Woo Hoo!! An Egg!

Can't believe it. When I went out this morning I only saw one hen. Oh no! But then I noticed the rooster was in one of the nesting boxes. Bless his heart. Trying to lay me an egg. And in another box was the other hen.

The rooster squeezed his big self out of the box and strutted around a bit. The other hen didn't want to get up. But she did and started putting up a big ruckus. Stood at the nesting box opening and fussed big time; Then she came on out. Low and behold there was this beautiful egg. Juevos numero uno! I truly believe she was so irritated at me she popped an egg out. Oh well. I think it's a good omen. Not quite an omelette, but a start.

Bringing home the chickens.

This fellow was quite the handful. Thanks goes to Matthew at Dancing Creek Farms for catching the protesting bird and loading him for me. Once inside the Jeep he quieted down. Everybody loves a Jeep.

Once inside his new home, his first action was to check out the window. Don't think he had ever heard of glass. It must have looked like a way out to him.

The hens are a different story.  She didn't seem to mind me lifting her out of the cage.

After about five minutes, they started exploring and scratching. When I checked on them 2 hours later, they seemed right at home. The chickens have arrived!!

Getting ready for the Chickens

I've been reclaiming Dad's old chicken house. It's really a roofed area attached to the barn; half dirt floor and half concrete and walls on 3 sides. There are 6 nesting boxes and places to roost. It had been given over to storage. I moved that stuff during the past winter. The only thing left is fencing in an area in the field outside of the chicken house so they can ramble and not be subject to wandering canines. Today I did the finishing touches: cleaning and sweeping. I removed the old straw from the nesting boxes and put in new. In two of the boxes I discovered gnawed bones of some 4 legged creatures.  I asked Dad if he raised carnivorous chickens. He claimed it had to be a possum or some other interloper.

The chickens are on the way. Thanks to Dancing Creek Farm for providing a couple of hens and a lovely rooster.  They'll be here Friday. Next Tuesday I'm visiting Gregory Farms near Stuart and going hen shopping.  By the end of next week I'm hoping for a Tuggle Farms' omelette.

Happenings

Lots going on. The peach tree blooms are starting to open. One plum tree is in full bloom. Grapes are pruned. The ground is about dry enough to plow. Locust posts to finish the chicken yard have been located; just need to harvest them. Found a replacement pump for the sprayer so I can finish with the dormant oil spray.  Just got to go pick it up.

There are chickens in the near future. I keep just missing opportunities. But since the lot is not quite finished that might be a good thing. I'm expecting chickens to appear by the end of next week. Not sure where they're coming from but they're coming.

I met with a group at Spencer Penn Center working with bringing local food to the forefront in the area. They've already done a lot of work studying demographics and such. I think that there will start to be some tangible results soon.

I'll end this post by saying that the first Tuggle Farms Catering job has been scheduled.  Whoo Hoo!!

Seeds

Seeds have finally arrived. Among the embryonic treasures - heirloom tomatoes: Black Krim, Lillian's Yellow, Old German, Purple Russian, Arkansas Tommy Toe, Wapsipinicon Peach and Wins All. Tomorrow we'll be pruning grape vines and anoiting the fruit trees with dormant oil.  Beautiful time of year.

On the Air

Tomorrow, Thursday March 3, 2011, Tuggle Farms will join Spencer Penn community Kitchen in a live broadcast on the lcoal TV station BTW 21. You  can see it live at 7 PM eastern time at the following link.

http://www.btw21.com/

Join us!!

Tuggle Farms Labels

Beautiful day today. I spent a big part of it working on a label design that might make the Dept of Agriculture happy. I think this will do it. If not, they will not hesitate to let me know.