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Parsley Farm

We are a small backyard farm seeking to educate people, help others, and live more sustainably. There's lot's going on at Parsley Farm. She lives with us.
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We are a small backyard farm dedicated to educating people, helping others, and living a more sustainable life. If you're wondering why we are "Parsley Farm," "Pars" is from my last name and "sley" is from Greg's. We post videos on YouTube of our animals, projects, recipes, ideas, and renovations. We help out a friend of ours who is "differently-abled" and uses a wheelchair to get around. And some

times helps us with our projects. We also have chickens, ducks, fish, bees, dogs, and (Stephanie's sister's) dove. Since we are always taking on new projects, there is never a dull moment!! But have no fear, there is plenty of humor and fun along the way! Come join us on our journey!!

09/05/2024

08/14/2024

This beauty has not been kind to my birds. We are hoping to build covered runs in the future. It's just not in our budget (especially timewise), at the moment. Please say a little prayer for our birds' safety and resilience, during this stressful time!! Also, for the lives lost to predation. I know it's the circle of life. But it hits hard when you know you can be doing more to protect your babies 😭

P.S. Neighbors, if you hear me outside yelling like an abusive spouse, this is who I'm yelling at. 🤣😫

08/12/2024

Update: I found an egg today (just 4 days after this original post). 😍

Pretty little leghorn pullet. Her comb and wattles are really starting to come in. You know what that means? Eggs soon!! She's 16 weeks today. Could be getting eggs any day!! 🥚🍳😋

08/06/2024

I have several gorgeous cockerels up for discussion. If you're looking to add some rumpless araucana genes to your flock or some amazing blue egg genes or olive egg genes, these are your guys!! Feel free to massage me with any questions :)

08/05/2024

My egg people, I'm thinking about getting quail. Any interest in quail eggs? They're so pretty!! Here's a picture of my friend's quail eggs 😍

08/01/2024

A couple beautiful eggs from our two newest layers 😍

07/28/2024

My little chicken tender 😍

07/28/2024

New accessory for this "Crazy Chicken Lady" It seems someone left me a hat today. Love it!! ❤️❤️❤️

07/22/2024

Added some swings in the runs, for the birds. I always thought it was a funny idea. But, I put one in my big brooder and the babies loved it. So, I've been wanting to add them to my runs too... How long do you think it will take the chickens to figure them out? I'm guessing a week or two. Greg's on the fence as to whether they'll get used or not 🤣🤣🤣

07/19/2024

Here's to the "Maybe Baby" Miracle Chicks!! They've pipped!! I should preface this with we ABSOLUTELY DON'T NEED ANYMORE CHICKS 😆😆😆 But, I guess I'm a sucker for life.

A couple weeks back, a mama emerged with 3 chicks in tow. After a few days 2 went missing. When I went looking for the chicks, I found a stash of about a dozen eggs scattered on the ground, beneath the main coop. Unsure how long they had been under there, Charlise and I scooped them up, brought them inside and put them on my counter. I figured on boiling them as a treat for the animals. Hours later... Seriously, it was past midnight. I think we grabbed them just after lunch. So it had been almost 12 hours that the eggs sat on my counter... So HOURS LATER, I went to boil them and thought I will be horrified if I boil these eggs and find chicks inside. So I candled them and found 5 had viable chicks 10-15 days developed. So my guess is the mama with the 3 chicks was sitting on these eggs too. But probably left them during the day to care for the babies and maybe sat on them at night. I didn't think they would make it. But I took a chance and stuck them under a broody hen.

Now, I was not going to let this hen hatch eggs. She had been broody for a while and being broody isn't healthy for hens, long term. Or even short term, really because they essentially deprive themselves any basic needs for 21 days give or take. They are so devoted to becoming moms, they sit on their clutch of eggs only getting off once per day to eat, grab a few sips of water, and relieve themselves. They pull out all the feathers on their bellies so they can snuggle those eggs, on their bare skin, providing the delicate balance of warmth and humidity, to create a perfect little life inside each egg.

