Indy, the chicken killer

Indy killed another chicken. Black Hen. 

And then today when I went out to shut the coop, he had Weasley pinned down with his mouth. Wesley didn’t fight him, which I’m sure is why she’s still alive. But once I got Indy inside I had to physically carry Weasley to the coop. 

He thinks chickens are treats!

Field trip

Today we went to Fort Abercrombie for a field trip with our homeschool group. It was so much fun!  

Son was a real handful, but Daughter did great!

We got a new book from the gift shop. Daughter got a fan and the tour guide showed her how women used to communicate with the fans. It was fun and neat!

The book had directions for making a Tepee (we substituted pipe cleaners for twigs because it was raining) and loads of other neat activities. 



Good but busy day!  I’m so glad our homeschool group doesn’t usually meet on Mondays!

School days

Notice only one of the homeschool pics is in our own home?  That’s one of the benefits of homeschool-  Field trips!  Learning in different environments and especially outside 😊

Son has been joining us for the table portion of school this year (last year we did it during his nap). He wants to learn, too!

Golden doodles kill chickens (with dead chicken pics)

Indy, our 5 month Goldendoodle who by the way just completed puppy training, killed Corny tonight. 

So that’s great. 

The chicks are getting pretty big so Mama Weasley has been letting them roam on their own more and more. I thought that they had gotten too large for Indy to take out so I let him outside without supervision. 

When I went to close the coop tonight, Corny was missing. A hawk was circling and cawing over head so I thought that got her. Then on my way back to the house I found Corny. Or most of her. She really looked pretty similar to a grocery store bought chicken  pre-oven. plucked clean but missing head and feet. 

Mat and I were trying to look up what could have done that when Indy started the doggy vomit song. I ran to get a bowl (too late) and came back to this

Mat has a theory that the hawk killed Corny and then was interrupted by Indy. Indy saw the dead chicken and just ate the head. 

In other news: Another injured animal today was Wasabi. 

Maybe the hawk had tried to get him?  Not sure. He does play with Indy a lot, but I don’t think Indy would have hurt him.  I know Wasabi could really put Indy in his place quickly with those claws. 

We lost a Weasley

Non-mama Weasley is officially gone.  Dead to a predator that got her during the day!  

And Hickety lost her tail feathers and got an injured wing!

Mat went hunting for the predator and he saw what may have been a bobcat!  It was dusk and it started hissing at Wasabi (at Mats ankles) from about ten feet up in the woods.  Mat thinks he scared it off, we’ve seen nothing on the game camera, and we haven’t lost a chicken since. 

On the bright side, the youngens are doing well. 

From left to right: Corny, Zuchinni, and uncle Joe. 

Now Mama Weasley is officially the only Weasley. Sad 😢 

Two buff orpingtons and a barnyard mix

Based on the appearance at this point, I’m pretty sure that two are buff orpingtons. The scraggly probably isn’t a buff Orpington and may be a rooster.

Uncle Joe (the white specked one)  is the only one who’s eaten out of my hand and he already has the start of a comb. For those who don’t know, in youth cockerels are much friendlier than pullets (young hens). 

We shall see. 

The chicken scare

The other day when I went to close up the coop at night, two of the chickens were missing. Mama Weasley and Black Hen. 

I hoped that they had gone into the woods because I was late closing the coop. The following morning, I let them out and the other two were nowhere to be seen. It was kind of sad watching the chicks run around without a mama protecting them!

Later in the morning I opened the garage to go feed the cats. There they were!  Boy, was Mama Weasley happy!  And the chicks!

18 month check

This little tank is 18 months!  He’s off the charts both in weight and height. 

33.5 lbs

2’11.5”

The kids and I spent the week at the lake with cousins and Grandma and papa. It was fun but exhausting!

Three day old chicks leaving the coop

They did it!  The ventured out of, or beneath? The coop today!

This morning...

This afternoon

Three little chicks!

The kids, Indy, and I were at my sisters for a couple of days.  We had a blast!

And we got home to some new chicks!  How fun!  

Daughter waved at them. 





There was one extra egg in there so I decided to check it. Yep, it had developed almost completely. I wonder if Weasley has kept sitting on it, would it have lived?

We’ve got chicks!

Mat went to collect eggs tonight and Weasley was particularly peeved about it. She pecked at his hand. I thought maybe it was because she doesn’t know him as well as me, or else the eggs were starting to hatch. They’re starting!  

Woot woot!  Come on chickies! 

And then there were 9

Weasley is still plenty broody. But now there are only 9 fertilized eggs. Not sure what happened to the other 3?  Were they not growing?  Did the other hens move them?  Hmmmmm

When life hands you lemons...

Weasley is still broody. I’ve tried most of the tricks (except dipping her in cold water) and she just goes back. She’s not violent or angry when I collect eggs from beneath her, so I’ve just let her be. 

But I had an idea. Maybe she could hatch some eggs?  I bought a dozen unrefrigerated eggs from a friend with a rooster, marked them, and stuck them under her. 

She seemed so happy that I was putting eggs under her rather than taking them away!  She quickly fluffed out to cover them all. So we’ll see if any chicks hatch!

New puppy!

We got a new puppy!  Meet Indy

That’s one way to cure a broody hen

One of the Weasleys has been sitting in the nesting box for a day and a half. Every time I go to get eggs I have to pull them from under her and she seemed to have a tail twitch. So I sucked it up and was going to check for egg binding. 

How you check is much how you would expect-Internal exam. I put on a latex glove, lubed up a finger, and gently went in. No egg   

But boy did it cure her broodiness!  As soon as I was done she was off running 😂

Zoo with cousins

Choosing curriculum...

This year we're doing My Father's World Pre-K and both daughter and I love it.  I do have some slight issues with the fact that it is clearly made for Baptists, but the differences are small and infrequent so that I can just skip the part "Will you ask Jesus into your heart?" and rearrange the ten commandments (to, ahem, the correct **cough cough- Lutheran** way ;)

I've been reading the book  When Children Love to Learn with a homeschooling friend who uses Charlotte Mason method with her kiddos.  I'm really enjoying it and I'm smack dab in the middle between the Charlotte Mason approach and the Classical approach.  MFW is a nice balance.

I have another friend who uses the Classical approach with her daughter and I've spoken with her about it.  There is a curriculum, Memoria Press, that seems ideal.  There is also Classical Conversations, but the nearest class is an hour away and it's expensive.  Plus, I don't know that a weekly class is really a good fit for us.

We're also looking into Math-U-See for a supplementary math program (most kindergarten curriculum come with a math program).  We're pretty certain that we want to get a supplementary math curriculum, just not 100% sold on Math-U-See.

And then there are all the other curriculum out there...

I really like complete curriculum with a teachers manual that is just open and go.  I LOVE that about MFW.

Lots of decisions to be made! 

The brave chicken

One chicken, a Weasley, was brave enough to leave the coop today. The rest just sat by the open door all day. 

Brave enough to leave the coop, but she got snow trapped none the less!  

We had about 4” when we got home from visiting family and so far we’ve gotten another 5” today.   I had to carry her back to the coop 😜

Two consecutive days in North Dakota

We got about 6 inches of snow yesterday and today most of it melted!