Tag Archives: backyard poultry farming

The Black Knight: A New Love

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So, Chick-Chick’s love story has an unexpected twist – she already found a new love. Yay! And I really thought she’s going to be single for a looooong time. lol For the backstory of her love life, you may read it here.

The Black Knight

Who’s the new flame, then? I call him “Black Knight” because his legs are all black, and he’s a fierce-looking rooster. He’s also way younger than Chick, but very assertive and has an air of authority.

He’s also very protective, but at the same time gives Chick the freedom to roam around all by herself. He may not be the typical dashing prince, but he sure has the aura of a knight in shining armor. Just perfect for Chick who’s a damsel in distress. 😉

Boosting Egg Production

This means only one thing for us – egg production will continue. So far, Chick laid 10 eggs already (all thanks to Black Knight). We left 1 egg in her nest so she will lay eggs in 1 location only thinking her nest wasn’t disrupted. Though 1 egg was eaten by a rat in her previous nest.

Will cook some of these tomorrow to assess egg quality i.e. color of yolk, hardness of shell, etc. 👍👍

I am currently playing the role of an animal behaviorist to learn more about chickens. lol My findings are quite interesting actually. For one, hens have this maternal instinct to protect their eggs, so finding a good spot to lay their eggs on is crucial.

Finding The Right Location

She tried 3 locations and the 3rd one was the most difficult to find. Maybe she realized that after 2 failed attempts at protecting her nest, she had to find a spot that was completely hidden.

So, how did we find the 3rd nest? My sister followed her around, and she saw Chick go under a sakolin, which we use to cover the water pumps. Voila, in between the water pumps, we found the eggs.

Why Poultry Farming

I did ask God why He placed a desire on my husband’s heart to pursue poultry farming in 2021. This is actually the reason why we came here to my hometown last year to explore opportunities in poultry production.

When my husband told me his plan, I suggested to him that we ask my parents if it’s okay to utilize a portion of our farm for poultry production. When we got here and did a site inspection, my husband and I decided that it will need a lot of work in order to get it started.

This was actually one of his reasons for deciding to work abroad. He wants to be in charge of financing the poultry project, and he wants me to oversee and manage it. I believe this is what God has planned all along. I’ve already been doing my research on poultry farming, which started last year since my husband doesn’t have the time to do it.

I was able to find a lot of online resources already on poultry farming including choosing the chicken breed, making the poultry house, preparing the chicken feed, increasing egg production, and marketing live chickens, dressed chickens, and eggs.

All I did last year was conduct research, and this year, we started preparing a portion of the project site. Then the surprise came later this year – a rogue hen grazed our garden. It’s as if God was telling me that it is about time I apply what I learned. No escaping God’s will, eh? 😉

And indeed, here I am taking care of this rogue hen, and God also provided a rooster. Although I might buy the rooster from my nephew because he’s the original owner. 😊

I never planned any of this to happen, but God made them happen. I just did what the Spirit asked me to do and kind of just went along with how things played out.

All I am praying for now is for my nephew to keep the Black Knight so he would stay with Chick forever. lol Indeed, God (love) moves in mysterious ways. Oftentimes, it will just come when you least expect it. ❤️

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” – Genesis 2:18

Found this bookmark inside a Bible that belonged to my late grandma – such a beautiful reminder. 🙂❤️🙏

So, This Mama Hen Chickened Out

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Yes, this Mama Hen is a chicken and refused to go back to her previous owner. She’s probably scared of being court-martialed for going on mutiny and being sentenced to death by grilling.

Rogue Chicken

I’ve been shooing and chasing her around the yard a hundred times (that would be precisely 100 steps), but to no avail. She keeps on coming back and even chooses to lay her eggs under our garden plants.

There’s something about the numbers “7” & “8” lately.

So, I asked her to get to the bottom of it all:

Me: Are you scaredy cat?

Mama Hen: Well, obviously not. I’m just a chicken.

😂😂😂

To be honest, we’ve already asked the neighbors if the chicken’s theirs, and they said “no.” So we just decided to keep her and her 7 eggs if ever they hatch.

The chicken that came from nowhere.

I already ordered a chicken net online for the old chicken coop (used previously as a turtle’s cage) that we have here, so her future chicks won’t be scaredy cat of being eaten by real cats.

It looks like this Mama Hen was sent as an unexpected blessing because poultry farming is also one of the projects that we plan to pursue and integrate into our farm. I already created a business plan for it, I’m just waiting for God’s perfect time when to start if it is indeed part of His plans.

Mama Hen chose this perfect spot to lay her eggs. It’s just challenging to “redesign” her cage. But glad to see she’s all dry even during rainy days.

So, Mama Hen should really chicken out because she will be my very first case study for backyard poultry farming. Though I think the probability of her becoming a dearly beloved pet is 99.9%. 😉