Baby chicks Plymouth Barred Rocks

Another school project :) Our baby chicks are here! As you can see Titus is so proud of these little chickens. I love Plymouth Barred Rocks. So the entire flock all 16 (1 rooster) are all Barred rocks. I think they are the most beautiful, friendly, meat/egg, & cold hardy chicken. They are my favorite. Last night the temperatures dropped to 0-4 degrees so I was concerned about them being shipped but they all arrived healthy.

They came in a small box with heat packs and the cutest nesting material in the shape of a nest.

I purchased them from My Pet Chicken. The larger hatchery require 25 so I ordered from My Pet Chicken who has a minimum order of 15. We plan to sell 6 and keep 10.

The kids each get a baby chick so here they are claiming their chicken.

We love the Christy series of a mission and a schoolhouse in the Appalachian  Mountains.So I named my chicks after the characters in the TV series/book.I thought it was appropriate since we are a one room school house & love missions.

So I named my Rooster ~* Birdseye

My chicks~* Rubymay, Christy, Mrs. Alice, Fair-light, Opal

The kids named their chicks~* Miriam, Angel, Nya, Barbie 

The older kids are not interested. I can remember their excitement at this age when their baby chicks came. 

I can't wait for eggs!!! What is your favorite kind of chicken?

Mealworm farm

I love science especially Biology. I have started a mealworm farm. What a great way to teach insect life cycles while your family benefits. The mealworms & beetles we produce will be for the chickens during the winter when they can't free range as well as my pet turtles. The guys can also benefit when they go fishing.

I placed a life cycle chart on the sides. This also helps with less dusting :) while educating. The top chart shows how to move the mealworms through each stage which is why there are three drawers.  There are many great videos on Youtube and websites how to raise mealworms.  We own horses so I will be using the flaked oats as bedding since we will tons of it but you can use cornmeal or oats for the food/ bedding.
Vegetables and fruits keeps them hydrated as week as food. I have a tortoise so the left over  food she doesn't will go to the ,mealworms & chickens.

Another fun school science project!