at 6 weeks and can slowly be acclimated to outdoor living if they were raised indoors (like these - they are sharing floor space in the greenhouse; the Cornish Cross are in the next pen over!)

May 9, 2013:  9 weeks old

(May 9) Black Jersey Giants enjoying the great outdoors

June 1, 2013: new chickens have free fun of the yard

Unfortunately, the "splash" Ameracauna started crowing (I knew he was to pretty to be a girl!!), so he was transplanted to another flock who had just lost their rooster. I had named him "Osprey" since he looked like a raptor when he would fly, but that name did not suit his new digs... he is now known as "Ozzie".  : )

There is another Roo in the pack - the red one (I call him "Red Roo") has not yet started crowing but is definately NOT a hen. So I only have 1 hen out of the 3 Ameracauna chicks....How's that for bad luck! Fortunately the seller is going to replace them with new chicks Spring 2014, so we'll start again and see what we get.

Osprey & Red Roo (Ameracauna)

The Jersey Giants were the first to start laying (mid-July) and by mid-August all hens were on board - sometimes 6 eggs a day! The (2) Ghost Hens lay light brown to pinkish eggs, the (3) BJG lay light-to-med brown eggs, and the (1) Ameracauna lays cream-to-blue-to green eggs (depends on her mood I think).

The new flock was slowly integrated with my Ghost Hens and they do get along well. Osprey is gone, but Red Roo is still here. He is the bottom of the pecking order - I believe that is why he is slow to mature. He hasn't started crowing, but at first Cock-a-Doodle, he's outta here!

PEAS OUT!
~GP

Chick to Traeger in 8 Weeks **WEEK 8** (The final days!)

April 18-22 (week 8)

This is the final week for the chickens - they have a slaughter date on the 22nd, just 2 days short of 8 weeks.
I ended up with 12 pullets and 16 cockerels.

On the 20th we took our last field trip outside for a few hours; I had to use the garden cart to haul them as they were now too big to fit in the blue tub! It was a lovely day and was enjoyed by all.

4/21: getting ready to go to "freezer camp"

I took their food away at 5pm (4/21) but they still had water. Best to do this 18-24 hrs prior to slaughter, this allows most of the food to pass thru the birds and reducing the risk of contamination at slaughter.

A primitive yet effective way to get a ballpark weight on some of my birds!

So now I was really curious as to how heavy some of these birds were! They had eaten nearly 450lbs of food - averaging 17.5lbs per bird!!  I have a small kitchen scale but couldn't keep the birds in the basket to weigh them, so I rigged this system with an old fish scale, a nylon strap and one of my small garden tubs. I weighed 6 birds, most of them coming in around 5-6 lbs - not bad!!

The butcher was right... I am taking 26 birds to him!!  : )

Sunday evening (4/21), I went over and picked up some poultry crates from Harrington Poultry Processing.
First thing Monday morning (4/22), I loaded the chickens in the crates, strapped them down in the truck, and dropped them off at Harrington Poultry Processing at 8am.

'Ol Betsy loaded with chickens! Off to Freezer Camp!

At 1pm I got a call - the birds were ready for pick up! When I got there, they had 5 boxes of chickens - dressed, bagged, chilled and ready for the freezer. Scott (butcher) couldn't believe this was the first time I'd raised birds and whatever I was doing, it was right! "Some of these are as big as turkeys!" he exclaimed.

5 boxes of bird!

When I got them home, I weighed them - yes, I did VERY well!  : )
5+ lbs: 8 birds
6+ lbs: 14 birds
7+ lbs: 4 birds (1 of these maxed out my scale at 7.5lbs, I think it was at least 8lbs!)

the 6 biggest birds - one in front is over 7.5lbs!

26 birds = 161.45 dressed weight
+ 5.41lbs of gibblets (heart, liver, gizzard)

We roasted 2 on the Traeger that night, rubbed with olive oil and fresh sage and rosemary, fresh ground pepper and sea salt... AMAZING!!!

It is definitely easier and much cheaper to go buy chicken at the store, but you don't know how it was raised and the horror stories you hear really make you think twice about visiting the meat department...
These birds were humanely raised with love and care, and as you can see I was rewarded for it! They have great texture and flavour and it only took 8 weeks!

Can't wait to do it again next Spring!
Count: 26 in the freezer... and all is well.

PEAS OUT!
~GP


PS...
Here is the cost breakdown in case you're thinking about raising your own birds for meat.
(Keep in mind that this was done in late winter/early spring in Estacada, Oregon - if you have the room (and are doing this later in the year when the weather is nicer), raising your birds outside where they can forage will cut down on your feed costs. And I couponed like hell for the feed! It's a good idea to hit as many of the "chick workshops" as you can - the hosting feed store will usually be running specials on feed and supplies so you can stock up!
I attended "chick workshops" at Coastal (Gresham & Oregon City), Wilco (Oregon City & Canby), and Burns Feed Store (Gresham). If a feed rep (like Purina or Nutrena) is on site, they will also usually have mfg coupons to use in conjunction with a sale. Bonus!!

As you may recall, my neighbor split the cost with me for 6 of the birds - her cost was $12 per bird.
My actual cost was much higher as I had expenses for feeders, founts, etc as noted in purple - I will be able to reuse these items in the future. My cost ended up being $18.33 per bird for my 20 birds (not including time & labor). I think it's worth every penny!!!

Chick to Traeger in 8 Weeks **WEEK 7**

April 10 - 16 (week 7)

I added a second 2gal fount to the pen; at this point they're eating 50lbs every 3 days, so that warrants additional water, too! I cannot stress the importance of FRESH WATER EVERY DAY.

With me working full-time and the weather not being cooperative, it hasn't been conducive to outdoor activities so the chickens have not been out in a couple weeks... too bad, I think they like being out on the grass! I keep the pen clean as they spend all their time on their bellies - they waddle to-and-fro, but I do make them stand to eat and drink, cause it's the only exercise they really get!

Contrary to what I've read, I also have not had any "pecking" with these birds. The radio has been on 24hrs/day from the start and I think it really does calm them and make them happy.  I have had no cannibalism of any sort and am glad to not have to deal with that!

Look at them - they are HUGE now!! From what I've researched, dressed birds (slaughtered) will weigh in at about 4 lbs. I think mine are about there!

Next week they will be in my freezer!

Week 7 complete and all is well.
Count: 26 birds

PEAS OUT!
~GP