This hen had made up her mind and there was no changing it. I dreaded letting her sit on eggs 21 more days. So this was the perfect opportunity, having eggs that were most of the way developed. I set them in front of her in the best box that had become hers for the past couple months. She eagerly accepted the eggs, rolling them under herself.

Within a week, there was a chick... and another... and another. Well, the chicks weren't waiting to explore the world. So mama and the chicks ventured outside. And the last 2 eggs were abandoned a second time.

Usually, a broody will stash eggs in a spot and the eggs don't develop until she starts sitting on them. Once she sits she stops laying until after the babies are hatched and she can replenish her body. But, it was another hen providing the eggs, to the first broody. So they were all developing and hatching a day apart. Mama hens somehow know a baby chick can live 3 days off the yolksack it absorbed just before hatching. So that first chick hatched. The second, the next day. And by the time the third came along, the first needed to venture out for food and water. We did try bringing them some. But it was hard for the chicks to get the food and water unless we took them out of the nest box. That stressed mama. So it made the most sense to move mama and the babies to a safe spot on the floor... Next thing I knew, mama and the babies were out and about in the run.

I took the remaining eggs up to the house and candled them. I could see chicks moving inside, pipped into the air cell which is where they take their first little breaths. This means they will need more oxygen soon. As they run out of air in the egg, they break a small hole in the shell. That takes so much out of them, they rest a while before breaking a ring around the fat end of the egg. If all goes well, they will be kicking out of their eggs a little later today. 🙏🙏🙏

05/25/2024

Update on our broody mama... there appears to be some shell pieces in the brooder with her AND I believe I heard some peeping 😍 (Hard to tell for sure because she's in my brooder room where I'm keeping other chicks.) Will try to get some pictures of mama with the babies as soon as she allows!!

05/24/2024

Araucana babies 😍 Chick #1 eagerly welcomed Chick #2. It was the sweetest!! Lots of babies on the farm right now!! The araucanas are here to stay. We are excited to be adding these interesting looking chickens to our flock.

We do have lots of other chicks looking for homes. If anyone is looking to add some neat colors to their egg basket, feel free to reach out!! :)

05/15/2024

Karma. 😅 I think the birds ganged up on Meatball and put him in "jail" because of his shenanigans (first spring hormones). 🤣🤣🤣

He somehow got himself stuck inside the fencing we put up to protect the grapevines from the birds. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the break 🤷‍♀️

05/08/2024

Best little chicken patient!! Honey has had a case of bumble foot (worst case I've ever seen, actually).

I noticed blood in the coop one day, about a month ago. I looked around to see who it was coming from, and found Honey with a limp and a foot that would not stop bleeding. At one point I was worried she would actually die from blood loss. But I eventually did get her foot to stop bleeding. Then began the tedious process of trying to get the infection out.

The immune system in chickens typically "walls off" infections. So instead of oozy type pus, it usually presents as a hard "kernel" of pus. A lot of times chicken tenders will find themselves in a position similar to "Dr Pimple Popper," in that to get a chicken to heal properly, you have to extract the infection. I usually start by cleaning and soaking the area. Then an iodine wash and picking at the scab. Often, the kernel will be attached to the scab or just under it, somewhat easily removed. That was not the case for Honey.

Every time I tried to pick at the scab, her foot would bleed profusely and then my concern was getting the bleeding to stop. I was unable to get the infection out. But I knew I needed to. So I worked at it a little bit every night. FINALLY, a few nights ago, I was able to clear the entire infection out.

This was not a typical case. There were 3 scabs- two on top and one on the bottom. When I was working ointment into the biggest scab, the other scabs were moving. So I knew it was connected inside her foot. I worked all angles, slowly loosening the kernel, eventually pulling it out. Once out, I looked inside and was able to remove more little bits of infection until I didn't see anymore. Then I flushed it with sterile saline and packed it with Manuka Honey. And by the next day, significant healing had already started!!

Honey is back in the coop and doing well!! I pull her every night for a soak and dressing change. Then put her back on the roost with her flockmates.

