Rebecca Beauchemin
Rebecca is a mom, wife, real estate broker, decorator, party planner, chicken keeper, and gardener
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Black Staircase Railing, DIY
It was love at first sight. At first glance our foyer was open, airy, and had a gorgeous curved staircase. (It also was disgustingly dirty and had about 10 yrs of soot caked on it — but that’s a story for another day!) The staircase is one of my favorite things about our house. The only problem is our house was built in ’86 and the wood railing was looking quite tired and outdated. On Houzz I had seen several black railings that I thought looked very sharp. Since we have a lot of black accents on our house I decided to do it. See below for instructions on how…
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Hawk attack!
We have many predators in our area including fox, coyote, racoons, and even the occasional bear. But we have never had any issues with them interacting with our chickens until 2 days ago. The attack: Last Saturday was my sons 6th birthday party and as the festivities died down it happened. A red-tailed hawk attacked our chickens. My husband and sister-in-law were standing 5 feet from where the attack took place. They scared the hawk away and they both started picking up chickens and running back to the coop. I ran outside and grabbed two chickens that had taken shelter near the back door. As I ran through the yard…
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Breakfast for Chickens | Decrease in Egg Production
December came, the days got shorter and my hens all stopped laying! It happened overnight and I was horrified that I would have to buy STORE BOUGHT eggs. Luckily my superstars — Sybil and Rosie — continued to lay. But I was lucky to get one egg a day which would not do! Every morning I eat two so I decided I had to do something. I did 2 very simple things and it’s February 4th and I collected 6 eggs today! All it took was Breakfast for Chickens and supplemental light! #1, I provided them a bit of supplemental light in the morning. I use a Christmas light tube…
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Chicken Breeds & Egg Color
There’s a lot to research as a new chicken keeper. Chicken breeds and egg color will be discussed below. When I chose the breeds of chicken that I wanted to raise many factors came into play. My top priorities: Cold/winter tolerant Temperament and friendliness Rate of egg laying (at least 4-5/wk) Egg color (I wanted a colorful egg basket) It was also important they all look different so my kids could tell them apart easily. Our chickens are more like pets to us; pets with a purpose. They all have names (most named after Downton Abbey characters!) and they all have personalities that charm and surprise us. I had another…
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Yellow Front Door
One day I was bored and home with a sick child so I decided to paint the exterior doors the same color as the chicken coop — Egg Yolk yellow! I started on the back door in case it went terribly wrong. A yellow front door and side door would follow. The doors were a brick red and I knew it would take several coats to cover it up. Frist step is taping. I didn’t take the hardware off but I wish I had. I think it would have come out better but taping is okay. Next step is primer. I like Stix primer from for cabinets, doors and furniture. …
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Big Ruler Height Chart
Like most moms, I feel like my kids are growing up too fast. The days are long but the years are short. I wanted a keepsake that would show their growth. I pictured them showing it to their kids when they visit Grammy & Grandpa’s house someday. This Big Ruler Height chart came out so good and was super easy! It also requires very few supplies: 1x6x8 piece of hardwood (I used poplar) small can of stain and cheap paintbrush Sharpie number stencils First step in making the Big Ruler Height Chart: I lightly sanded the wood and stained it. I drew the measurements on with pencil and traced the numbers…
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Rosemary & Mint Soy Candle
Summer was over and the fall air set in. I decided it was time to harvest the leftover herbs for winter meals and projects. I had a lot more Rosemary and Mint than I would ever use in cooking so I decided to make Rosemary & Mint Soy candle for Christmas presents. These would make a great housewarming or hostess gift too! VERY easy project! For one Rosemary & Mint Soy candle you will need: 1 lb Soy wax flakes (if you want a 1 qt candle) mason jar or other glass container (I used a 1 qt green glass mason jar) wick with metal tab (needs to be 1…
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DIY Chick Brooder
Enroll Now See below step by step instructions on how to build a cat proof DIY Chick Brooder for your baby chicks. Please also consider enrolling in my new e-course! E-course | Chicken Keeping Basics | Pre-order Now! Enroll Now Baby Chicks need 3 things: #1 A Safe Place to Live In preparation for my first flock of chicks I built this DIY chick brooder. I had no idea what to expect or how fast my chicks would grow but this was quite sufficient for the first 3 weeks. I searched for the largest tote I could find and settled on a Rubbermaid 50 gal tote. First step was to…
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Chickens & Winter
Chickens don’t love the snow. They tolerate the cold well but the snow turns them off. They don’t like to walk in it. This was the first snow my chickens ever saw. They stayed on the only grassy area they could find under the big pine tree. Of course every winter its the same — they don’t leave the coop if there’s even a dusting of snow. Continue reading about Chickens & Winter below. Winter Modifications to the Coop Typical winter modifications to the coop and run are easy — I wrapped half of the run in plastic and added a bucket de-icer to their bucket waterer. The bucket heater…
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Chicken Feed Storage
Rodents can be an issue in chicken coops. They are attracted to the chicken feed. Chicken feed can also attract larger predators — in our area Black Bears. It’s important to have a dry, rodent proof/predator proof Chicken Feed Storage container but I also wanted it to look nice. So I came up with this: The metal trash can is completely rodent proof but I’ve read it can leach metals into the chicken feed so the plastic trash can serves as a liner. I keep this inside my chicken coop so it stays completely dry and protected from the elements. Chicken Feed Storage project only requires 3 supplies: 20 gal…
