Farm News

This Months Colors

A Photo Diary
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I used to write in journals, these days I capture the happenings of our lives in images. Each image tells a story of what we have been working on and where we are headed with the farm.

Egg colors capture our imagination as we continue our breeding programs. Each season brings a new generation that yields new shades for your daily egg collecting basket. 

Little hands help sort and marvel at the different textures. 

alchemist_farmThis Months Colors
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Color Brings Us Joy

No matter how long the chores take it is the color of the eggs sorted at the end of the day that make it all worth while.
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I am continually tinkering on automatic coop doors, feeders and waterers for our 12 breeding groups spread out over our acreage. Sometimes I have little side kicks asking me to repeat the names of a breed or wanting to label eggs. Every moment on the land is a teaching moment with little ones and it all stems from the captivation these colors inspire. “I love the chocolate ones!” Will be followed by “I love the way the green ones feel”. Every egg is an opportunity for our children to connect to where their food comes from. Every label is a chance to practice letters and every feeder filled is a reminder that we must care for our animals every day.
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What does your rainbow inspire over at your place?

alchemist_farmColor Brings Us Joy
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Egg Art

Some weeks the farm chores distract us from natures perfect beauty. When we take a moment to slow down and really soak in what nature has created we am awe struck by the variety of shades, textures and shapes that are being created on the land.

alchemist_farmEgg Art
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Natures Beauty

🌿Nature’s Beauty!🌿🦔
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Daily collecting of quail eggs is a constant treat because they are so beautiful! Every quail hen lays a distinct pattern and her daily egg will be unique but follow the same pattern principle.
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Nutrient dense, these eggs are full of iron and taste like a Chicken egg with butter added 😍

alchemist_farmNatures Beauty
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We love speckles!

These are just a few of the speckled eggs I get to collect daily from our sage egger project. Inside these brown speckled beauties lie the ingredients for a hen that will lay eggs with this type of speckling only in green! I love playing with genetics  The eggs above are first generation meaning they will appear brown upon ordering or picking up but the offspring inside will always lay a green speckled egg on the spectrum in the photo below, nature is so amazing!

We have hatching eggs and chicks available from our sage egger project if you would like to add some to your own flocks from now until July and because we are NPIP we can ship nation wide!

alchemist_farmWe love speckles!
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Talking Chicken At The Gravenstein Apple Fair

Talking chicken at the Gravenstein Apple Fair!

We are committed to educating folks on humane ways of raising chickens and were thrilled to be invited to speak at this years Gravenstein Apple Fair. The head chicken wrangler gave a 45 minute presentation on chicken raising basics with Patricia the partridge silkie happily tucked under her arm. Topics covered ranged from how to predator proof your coop to which breeds are best for your family.

If you have a local group who would like to learn about chicken wrangling don’t hesitate to reach out – we love chatting chicken with people!

alchemist_farmTalking Chicken At The Gravenstein Apple Fair
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Blue Ribbons For Our Birds From The National Heirloom Expo

Blue Ribbons All Around From The National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa!

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We keep a closed flock here on the farm which means that we do not bring any new birds onto the premises. We do this to protect the health of our breeding stock from various diseases other flocks can carry. We are proud to be part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan, every bird on our property has been tested clean of diseases.

Keeping a closed flock means that we cannot open the farm to visitors or take our birds to shows unless the birds are sold at the shows. This year we decided to participate in the National Heirloom Expo put on by Baker Creek Seeds because we are aligned with their mission of preserving heritage breeds of livestock and seeds. We entered a small sampling of our breeds into the judging and were pleased to have each one of our birds win a blue ribbon!

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We held a silent auction for a breeding quality pair of Svart Hona and at the end of the fair it was none other than the founder of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company who won them. It was bittersweet seeing Darth and Duchess off to their new home but we know they are now in excellent hands!

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alchemist_farmBlue Ribbons For Our Birds From The National Heirloom Expo
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Hatching Eggs And Chicks Are Shipping Now

We have been starting off the hatching season with a bang. We set and hatch twice a week so there is always a nice variety of chicks on hand here at the farm.

Fantastic folks from all over the country have been ordering hatching eggs and chicks from us. We take great care and time to package our eggs and chicks in such a way that they arrive safe to their new homes.

Here is a photo of how we package our eggs for shipment. We bubblewrap each egg, double box, and label the daylights out of each box to ensure a safe journey.

packing hatching eggs alchemist farm sebastopol californiaHere is how our chicks are shipped. We can ship 25 chicks that are less than four days old or a handful of juveniles in our shipping boxes.  We add grogel to the box so the chicks have hydration and food for the journey, when needed we always add a heat pack.

We are carefully working through our waiting lists and are proud to let people know that we are part of the NPIP program which allows us to legally ship hatching eggs and chicks over state lines and to anyone in the United States!

alchemist_farmHatching Eggs And Chicks Are Shipping Now
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