05/05/2024

Wish this mama luck!! She has been wanting to brood babies for 2 years now. So this year we decided to set her up with a clutch of eggs. Will see how she does! 🐣🐥

04/27/2024

Sweetest little red leghorn boy. Every time I pick him up, he snuggles into my hand and passes out 😍

04/12/2024

Secret speckles!! Wet, you can see them. Dry, you can barely make them out. The heavy bloom on these eggs hides the speckles. The bloom is a protective coating on eggs that keeps bacteria out. Not only does it seal out bacteria, though. It also adds interest and beauty. Certain breeds have really dark brown blooms. While others lay eggs with white or light blooms. The bloom can totally change the appearance of an egg, as you can see with the two eggs pictured :)

04/10/2024

Kind of obsessed with this little cutie. Hoping for a pullet. The other two who hatched from the same hen already look like 1 boy and 1 girl. This one grew a comb quick. But it's not turning red... so I still have hope for a girl 😍 Brother has a male pea comb that isn't really turning red yet either... time will tell!!

04/08/2024

Didn't even see this until today!! It was rolled up and tucked to the side of our money box... wrapped inside of this note was a VERY generous gift!! We are grateful for YOU!! And your kind generosity!! Wow! I hope you follow our farm page. So you know how moved we are!! Thank very much!! 😍

04/05/2024

Pretty "Rainbow" eggs, from our ladies 😍

04/04/2024

Now offering chicks and hatching eggs from our MDAR Certified flock. Please reach out if interested 😍

03/26/2024

Some of the babies, adjusting to their new brooder 😍

08/14/2023

Guys, check your compost piles!! I've spent all spring cultivating the pathetic avocados in the pot. I dumped my countertop compost bin the other day and found 2 beautiful avocado plants... just sitting there... growing, all on their own 🤦‍♀️ Tomatoes and other plants can often be found growing beautifully, in your compost... keep an eye out!! 🤣

Address

147 Main Street
Groveland, MA
01834

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Videos

Don't mind his appearance!! He's going through a soft molt. That's when chickens lose their feathers and grow new ones. This one's not too bad. He's getting some new tail feathers and hackles in. He'll be looking like his handsome self in no time. 😍 #steviewonder #mrwonderful #mrwonder #handsomeboy #bcm #blackcoppermarans #mybestboy #flockprotector #shakeit #parsleyfarmchickens #parsleyfarmbirds #parsleyfarm

Stevie Wonder was not accepted back by his flock after I removed him to treat an eye injury this spring. Pierre, who was once his best bud, became terrible to him, chasing him and not letting him eat or be around his girls. I promptly removed Stevie. But he would sit outside his old run and watch his flock, his "old life." It really broke my heart. He insisted on going to bed with them each night. And each morning I would find Pierre terrorizing him. After a few weeks of freeranging my first group of hatchlings with him, one evening I made the decision not to open his old run for him to go to bed. Instead, I set up a small light in the temporary coop the "new girls" are in. And let the light guide Mr. Wonder to his new home. The girls were hesitant to accept him. At first he was the only bird on the roost at night. But each night, I peek in to find a new pullet snuggling up with him on the roost. It's really putting a smile on my face to see Stevie get his confidence back!! #steviewonder #steviewobdertherooster #steviewonderlegacy #stevieandhisgirls #blackcoppermarans #maranschickens #coloredlayers #parsleyfarmbirds #parsleyfarm #gettinghisgrooveback

Love these little suet baskets for entertaining our older birds and the babies them it too!! For the babies, it helps with coordination- trying to peck at a moving object. And provides endless hours of entertainment. This little group of chicks is awesome and they were curious about it within seconds. I've had other groups that are horrified by anything new and they take a while to figure it out. If you're offering young birds treats, remember to offer "baby grit," especially if they aren't outside on fresh ground where they can find these little bits of rock. Chick feed is easily digestible for them. But because they don't have teeth, they use small stones in their gizzard to break down more fiberous food. Also, keep in mind, chick feed is specifically formulated to meet their nutritional needs. So treats should only make up 10% or less of their intake. #entertainment #babies #chickseason #keepthosebabiesentertained #nomorepecking #parsleyfarm #parsleyfarmbirds #chickenideas #suetbasket #feedthebirds #ourbabies