It's Chick Time At Kelpie Kapers Farm

 We did it!
We took the plunge.
We bit the bullet and bought our chicks this morning. After wandering through Wilco Farm Store several times and getting an idea of what breeds of chicks they get in weekly, I had it narrowed down as to what types I wanted to get.
I was even willing to get a Leghorn or Rhode Island Red, if necessary, even though they were not on my top 5 list. Bob got our coop all set up as a temporary brooder. We have a radiant heat brooder. We have a heat lamp. It's warm during the day for the next few days. It was time.

We have this set up to where the chicks can get under the lamp if they are cold and they can get off from underneath the lamp if they get too hot. We have a digital thermometer in the coop and I can monitor inside our fifth wheel. It also works to monitor both of the greenhouses.

My greenhouses are running pretty warm right now, as well.

This is just a temp brooder. This will be their coop after we're done. We'll remove the box. I have 18 nesting boxes in here, so I can house a huge flock, if it's something we decide to do in the future.

They made us a heck of a deal at Wilco. I was only going to get 10 chicks. The salesperson had Novogens on sale for $3 each. They had some left from last week and then got a new shipment in today, so she told us she would sell us 5 for $9. I was, initially, only going to get 2 of them. Now, we have 7. I'm okay with that. They were on my list of must-have breeds.

I was super excited to see that they had Silver Lace Wyandottes and Gold Lace Wyandottes. I wasn't expecting those, at all. I got one of each. That's 9 chicks. I got my 2 Americaunas. Those topped my list because they are the ones that lay blue eggs. They also had Olive Eggers in. I wasn't expecting that, either. I have 2 of them. I rounded out my flock with 2 Copper Dominant Marans. Getting a Copper Marans was at the very top of my list. I am beyond happy that I was able to check off every breed that was on my top 5 list. Later, down the road, we may brood some Rhode Island Reds and, perhaps, a Leghorn. But, right now, I'm beyond satisfied with what we have.

So, we're getting everyone settled in. They can get out from under the heat lamp if they are too cold. They have food. They have water with chick electrolytes in it. They've already christened the pads that we put down for them by pooping on it. They've discovered where the food is. They know where the water is.

They sure are cute little buggers!

This one is playing hide and seek with me.

I think the above is one of the Copper Dominant Marans.

The buff colored ones are the Novogens.

Discovering the food.

They are pretty active and vocal.

Cute little nugget!

We've even named them! We are going to call them all Henrietta. That way, there's no mistaking any of them!

Garden Update, End of April 2023

 The garden is coming along slowly this year. After the mattress fiasco, I still am not back up to par with my breathing. I don't know what's up and I don't have a doctor's appointment regarding it until next month.
Anyhow, I'm an impatient person and I am probably putting too many expectations on how things should be coming along.
This is what we have going on so far.

Bob got both greenhouses secured to the ground using rebar.

Technically, these greenhouses are longer than our fifth wheel is.

The rebar and clamps cost around $60.

One down and one to go. The covers actually go on fairly easily. Bob was able to do it all on his own.

I always buy a few lettuce plants to plant so that I can get a jump on being able to enjoy some homegrown salads, etc. I planted this out around 2 weeks ago.

I planted some onion sets so that I have green onions to use. They will be ready to harvest not too long from now. I have another 100 to plant. I wanted to stagger them.

My peas are starting to sprout. I'm most excited about the Roveja Soup variety. It's an Italian heirloom variety that comes from the Umbria region. I've never had a soup pea. I've never heard of soup peas until this year. I figured that I would give them a whirl.

We lost the bottom out of another raised bed. This bed has our shallots in it and I planted a few Egyptian Walking Onion bulbils in there last year when I pulled all of mine out.
Bob will have to take the legs off and set it on the ground like he did the other one.

The potatoes sprouted and they got covered with straw. We'll continue to do that as they pop up.

This is marjoram. It wintered over. I need to do a bit of pruning on it.

This is my lavender that I've had for the past decade or so. I plan on putting it in the ground somewhere.

Rosemary sure has some uniquely beautiful flowers.

This is one of the mint plants that my old neighbor gave me to plant.

The strawberry patch is sure looking scraggly.

I need to have Bob move my pot of chives up closer to the fifth wheel.

This is one of the honeyberry bushes that my old neighbor gave me.

This is a wild mullein plant that grows on the opposite side of the driveway.

This is the spearmint that I planted last year. I took a zoom photo of the moss world that lives with it in it's container.

We're going to put a layer of recycled cannabis grow soil over the leaves in the beds. That will amend them from that junk soil we got stuck with last year. I have 2 more of these cucumber trellises to go in there, too. I am thinking that I need to make some dill pickles this year.

I've had the big raised bed planted out for a month or more now. I have broccoli, red cabbage, brussels sprouts and a whole lot of onions planted in there. I'll add in some bush peas and lettuce in the next few days.

My sole rose bush is starting to leaf out. I want to bring this up closer to the trailer so that it can be a bit more protected from the deer.

My friend, Rose, gave me this plant. I think it's pretty. I still need to figure out where to put it.

The Red Muzik garlic is doing very well.
I have 2 planter boxes of it.

The gooseberries and currants made it through the winter.

We have rhubarb growing and thriving. I'm thinking about putting more asparagus crowns behind the potato bed.

This is one of the snapdragons that I started from seed last year. It wintered over and is still growing.


Thanks for taking the garden tour with me. Hopefully, next week, I'll be announcing that we finally have gotten our baby chicks. Keep your fingers crossed.