Posts Tagged ‘ eggs ’

A Sweet Chick

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A Sweet Chick

I’ve kept chickens for more than 15 years and in all that time I’ve never had a chicken go broody and stick with it. Until now. This little girl hatched out today, a few days later than I’d expected her. We were unsure if the eggs from our Dutch Browns were fertile (they’re not so fond of King Henry), but this chick hatched from one of their eggs. In another twist, our other Black Cochin broke into the nesting box several times to lay eggs. I’m quite confident that her eggs are fertile. I’ll be keeping an eye on the momma hen for the next few days. If she leaves the nest while some are still unhatched, I’ll do my best to hatch them (without an incubator) and then tuck the chicks under her at night. If you’ve got any tips for me, feel free to share!

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Surprise Chicks

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Look what I found in my chicken pen! One of the wild hens has been hanging around and yesterday she showed up with a bunch of chicks. Later in the day I found two that had made their way into our pen and couldn’t get out. No mama in sight, so I brought them inside. Our flock just grew by two!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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A More Sustainable Easter Basket

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A More Sustainable Easter Basket

If your kids are expecting a visit from the Easter Bunny, now’s a good time to alert the rabbit to the fact that your household would appreciate a little less waste than usual. The “Basket” Sure, we call it a basket, but it’s just as common nowadays to see a plastic bucket or toy stand in as a container for the Easter eggs. If your kids are in need of a new basket, get ‘em a real live basket made of wicker (not plastic!). Not only are these made from natural materials, but they last forever (truly, I still have mine from when I was a child), and will decompose if they become unusable. Look for one with a natural finish instead of a shiny, varnished one. The Filler For goodness, gracious sake. Whatever you do, do not buy plastic grass. You can get biodegradable Easter grass. You can use raffia. Or tissue paper. Or, in a pinch, the tax papers you just ran through your paper shredder. But don’t use plastic grass! The Goods As with plastic grass, may I also insist on no plastic Easter eggs? If, in a misguided moment prior to the greening of your...

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Chicken Tractor in a Pinch

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Chicken Tractor in a Pinch

So, I’ve got chickens. I’ve raised egg laying chickens for more than a dozen years but I’m finding it to be a bit of a challenge here in suburbia. Mostly because the chickens are refusing to follow directions. See, we have little in the way of predators, so unlike some of you, I don’t need a coop as solid as Fort Knox. I’ve been letting them roam free around here and they’re doing a fine job of keeping down the slugs (slug eggs? Like chicken caviar!) and bugs. But these chickens, they have a mind of their own. They’ve snubbed my suggested nesting boxes and made their own comfy spot to lay. They insist on scratching in my garden area, tilling up seedlings and making me crazy. And now they’re venturing into the neighbors’ yards. I needed a way to contain them without building a big, expensive coop, something I could put together quickly and before my neighbors start giving me stink eye. I like the idea of a chicken tractor, so I can keep them contained and yet offer fresh grass. Necessity, meet invention: Tacky? Absolutely! But it took me, alone, less than an hour to implement this...

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Egg Carton Conundrum

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Egg Carton Conundrum

If you don’t raise chickens for eggs, you can make a more sustainable choice at the grocery store. For goodness sake, stop buying eggs in Styrofoam! You may pay slightly more for eggs in fiber cartons but those cartons can be composted! And if your neighborhood egg sellers are offering you eggs in plastic (one of the dumbest things marketed to egg people), let them know that you’d prefer yours in a basket.

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Welcome

It’s one thing to think, “Hey, I’d love to be more self-sufficient!” and quite another to implement a lifestyle change that might require learning some new skills.

Attainable Sustainable is about bridging the gap between wanting change and making it happen without becoming overwhelmed. Nobody’s saying you have to go get a tractor and a cow. Attainable Sustainable is about discovering – one step at a time – how to make changes in your life to support a sustainable lifestyle.

The Author

Kris Bordessa has been gardening for most of her life. She's been authoring books and writing features for the past ten years or so. It's about time she combined the two, don't you think? [More about the author]