Top 10 Chicken Questions for Spring!

Backyard Poultry Magazine (a great magazine for all poutry lovers, I recommend it highly!) recently published an article about the top 10 chicken questions asked by folks purchasing their first chickens, with the help of the Randall Burkey Company who sell poultry equipment and live chicks. Here they are:

1. Do I need a rooster for my chickens to lay eggs?

2. How long do chickens live?

3. What do I need to do when my chicks arrive?

4. At what age do hens start laying and how many eggs will they lay?

5. How much do chickens eat?

6. How big does my chicken coop need to be?

7. How many nest boxes will I need for my hens?

8. What is the best way to deal with internal and external parasites?

9. What is the best way to protect my chickens from predators?

10. How do I get my chickens into the coop at night?

The answers will appear in my next blog entry. Stay tuned!

Glenn County Farmers Market Update

The farmers market in Glenn will begin in June and end in September. The market will rotate between locations in Orland and Willows each month, beginning in Orland in June. The market will be open every Saturday from 8:00 a.m and 1:00 p.m. The proposed site for Orland is Library Park and Memorial Park in Willows. As I have mentioned before on the site, I plan to sell my eggs at the market. Depending on demand/sales, I also am planning on selling at the Gridley farmers market in Butte County this year as well. When I know the starting month, time and place of that market, I will post that information as well. I hope to see you there!

Things Are Cooking!

Hey, welcome back to the blog. If you have been reading my blog you know that my husband and I retired recently. So of course we had to take a vacation so we drove cross country to Florida where we went on a Caribean cruise for a week and then after that, we drove to Tennessee to see my sister. We had a great visit, then back home.

Well, the girls are laying tons of eggs! So if you want wonderful farm fresh eggs give us a call, an email or stop on by.

By the way I am hooking up with my friend from Windmill Farms who is starting a CSA this spring. You know, where you purchase a "share" of the harvest, and each week you get wonderful fruits, herbs, and vegetables...whatever is in season? I will provide the CSA members with farm fresh eggs. A CSA is a great way to support your local growers and know where your produce is coming from. All at a reasonable price. Windmill Farms link is on this blog, so please take a moment to check out their blog to learn more about this CSA. I personally cannot wait to particpate in this CSA as I have not yet had time to get together a real garden and Windmill Farms produce is wonderful. It is fabulous to know that I am feeding my family awesome food from a known source. Check it out.

Iam really looking forward to participating in farmers markets come spring in Glenn and Butte counties. And I look forward to seeing YOU there! Thanks again for supporting your local producers like myself. With your help, we can keep the local food movement alive and well here in Glenn County and beyond.

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are in 2010.

The good news is that our Jersey Giants are really starting to lay like crazy! We are getting at least 3 dozen eggs a day and they are getting larger every week. Most are now the size of a large egg. It won't be too long before they are jumbo sized and the chickens will be laying up to 8 dozen a day. For now the eggs are still priced at $3.00 a dozen but when they are a true jumbo size, I will most likely price them at $4.00 a dozen. And they will be worth it!!! So come on by our self serve or call/email us to place your order for farm fresh eggs.

I'm pretty excited that this year, there will be a farmers market here in Glenn County for the first time in many years. It will start sometime in the spring and look for my eggs for sale at that market...come on by and say "hi"! The location is yet unknown but as soon as I know more, I will post that information on this site. Happy New Year to all of you and I hope you come by soon and try our farm fresh eggs!

Here is a photo of a Black Jersey Giant Rooster

Made it Through Thanksgiving!

Well, we survived Thanksgiving here at Happy Chick Farm! We had lots of family and new friends from Australia (our son-in-law's brother, wife and kids)stay the week with us. It was a lot of fun! I am sure many of you had a full house too!!

The bad news is that egg production is still slow from our older chickens. As I mentioned last time the Jersey Giants are now laying like 16 eggs a day but of course they are very small. But the are just as good as larger eggs (you just need more of them)so I am selling them for $1.00 a half dozen in my self serve fridge so stop by or call. The good news is that I have lots of regular weekly orders coming in now....I just need some more eggs!

The sale of the persimmons did not go well, but everyone around here seems to have a tree so I am not too surprised. But my chickens love them!

I participated in a holiday farmers market with my friend Paula from Windmill Farms in Colusa in November. The few eggs I was able to round up for the market sold well, but unfortunately, it was not that busy. I think it was because it coincided with another holiday event that same day at the fairground. But we still had a lot of fun and this was the markets first year so I am sure next year will be even better!

I have a couple of recipes you may enjoy for the holiday season or frankly, anytime!
The first one is an old recipe from the 50's but it is a classic and delicious as a side dish with meat. It is from a book entitled Sasha Cooks Cuisine Bourgeoisie:

Pommes Sasha
(Translucent Apples)
Serves 6 to 8

5 tart apples – Pippins are the best
3/4 C sugar
Water

Peel, quarter and slice paper thin your apples. Keep them as near the same thickness as you can. Put them in a saucepan and add water – not quite enough to cover them – remember some juice comes from the apples. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and a little lemon juice. How much sugar will depend on the apples and your taste.

Bring your apples to a boil and then let them simmer until they are translucent – 5 to 10 minutes.

Be very careful not to overcook your apples or you will have apple sauce. Do not stir more than necessary to separate the uncooked slices. Remember they become more translucent as they stand in their thin syrup.

These may be served in small side dishes when your main dishes when your main dish is fowl or pork or, if you like, with veal or beef.

These apples will keep a week or two in your refrigerator.

NOTE: If you cannot get Pippin apples be sure to get tart apples which keep their firmness and shape in cooking.

This isn’t a sauce but if you over-cook it you will have applesauce!

The next recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. My sister served this as a side dish with beef. But I think it would go with anything:

Ingredients
10 large russet baking potatoes (about 7 pounds total)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
1/2 pound sharp white Cheddar, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 pound mild Cheddar, grated (3 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes well and rinse under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels and prick the potatoes in several places with a fork. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack until cool enough to handle.

When the potatoes have cooled, cut each potato in half and, using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop the flesh out of the skins, leaving as little flesh as possible. Place the potato flesh in a large bowl and add 1 stick of the butter, the sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and mash until chunky-smooth. Add the bacon, cubed white Cheddar, half of the grated Cheddar, the green onions, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch casserole with the remaining tablespoon of butter and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Place the seasoned potato mixture in the prepared casserole and top with the remaining grated Cheddar. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and heated through and the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden. Serve hot.

Yum! Thanks again for your interest in my eggs and your business!

The Egg Business

Well, I am happy to report the local egg business is going well, both the self serve fridge and a regular customer base. For that I am thankful. However, this is the time of year (due to the reduced amount of sunlight due to daylight savings time) egg production has decreased. This is a natural cycle for laying hens. The good news is the Jersey Giants have begun to lay eggs. It will take a few weeks for the eggs to each "adult" size. Once the production gets going with these girls, we anticipate about 7 to 8 dozen eggs to be laid a day! So while now egg availablity is a little low, it will be picking up really soon! So hang in there, it will be worth the wait!

We have a new item for sale at the self serve fridge for a short time only: persimmons from our tree. These are the large tear drop shaped variety, not the small, short, squat type. The are a great deal at 2 for $1.00.

Thanks again to all of you for your business. Don't forget, we offer free delivery for regular customers in Glenn County. Our next post will contain more updates on the Jersey Giant's egg production and some holiday receipes.