Category Archives: Chickens & Eggs

Snow But Hoping For Spring Soon

Hoping for spring to come soon!  Even though the snow is pretty, I am ready for a change.  I need some warm sunny days.

Here are some beautiful snowy pictures around the homestead from Saturday, March 1st.   I came outside to snap a few pictures, hoping to say goodbye to winter.

IMG_5412

Pretty, yes!  Practical, no!  I am so over winter.  The driveway is a solid sheet of ice.  My van has been in the same spot in the drive way almost all winter. My husband has a truck and can get in and out just fine for work, and can take several kids on daddy dates to go get groceries and supplies, but my van is the only vehicle we have big enough to take us all out at the same time, and it is not capable of making it down or up the driveway when it is covered in ice.  Oh it has been a long winter!

IMG_5413

We spend our days doing schoolwork, then playing games indoors, reading, baking, building with Legos, making crafts, bundling up in serious winter gear to play in the snow outdoors, etc. But the kids long to play in the grass again without having to wear their heavy winter gear.

IMG_5414

I can’t wait until the snow is gone and the kids can ride bikes and play in the green grass again.

IMG_5417

I love how the pine trees embrace the snow.  I felt this way back in December.  But it is March and I am over it now, lol.

IMG_5415

The older boys bundled up to build a snow fort and throw snow balls this afternoon.  “Please don’t throw one at me, I have a camera!”

IMG_5422

Serious construction going on here Mom!  This one absolutely loves the snow.  He could live in it year around I think.  Alaska or even Antartica wouldn’t bother him a bit.  He could live in any weather anywhere as long as he got to build something I think.  He loves to stay busy building.  And if he can’t go out, if it is too cold or too hot, or pouring down rain, then he builds with his legos and Lincoln logs too.  He tells me all the time he wants to be a builder like his daddy when he grows up.

IMG_5430

Building his wall for his snow fort.

IMG_5429

The kitties followed me everywhere I went.

IMG_5431

They stayed on the trail, but they were all about the little walk around.

IMG_5434

There is five of them: George, Boots, Lion, Precious, Camo, plus their mom: Tiger, and they follow us everywhere.  They are as big as their mom now, but we still call them kittens.  They still act like kittens too.  They are such a joy to our family.  We truly love these precious cats.

IMG_5440

Here is a picture of the chicken coop, outdoor rabbit hutch, and the old barn.

IMG_5449

The goats choose to stay in the barn most of the winter eating their hay. They go outside a little when the sun comes out from behind the clouds, or they stand in the doorway, but they agree with me about winter and I think they are saying “we are tired of the snow already and want some sunshine please!”

IMG_5427

Even the chickens won’t walk in the snow.  All winter they venture out of their house about two feet and then turn around and go back in. They say “no more snow, we wont go, no more snow”, ha, ha!

IMG_5436

This is Boots and he is hanging out in the barn today.  He loves to explore!

IMG_5448

We had to move the rabbits inside as it is too cold here to leave them outside in the winter.

IMG_5446

We were given these wonderful rabbit cages and feeders just after the snows began this winter by a sweet elderly couple who no longer needed them. My husband hung them in the barn.  It reminds me of my grandma’s rabbitree . She had rows and rows of these hanging in her barn.

IMG_5441

The old farmhouse.  Indiana winter’s are cold, snowy, and everything stays frozen. I am thankful for this old farmhouse that shelters my family. Some youngins stepped onto the porch to ask me what I was doing in the snow, lol! I told them “I am saying goodbye to winter and praying for spring!”

IMG_5420

Please share.

Embryology with 4 H


The Henderson County  Barnyard Bandits  4 H club has embarked on an EGG SCIENCE project. 

They are hatching out chicken eggs.

The science of studying eggs is called Oology. 

And the science of studying the developing embryo growing inside the egg, is called Embryology.



Fertile eggs that have never been washed, are collected and kept in an incubator until they hatch. 

It takes 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch.

The incubator keeps a constant temperature of 100 degrees fahrenheit and maintains a constant humidity.



The eggs are various colors from white, cream, brown, pale green, and blue.  Different breeds of chickens lay different colors of eggs.



This is Tammy, and she turns the eggs THREE times a day, and makes sure the incubator is maintaining its temperature and humidity. 



Today, Tammy is also going to show us how to candle the eggs to make sure the baby chicks are alive and growing inside the shell.



The children are very curious about the green and blue eggs.  They have seen white and brown a lot, both from the store and from the farms we visit.  We used to raise chickens that laid them on our farm.   But it has been a few years, and though the oldest remembers, the others do not.  So Tammy first helps the children identify what breed of chicken the blue and green eggs are from.   

Do you know?



The answer is…..

Ameraucana Chickens

Just like their eggs, the birds themselves come in lots of colors.  If you would like to see what the baby chicks look like read here.

If you would like to see pictures of the adult birds, chicks, and eggs, see more here.

These are absolutely beautiful birds.  I grew up with them running all over my grandparents farm.  My grandma called them the Easter Egg Chicken.  They were her favorite chicken on the farm!

If you would like to learn more about this breed read here.

Next, Tammy placed the eggs one at a time, over a flash light.  This allows her to see a shadow of a growing chick inside each egg.  She can see the chick move too.  This was very exciting for the children as they watched her candle each egg.  It is called candling because in the old days, they used candles for this process. 

I remember the excitement as I used to watch my grandma candle eggs on the farm growing up.   But hatching day is the most exciting!  

Ohhhh, the anticipation……



This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see the developing life inside the eggs.

If you would like to learn more about hatching chickens or other bird eggs with your child, or perhaps do some egg science projects, or just read a fun story read HERE.

Please share.