My Edible Garden

I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Chicks & Ducks Oh My!

Ducklings hatched May 15

My day job has been pretty crazy of late so I just haven't had time to take pictures and put a post together. Here is a little update.


The Welsh Harlequin ducklings that hatched in May are growing like weeds. The are now in that gangling teenage phase and look like little dinosaurs. They are still for sale, so if you are near Globe, Arizona email me at hysong AT cableone   DOT net.

Young Easter egger with a juvenile Welsh Harlequin drake.

Also available are two older brothers of the little ducklings. All of the older girls have been sold except one I"m keeping for myself.

See that Easter egger in there with him? I just love their poofy cheeks. That comes from their Ameraucauna parentage.






Easter Eggers

The fun thing about Easter eggers is that they can be any color and pattern. They are not a true breed, but a mix of Ameraucauna with other breeds. True Ameraucauna only come in 8 recognized colors. EE's can look like anything. The EE girls also tend to come into lay quicker than the purebreds.

Some of these are from two Easter egger parents and some have an Easter egger daddy with a Welsummer mom. They should lay a light olive green egg, although plain brown is also a possibility. The ones with two EE parents will lay light blue or green eggs.

Buff Orpingtons

The Buff Orpingtons hatched in March are somewhat disappointing. About half of them have yellow legs when they should be white. So all the  yellow legged boys will be heading for freezer camp, while the yellow legged girls are up for sale as layers. You would not want to breed from them and get more yellow legs, but they are super friendly and will make nice, light brown egg layers. A couple of these try to sit in my lap or even fly up on my shoulder when I hang out with them.


Easter Eggers hatched May 3

I still have some Easter egger chicks which hatched May 3. These are younger siblings to the ones in the picture above. The boys are just getting their red combs so we should be able to sex them pretty well, at least 75% accurate right now. These are all for sale and if you take the whole bunch I'll make you a smoking deal because I need pen space!


eggs from 6-17-13

I have such fun with my birds and I love to collect all the different colors of eggs! I just wish the camera could pick up the subtle differences in shades in the blue and green ones, they are very hard to photograph!

From L to R: Black Copper Marans, Easter egger, Buff Orpington and Buff crosses, Welsummers.