Not long ago, I shared photos of my 11 baby Silkie chickens. Since then, the young flock has grown. All of them were incubated and hatched right here at my farm. They’re now about a month old and doing excellently - alert, healthy, and very curious. They will remain indoors until they are old enough to join the others in the chicken coops.
Enjoy these photos.
These babies are so alert. In January, I attended the 2022 Northeastern Poultry Congress – a poultry show held every year in Springfield, Massachusetts. The event features more than 2500 birds, including large fowl, waterfowl, turkeys, pigeons, Guineas, and of course, a variety of wonderful breed chickens. While there, I purchased a group of chickens and some eggs. 11 healthy chicks hatched – all in special incubators set up in my Stable feed room.
As soon as the chicks are able to walk, they’re up and about and playing and interacting with each other. They also peck at each other playfully. There are eight Silkie color varieties accepted by the American Poultry Association. They include black, blue, buff, gray, partridge, splash, and white.
Here is one of the gray Silkie chicks – notice, Silkies have black eyes.
Silkies also have black skin, along with black muscles and bones, and dark beaks, combs, and wattles.
And, Silkies have extra toes, a genetic condition called polydactylly. Most chickens normally have four toes – a few breeds have five, Silkies among them.
If you’re unfamiliar with Silkies, they were originally bred in China. Silkie chickens are known for their characteristically fluffy plumage said to feel silk- or satin-like to the touch.
Silkies grow a bit slower than other chicken breeds and shouldn’t be outside until they have all their feathers and have lost all their fuzz.
These chicks are great eaters, and seem to get bigger and more curious every day.
It is always nice to see such a strong and energetic group of babies.
Because the Silkie’s feathers lack functioning barbicels, similar to down on other birds, they are unable to fly.
Here in the Stable feed room, they are checked several times a day. This room is also free from drafts. Chicks require an air temperature of 95 degrees during the first week, 90 degrees the second week, and so on – going down by around five degrees per week until they’re ready to transition to the coop.
Here’s one at the feeding station. Starter feed is a protein dense variety of chicken feed designed to meet a chick’s dietary requirements. Chicks remain on starter feed for at least the first six weeks and then progress to grower feed.
All my chicks get a balanced diet of medicated chick crumb with some treats and fresh greens from my gardens.
Silkies are adaptable, playful, and friendly. And, they are naturally more calm than most other breeds.
I wonder what their conversations are like. In general, chickens are quite vocal. They make around 30 different calls to communicate with each other, expressing everything from “I am hungry” to “there’s a predator nearby.”
At this stage, these Silkies are already greeting visitors that enter the room – I am looking forward to seeing them mature with the rest of my flock.
Remember these adolescent Silkies I brought home from the same show? These four are doing very well. We put a basket in the pen for the hens. Hopefully, they will start to lay some eggs soon.
Here, one can see their grayish-blue beaks, which are short and quite broad at the base.
Silkie hens or pullets generally mature around eight to 10 months and cockerels about 10 to 12 months. They hit their full size around four or five months and get their first real adult set of feathers about this time as well.
Silkies are relatively long lived for chickens with an average life expectancy of around eight or nine years and they remain productive long after other breeds have stopped laying eggs. This is most likely due to their laid back happy nature and low productivity rates. I am sure they will be very happy here at Cantitoe Corners.
There's always lots to do on a working farm - even when the weather doesn't cooperate.
With spring officially starting in just a couple of weeks, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew will soon be busy with a new list of seasonal chores. Over these last few weeks of winter, the weather has been quite erratic - snow and ice with below freezing temperatures as well as milder days with lots of rain and mud. Whenever it's stormy outside, I encourage everyone to take stock of the equipment, clean everything, and then organize all the tools and supplies. My large Equipment Barn is about 40 by 120 feet, with a substantial amount of height. It is where we store mowers, blowers, tractors, tools, and other pieces of important machinery. Not long ago, we cleared the space, swept the floor and inspected every item before returning it neatly to its spot, so everything is organized and ready for use. Keeping everything well maintained and properly stored will always save time in the long run.
Enjoy these photos.
I built this Equipment Barn soon after purchasing the farm. There are two giant sliding doors at each end for accessing equipment. This structure is located just down the carriage road from my main greenhouse and close to my vegetable greenhouse and hay barn. To clean it thoroughly, everything is brought out, the floor is cleaned and then everything is returned to its proper place. At night, this barn accommodates all our farm vehicles and equipment.
The Equipment Barn is well lit with these big overhead lamps. I use very utilitarian lighting and fans where I can on the farm.
The rugged cement floors are all blown of debris and washed.
Ladders of various sizes rest against one wall close to one set of large barn doors.
Near the ladders, we keep all the wheelbarrows. These are very helpful for carrying mulch and tools to various gardens. I always remind the crew to use the right tools for the right jobs and to bring everything they may need to complete specific tasks.
Here’s Chhiring checking all the hard rakes. Some of the tines of this one were slightly bent from use, but Chhiring is able to hammer it back into proper shape.
All the tools are brought to the sink for cleaning. Here are some of the spades and shovels. Do you know the difference between a shovel and a spade? Shovels are broad-bottomed tools for moving loose materials, while spades tend to have a flat bottom edge for digging.
Pasang looks up and smiles as he washes all the tools.
Once cleaned, all the gardening tools are hung on sturdy hooks.
The tools are hung on these flip-up holders – they’re made of steel with a vinyl coating, and can hold up to 50-pounds each.
We keep like items together, so we always know where to find them and how many we have in supply.
On this section of wall, we hang all the leaf blowers and weed-whackers, or string trimmers. Our blowers are made by STIHL. We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering much lower emissions. The long handled tools are STIHL’s telescoping pole pruners. These come in very handy and are extremely lightweight. Plus, with an adjustable shaft, the telescoping pole pruner can cut branches up to 16 feet above the ground.
