Today, we turned in our Garden in a Wheelbarrow project to the county fair. It turned out great and it was a lot of fun. We would definitely do it again, but not next year!This is a science fair project board that we used to display our "evidence of learning." I divided it in half; one side is for Isaac and the other for Elise.

Isaac learned about where food comes from; seeds and plant life cycles; beneficial v. harmful bugs in the garden; sorting & counting seeds; he also wrote a story and a poem; and much more!

Elise did a large research project on Urban Options for Self-Sufficiency, which included the topics gardening, chicken keeping, and meat rabbits. She also did research on a moth that appeared dead on our porch and discovered that it was the Tomato Hornworm in the caterpillar stage. She also learned about the plant life cycle, the parts of a flower, Colony Collapse Disorder and wrote many poems.

We also discovered mushrooms in our wheelbarrow which led to an impromptu lesson on "NEVER eat a mushroom you find in the yard, even if it is growing in your raised bed, or wheelbarrow garden!"

Our plants did not grow very well, so Elise got to do some observations and conclusions about why that might be and added her findings to our project. When we got to the fair, several other wheelbarrows had similar components to their projects.

It did turn out nice, though. Elise made glittery signs welcoming the viewers to the garden, and naming the plant types, as well as, the kids names. Isaac made fences from popsicle sticks for a chicken run. Elise printed out pictures of a coop and chickens that are the same type as Daisey, Dolly and Charlotte. We added all of it to our wheelbarrow garden.
It was really fun to put all of this together today! Showing the kids how all their hard work really tied together was great also! They did work hard, and in the end it showed!

The Coop is Done!!

Brian built the coop in our side yard. We knew it would be heavy and didn't want to have to move it far!Joseph thought we built him a play house!

We made the coop to resemble our house. We used the same siding and painted it the same color. Green is my favorite color, so I really love it!Here Brian is working on the run. It is all enclosed with hardware cloth. We decided to put the coop along our fence where our persimmon tree was(read the earlier post about the persimmon tree!http://keslerfamily.blogspot.com/2007/12/very-busy-december.html ) So we ripped out the tree and some plants to make room for the chickens. The space is an awkward shape, which meant it was more fun for Brian to build!
Elise and Joe!
They are so sweet!

Here is the garden view of the finished coop!

(Notice the soybean and tomatillo plants!! YUM!)

The mostly finished coop!

Brian did a fabulous job!

The roof is designed to be "Green" so it will be full of plants! We thought that would help insulate the coop during our hot summers and give us more space to garden! I can't wait to see the coop with flowers and greens growing on top!

Elise & Dolly, Camille & Charlotte, Isaac & Daisy!

Isabel has her Puppies!

Isabel's puppies were born during the night of April 26th, 2010!For more info please check out her blog!

CHICKENS...Then & Now!

Shelby


Dolly, doesn't she look rediculus!

Koda

Aunt Bea

Dahlia... two pictures, one pose!

Thelma Lou

Charlotte

The Chicks New Home!

Elise and I worked together to build a lid for the chicks new home.

It is very important that the chicks can't fly out and that the cat can't get in.

We both decided that we hate working with hardware cloth!

Here is a view of the new, roomier chick home!

It is reddish because of the glow from the heat lamp.We bought a small wading pool at the goodwill,

which will help keep the pine shavings contained!

Then, there is a roll of corrugated cardboard as the walls of the enclosure.

And topping it all off is the lid we made!

The new home is in the garage, which is also Brian's office!
He does not seem to mind the chirping, it is really cute!

The chicks will eat right out of our hands!

Here they are eating Kale that we chopped up very fine!

I thought this was a cute picture of the chicks around their food dispenser.

So, the time came to clip the chicks wings!

Elise helped to hold them, and I did the cutting.

Charlotte was very patient as we clipped her wings.

Only one wing is clipped to cause the birds to become off balance, making flight more difficult.

Elise kept a feather from each chick and made this picture!

Isaac is holding Dolly!
We think she is a frizzle chicken,

which makes her look like she is having a bad hair day...everyday!

Elise is holding Shelby!

Camille is holding Thelma Lou.

We think she may also be a frizzle, we are waiting to see what she looks like when she has more feathers. Thelma Lou is the smallest chick, but is certainly not at the bottom of the pecking order!

Growing Chicks!

Today, Elise and Isaac weighed and photographed each chick!

Day 3 is the day we got them(they were 3 days old) and day 12 is today.

Dahlia(Isaac's favorite)

Day 3: 1 1/8 oz and Day 12: 3 3/8 oz
Dolly(Elise's favorite) has feathers growing on her legs! She is sooo cute!
Day 3: 1 1/8 oz and Day 12: 3 3/8 ozCharlotte is Camille's favorite. She is named after Charlotte's Web.
Day 3: 1 1/8 oz and Day 12: 2 7/8 oz

Weighing the chicks!

Isaac weighing Dahlia!

We are raising the following chicks for a friend.

We are not weighing these chicks. Three seems to be enough to keep up with!

They are all growing strong and healthy. This one I call Georgia and Elise calls her Amber, what will Karen and her new family call her?This one is such a soft gray color, she is beautiful!

This one reminds me of a real grown up hen, she is always pecking!

We are really enjoying the chicks. The next big news in the chick world will be a new home in the garage. The Laundry room is too small. However, the new home must be predator proof. Our cat is very interested in them!!!