Birthdays!!!

On Jeff's birthday last week, The Haven's first baby chicks were born. Two New Hampshire Red chicks hatched out that day, and one Partridge Rock hatched the next day. We started out with 7 NHR hatching eggs, but the first hen we put them under broke 4 of them on the second day. So, I fired her and put the eggs under the other hen who was acting broody. She sat on the eggs really well, but the third hen, in the tractor with them, kept laying eggs on top of the sitting hen. That's how some PR eggs were added to the nest, and I think that is how another NHR egg got broken. A few days before hatching, we moved another tractor to the second pasture, and the 2 NHR hens and rooster were placed in it with the other PR hens. We waited to move the PR rooster until we could put a door on the tractor, which would give the roosters more space to work out their pecking order issues. However, the big NHR rooster was dead by the next morning. (sniff!) We're not sure why he died, but perhaps the heat and the stress of the move got to him - ? Luckily, the NHR chick that hatched out at Full Life Farm is a male. He's 6 or so weeks old now, and he's growing big and fast. Yay! Unfortunately, one of the NHR Haven chicks didn't make it. It looked like the mama hen might have smothered it some time during the second night. The other 2 chicks are doing well, and we'll have to wait and see what sex they turn out to be.

We celebrated Jeff's 33rd birthday with a small gathering at The Haven. Our friend, Rebekah, who is a fabulous baker, made a delicious Big Bird cake that was reminiscent of Jeff's 3rd birthday cake. I aso busted out some balloons, poppers, and horns for the occasion in order to assist Jeff in bringing back fond memories of youth and reconnecting with his inner child, which we all enjoyed sharing in. :-) Jeff grilled some yummy marinated meats on the grill, which we finally moved out to The Haven earlier that day, and garlic mashed potatoes were also prepared for the meal. Oh, and did I mention that Rebekah brought ice cream too? (big grin) Good food and a good time were had by all.

-Annie