This is STIHL’s backpack battery and hand blower. The backpack battery eliminates the cost of fuel and engine oil and can be used with several other useful accessories.
STIHL’s most well-known tool is the chainsaw. STIHL designed and built its first electric chain saw in 1926 and 94 years later, it is still one of its best pieces of equipment. The chainsaw has soft grips for comfortability and secure maneuverability.
All the STIHL batteries are returned to their charging stations, so they’re ready to use the next day.
On this side of the Barn, we keep our fleet of Kubota mowers. They are all parked by the back entrance to the barn during the summer season when they are used daily. Here is my Kubota SZ22NC-48 stand-on mower. We use this to mow areas where the riding mower cannot go.
We keep our big Kubota tractors parked in the Equipment Barn also. This is my Kubota model M62 tractor. It is used every single day for transporting soil, mulch, heavy pots, multiple tools, organic debris and so much more. A tractor is essential to any working farm. It also holds our Kubota backhoe for big digging jobs.
This is our Kubota M4-071 tractor. It’s designed to use auxiliary equipment such as the L1154 front loader that helps us transport so many things around the farm – potted plants, mulch, wood, etc.
On the back is our Land Pride PR1690 Power Rake. This piece of equipment has a 90-inch rake to work on large properties. We are using it to rake and grade the carriage roads, but it is also capable of windrowing soil, rocks, and debris in a field. When it is lowered onto the road surface and tilted to the proper angle, this attachment moves the gravel and road dust to the center, creating the proper crown for the road.
The wood chipper is another important piece of equipment at the farm. I am fortunate to have this machinery to chip fallen or cut branches and then return them to the woodland for top dressing various areas.
And hung up on this wall is this clever contraption. This tool is used for raking the four-miles of carriage road at the farm. We attached four soft rakes to pieces of wood that hook up to the back of our Polaris ATV. The roads are neatly raked as one drives.
Finally, all the safety equipment is counted and placed within close reach. The Equipment Barn is clean and organized once again and ready for the busy spring season ahead. What spring cleaning and organizing goals do you have?
I’m always on the lookout for unusual and exquisite pieces to decorate my homes.
Recently, my housecleaner Carlos took on the task of cleaning and polishing three antique brass trays that I purchased during my last trip to Florida. These trays were timeworn, dull and dark in color, but I knew with a little work they'd shine beautifully. Brass is a strong, corrosion-resistant alloy made from a combination of zinc and copper. With its bright golden color, brass has long been a favorite material for home furnishings and decorative accents. Cleaning brass takes time and a lot of elbow grease to complete, but now these pieces are shimmering once again.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
Like any metal, brass can become dull and tarnished over time. Tarnish is a thin layer of corrosion that forms over brass, copper, silver, aluminum, magnesium, neodymium, and other similar metals as their outermost layer undergoes a chemical reaction, many times with the air. This tray is heavily tarnished now, but I knew it would be beautiful once it was cleaned up.
For cleaning, I have long used Wright’s Copper and Brass Cleaning Cream. It comes in small and large sizes. For this task, Carlos also gathers soft rags, rubber gloves, sponges, an old soft-bristled toothbrush, and some water. I always tell my team to collect all the needed supplies first, so it saves time hunting them down later.
Wright’s all-purpose cleaning creams come in a paste like this and is easy to apply with a sponge or soft rag.
After removing any dust on the tray, Carlos starts by gently rubbing small amounts of cream into the tarnished edge. Carlos wears rubber gloves to protect his hands from becoming black from the dirt and tarnish.
Look closely – one can already see the difference. The cream almost instantly changes the entire appearance of the piece.
Here’s another look – the left is still undone, but the right is looking much better. Carlos coats the piece’s edge with cream and lets it sit a few seconds. The brass starts to brighten as it is rubbed.
Carlos also applies cream in the crevices. Tarnish ranges in color from a light yellowy gold to almost black, depending on how long it has been allowed to develop. In addition to using soft sponges and rags, one can use cotton swabs to apply the cream to tight spots and crevices when cleaning.
Carlos uses the soft-bristled brush to rub all these tight spots. It may take a little longer when cleaning a piece with more intricate designs, crevices, or indentations, so be patient.
First he goes in one direction, and then in the other, so it is left as clean as possible.
On this side, the edge is looking excellent compared to the darker untouched center.
Carlos then wipes the edge carefully until all the cream is removed.
And then he wipes it again with a damp cloth to ensure every bit of cream is gone. One can also rinse the piece carefully and thoroughly, so there is no trace of cream left. This piece is too large for my basement sink.
Again, the edge is wiped thoroughly right away with a soft absorbent cloth to avoid any water marks.
The next step is to clean the center of the tray. Carlos rubs more cream into the piece using the sponge. Whenever polishing metals, be sure you use a product that is specifically made for the type of metal being cleaned.
He takes the soft-bristled toothbrush and gently rubs the flat areas to make any stuck tarnish is removed.
It’s looking much brighter and much shinier. Always avoid using highly abrasive scrubbing cloths, metal-bristled brushes, or steel wool; these will scratch the surface of the brass.
And here it is all finished. Brass items require regular dusting to maintain their shine and to prevent a buildup of tarnish. A more intense cleaning is required when the brass looks dull in color.
Here is another view. I am not yet sure where this piece will end up, but I am sure it will look great.
Here’s another tray with a similar design pattern but in a rectangular shape.
I love how it glistens now that it is cleaned and polished.
And here is a round tray without any colored designs. It looks so beautiful. It’s always so gratifying to get these tasks checked off the list. What are you cleaning up this weekend? Share your comments with me in the section below.
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